As Dave Neiwert has so often documented, the online right wing communities are a breeding ground for rage directed at the government. But you know what I find fascinating? That these angry "patriots" are taking out low-level employees, plain old working people doing their job.

In other words, the very same philosophy al Qaeda used to justify the World Trade Center attacks on civilians. Interesting, huh?

The setting was seemingly random: an outer gate at the Pentagon at evening rush hour. But John Patrick Bedell's violent rampage Thursday made him only the latest in the growing ranks of the disaffected and disturbed to take aim at a symbol of official Washington.

The shooting contained jarring echoes of other recent attacks, from last month's plane crash at an IRS building in Texas to the shooting last June of a museum guard at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in the District. Although the circumstances differ greatly, all were acts of rage by men who blamed their personal misfortunes on what they perceived to be sinister forces within the government.

All three also appear to have drawn ideological nourishment from the same well: online communities of like-minded people who validate and amplify extreme views. Today, more than in recent years, such communities are tapping into a broad undercurrent of anti-government discontent fueled by economic recession, joblessness and concern over the growing federal deficit, according to experts who have studied the phenomenon.

For Bedell and others like him, Washington and its institutions are an irresistible target -- the "ultimate symbol of power for the powerless," said Jerrold Post, a professor of political psychology at George Washington University.

Last week, Joseph Stack set his house on fire, drove to the airport, jumped in his plane and flew it into an IRS building in Austin, Texas. This deliberate, cowardly act of domestic terrorism resulted in injuring thirteen IRS workers and left one man dead -- a veteran of the Vietnam War:

When Ken Hunter first heard about a plane crashing into his father's office building in Austin, he said he hoped his dad, Vernon Hunter, wasn't there.

After several attempts to reach his father, a 67-year-old IRS worker, he discovered his dad was missing.

In the hours that followed, Ken said he heard lots of talk about the pilot's motivations and felt compelled to speak out on his father's behalf.

"There was just too much going on about what the guy did and what he believed in, and enough's enough," he said. "They don't need to talk about him. Talk about my dad. You know, some people are trying to make this guy out to be a hero, a patriot. My dad served two terms in Vietnam. This guy never served at all. My dad wasn't responsible for his tax problems." Read on...

Stack's political views can be debated, but he wasn't the real victim here. He committed an act of terrorism that took the life of an American veteran. As the son of a vet, I felt compelled to write this post and make sure that Vernon Hunter was acknowledged instead of being overshadowed by the sick, selfish coward who ended his life.

In the wake of Thursday's suicide plane crash into the Austin office of the Internal Revenue Service, the debate is raging over the meaning of Joseph Stack's attack. While Glenn Greenwald and Matthew Yglesias ponder whether the incident constitutes an act of terrorism, bloggers on the left and right each try to assign Stack's political paternity to the other.

What is beyond dispute, as the Christian Science Monitor documented, is that Thursday's destruction in Austin is just "one incident in a string of violent threats and assaults directed toward the agency in recent years." And predictably, as ABC reported Friday, right-wing extremist organizations, white supremacists and militia groups were quick to hail Joe Stack as a "hero."

Meanwhile, conservative stalwarts like Human Events editor Jed Babbin and Senator Scott Brown seemingly rationalized the carnage in Austin by announcing "people are frustrated" and "no one likes paying taxes." But as it turns out, violence targeting the IRS and incendiary rhetoric justifying the intimidation of the agency and its personnel are hardly recent developments:

The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA), which oversees the IRS, handles an average of 918 threats made against IRS employees every year, according to the agency. Between 2001 and 2008, court cases resulting from those threats have resulted in 195 convictions, according to TIGTA.

“This is not something new,” says J. Russell George, director of TIGTA. “The use of the airplane was unanticipated, but this is not something new, not at all.”

And, in some extreme right-wing circles, a very welcome turn. As ABC detailed:

[F]or an alarmingly growing number of Americans Stack is a hero. The Web was studded with praise for Stack almost immediately after his plane slammed into the Austin office complex Thursday morning. The admiring salutes appearing on sites ranging from Facebook to the pages of extremist groups reflect what experts say is an "explosive growth" in the anti-government patriot movement…

Bob Schulz, founder of the anti-government We the People Foundation, said that while he only advocates non-violent means of protest, he can understand Stack's motives and said it is a reflection of a movement unlike any he's ever seen.

"There's a huge patriot movement," Schulz said. "I've been doing this kind of work for 30 years. Never have I seen the likes of what's going on now. It's delightful."

But what is delightful to Bob Schulz or the members of Stormfront is frightening to most Americans.

To be sure, the language directed at the IRS was threatening.

"Gestapo-like tactics."

"The IRS is out of control!"

"Which would you prefer: having your wallet or purse stolen or being audited by the IRS?"

"You don't need to send in armed personnel in flak jackets."

