ABSTRACT
A citizen opens fire on a congresswoman in Tucson, Arizona, seriously wounding her and killing six others. Another opens fire at the Holocaust Museum. Still another intentionally flies a small airplane into an office building used by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) in Austin, Texas. A military chaplain starts shooting at his fellow troops at Ft. Hood, Texas. They all had one thing in common; they posted their rage within cyber community groups that shared their anger. Of course, these are extreme cases—especially when we consider the entire U.S. population is well over 300 million. But even among those who would never turn to violence, looking at the local news there appears to be a growing sense of fear, frustration, and isolation that exists between citizens and their government institutions. Rage is growing in America—an ever-widening fissure in American life spurred on by chronic unemployment, alarming budget deficits, rising taxes, and increased government spending. While some attempt to rationalize current events or to place things in perspective, citizen perception trumps all.
