A good friend of mine is an ex-Secret Service agent.

[11 Bravo]

He was part of the protection detail for "Scorecard" (AKA Dan Quayle). He's no longer with the Service, but he remains close to several men and women who are. According to my buddy, the Secret Service is in full-on, scared-shitless, sphincter-slamming alert (his words). We laugh at the freepers and others of their ilk. The Secret Service does not. I've been told that the threat level for this President is unprecedented in anyone's memory.
We all know that Limbaugh, Hannity, Savage, and everyone else at FoxNoise is full of shit; but millions of Americans think that every fucking word they utter is gospel. And I won't even get into the bat-shit, spittle-flecked lunacy of the Nugents, Malkins, and Coulters.
I'm not sure where I'm going with this, except to say that the professionals who put their asses on the line have now called BULLSHIT on the media-generated false equivalency that "Yeah, but the left demonized Bush"! They take this shit seriously, and so do I.

[2on2u]

1. The threat is real and it needs to be watched very closely.

http://www.cnn.com/2012/08/07/opinion/bergen-terrorism-wisconsin/index.html


The numbers in the New America Foundation database may well understate the toll of violence from right-wing extremists. Another FBI study reported that between January 1, 2007, and October 31, 2009, white supremacists were involved in 53 acts of violence, 40 of which were assaults directed primarily at African-Americans, seven of which were murders and the rest of which were threats, arson and intimidation. Most of these were treated as racially motivated crimes rather than political acts of violence, i.e. terrorism.

In the past year, the FBI has concluded investigations into a number of right-wing extremists, in some cases securing lengthy sentences for violent plots. In December, Kevin Harpham of Spokane, Washington, was sentenced to 32 years for planting a bomb at the site of a Martin Luther King Jr. parade. City workers found the bag containing the bomb an hour before the streets filled with parade-goers.

After 9/11, there was great concern that al Qaeda or an allied group would launch a terrorist attack involving chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear (CBRN) weapons. But in the past decade, there is no evidence that jihadist extremists in the United States have acquired or attempted to acquire material to construct CBRN weapons.

By contrast, 11 right-wing and left-wing extremists have managed to acquire CBRN material that they planned to use against the public, government employees or both.

[femrap]

31. I have been worried about

Obama at every campaign stop.

These RWers are f*cking WACKO. They'd do just to be 'famous.'

Please let him be safe from these racist asshats.

[BouzoukiKing]

99. I have a special place in my heart for cops.

It's not a particularly pleasant place, born of tear gas and beatings and the entrapments of the sixties.

But I make an exception here. If I hear anything - and I mean ANYTHING - that in any way might be construed as a threat against our president, I will be at the door of the nearest Secret Service branch office. And I will be loud.

[femrap]

153. I have

that same special place in my heart as well....being from the '60's.

Going to the Secret Service is a great idea...I live around some crazy rednecks. Make sure you get the license number!!! I always yell that at the TV during cop shows as the car drives off....and I never understand why they don't shoot the damn tires!!!!! How far can the criminal get w/ a flat tire?

[Jackpine Radical]

176. Yeah, me too, checkin' in from the 60's.

Shot up a little in 'Nam, clubbed & gassed on the streets of Madison.

Somehow I don't put the SS into the same category as Daley's pigs and the like.

[femrap]

191. Yep,

I want our President safe. These Southern racists worry me. And if I worry, everything will be OK.

[Jackpine Radical]

193. You must be kin to my wife.

She long ago discovered that none of the stuff she worries about actually happens, and so she feels obligated to worry about everything.

[femrap]

194. We haven't invaded Iran yet!!!

Say hi to your wife!

[Jackpine Radical]

196. She's busy right now.

Praying that we don't invade Iran.

[ProudProgressiveNow]

119. +1000 nt

[orpupilofnature57]

128. +1000

[Hutzpa]

131. Maybe it's time the left starts fighting fire with fire

can you imagine the outrage if the black panther was out there making all kinds of threats to these very same pundits instigating these threats to the president? Yet the media treats this as though these guys are just crazy and we should all ignore them and once we ignore them everything will be fine. Such BS like that is what makes this much more harder for the Secret Service to operate.

There should be a law created by the Secret Service that says any threat made to the President, be it a Republican or a Democrat, any threat should be treated as a terrorist act period.

Enough, the Secret Service needs to draw the line somewhere, they need to use the terrorist act policy to either start shooting people or arresting people either one, they have to find a way to take out their anger some how.

