Since Obama was elected, stupid racist people are getting a little more…active. Read more. Schoolchildren shout “Assassinate Obama!” Okay, so kids are being taught by someone to be so full of ignorant hate as to call for the murder of a President-elect. If they still yell that after he’s in, should that be, something you get arrested for? I mean, you can’t go to jail and stay there for something you say. I would never want that. But is it to be construed as a threat worth of at least a look?
Maybe I sound like an advocate of the Patriot Act or something. But come on. Will we really tolerate kids yelling that? I may just be speaking out of an unspoken fear that one of these racist assholes will actually act on their hate.
If black kids in New Orleans in 2005 yelled “Assassinate Bush,” that would not have been tolerated, even if it wasn’t necessarily and entirely racially motivated.
If the kids are not being taught to be so hateful by someone else and are in fact that bad on their own, this is doubly true — we can’t tolerate this. We can’t control someone’s heart and their hate, but we can discourage the expression of it. Can’t we? Should we?
I fear for Mr. Obama’s safety.
But censorship is not the answer. We’ve watched our constitutional rights wither away for eight long years. Enough already!
I wonder if it does not constitute a threat, rather than mere hate speech. In that case, it might not an issue of censorship….
Just making a statement, even if it is an odious one, doesnt constitute a threat. Plus, if you really believe in the first Amendment, you wouldnt tolerate the concept of “hate speech”.
Plus, over th e past 8 years, all kindsof anti-Pres Bush activists have openly called for Pres Bush’s assasination.
Bottom line is this- a few angry peole have soputed off. Frustrated thattheir person didnt win the election.
Small minded idiots are spouting off. Lets not make a mountain out of a molehill,and allow the racists and idiots to have their day.
And the US Secret Service is very good at doing its job protecting the POTUS. So, I wouldnt worry.
Lets stop worrying about what a few stupid people have to say,and help our new Pres bring about much needed change in Washington DC
I never said I tolerated the concept “hate speech,” only alluded to the possibly that something might amount to it. If I really DIDN’T believe in the First Amendment, I would advocate anyone saying things like that should be arrested, especially when talk of killing the President is racially-motivated and yelled by kids. But I do, so I don’t. I think it’s abundantly clear on the rest of this blog where I stand on free speech. I think our FA rights are probably safer in same ways now than they have been for a while. Or, rather, will be in January. Implying that I’m not really for free speech is insulting and ignorant.
I should have been clearer that I was suggesting that it might constitute a threat in a legal way, not an actually intentionally way. I don’t really think third graders are going to try and cap Obama:) But I don’t think they should be taught that saying that is Okay by a lack of response. This response doesn’t have to be from The Man. Maybe they should be exposed to “Assassinate Assholes” or some other kind of speech.
Sure, lots of people are spouting off because they are upset. I think some of this is funny because I did the same thing in 2004 myself.
But I think it would be a mistake to simply assume that the SS will keep Obama safe and that these moronic racists don’t have it in them to pull off a real attempt on Obama’s safety. It’s not impossible that someone IN the SS may want him out of the way.
I think it IS time to give racist wankers “their day,” to put forth the message that this brand of intolerance and hate is unacceptable, etc. But I’m no legal or military mind, so I don’t know HOW to do that. It’s not like I want cops knocking on the doors of known racists and threatening them. If I thought that and didn’t really care about the FA as you imply(?), I should tear up my ACLU card.
But ignoring it doesn’t seem like a good idea to me either.
Even the ACLU stood up to defend the free speech of the GODHATESFAGS guy. But their freedom comes with other people’s freedom, so folks are free to yell louder than the anti-gay mob that protests funerals. I’m glad they do.
Maybe we can do something similar and launch an ASSASSINATE RACISTS! campaign, complete with burned effigies of known racists and burning Republican campaign signs on people’s lawns….
Freedom of Speech allows for even the most despicable words to be spoken without assault from the government.
But that being said, personal, proactive objection to what one hears that is racist…calling it for what it is…is what one can do.
It takes a bit of practice to stand up to ignorance and bullying, but that’s what it takes, and if you hear it, OBJECT to it. Loudly.
I got a good evil giggle out of your suggestion of an alternative ‘campaign’, but then decided that bringing my old-lady-scoldiness to bear on whoever I hear being a butthead would be more effective.
And I carry a pointy cane…
I tend to be soft-spoken. My burning McCain posters idea is kick-ass I think. But where would I find some? I’ll gladly burn them on property I have permission to burn them on :)
But then again, that implies that being a Republican and being a racist go together, and I certainly don’t believe that. :)
Johnny- dont worry. The US Secret Service is very good at what it does. Theyhave large numbers of trained personnel, as well as all kinds of technology. As an undergrad in the mid-’90s, I worked as a research asst for a prof. who studied all manner of racist and ” militia” and neo-nazi groups.I spent 2 summers hanging out with such people. I will be surprised if those guys have it in them to put together a plan to shop-lift a few hamburgers from the local McDonalds, leave alone defeat the Secret Service.
“I will be surprised if those guys have it in them to put together a plan to shop-lift a few hamburgers from the local McDonalds, leave alone defeat the Secret Service.”
LMAO :)
Nonetheless, I think racial hatred is more wide-spread than any of us want to admit, and the SS will have their work cut out for them.
weren’t they disbanded after WWII? all those war crimes and stuff.
LOL — Secret Service — was too lazy to type it:)