Posted on 09/29/2009 11:10:54 AM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
In the latest incident of violent rhetoric against the president, an anonymous user of Facebook posted a poll on Saturday asking if Barack Obama should be assassinated.
Administrators of the online social networking website took down the poll on Monday, but not before it received 730 responses to the question, “Should Obama be killed?”
The identity of the poll’s author is not known, nor are the responses to the poll, which was posted using third-party software unaffiliated with Facebook itself. The incident came to light after the Secret Service received a tip and contacted Facebook.
Threatening the life of the president is a crime in the United States, and the Secret Service is working to determine if the poll was meant as a tasteless prank or an incitement to violence.
The incident is the latest in a series that may point to a rise in hate speech against President Obama.
Organizations that track hate speech have noted a rise in such rhetoric over the summer, particularly since Obama began pushing for healthcare reform.
The poll on Facebook seemed to be playing off the healthcare controversy, listing as its four answers: “Yes. Maybe. Yes if he cuts my healthcare. No.”
The Secret Service is investigating two other possible threats against Obama, as ABC News reports:
The Secret Service is investigating a Maryland man who held a sign reading “Death to Obama” and “Death to Michelle and her two stupid kids” outside a town hall meeting this week. And in New Hampshire, another man stood across the street from a Presidential town hall with his gun on full display.(continued)
(Excerpt) Read more at features.csmonitor.com ...
Can we modify that just slightly to “Kill 0bamaCare”?
I’m in favor of that.
as much as I dislike obama, and I dislike him quite a bit for his policies and the direction he’s taking the U.S., I don’t want any type of violence directed his way. I may not like it and I certainly don’t, but he is, at least until 2013, the prez.
Well you might have a point. The crazies on the left are NOT going to sit still for a failure of the HCR or Afganistan agenda. That is for sure.
A tv comedian broadcast a "news item" with the blurb SNIPERS WANTED.
Air America host Randi Rhodes made several on air death threats.
The media is lying by omission. They had a good chortle when it was GW Bush on the chopping block. ALL such talk should be looked down upon.
I want to see him peacefully live out his term as president.
His base seems to be getting upset with having to swallow their pride and defend his every gaffe.
It would be more convenient for the Left if he were to disappear and be made a martyr so that the political opposition could be demonized and his “future legacy” could be imagined. We are told that JFK/RFK were going to end the Vietnam war, etc.
Right now it is painfully clear that Jimmy Carter II is sitting in the White House. And that won’t sell Democrats well to the American voters in 2010 or 2012.
That was my first thought.
“There’s never been a right-wing presidential assassin in the U.S. to my knowledge.”
AFAIK, you are correct.
Let’s keep it that way.
I am now officially offended at something anti-Obama. This is 100% wrong and facebook needs to take down this disgusting poll ASAP. Oh, they took it down already. Good.
I hope the creep who put it up gets a visit from the FBI.
May Obama (Pbuh) live a long life under a succession of conservative Republican Presidents following his one-term reign of error.
“I network with thousands on facebook and never saw this poll, which tells me that someone on the left set it up. The left tried to pull the same garbage during the campaign. It didn’t work then and it won’t work now. “
All the more reason to find the creep who did this. Threatening or inciting the death of anyone especially a public official is very wrong.
Didnt they track down someone saying racist stuff on the social media sites and it turns out it was a black man from Mississippi?
Death threats, treason, libel, slander, perjury... none of these are protected speech.
Well? What were the results?
I wonder if this is an clump of crab astroturf...
Should we call Axelrod to find out?
I agree. It would be an attack on the “Office” of the President and we can’t have that. But I don’t believe the anger is simpley about health care, it’s anger in general and the threat level has gone up 400%, from what I hear.
With this particular president, I'm sure there would be some sort of super-special hate crime involved.
He must stay alive and well in my opinion. The media has bestowed sainthood on JFK; can you imagine what they would do to BHO? We'd probably have to rename our firstborn children after him or something.
They really need this kind of distraction, given his performance as a President is without question even worse than Jimmah Cartuh.
Well....a case could possibly be made that John Wilkes Booth was. Taking in to account all of Lincoln's actions...maybe.
The Secret Service needs to find the person who created this poll and make their life and the lives of their family, neighbors, friends and employer very, very difficult.
“Didnt they track down someone saying racist stuff on the social media sites and it turns out it was a black man from Mississippi?”
Yes. Not sure where he was from, but he was black.
If it’s a crime to threaten the president, how come the left got to make a movie showing Bush’s assassination?
I recall the efforts to blame Oswald's actions on the emerging modern conservative movement. The conservatives' criticism of JFK drove Oswald to assassinate JFK, the liberals and "progressives" claimed.
One of the leaders of the effort was the NY Times' James "Scotty" Reston perhaps the dean of journalists. Even as news articles appeared on the front page of the NY Times about Oswald's connections to "Fair Play for Cuba" Reston railed against modern (Goldwater) conservatives.
I do not recall this but I've read that Walter Cronkite had to apologizes for trying to link Barry Goldwater to the assassination.
.. done by a "right winger?" Story has legs -- a virtual centipede
.. done by a disgruntled, Barack-is-not-left-enough "left winger?" Story? What story?
While they are at it, they should check out these Facebook groups too:
Name: We all Want To Kill George Bush
Type: Just for Fun
Members: 429 members
Name: Will someone please kill George W. Bush
Type: Common Interest
Members: 7 members
Name: We r gonna kill that ******* ***** GEORGE BUSH!
Type: Organizations
Members: 73 members
Name: George W. Bush Should Die!
Type: Just for Fun
Members: 13 members
Name: I WANT GEORGE BUSH TO DIE
Type: Common Interest
Members: 4 members
Name: I vote that George Bush can die
Type: Common Interest
Members: 62 members
Exactly! I am all for removing any/all such posts anywhere on the Internet, especially Facebook.
he is setting their party back 8-16 years.
you could make the case that Wilkes was not even a citizen by his own beliefs which puts him in a totally different sphere.
So....what was the result of the poll?
I’m JUST asking?
Maybe the poll was yanked because of what the results revealed.
Yeah classic black ops. Can be effective to from the left. Would be a great lefty setup.
The demoncratic party probably created the Facebook page to demonize republicans.
If Obama is ever capped, it will be by a commie wannabe, like all the others before.
I guess Earl-baby supports the Civilian Security Force idea, since Secret Service is allegedly stretched thin?
Wanna bet the facebook poll was posted by a leftist attempting to bait conservatives?
Maryland “Freak State” PING!
Why is Facebook not taking this offline?
Isn’t this tantamount to a federal offense? Isn’t this mounting to conspiracy?
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