McVeigh by David Pilot
	Time to rip the top off a can of worms. What follows is guaranteed to make you angry if you do not read it carefully. It is difficult for me to write, but it is the cold truth. I sincerely hope I have the words to communicate it well. Allow me to preface the following with this: I am a 30 year old professional in the IT field. I have a B.A. with a double major in History and English from Dallas Baptist University. My father is a Southern Baptist preacher who instilled in my family from day one the core values of honesty, integrity and accountability. That education and my childhood in Pennsylvania playing army on the fields of Gettysburg, Antietam and Valley Forge instilled in me a profound respect for the lessons of our past to go along with a deep and abiding love for our country. Proud to be an American and equally proud to be a Texan, I am among the most conservative citizens you will find anywhere. And I fear our country stands on the verge of losing the very foundations that made it great. What makes me anxious? I can't believe it, but here it is: the mad rush to "justice" surrounding the scheduled execution of Timothy McVeigh this coming week. I am incensed and at the same time intensely frightened by an article yesterday, June 5, 2001 in the Dallas Morning News in which the United States government essentially stated that they mean to proceed with Timothy McVeigh's execution posthaste because they believe he intends to put the government on trial. The official stance appears to be that it's okay that the FBI withheld (lost? misplaced? filed under "Take-out Menus"?) mountains of data in McVeigh's case. I have a huge and fundamental problem with that. You should, too. I believe Timothy McVeigh is guilty of murder. I believe he willfully and intentionally killed women and children in Oklahoma City in a pigheaded attempt to "get" the government. I believe his take on the events at Waco and Ruby Ridge and the like was extreme, if only in his willingness to put his retaliatory bomb scheme into motion. And I believe he should die for his actions. I also believe that the U.S. Government, to some degree, is accountable for fostering a national environment where ideas like McVeigh's find credible arguments. I believe that for said government to put a United States citizen to death, it is undeniably incumbent on that government to build a case that is absolutely above reproach. This is true in any instance, of any crime. But this particular crime stands out. This crime painted America's heartland with a broad swath of blood that time, try as it might, cannot seem to cleanse. This crime destroyed the last remaining tattered shreds of our national innocence in a mind-numbing way that John Kennedy's murder could not begin to approach. This was no surprise attack by enemy forces bent on destroying the American way of life. No--this was a blitzkrieg launched by an individual bent on restoring an America that he believes has been lost in the tentacles of a well-meaning (?) but all-encompassing bureaucracy. The blow was launched and coldly landed by one of us. There is no Hirohito here, no Hitler to rally against. Bold speeches won't work. Bravado and righteous indignation? Against what? One man full of patriotic ideas steeped and warped in vicious anger and lost in conspiracy theories? An American lost in the disillusionment that snaps at the dark edges or our collective consciousness? Again, Timothy McVeigh deserves to die for his actions in Oklahoma City. But the American people without question deserve, no-MUST HAVE-- the unreserved knowledge that their government investigated, tried, convicted and executed Timothy McVeigh in full accordance with the laws and Constitution of this land. Anything less simply fuels the fire of the militias and anti-government factions that now inhabit much of our nation. Worse, it serves to plant the seeds of doubt in the minds of more Americans who will then help to fill those ranks. America today is riddled with doubts and insecurities, and the freedoms and inalienable rights of her people are trampled and battered at every turn. Detestable as it may seem to each of us still horror-struck by the Murrah bombing, it is imperative that Timothy McVeigh's rights are fully upheld and that his ultimate execution be carried out by a process that history simply cannot question. To hasten his execution while questions remain, to kill him outright as public example while the government he struck against appears corrupt and inept, is to invite mass retribution from those like him. There are valid unanswered questions regarding Ruby Ridge and Waco. There are also invalid and paranoid conspiracies surrounding both. To hasten the government-rendered death of Timothy McVeigh while questions remain in this particular issue as well can only magnify those other concerns-matters of validity aside. What is valid will be clouded, and what is paranoid will be enhanced and magnified. Timeless wisdom advises against throwing fuel on certain fires. I am afraid of where this path leads. I am afraid of what the current stance of the Justice Department and FBI means to my personal freedom and ability to live my life without fear of government oppression. I am afraid that if Timothy McVeigh is executed before the questions are irrevocably answered that we will find ourselves on the brink of civil war. He must pay the ultimate price for what he did, no question. But that payment must be collected in a manner that brings justice, not reprisal. Does our government have a clue what image they are fostering? Do they know the embers they are stoking? Do they care? You and I have reason to fear, and it comes both from the militias and fringe groups as well as the government they so loathe. I want Timothy McVeigh dead. Yesterday. I want his death televised to the planet. I want it painful. Humane? No. Hell no. Those children in that daycare got no humanity from him. He deserves far, far less. God Almighty can mete out forgiveness if He so chooses. I will not. Regardless of Timothy McVeigh's lunatic and imbalanced opinion, he's no patriot in the final analysis. But he started out as one. Just like you and me. And by the time his mind twisted around all the shameful things that ate at him, by the time the insidious poison of our government's longstanding policies of lies, trickery and deceit had seared his soul, he struck what seemed -- to him -- a patriotic blow. He made his choice. He alone is responsible. Clearly, and for the record, the United States government is not an accomplice to murder in Oklahoma City. But the actions of said government did lead a normal all-American boy next door down a treacherous road, and when he alone chose wrongly, we all paid dearly. I have nothing but disdain for him and his vile thought processes. But he started out as one of us. There are others among us on his path. What happens next affects them, and their subsequent choices can impact us beyond words. I am firmly on the side of right and retribution in this case. Justice NEEDS to be meted out, and with searing finality. But with that justice must come responsibility, and some degree of understanding of the greater mechanism behind what drove that boy. Otherwise you and I and our friends and families are in serious peril, because plenty of other nutbags out there think like he did. And countless others are on the fence, without hard, well-reasoned opinions of their own---what happens next will greatly influence whether they become a shrieking horde of disaffected nutcases waging a perverted jihad against all we hold dear. What happens now may well determine whether the next attack from those extremists comes with a rallying cry of "Remember McVeigh!" Ruby Ridge and Waco were all the rallying cries I needed or ever wanted to hear. The FBI and the U.S. Government owe it to you and to me, to your kids and mine, to stop the damned disgrace of this investigation. They owe it to us to be open and above board. It is their sovereign responsibility to make it clear for every generation that comes that Timothy McVeigh was guilty. There can be no question he did what he did. There is no salve to heal our deeply wounded national conscience and pride. But there is also no justice in rushing to kill him before every last single damned question is irrevocably and permanently put to rest. When he dies at the hands of the nation he attacked, let it be justice more than mere retribution. Let it be final, and let those who will inevitably rise up to avenge him have no foundation to stand on. When they come, and are mowed down by you or me or the police or National Guard or Marines, let the entire world know they were wrong. For once, let us have our pride in America back. Let us believe that we, the people, and our government of, by and for the people can and will stand ramrod straight for what is right and defend our heritage against all comers. Otherwise, God help us all.   You can contact David Pilot at: tailgunner-at-rockzilla.net

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