Time to Act.

[juxtaposed]

2. My father was part of this in the 80's and took it very serious at the time

We didn't have the tea-party nor Mcviegh back then

[Pachamama]

178. The resurgence of the KKK is frightening - saw this on Nightline last week and got chills - they are

....so filled with hatred and venom for minorities, but most particularly for Blacks and President Obama. Their Grand Prick thinks Blacks evolved from animals (his version of evolution)....

Its so disgusting and frightening....and it only takes one of these nuts to decide to take matters into their own hands and become "famous" or do "God's work".

http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=abc+nightline+clip+on+KkK+video+filterui%3aplayable_html5&view=detail&mid=DA822173B253C95A1F3CDA822173B253C95A1F3C&first=0

I pray our President is well protected....

[MichiganVote]

3. Ok, anything can happen in the US,we know that. And it would be bad

for ALL Americans for a sitting President to be assasinated. We know that too.

But..noone can take out the entire majority population in the US who voted FOR the Democratic platform. The majority DID NOT vote for the republican platform. They, we, rejected it.

So for anyone, anywhere who wants to do this sitting President harm, beware. There are millions of us who in one way or another have put our lives on the line for this man and for the path forward he has set out.

Kill one, yes it can happen. Kill us all, not gonna happen. We'll just get stronger.

[obxhead]

68. BS

Look where this country went after JFK.

Maybe things are different now.... but I doubt it.

[MichiganVote]

70. My dear, many,many of the children and youth of the JFK generation

have voted to put Barack Obama in office-twice. That is really something.

[obxhead]

71. I don't disagree with that.

Look where the country went and how future elections went afterwards.

Think about how 2004 went.

A million whispers can travel for hundreds of miles, but they're easy to distort as well.

[oldhippydude]

83. yes i was there... and i am here

i worked on Gene Mc Carthy's campaign and saw on television Bobby getting shot... it made us stronger!!

[Leopolds Ghost]

88. Did it? ;_;

Bobby Kennedy's death was the beginning of the end of "traditional" liberalism it seems to me

[hifiguy]

93. Yes. RFK was the last best hope.

It's not surprising that the people who killed his brother killed him. Certain aspects of foreign policy were forever removed from the control of every Demoratic president on 11/22/63.

Funny how only left politicians were the victims of the 1960s.

[Leopolds Ghost]

95. Certainly they seem to give some sort of "come into the fold" talk

To everyone who actually gets elected to high office.

[hifiguy]

96. Cooperate or we will kill you

is a remarkably effective threat.

Love your sig photo. Bronies unite!

[Leopolds Ghost]

133. Here's a choice video related to what you just said --

"Come to Jesus Mammon" speech

Re: Ponies, season 3 is going online in half an hour. Hopefully it'll live up to the hype.

[Stardust]

170. For those who'd like a transcript:

“Network” Money Speech – Arthur Jensen (Transcript)

You have meddled with the primary forces of nature, Mr Beale, and I won’t have it! Is that clear?

You think you merely stopped a business deal. That is not the case. The Arabs have taken billions of dollars out of this country, and now they must put it back! It is ebb and flow, tide and gravity. It is ecological balance.

You are an old man who thinks in terms of nations and peoples. There are no nations. There are no peoples. There are no Russians. There are no Arabs. There are no Third Worlds. There is no West. There is only one holistic system of systems. One vast and immane, interwoven, interacting, multi-varied, multi-national dominion of dollars. Petro-dollars, electro-dollars, multi-dollars, reichmarks, rands, rubles, pounds and shekels.

It is the international system of currency which determines the totality of life on this planet. That is the natural order of things today. That is the atomic, and sub-atomic and galactic structure of things today.

And YOU have meddled with the primal forces of nature. And you will atone.

Am I getting through to you, Mr Beale?

You get up on your little twenty-one inch screen and howl about America and democracy. There is no America. There is no democracy. There is only IBM and ITT and AT&T, and DuPont, Dow, Union Carbide and Exxon. Those are the nations of the world today.

What do you think the Russians talk about in their Councils of State? Karl Marx? They get out their linear programming charts, statistical decision theories, mini-max solutions, and compute the price-cost probabilities of their transactions and investments, just like we do.

