By Patrick J. Buchanan
“A mass movement,” wrote Eric Hoffer in “The True Believer,” “appeals
not to those intent on bolstering and advancing a cherished self, but
to those who crave to be rid of an unwanted self.
“Their innermost craving is for a new life — a rebirth — or, failing
this, a chance to acquire new elements of pride, confidence, hope, a
sense of purpose, and worth by an identification with a holy cause.”
Such a man was Michael Zehaf-Bibeau, a criminal with a decade-long
record of drug-dealing, assault and robbery, who shot and killed a guard
at Ottawa’s National War Memorial and then burst into Parliament and
shot two others before being cut down.