"Well Mr. Big Brother IRS Man, let's try something different, take my pound of flesh and sleep well."

But even more disturbing is that only the last of those five statements came from Thursday's alleged Austin pilot, Joseph Stack. The rest came from some of the leading voices of the Republican Party during its late 1990's crusade against the IRS.

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Frightening:

AUSTIN, Texas - A small plane crashed Thursday into a multistory office building in Austin, causing a fire and sending black smoke billowing from the seven-story structure, officials said. At least two people were injured and a third was unaccounted for.

Federal officials said the incident did not appear to be terrorism-related but authorities were investigating whether the pilot intentionally crashed the plane, according to media reports.

Authorities were investigating whether the plane crash was related to an Austin-area house fire earlier in the day.

The plane hit the Echelon Building, which is next to a major highway in north Austin.

Fires were burning from the second through fourth floors, KXAN reported. Crews used ladder trucks and hoses to battle the blazes. Dozens of windows were blown out of the hulking black building and vehicles traveling on a nearby highway paused to look.

All the initial reports are downplaying this as an act of domestic terrorism, including ABC, which reports the following statement from DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano's office:

"The Secretary is aware of the situation in Austin. We do not yet know the cause of the plane crash. At this time, we have no reason to believe there is a nexus to criminal or terrorist activity. We are in the process of coordinating with state officials and other federal partners to gather more information. At this time, we will defer additional questions to local officials and the FAA," Chandler said.

However, an NTSB official just told Fox News that this was being investigated as an intentional act.

Considering that this building reportedly mostly houses IRS buildings, it seems unlikely that it was not domestic terrorism. We'll have to wait and see.

Details as they emerge.

UPDATE: The pilot has been identified as a Joseph Andrew Stack, who appears to have left the following suicide note on the Web, titled "Well Mr. Big Brother IRS Man ... take my pound of flesh and sleep well".

It's a classic right-wing extremist rant.

UPDATE2: I'm amending this. Upon giving this a more careful reading, it's clear this is actually much more complex than your typical right-wing rant; it has a lot of standard right-wing features, particularly the fetish about the IRS and the notion that taxes are inimical to freedom; but there's obviously a lot more going on there as well. I'll post more on this later.

I'm reproducing it in full below in case it disappears from the Web:

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d r i f t g l a s s: No, Mr. Middle Class

Truthdig: IRS unit aims at deep pockets

Brilliant at Breakfast: Can we please stop the "Global warming evidence was faked" crap now?

Forensic Science Technician: Six Files the US Government Keeps on You, and How to Obtain a Copy

First Draft: Malaka of the Week: A Faithless Saints Fan

OFF THE BEATEN PATH: Peteykins' Junk Drawer, illiterate Electorate, All The Good Names Were Taken

During the 2008 presidential campaign, I documented 10, then 10 more and yet another 10 moments in the extremism of Mike Huckabee. Now, fresh off his victory in the straw poll at the so-called Values Voters Summit, the one-time Baptist minister and former Arkansas governor turned Fox News host called for the United States to leave the United Nations. Following his use of the late Ted Kennedy to fight mythical "death panels" and his tacit endorsement of ethic cleansing in the Middle East, the 2012 White House hopeful's latest statements can mean only one thing.

It's time for still another 10 moments in the extremism of Mike Huckabee:

31. Huckabee Calls for the U.S. to Leave the UN
32. Huckabee Uses Ted Kennedy to Push Death Panels Myth
33. Huckabee Warns of "Union of American Socialist Republics"
34. Huckabee Says Governors Should Ignore Court Rulings
35. Huckabee Sees "Hand of God" in Prop 8 Victory
36. Huckabee Claims Civil Rights of Gays Not Being Violated
37. Huckabee Opposes Two-State Solution in Middle East
38. Huckabee Calls for Abolition of IRS and Putting Politics in the Pulpit
39. Huckabee Parrots GOP's "Club Gitmo" Talking Point
40. Huckabee Headlines Electromagnetic Pulse Conference

31. Huckabee Calls for the U.S. to Leave the UN
The United Nations has been a favorite right-wing punching bag for generations, the bogeyman of Birchers and Birthers alike. At this weekend's "How to Take Back America" shindig (an event which featured sessions such as "How to Recognize Living under Nazis & Communists"), Mike Huckabee added his name to the list.

Looking to top John Bolton's hypothetical about lopping off 10 floors of the United Nations building, Huckabee called for casting the whole institution into the sea. To a standing ovation, Huckabee declared:

"It's time to get a jackhammer and to simply chip that part of New York City. Let it float into the East River, never to be seen again."

32. Huckabee Uses Ted Kennedy to Push Death Panels Myth
In their ever-escalating effort to derail health care reform, Republicans from former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin to Obama's ersatz negotiating partner Chuck Grassley warned of mythical government "death panels" which would "pull the plug on grandma."