We no longer live in a world of nations and ideologies, Mr Beale. The world is a college of corporations, inexorably determined by the immutable bye-laws of of business. The world is a business, Mr Beale. It has been since man crawled out of the slime.

And our children will live, Mr Beale, to see that … perfect … world in which there is no war nor famine, oppression or brutality. One vast and ecumenical holding company for whom all men will work to serve a common profit. In which all men will hold a share of stock.

All necessities provided. All anxieties tranquilized. All boredom amused.

[KansDem]

118. "Funny how only left politicians were the victims of the 1960s."

I read an intriguing comment years ago about why left-leaning politicians and public figures were assassinated during the 1960s: JFK, MLK, RFK, etc. That's how the plutocrats/oligarchs/fascists/corporatists operated.

But then, with the rise of hate radio during the 1980s, the "character assassins" came to the fore. We moved from murdering individuals to murdering their reputations. This became evident with the rise of FOX News.

It became so much more convenient to lie about someone constantly in the media than it was to enlist hitmen from shadowy underworlds to do your bidding. And safer too! Who knows, you just might run across a law-enforcement official willing to investigate an assassination. They just might trip you up and catch you! Better to endorse some Congressional investigation and "official report" pointing to the pre-written narrative.

[ProudProgressiveNow]

120. +1 nt

[CrispyQ]

143. Outstanding post.

[HughBeaumont]

152. Rec this post.

The Criminal Illuminati Agency wasn't letting ANY highly popular left-leaning Democratic family become a political dynasty.

Giving JFK (who stood up to Steel bosses and the nuclear-war-happy MIC) two terms would have been counterproductive to the Republican/MIC/Corptocracy's long term plans.

An RFK win would have seriously swayed America to, you know, NOT be the "USA USA USA"-chanting, jingo-drugged, fearful, completely-corporate-dependent, easily swayed, accepting of lower and lower standards, obedient nation that it is today.

Conspiratorial? Think about it.

When did American wages start getting suppressed? 1973.
When did energy start becoming an overwhelming concern? the early 70s.
What happened in the 60s that you would never see happen today? People protested against the Republican/MIC folly wars and it got televised. Protests are no more than a belch, a blip on today's entertainment-based "news".
When did the Republican party team up with corporations to institute this permanent plague of power and wealth transfer from the poor to the rich (reciprocated with risk, cost of living and tax burden transfer to the poor)? The 1970s
When did this grand plan get permanently nailed? REAGAN.

Since 1968, there have only been THREE Democratic presidents. And no offense to Carter, but it's not like any of them can really be considered truly "Democratic" in a liberal sense, especially not the last two. Being fully on board with Republican "Trickle Down" & Deregulation bullshitnomics isn't Democratic, it's caving to the needs of the ruling class. These were always "approved" Democrats . . . never even the slightest bit liberal, always moderate to Eisenhower Republican at best.

It's no accident that we're likely never going to have a progressive President.

The only dynasty in this country is, and will always be, BUSH. Whether we like it or not.

We're not meant to ask "what could have been". We're only plagued with accepting "how it's going to be from now on". The Kennedys were never meant to thrive. They had ideas, brains, plans and vision that would have swayed America to become an organized working ideal that government and corporations feared.

Instead, the U.S. since the late 60s set the trend in arch-conservative corporate-based "governance" with a glacial but ubiquitous power-grab and continues stridently to make life as miserable and as "stay-put" to it's obedient, timid and completely dependent wage slaves as possible.

[LiberalLovinLug]

155. Rec your post

Sadly though.

The Kennedys are bad-mouthed and demeaned. (Look at Ted Kennedy's last few years), if not downright slaughtered. John F. Kennedy, Jr. and his beautiful wife Carolyn would have ushered in another Kennedy era but like others deemed too threatening to the right wing oligarchy, they died in a plane crash. I don't doubt for a minute that crash was helped along.

Instead we have the Bushes as the American royalty. From a Grandfather that earned his money dealing with Nazis, and then was (thankfully) thwarted in his attempt to overthrow the United States with a Hitler-like Fascist dictatorship. It didn't work then, but his sons and grandsons, and now great grandsons are working to attain the same goals, but in a slower more insidious manner.

You think the networks seemed to stay clear of publicizing too much dirt on Romney about his Bane dealings, or with his weird cult beliefs....just wait until Jeb is crowned as the next nominee. If anyone but Hillary Clinton runs, they won't have a chance because anyone even slightly criticizing Jeb will be branded Anti-American.

