By Kate Kotler
Yesterday, a terrifying hostage situation played out at the Discovery Channel Headquarters in Silver Springs, MD. James Jay Lee, a longtime protester of the channel’s environmental programming, entered the building mid-day armed with explosives and guns. Prior to taking hostages, Lee posted a list of demands on his website requiring the Discovery Channel to change its programming to reflect his “environmental agenda.”
After a four hour standoff with police and FBI, Lee was shot and killed last night, ending the afternoon’s frightening events.
In the wake of this tragedy, politicians and news sources have rushed to label Lee a “left-wing environmental extremist” and an “eco-terrorist.” This assessment has been based upon the misanthropic content of his demands, which clearly states that Lee believed the human race to be the cause of planet Earth’s environmental issues. (And, further that the human race should be slowly decreased and extinguished from this planet.)
This rush to judgement has sparked a heated debate questioning if it is irresponsible to label this man in such a fashion. The thinking is (and, I happen to agree) James Jay Lee was mentally ill and his ire was misdirected at the Discovery Channel.
However, what is not being said in this debate is: Lee had some valid points in amongst his incoherent ramblings.
In the wake of one of the worst environmental disasters in the history of our planet, it’s not too tough to see how someone as unstable as Lee could snap and violently direct his attentions towards a target he’d already decided in his mind was responsible for the ills of the world.
If you read his demands he states several things which are 100% true:
- This planet is over populated.
- The human race has a propensity for war.
- We are destroying the planet with pollution.
- We are plundering the planet for its natural resources, effectively ruining the natural environment.
- We need to come up with solutions for global warming.
- The wildlife population (in general) and un-touched forests, jungles, etc. shrink dramatically each passing year.
- This country is in serious trouble in terms of unemployment and homelessness.
- The reputation of the United States is pretty terrible, overall.
From a page of rambling craziness there are eight, true and very salient points this man had. Of course, the problem was that he a.) used violence, b.) directed his anger at the wrong people (the Discovery Channel pretty much being champions of Planet Earth, yanno?)
But, didn’t Lee have a point?
I think, in the face of this tragedy, we all need to stop and think about this a little bit. And, maybe – just maybe – in the future we should listen and pay attention to what the James Lees of the world have to say before it reaches such a terrifying and sad conclusion.
Editor’s Note: We at Geek Girl on the Street do not approve of violence as a means to affect political or social change. Further, we know several employees of the Discovery Channel who were involved in yesterday’s incident and we are all very relieved they are safe and have been reunited with their families.
Its fairly obvious that Lee needed some help. Its a shame that no one could reach him to get him the help he needed.
While he was in the wrong in so many ways, I can’t help but agree that some of TLC’s programming has got to go. Would it be so bad to put some “Learning” back into “The Learning Channel.” Basing entire multi-year documentary series on families that are different from what would be considered normal is not education or entertainment, its exploitation.
And on a completely geeky side-note, it was funny to see that Google Maps still had the Discovery Building decorated for Shark Week.
I agree with you, Mike – Lee did need help and our social service system failed him in that way, he clearly had established by prior actions that he was a danger to himself and others. But, more importantly I think that even though he was mentally ill, he had valid concerns and points to make – it was his illness which caused him to be aggressive, violent and to hold the wrong people to blame for the things he was concerned with… Like I said: We should listen to the James Lee’s of the world sometimes, as doing so could have potentially stopped this tragedy from happening.
I agree with the TLC programming needing to go (somewhat) – but, overall I love Discovery programming – it’s my A#1 go-to channel next to Bravo and MSNBC (but, I’m sure that has a LOT to do with Mythbusters…)
And, frankly I LOVE LOVE LOVE Cash Cab. I always look for them when I’m in NYC. (Mostly b/c I’m a geek and I’d kick some SERIOUS ass at that trivia and win tons of $$.)
Unfortunately you can’t just get in the Cash Cab. You have to be put in it. Its a sad fact that game shows have too many regulations for that to work the way it appears on TV.
I used to watch Discovery all the time, but History is my go to channel. When Discovery started making shows just to blow stuff up just because the Mythbusters were popular I started to lose a little respect. But Craig Ferguson on Shark Week was great TV.
@Mike Smith But the History Channel is equally awful. To quote a Facebook group: “Hitler May Have Killed 6 Million Jews, But He Sure Saved the History Channel’s Ass.”
Granted, not as exploitative and as “lowest-common-denominator targeted” as all the little people shows on TLC, but still not really entirely thoughtful or academically rigorous. (See: Skeptoid versus the Yonaguni Monument.)
As for Mr. Lee: it’s a shame that this is going to be more fodder for the “oh those environmentalists are all nuts!” ad hominem-style attacks that the more douchier pundits etc like to employ so much. If only sane, well-adjusted, well-spoken people made headlines more often. :C
Yeah my friend Ethan just told me the same thing about Cash Cab… boo, game shows, boo…
#1 is widely accepted but false.
#8 is debatable.
Far from “100% true”.
I strongly disagree with you, Dan.
Re. #1 – I don’t know how you can dispute that the world is overpopulated when so many countries, including our own, cannot sustain the people they have living in them (let alone new people.) Overpopulation, by definition is when the population growth cannot be sustained by the habitat… And, frankly if we’re not *technically* there yet, we’re so damn close we should be worried.
Re. #8 – Have you ever traveled outside the United States? If you have then I don’t know how you could say that this is debatable. If you haven’t – try sitting down with someone from a culture other than our own (meaning anyone who lives outside of our country, Canada or England) and ask them to tell you honestly what they’ve heard about the peoples of the United States.
I’ve done this quite a few times over the years (as I’m not one to believe just anything I’m told, so when I was told that people outside the US think all Americans are assholes I decided to do some research.) I promise you, you’ll be as shocked at what you hear as I have been the 12 or more times I’ve sat with people from other cultures and asked them what they know of America and Americans…
Maybe I shouldn’t have put “100% true” (because nothing is 100% truth, is it?) but I’m certainly within the 98th percentile of being 100% true.
NOW THE BIG QUESTION: Does this justify extreme behavior and deadly violence?
Answer: NO-FUCKING-WAY.
Have a great night, thanks for reading!
Cheers,
Kate