James Lee May Not have been Insane

An extreme environmentalist, James Lee, held three employees hostage at the headquarters of the Discovery Channel yesterday in Silver Springs, Maryland. The standoff ended when police sharpshooters killed him late in the afternoon, after they felt he was too threatening to the captives.

Lee's demands included that the long time cable channel rid itself of programs which encouraged overpopulation, such as Kate Plus 8, or war, such as Future Weapons. He had expressed on a website the opinion that human beings were essentially vile creatures bent on merely destroying the planet.

Let us set aside for the moment the questions of how much he may actually represent the overall environmental movement, which does at times appear to believe that humanity is the culprit in all too many (they seem to find quite a few) environmental problems. Because the one thing we must not do is dismiss him too readily as insane, which is an allegation already being heard from many quarters.

He may indeed have been insane. That may be the most likely explanation for his actions. But perhaps he was not, and that is a possibility which cannot be taken too lightly. He may have been someone who really meant what he said, with a full and reasonably complete understanding of what his actions may have wrought. His activity yesterday might actually reflect a mind which understood well enough what was going on and intended everything it engendered, and every idea it expressed was without regret or regard for others.

If we excuse such folks too readily as insane, we, in the long run, grant criminals and anyone else who threatens society or themselves, precisely the excuse they need to take responsibility off of them. We could, over time, inadvertently hand any particular individual the reason they need for committing any act they wish precisely because of insanity. Anyone might very well justify any outlandish action or crime with the excuse, 'Well, I wouldn't even be thinking this way if I wasn't insane'.

If James Lee was insane, the so be it. But if was not, if he meant what he said, then we gloss over a very real criminal act heinous enough that we insult the victims by letting him off the hook too easily. We actually may invite more, and more vicious, crimes when we are too quick to write recent ones off as little more than actions based on the mere rantings of someone forgivably deranged. We may only be protecting the legacy of someone unworthy, while endangering the lives of the wholly innocent.