Battle of the Bilge

“A newspaper is a device for making the ignorant more ignorant and the crazy crazier.” – H. L. Mencken

Potential Disaster Averted

It can be assumed that if H. L. Mencken lived to see the modern invention of the internet, it would have undoubtedly taken the place of ‘newspaper’ in the above quote. And it would have been a perfect characterization of John Patrick Bedell, the man who attacked an entrance checkpoint at the Pentagon last Thursday evening. Excellent police vigilance and quick action stopped a possible mass casualty situation from happening, and ensuring that the only death from the incident was the shooter himself.

According to the Associated Press, John Patrick Bedell arrived at a Pentagon checkpoint on March 4th and opened fire on police officers with two handguns. A statement to the AP from J Richard Keevill, the chief of Pentagon police:

“He just reached in his pocket, pulled out a gun and started shooting… He walked up very cool. He had no real emotion on his face.”

While it would be easy to designate Bedell’s actions as an act of terrorism, and by definition, the use of violence to further a political or social message or goal, that appeared to be his intent, the legacy of his internet activity points more in the direction of a seriously deranged person detached from reality. Attempts by some elements of both traditional and alternative media outlets to paint him as a ‘right wing extremist’ just after the attack are not supported by his public (or at least virtual) persona. The original title of the Christian Science Monitor article linked in the previous sentence was ‘John Patrick Bedell: Did Right Wing Extremism Lead to Shooting?’

The cached and saved remnants of his online activity point more towards a left leaning ideology, if any of it can rationally be described as an ideology. Sometimes, crazy is just crazy. But crazy stupid is one thing. Until his act of violence, stupid is not a word that would aptly describe John Bedell, whom evidence indicates held a high IQ. And that is far more frightening.

Paranoia, Drugs and Conspiracies

Clearly, Bedell held strong distrust and anger towards the federal government and the military, and was a member of the ‘truther’ movement that believed the attacks of 9/11 were perpetrated by a criminal cabal within the U.S. He recorded a series of rantings on the subject in 2006 entitled ‘Directions to Freedom’ that can be found here. A snippet of the audio was transcribed by Patterico’s Pontifications and captures the essence of his message:

This criminal organization would use its powers to convert military, intelligence, and law enforcement bureaucracies into instruments for political control, and the domination and subjection of society, while discrediting, destroying, and murdering honest individuals within those services, that work to root out corruption, and faithfully serve their fellow citizens. This organization, like so many murderous governments throughout history, would see the sacrifice of thousands of its citizens in an event such as the September 11 attacks, as a small cost in order to perpetuate its barbaric control. This collection of gangsters would find it in their interest to foment conflict and initiate wars throughout the world, in order to divert attention from their misconduct and criminality. The true nature of such a regime would find its clearest expression in the satanic violence currently ongoing in Iraq.

You can see a full transcript of Bedell’s rant here. Although the questioning of the official explanation of 9/11 has been a continuing source of internet debate and speculation, the movement has been demonstrably non-violent, and very few of its members have ever advocated violence.

He was apparently obsessed with the monetary system of the world. From the same recording, he stated that “When the government can control how private property is used and especially when the government controls the monetary system that is use to exchange private property, the government has the mechanisms and the motivation to control individuals to the smallest detail.”

So what made Bedell cross the line? The answer may have more to do with his personal state of mind than a broader political battle. As reported by MSNBC:

Bedell was diagnosed as bipolar, or manic depressive, and had been in and out of treatment programs for years. His psychiatrist, J. Michael Nelson, said Bedell tried to self-medicate with marijuana, inadvertently making his symptoms more pronounced. “Without the stabilizing medication, the symptoms of his disinhibition, agitation and fearfullness complicated the lack of treatment,” Nelson said.

As more evidence emerged pointing towards a more left leaning philosophy by Bedell, the Christian Science Monitor backed off of its original speculation of his ‘Right Wing Conspiracy and put up an update: UPDATE Monday, March 8: As more information emerges about Mr. Bedell, the less it appears that any coherent ideology was behind his actions, except that he was deeply antigovernment. Much closer to the probable reality than their first iteration of the article, especially given the fact that he was a registered Democrat. But falling in to a right wing/left wing debate over his motivations would not be appropriate for this man or his actions. Sometimes, mental illness trumps politics and that seems to be the case here.

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