November 8, 2004 — Families of 9/11 victims yesterday reacted with shock, sympathy — and anger — after a Georgia man killed himself at Ground Zero on his 25th birthday because he was distraught over President Bush’s re-election.
The suicide victim, Andrew Veal, was discovered on a concrete slab in the construction pit near the Church Street subway entrance Saturday morning. A bottle of Jack Daniel’s was by his side, and a 12-gauge shotgun lay across his body.
Authorities believe that Veal, who was engaged to be married, killed himself sometime Friday — his birthday, friends said. Law-enforcement officials and friends said Veal, a project coordinator at the University of Georgia Research Center who also did political polling, had been depressed over the outcome of the election. Friends also said he may have killed himself to protest the war in Iraq.
“He cared about politics, people and the state of the world,” Mary Ann Mauney, his supervisor at the university, told the Athens Banner Herald. “Andrew was definitely sending a message [with the suicide]. Certainly, it was a protest.”
Excerpts from the above New York Post Article are still relevant 2 1/2 years later. This mother’s day weekend finds one mother without her son. I am sure she could care less about anything political. She misses her child. My heart goes out to her.
Let me be crystal clear for those who suffer from Bush Derangement Syndrome. George W. Bush had nothing to do with this kid’s death. President Bush never met him, and the kid did not serve in any branch of the Armed Forces. This young man was deeply troubled, and his troubles consumed him. He got swallowed up by life, as many do, and he took his own life.
Having said that, I wonder how many liberals bothered to take the time to talk to this kid. He was one of them. Given how chic and trendy Bush Hatred has become, one would think this kid was the darling of dinner parties. The problem with spreading hatred is that people are so busy talking and hating, that they do not make time for loving and listening, even with people who agree with them.
No, I am absolutely not blaming liberals, liberalism or democrats for this young man’s demise. What I am saying is that a culture of hatred can lead to despair. When a political mob gets its youngest and most impressionable supporters to the brink of overload, perceived failure can lead to a downward spiral that is irreversible. Palestinian children are trained to be suicide bombers. Political warriors train young armies to engage in destruction. When you are taught to invest everything into any kind of cause, and then when everything you believe in gets blown to kingdom come, the reaction of many is to end it all rather than go on.
How many Hollywood celebrities threatened to move to Canada or Europe if Bush was reelected? Why are they still here? For the same reason that Osama Bin Laden and Yassir Arafat never personally flew a plane into a tower or put on a suicide vest, or had their family do so. Why fight for a fake cause when one can recruit innocent impressionable young minds, and mold them into becoming true believers?
This young man was not born a Bush-hater. Somebody had to indoctrinate Bush Derangement Syndrome into his skull. Maybe had people bothered to teach him that life is precious, and that anyone can improve the world on any given day, he could have lived to see Nancy Pelosi become Speaker of the House. That may make me disgusted, but it would have made him smile.
While there are many situations where nothing truly can be done, there are times when the signs were clearly there. Kurt Cobain’s last song was called “I Hate Myself and I Want to Die.” Four million people bought that cassette, and had one of those people seen it was a cry for help, he might be alive today. I personally never cared for his music, but his daughter will never know her father. When a man is screaming that he wants to end it all, it might be wise to pose the possibility that he means it.
I was disgusted when Bill Clinton became president. My response was to become a member of the loyal opposition. Thanks to Newt Gingrich, Haley Barbour and Rush Limbaugh, the country dragged Clinton rightward, and then gave us George W. Bush.
Perhaps it is an incredible mistake to offer rational explanations for irrational behavior such as suicide, but the coarsening of our culture is creating levels of rage, hostility, and seething resentment. Nothing positive comes out of this. What is the point of helping a candidate win an election if you lose your soul in the process? I fiercely disagree with liberals, but I do not hate their guts. If Hillary Clinton (God forbid) were to win the White House, I would be feeling negative thoughts and emotions that I hope I never have to describe. I would then go on trying to be a better person, and making something of myself in this crazy world.
This young man was engaged to be married. If enough of the true believers around him had spent less time spreading poison and more time truly spreading peace and love, this kid might have survived the 2004 election.
Bush Derangement Syndrome has got to stop. He may be the most powerful man in the world, but he cannot directly make my life better or worse. I am my destiny.
I pray that his mother somehow manages to get through Mother’s day.
Perspective is so easy to lose. I am grateful that enough people around me are there to give it to me, including my parents.
I love you mom. Happy Mother’s Day, and thank you for always giving me a sense of hope during my darkest hours. Knowing I can call you no matter how rough life gets…it is a life saver.
eric
A Leftinistra deer in the headlight look:
“Logic? What?”