Patriotic Suicide

Scott Hardie | November 8, 2004
Here's the sad tale of a young man who took Bush's re-election a little too hard. (link) Some folks joke about moving to Canada; others get a little more dramatic. There seems to be speculation that it was murder, but if you're going to frame your crime as a suicide, certainly there are ways to go about it that will gather less attention. This is almost definitely suicide, and like most suicides, it's a depressing story.

Footnote: I think this young man has the most ironic last name of anyone in the news this year.

Amy Austin | November 8, 2004
What a weird and tragic story... it almost seems made up -- especially with the names, as you pointed out (I thought "Chance" was notable, as well). I have further comments in mind, but somehow they all just seem too sappy at this hour. I really need to get a job.

Lori Lancaster | November 8, 2004
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Anna Gregoline | November 8, 2004
If people kill themselves when celebrities die....well...

Sometimes it doesn't take much to set a depressed person off.

Kris Weberg | November 8, 2004
Yeah. I think it'd be in extremely poor taste for either side to talk about this as a political anything. It's a sad story of a young man who was felled by a terrifying disease.

Scott Hardie | November 11, 2004
Would it still be in poor taste to describe this in political terms if the man had left a suicide note specifically identifying Bush's re-election as his motivation?

Jackie Mason | November 11, 2004
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Scott Hardie | November 11, 2004
Andrew J. Veal.

This might help in the future, Jackie: (link)

Jackie Mason | November 11, 2004
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Amy Austin | November 11, 2004
But you gotta' tell her the other part: he was a vegetarian -- his concern for animals & the environment being among his assortment of extreme sensitivities...

Scott Hardie | November 11, 2004
Oops. You're right.

Amy Austin | May 31, 2009
Ironically up all night again (unemployed) and having just read another sad tale about another ironically named victim...

Scott Hardie | June 2, 2009
I've been reading more about Tyson lately since the documentary about his life came out. For all of his misdeeds and the barbarism he represented, he was a figure to be pitied. The anecdote that sticks with me is from his childhood, when bullies taunted and abused him daily, and he was too meek to fight back – until the day the bullies killed his pet parakeet, and in a rage he beat them bloody, and the course of his life was set in that moment, when he learned to respond to adversity with violent aggression. That helpless little boy Tyson used to be is the one I think of when I read about his daughter's sad death.

Kris Weberg | July 18, 2009
That Tyson anecdote about the parakeet is almost exactly the comic-book origin of the Penguin. Clearly, Batman is evil.