Oh shut up, Electra! (Daughter of Joe Stack calls father "hero".)

I don't see how an action that would kill actual human beings is heroic in this case. You can feel however you like about whether the tax code is fair or whether the government is fair in how it apportions benefits to people--but the real target should be lawmakers (not target as in "bulls eye", but as in, get more political and challenge people who you see as obstructing you in getting a fair shake.) I put Stack's actions on the same grounds as (wait for it....) Weather Underground. He destroyed government property and risked lives to make a terroristic political point. But all the same, violence isn't the answer.

Ms. Bell refers to her father's actions as "inappropriate", and for what it's worth, what I have to say is that she is probably still in shock and grief. But it's a bit more than inappropriate, and the model of violence that he set should not encourage others.

I have to admit, my sympathy for Mr. Stack is greatly limited by perspective. If he set fire to his cardboard box and then rammed his shopping cart into a police station to protest against "The Man", I'd say he certainly lost a lot and had reasons. But in real life, he set fire to a half-a-million dollar home and rammed his plane into a building full of people supposedly with the seats taken out and extra fuel on board--like he wanted a big-ass fire to do a lot of damage.

Seriously--screw him. He still had choices left, but took the one that said "Hey, look at me--I'm angry and stuff!"

I think it was a terrible waste.