[KansDem]

156. "...just wait until Jeb is crowned as the next nominee."

We also need to keep in mind that the last time the Republicans won the White House without Richard Nixon or a member of the Bush family on its ticket was 1928.

That will be 88 years in 2016.

I be surprised if Jeb wasn't their first choice...

[SomeGuyInEagan]

162. Brilliant post, KansDem. +1 n/t

[Squeaky Weal]

140. right wingers were targets too

It wasn't just liberal politicians who were targeted for institutional whacking during the 1960's political assasination frenzy.

George Wallace, who took institutionalized racism as far as any modern presidential candidate ever has, was targeted in 1972 but survived and eventually (allegedly) recanted and disavowed his hatred for people of color, and in 1967, George Lincoln Rockwell, the founder of the American Nazi Party, was assassinated at a Virginia laundromat, having survived earlier attempts on his life. I don't know quite how to categorize Malcolm X, but his death was arguably a political assassination as well.

[dixiegrrrrl]

172. Malcolm X scared the hell out of racist whites.

Same as the Black Panthers did later.
I put him on the left, actually.

[MichiganVote]

158. From my persepctive, yes. When I was young, it was a horrific deal

for African/Americans to so much as sit in a seat on a bus without being attacked. To sit on this stool but not stool was of paramount importance. To march in a city without being shot. Kids in school did dnot have black or white friends. They did not worship together, play sports together or even purchase goods in the same stores.

If Bobby Kennedy's death was the end of it all, then why are we now fighting to empower and African American President as opposed to one woman who wants to be seated on the front of a bus?

Friend, we have come a long way. Maybe not in your time or over your pet issue(s). But there can be no doubt that white or black, that progressive civil rights issues have maintained their growth inspite of everything the GOP throws at us.

[mountain grammy]

129. No, it left us devastated and fractured.

Remember the Democratic convention in 1968? Then the election? I was 20, too young to vote, but I remember it well. The Republicans have been crushing us for years. Retribution for electing FDR 4 times, then Truman too. JFK was far to popular to be allowed to live, and RFK was on the same track.
I'm not big on conspiracy theories, but it's strange how far to the right America has gone since the days of FDR, when, as my mother said, all working people were Democrats. All it took was getting those pesky, unashamed, popular liberals out of the way.

[MichiganVote]

159. I think you underestimate the power of war.

[whathehell]

135. Thank you, MichiganVote, from another one of that generation. n/t

[tavalon]

107. Two steps back and three steps forward

It's hard, glacially slow, but we are getting better. Stronger. The Mad Men are dying off.

[Marr]

126. It's polyanna to think that assassinations aren't effective.

Or that they only end up working against the faction that does them. It simply isn't so.

[cleduc]

4. A while back, I posted this article on how overloaded the

Secret Service is with threats against the president.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/barackobama/5967942/Barack-Obama-faces-30-death-threats-a-day-stretching-US-Secret-Service.html

Since Mr Obama took office, the rate of threats against the president has increased 400 per cent from the 3,000 a year or so under President George W. Bush, according to Ronald Kessler, author of In the President's Secret Service.

When folks do this to a president

then other wacky folks get the idea that their president is not "one of them". He's been heavily demonized by the right wing.

I suspect the threats reduced some with the notion that Romney would look after this "problem" for these wackos. Since that didn't happen, I expect President Obama is in as much danger as he's ever been.

And let's not forget that this same president is the man who took bin Laden out so the al qaeda terrorists or Khadafi clan probably wouldn't mind knocking him off either.

I also suspect that is why they yanked the security detail on Romney as quickly as they did because they're overloaded.

As I've observed him, it's amazed me how calm and cool he can be in front of a crowd knowing that at any given moment, one of these nuts might try to take him out.

I worry about him.

If any of you encounter a concern:
http://www.secretservice.gov/faq.shtml#faq4

How can I report a threat towards a protectee?

Contact your nearest U.S. Secret Service field office which is listed in the "Emergency Numbers" section in the front of most phone books.

The Secret Service is interested in legitimate information relating to threats, plans or attempts by individuals, groups or organizations to harm Secret Service protectees. However, the agency does not desire or solicit information pertaining to individuals or groups expressing legitimate criticism of, or political opposition to, the policies and decisions of the government or government officials.

http://www.secretservice.gov/field_offices.shtml

And if you misplace that link, the Dept of Homeland Security will forward a concern.