To make his version of the case, Governor Huckabee turned to the example of the late Senator Kennedy. Just moments after criticizing Democrats for defying "good taste" by claiming "Congress must hurry and pass the health care reform bill and do it in his memory," Huckabee announced:

"It was President Obama himself who suggested that seniors who don't have as long to live might want to just consider taking a pain pill instead of getting an expensive operation to cure them. Yet when Sen. Kennedy was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer at 77, did he give up on life and go home to take pain pills and die? Of course not. He freely did what most of us would do. He chose an expensive operation and painful follow up treatments."

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Oh, no.., What will the Dinosaurs think? The pro-birth anti-evolution Christian evangelism movement just suffered a horrible blow.

A federal judge has cleared the way for the government's seizure of a creationism theme park in Pensacola owned by a couple convicted of tax fraud.

A ruling by U.S. District Judge Casey Rodgers states that the nine properties that make up Dinosaur Adventure Land as well as two bank accounts associated with the park will be used to satisfy $430,400 owed to the federal government.

Kent Hovind, who founded the park and a ministry, Creation Science Evangelism, is serving 10 years in federal prison for failing to pay the Internal Revenue Service more than $470,000 in employee taxes.

He was found guilty in November 2006 on 58 counts, including failure to pay employee taxes and making threats against investigators.

The conviction culminated 17 years of Hovind sparring with the IRS. Saying he was employed by God and his ministers were not subject to payroll taxes, he claimed no income or property. Hovind is incarcerated at the Edgefield Federal Correction Institution in South Carolina.

They lie about their dirty dealings and now DrDino.com is in trouble. Hang on, it's time to call in the Flying Spaghetti Monster. It can help us!

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Amy Goodman just interviewed award-winning investigative reporters Jim Steele and Don Barlett on Democracy Now!(I had the pleasure of interviewing them myself years ago - they're not just smart and ethical, but very nice people.) In the interview, they discuss why Timothy Geithner's tax problems were much bigger than Daschle's - except, of course, when the Senate wants to look the other way:

AMY GOODMAN: It’s good to have you both with us. Jim Steele, let’s begin with you. Why do you think Geithner’s problems were actually worse than Tom Daschle’s tax problems?

JAMES STEELE: Well, Daschle ended up having to pay far more in taxes than Geithner did, and neither one of these cases are forgivable or can be explained away easily. But the difference with Geithner is, I think almost every American knows that you have to pay Social Security and Medicare taxes. I think just the average person on the street who draws a paycheck knows that is taken out of their check. And that’s what’s so disturbing about Geithner’s. If these were avoidable mistakes, if these were simply things he overlooked, I think the question is, why weren’t those corrected at some point before President Obama had tapped him to be Treasury secretary?

This is the thing that’s actually disturbing about both of these cases. Both Geithner and Daschle went back and paid these taxes, but only after their names were dropped into that hopper, which suggested they were going to be cabinet officers. If these were truly under those categories of those kinds of mistakes, the question is, why wasn’t that done at some time in the past, especially in the case of Geithner, where he had been audited by the IRS for previous tax years and had paid some additional taxes at that time. It was only after he was suggested for the Treasury secretary and the vetting process began that he then remitted these additional taxes.

AMY GOODMAN: Don Barlett, explain further exactly what the taxes were that Tim Geithner paid and didn’t pay and what the relation was to his work at the IMF, the International Monetary Fund.

DONALD BARLETT: Well, as Jim indicated, these are the payroll taxes—Social Security, Medicare—that everyone has to pay. And, you know, the tax code is complex. Everybody knows that. It is easy to make a mistake.

But the reason we said that Geithner’s was far more egregious is this. He signed a piece of paper acknowledging that he owed both taxes while he was employed by the IMF. He then collected the money from IMF to pay the taxes. Now, most of us, you know, the payroll taxes are withheld. We don’t get reimbursed for those taxes. It comes out of our own pocket. But Mr. Geithner not only signed a paper acknowledging he owed taxes, he collected money to pay the taxes and then didn’t pay them and pocketed the money. This is why it was far more egregious for him and why—you know, the New York Times demanded that Tom Daschle withdraw, and he did. But the same demand was not put on Mr. Geithner.

And even more disturbing is the fact that only one Democratic member of the Senate Finance Committee voted against Mr. Geithner for this reason—for this reason. That was the Iowa Senator Tom Harkin, who said he just couldn’t support it. And Harkin was right, because the message this is sending to the public of large—the tax system already is as close to collapse as you’re going to get as a result of it not being enforced evenly. The double standard on tax law—as you indicated in the introduction, Jim and I have been writing about taxes for almost forty years. Our first series that won the Pulitzer Prize was on the unequal enforcement of the tax code. And that was back in the 1970s. And since then, it has exploded. And what is happening now in Washington just captures where it is now. Here you have the Senate Finance Committee approving this, and you have the Senate overwhelmingly approving it.