Oklahoma City

I've seen all parts of this documentary before in other documentaries. But this was a nice retelling, having everything as straight as possible.

A lot of the other documentaries focused on him building the bomb and the evidence that it was him.

Such as the rental van being caught on camera etc.

They've kind of missed those bits out, which is fine because we all know he was guilty!

He admitted to it and was found guilty in court.

So it's no shock he was going to be found guilty.

His one misguided thought is that he assumed that his death would start another civil war... and it didn't!

The only thing that came out of all of this was Mcveigh being sentenced to death for targeting a building which housed an FBI office.

The guy was unhinged, but not enough so he didn't know what he was doing.

Let's hope he's nice and hot wherever he might be.

"Oklahoma City" (2017 release; 115 min,) is a documentary about Timothy McVeigh's bombing of the federal building in Oklahoma City, and the wider background as to what roe him to do this. As the movie opens, it is "April 19, 1995, 9:02 am" and we her voices at the Water Resource Board Meeting, when an enormous explosion takes place. We get various historical footage as to the damage caused by the bombing, as well as first account interviews of first aid helpers, survivors, and family members of the perished, We then go back in time to the early 1980s, in northern Idaho, where white supremacists are gathering steam. As this point we're 10 min, into the movie, but to tell you more of the story would spoil your viewing experience, you'll just have to see for yourself how it all plays out.

Couple of comments: this is, to say the least, a sobering documentary, Built in three major chapters, "The Spark" (referring to Ruby Ridge), "The Flame" (referring to Waco) and "The Inferno" (referring to Oklahoma City), the documentary makers examine how right wing white supremacists were able to build a small but fierce resistance cell that becomes convinced that the federal government is "the enemy". The link between Ruby Ridge/Oklahoma City on the one hand, and Waco on the other hand, is less obvious (the Waco incident does not involve white supremacists), but nevertheless essential for the McVeigh narrative, as the documentary makes clear. McVeigh's personal background, fairly well known at this point, is examined as well. In the end, the lasting images of this documentary remain those of the Oklahoma City bombing itself, to this date still the largest domestic terrorist attack in this country's history, and with it the resolve of the survivors and the family of the perished. "Love is stronger than a terrorist attack", comments a survivor who has forgiven McVeigh. Wow.

This documentary played in a few theaters, but opened wide when it was shown on PBS' "The American Experience" last night. As it most often the case with programs on "The American Experience", the documentary was well researched, restrained and very sobering. A must-see for anyone interested in the history of this country.

The half-witted anti-government philosophy responsible for the Oklahoma bombing took root in Ronald Reagan's famous quip that the government isn't the solution; it's the problem. Except when it is the solution, which it is for many things we now consider to be modern civilization. What the Hitler-lovers don't understand is that for a society to function, there must be compromise. Most people who live in big cities get this basic concept. Rural hillbillies just want everything their way and don't want to pay taxes.

If you want to see a country without a government, I'd suggest you try Somalia. In theory, this is a libertarian's wet dream, except it isn't because Somalia is a hell-hole of anarchy. Of course, to flea-brains like Timothy McVeigh, their perfect world has individuals running all of the facets of modern life. What a ridiculous concept.

McVeigh, like so many of his ilk, was mentally ill, obviously. He was also a freaking idiot with the IQ of a rodent, an animal to which he bore a remarkable resemblance. Medical examiners at his execution revealed that McVeigh's genitals were also rat-like and inadequate, even to facilitate congress with a small rodent. It's true, look it up! His whole movement is composed of inbred hicks, who when they pool all of their mental resources together still fail to conjugate verbs correctly in the only language that they speak, yet they call themselves the master race. How do they figure?

The thing is, nobody like the cops, and the federal agencies (FBI, ATF et al) did some outrageous things, not just to the far-right freaks, but to lots of people with opposing views, but that's no excuse to go overboard. If they think that they can go toe-to-toe with these agencies, they are dumber than I ever thought they were.

This is the central lie of the militia groups. You can suit up in G.I. Joe clothes and buy guns, but don't think that you could actually oppose a real, state-sponsored army, not even a little bit. As far as opposing the government, it is all we have as a people, the only thing we have purchase on in the quest for power. By limiting government, you are drastically limiting the power of the people and handing it over to the plutocrats, people like Trump and his backers (the people who control him, not those who voted for him).

McVeigh opposes killing Iraqis but goes on to bomb a child care center. This is the sort of loony thinking of these violent groups. He was pulled over after the bombing because he didn't have a plate on the car he was driving? What a complete moron!

I oppose the death penalty, even for a rat-face creep like McVeigh.

I loved this documentary; it got straight to the point, though I wish it were more detailed. Certain clips did seem out of place, and I feel like the story was told out of order. Some topics weren't talked about enough, and I wish more detail had been put in. Even though it was simple, it still managed to grab my attention constantly.

The bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City in April 1995 is the worst act of domestic terrorism in American history; this documentary explores how a series of deadly encounters between American citizens and federal law enforcement - including the standoffs at Ruby Ridge and Waco - led to it.

There is the matter of what this film is and what it isn't. If you want a broad view of Ruby Ridge, Waco and Oklahoma City in under two hours, this is the perfect primer or refresher. However, if you want to learn more, and were around in the 1990s, there is very little here you did not already read in the news at the time.

I suppose if nothing else, this would be great for catching the younger generation up on what happened just twenty years ago, when "terrorism" and 9/11 were not yet synonymous.