Just doing the research on this event has reminded me of just why I hate my fellow human beings. This story is just so sad on so many points.
First, there's Lee himself; he was obviously deeply disturbed, and it was so obviously apparent to so many around him. Included in this number are his own relatives, a few "friends" that have been quoted, the people at the Discovery Channel who have said they guessed at the identity of their would-be attacker before anyone in the media had even identified him. Also, naturally, anyone with internet access who may have visited his website and just shrugged him off as some dope on a soapbox, or the criminal justice system which saw fit to release man who stood on a street corner throwing away thousands of dollars in cash who judged that while his actions may have certainly seemed insane, since they weren't exactly illegal, it was okay to let him loose with but a slap upon the wrist and not a thought about committing him to psychiatric care (on the odd chance that it might have actually worked in his case).
I mean, who wants to get involved with a lunatic, right? Not even the people who claim to love him, or the authorities designated to protect the greater society, it seems
Not one of those of people made an effort to help this guy, and in not lifting a finger to help a disturbed man, they put thousands of other lives at risk.
Then there are the morons who find the episode infinitely entertaining; the thoughtless boobs who post snarky comments (mostly anonymously, of course, the cowards) about the humor they find in a situation where a deranged man obsessed with population control meets his own demise at the hands of the police, and in an "ironic"way (is this really irony?), he accomplishes his mission to see the human race destroyed -- by getting himself killed.
I don't find anything even remotely funny in that.
These are the same people who don't realize that even if Lee didn't achieve his ultimate goal, he still put thousands of others at risk (including children), fired a gunshot inside a crowded building, got his hands on explosives despite all that Homeland Security bullshit, and paralyzed an entire city for an afternoon. The actions motivated by his own psychological issues will now be transferred to thousands of others in the form of mental health issues of their own -- both because of their experiences, and because they will now live in (further) fear of the mentally ill.
Of course, those who poke fun at a sick man and a dangerous situation don't see what's lurking on the horizon; the Copycats. Pretty soon, some other lunatic with an untreated-but-everyone-knew-about-it neurosis and a petty axe to grind will decide that what Lee attempted seems like a goddamned good idea. Don't be surprised if in future someone walks into a McDonald's with a flamethrower and demands that every order of large fries have exactly 83 tasty taters in it. It won't be long now before someone walks into IBM headquarters with a bomb and tries to get the corporate bigwigs to turn the company's focus and resources on the "serious problem" of hands-free porn surfing. I'm dreading the day when someone decides that it's about time someone solved the age-old dilemma of why there are only 8 buns in the bag when hot dogs come in packages of 10, and tries to make their point with a Glock, a ton of Ampho, and a fucking manifesto.
And why is it that every deranged idiot has a "manifesto"? Perhaps if the psychological profession put their minds to work on that, they'd be a shade more useful.
This is not over. Not by a long shot.
And in a week or so, after the overpaid-but-otherwise-useless Flapping Rectums on the idiot box have exhausted discussion on the social and political ramifications and motivations of Lee's actions, it will all be forgotten...and nothing will have been learned.
James Jay Lee was a criminal, make no mistake about that. But before he was, he was a man in need of help, and no one could be bothered to give it to him. We're extremely fortunate that no one else paid for that little oversight.
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