Twenty-four hours after Joseph Stack committed suicide by flying an airplane into Building I of the Echelon office complex in Austin, Texas, the home pages of the New York Times and the Washington Post had no mention of the attack.

Stack's attack killed Vernon Hunter, a 67-year old revenue office manager for the Internal Revenue Service, but the words "Stack," "terror," and "airplane" were missing from CNN's front page. Only a small headline -- "Austin attack stuns community"-- sat near the top of the U.S. News section, above an equally vague "Colorado mourns education."

MSNBC offered "Plane crash pilot's background probed," under its "more news" tab, and only Fox News had the story at the top of its webpage, asking "Crime or Terror?" managing to ignore the fact that by any definition, the attack was an unambiguous example of both.

Perhaps the shock of a non-Muslim terrorist was too much to bear, or perhaps the lack of a clear-cut left-right, Democrat-Republican angle led to the story being downplayed, despite the fact almost every American blog of note was alive with discussion about the attack. It was very odd to see the mainstream press ignore what may turn out to be one of the most important events of 2010.

Stack's story is fairly clear-cut. According to his suicide note, the software consultant was upset at the IRS and changes in the U.S. tax code, upset at the fact that his efforts to address his grievances through normal political channels were ignored, and upset at the government-enabled transfer of wealth from the U.S. middle class to the elites. His note alluded to one of America's founding creeds -- no taxation without representation -- and urged Americans to revolt against government corruption.

Commentators on blogs spanning the political spectrum highlighted the fact that Stack's grievances resonated for a number of Americans, and terrorism expert Shlok Vaidya went as far as to call Stack's attack "the canary in the coal mine." Judging by the online response thus far with a number of impassioned debates on forums and blogs, the effects of his attack are potentially far more dangerous to stability in the U.S. than anything that al-Qaeda or any external enemy could presently generate.

Although only an extreme minority may see domestic terrorism as an answer to their political grievances, the online reaction to his note suggests that many agree with his take on the American political and economic system.

Despite his vulgar language and his heinous act, Stack struck a nerve, and his thoughts have found a wide and at least partially sympathetic audience online, especially when the note departed from his own story to the broader problems facing Americans:

"Why is it that a handful of thugs and plunderers can commit unthinkable atrocities (and in the case of the GM executives, for scores of years) and when it's time for their gravy train to crash under the weight of their gluttony and overwhelming stupidity, the force of the full federal government has no difficulty coming to their aid within days if not hours?

"Yet at the same time, the joke we call the American medical system, including the drug and insurance companies, are murdering tens of thousands of people a year and stealing from the corpses and victims they cripple, and this country's leaders don't see this as important as bailing out a few of their vile, rich cronies. Yet, the political 'representatives' (thieves, liars, and self-serving scumbags is far more accurate) have endless time to sit around for year after year and debate the state of the 'terrible health care problem.' It's clear they see no crisis as long as the dead people don't get in the way of their corporate profits rolling in."

So, considering that his message and his arguments have already spread online and found a somewhat captive audience, what will happen next? Will there be copycats? Will this be a wake-up call for America's ruling elite?

Judging by the muted official response and by the reaction of the mainstream press, the former may be more likely than the latter; something that should worry all of us.