Comments on: Why I wouldn’t do polls even if I could be bothered to figure out how to make one.

By: Scott

Scott — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 23:22:15 +0000

Sorry I’m late to the party on this one, but I was, um, yeah on vacation for a month or so.
Anyway, for starters I’ve really got to second Navy Blue, there. I like to think of the Secret Service as a pretty honorable and laudable organization of selfless patriots, and comparisons to the SS make my last little shreds of trust in the government cringe. Because, you know, the Praetorian Guard didn’t always have the Emperors’ best interests at heart, etc.
Second, okay I agree that the political rhetoric of the right is indeed getting creepier and more “Oh shit are we about to have to fight in the streets with f-ing AMERICAN brownshirts soon or watch the Capitol Building get burned down?” by the second, but as far as violent political extremism goes, is the United States even close to a top contender? Ireland? Palestine? The former Soviet Union? Cambodia? China? Germany of several decades past? Yes, we’ve had our share of significant political figures murdered, but I think in terms of extremist mayhem and bloodshed, the United States is actually somewhat mild.

By: ashtoreth

ashtoreth — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 02:21:16 +0000

@Navy_Blue

LOL

By: Dayv

Dayv — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 21:18:26 +0000

It may not have been a threat, but the poll served as one more little step in mainstreaming the violent discourse of the extreme right. That may not be illegal, but it is certainly distasteful and the creator should feel some heat over it.

By: madpuppy

madpuppy — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 16:29:05 +0000

I have to agree with some of the other American posters- right now there seems to be a lot of hatred and anger directed towards the left from the right over so many things. Look at the town hall disruptions, or the fact that people are now bringing guns to the meetings, and to appearances by Pres. Obama. There was one preacher who publically prayed for God to give Obama terminal brain cancer.

I don’t know what the intent of the poll’s poster was, but I’m sure there are a lot of people out there who answered “Yes” and meant it, and hoped for it to happen.

By: Navy_Blue

Navy_Blue — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 16:20:48 +0000

I don’t think the Secret Service usually refers to themselves by their initials, and they’d probably prefer that others not do so either. I’m just guessing on that, though.

By: Brandi

Brandi — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 14:43:00 +0000

Doesn’t matter if you’re joking (though usually people who are obviously joking and just being morons don’t get thrown in jail for it; they often will get non-friendly visits from the Secret Service.) Which, in fact, what is apparently going to happen to these dumbshits.

By: Joe Mama

Joe Mama — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 12:48:53 +0000

And then there’s this, which Chris himself posted above this entry:

http://ludickid.livejournal.com/937054.html#

By: Ambrael

Ambrael — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 07:06:30 +0000

For whatever it’s worth, in Colorado, at least, there apparently is a charge of “conspiracy to commit depraved indifference [to human life]” I forget the exact wording. In the case I’m thinking about, it was for some stage of the planning of a school shooting that was nipped in the bud.
We’ve also had an FBI arrest of some dumb kid around here for emailing them threatening Obama directly and claiming to have car bombs at the Mall of America.
And as much as we’d like to pretend Obama’s election as president means we’ve turned some corner, Threats to black leaders are still just a little bit more credible than threats to white leaders here.

By: Brad Hanon

Brad Hanon — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 06:24:56 +0000

The issue here is context. Right now, right-wing incitement to violence is a pretty serious problem (and a pretty large industry) in this country, and the related violence and murder is very much on the rise.

To put it another way, a flaming bag of dog poop on your doorstep is just immature nonsense, right? But if an arsonist has already burned down half a dozen houses in your town, that flaming bag on your porch looks pretty different.

By: piranhtachew

piranhtachew — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 04:26:34 +0000

I would hope more people would vote for Cheney and Bin Laden to be tried than murdered.

How many attempts on Canadian Prime Ministers have there been?

By: Jev

Jev — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 03:20:00 +0000

I gotta say, I don’t see anything here other than rampant stupidity. Could they be racist? Sure. They could also be somebody with strong anti-Obama feelings based entirely on his policies, or just somebody trolling the Interwebs. As we all know, there are plenty of people that post provocatively on the ‘net for no greater reason than to piss people off for the amusement value they get out of it. In that context it could actually be a troll that *supports* Obama, but wanted to troll for reactions, we simply cannot know.

Verkle – a question isn’t a threat. Even if the question were “Do you think I should kill the president?” that would not, IMO, be a threat; although it skirts the line a bit too close for comfort.

As an aside it’s worth noting that not only does the country have a history of violent extremism regarding politics, that it is also founded on the same. I.e. The Boston Tea Party and Revolutionary War. That doesn’t justify anything of course, but it’s worth noting for context.

For the record, I personally do support Obama. This response in more in the nature of open-minded dialogue than anything else.

By: Verklemptomaniac

Verklemptomaniac — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 01:47:11 +0000

What you’re missing is that threatening the president or certain other high government officials is specifically outlawed in the US Federal Code:
http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/html/uscode18/usc_sec_18_00000871—-000-.html

The lesson: DON’T DO IT.

By: Joe Mama

Joe Mama — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 01:37:43 +0000

“And it isn’t a natural instinct for me to assume they’re racist.”

That’s awesome, man. I mean that seriously. It’s wonderful to have that attitude, and I hope someday we can all mature enough to share it with you. But the fact of the matter is that there is a coarseness, a meanness, and an immaturity in America vis. our political dealings with each other, and it seems to be getting worse instead of better. This poll is just another symptom of it.

By: John

John — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 01:14:31 +0000

Andrew,

I’d say that I was one of your vocal detractors in that previous thread, and even I acknowledged that you weren’t serious (“bad satire” I think I called it).

The sad fact is that politics in America has a history of violent extremism. Take a look http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Presidential_assassination_attempts 17 out of 44. Even if you discount the attempts on Nixon, Clinton, and Bush 43, Ford and Regan had pistols pulled on them and Regan was actually shot. And that’s just Presidents. Look at the history of violent death among prominent black leaders in America. America has a nasty habit of solving problems through gun violence, a nasty history of racial violence and a lot of hot air on the web about how Obama isn’t a real American, and a usurper, and destroying America from within. Pictures of Obama as Hitler, aggressively trying to paint him (literally in the ‘Obama as Joker’ posters) as the other, and the insidious enemy. This sort of thing should rightfully make people unsettled.

It wasn’t “Should Obama not be President” or “Should Obama go away” it was “Should Obama be Killed.” As much as I didn’t like your article, it’s very clear from context you’re not serious and you had (somewhat) of a larger point. There doesn’t appear to be any context for this poll to suggest it’s anything other than serious.

By: hilzoy fangirl

hilzoy fangirl — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 00:32:05 +0000

This seems to be the image being used: http://www.inboxity.com/content/obama-borat-parody.jpg

I don’t know if that clarifies anything.