Death of a fuckwit

hippieatheart linked to the story of Malachi Ritscher, who burned himself to death in Chicago in protest of the Iraq war. He left behind a mission statement here he said it was an act of protest against the Iraq war.

Here is the statement I want to make: if I am required to pay for your barbaric war, I choose not to live in your world. I refuse to finance the mass murder of innocent civilians, who did nothing to threaten our country. I will not participate in your charade - my conscience will not allow me to be a part of your crusade. There might be some who say "it's a coward's way out" - that opinion is so idiotic that it requires no response. From my point of view, I am opening a new door.

I read his whole mission statement, and after weighing all the information, here's what I have to say: fuckwit. This isn't a noble death, or the suicide of a mentally ill man, or a form of activism, or the tragic effort to be heard by a person who felt like they had no voice in our society. What it is, is a fuckwit who killed himself because he thought it might be one of those things.

It takes a fuckwit to think that burning yourself to death is some kind of grand gesture. It's childish. It's taking your toys and going home when you can't play by your rules. If this idiot really wanted to make an impact on the Iraq war he would have lived. He would have been an activist. He would have worked for change. Instead, he used the war as an excuse.

This won't stop the Iraq war. This won't be remembered. This won't be an album cover for Rage Against the Machine.