Tim McVeigh 27 Years Later: A Man Ahead of His Time

The morning of Wednesday, April 19th, 1995 was warm and clear in Oklahoma City. It was one of those rare spring days here with hardly any wind. At the time, despite the Bradford Pear blooms and impending annual arts festival, downtown OKC was a fairly moribund place largely deserted on the weekends and after 5pm during the week.

Timothy McVeigh didn't care about any of that, except, perhaps, the date. April 19th had, in his twisted philosophy, become significant. It was the anniversary of the start of the American Revolution and also of the nightmare at the Branch Davidian compound outside of Waco, Texas. His goal that morning was twofold. First start a second revolution and second to avenge the deaths of David Koresh and his followers.

McVeigh's sense of purpose was absolute and horrifyingly cruel. He had cased the Alfred P. Murrah building less than a year before and so knew he was parking the Ryder rental truck loaded with explosives not only next to the building, but that part of it which housed a child care center. 

The massive bomb which tore away over a third of the building, killed 19 of the day care's children. In total the official count of those killed reached 168, although it's almost certainly higher by at least one. Searchers found a leg in the debris they never could match up to any of the other victims. To this day it remains unidentified. 

McVeigh was executed and two co-conspirators landed in federal prison. Terry Nichols got life and Michael Fortier was put away for 14 years. Fortier claimed he backed out of the plot when it dawned on him Tim McVeigh wasn't just joking about blowing people up. He turned state's evidence and currently lives somewhere in the witness protection program. 

Now, 27 years later, comes the weird part: If Timmy McVeigh hadn't acted on his violent impulses back in 1995, if he had matured and ventured into politics, he might be sitting in the United States House of Representatives right now.

Hey, think about it. Are Lauren Boebert, Marjorie Taylor Greene, or Madison Cawthorn any less crazy than Tim McVeigh? Is Mo Brooks--you know the guy who urged the howling mob on January 6th last year to march on the U.S. Capitol so they could take names and kick ass any less nuts? We know McVeigh hated the federal government and there is absolutely no evidence that any of those right wing clowns hate it any less.

Let's face it, all those loons love their guns just like McVeigh did. We also know McVeigh was into white supremacy/nationalism and there are more than a few members of the House who aren't averse to appearing at gatherings of such groups. We also know Boebert advised the mob, who was chanting, "Hang Pelosi," among others that the Speaker was no longer in the house chamber. The day before the insurrection Greene gave some of the future participants tours of the building and, of course Brooks exhorted them to kick ass.

Yes, it would seem Tim McVeigh was a man simply ahead of his time. These days he'd fit right in with a huge portion of the republican party. In fact, for some of them he might even be too far left. After all, he was gone long before we could ask him his views on the last presidential election and all things QAnonish in nature. 

Unfortunately the same can't be said of Boebert, Greene, and the rest.

4-19-22