I have made a couple of reports some years back and the Secret Service were great, nailed a guy and were zero hassle to deal with. They're simply outstanding people.

If you ever go to see him, watch his back.

Sorry for any notion of paranoia but having been a big admirer of the Kennedys, MLK and John Lennon, maybe I'm a little more hyper about this. The anguish when you lose someone like that, even though you don't know them personally, can be pretty bad. It was for me. You all worked so hard for four more years with this man as your president - I'd rather be cautious and over react a little than not say anything. I have great affection for President Obama.

Sorry if this bothered anyone.

[LeftofObama]

10. I've been to several Presidential rallies.

Back in the late 80's I went to a George H. W. Bush rally, not because I supported him, but because I had never seen a President before. In 1992 and 1996 I went to Bill Clinton rallies. You could see secret service agents on the rooftops and snipers on both sides of President Clinton at one particular rally. Not once did the secret service ever say anything to people who were there at the rally.

Fast forward to 2012... I went to see President Obama and the line was HUGE! A U.S. Marshall walked by us in line and in groups of about 5-10 people he would say that if we saw anyone acting strange or if we were even the slightest bit suspicious go to an agent immediately and report it. That really made me aware that yes, the threats against this president are probably 100 fold what they were against the others.

[cleduc]

15. There was one recent rally where Barack was coming

up from under some bleachers and then down the stairs of the bleacher with folks on either side of the aisle. There were about four agents that I could see right around him. As Barack went from side to side to touch or shake hands, this one bald agent was moving with him and seemingly draped all over his back - right tight behind him I presume to protect him.

It has to be a nerve racking job for those guys. One mistake and ....

And again, I don't know how Obama maintains such a relaxed demeanor in those situations. He's a remarkable, courageous man.

[pangaia]

35. There was a big bald SS guy after Obama's victory speech..

As Obama was shaking hands with people in the crowd, working the line, he was absolutely surrounded by SS guys.
Several were bald as I remember. But one big guy in particular was almost always at his right side looking down in front of Obama as if looking for anyone not just wanting to shake hands.
All I could think of at the time was..'OMG, that agent is watching for a gun or a knife...'

I though the guy, and his colleagues looked really nervous and intense.. His eyes were like radar....
It worried and worries me...

[Floyd_Gondolli]

73. The hands are the key

Theyre trained to watch the hands just like cops are. Thats actually not at all unique to President Obama's secret service detail.

It's one of many techniques that are employed. The thought being the hands will be necessary to do harm with a gun or knife or some other weapon.

[Myrina]

37. Yeah, the bald one his POTUS's shadow ...

... you can see him in photos from the past 4 years here and there. I would NOT want that man's stress level.

[underthematrix]

45. The bald guy is his body man.

I saw PBO in Reno during 2008 primary and there were FBI agents milling around in the audience - listening to conversations. I didn't care what they did as long as they didn't let anything happen to him.

[gateley]

81. We on DU call him "Bob".

His name as been posted -- not a secret -- but I don't remember it. As you note, he's to one who has to get between the gun and Obama.

Those guys are heroes.

[hifiguy]

92. That is, in the words of Mick Foley,

real testicular fortitude.

[Nevernose]

17. I delivered a pizza to Clinton's detail

At a rally in 1996, even being invited "backstage" where not even the press was allowed. Later that night I delivered more pizza and wings to the President's hotel floor. It was a little surreal. Also, they're shitty tippers.

I've met Carter and Obama, too, but since he got elected Obama seems way more unapproachable than those other presidents (probably a good thing).

[heaven05]

55. some

americans are downright shameful, pitiful people. America is 40% hateful. Mittshits base.

[geckosfeet]

134. Nice links. Bookmarking.

[aletier_v]

5. These thoughts crossed my mind during Obama's victory speech

I gotta say, the guy has a lot of courage to move forward like this.

[MynameisBlarney]

48. Yeah

same here...I'm happy, yet apprehensive about the very near future.

[Cha]

6. Yes..why wouldn't PBO have the highest threat level in history as we know it? limpbaugh,

foxscrews, hannity, etc, etc, etc.. fill their stupid brainwashed heads with LIES about our President. hell if I believed that stuff..I'd hate him too. And, they're the kind of people who don't just Hate ..they act on it with their guns that they just know are going to be taken away from them..because they're too damn stupid to figure it out.

Thanks for the post, Bravo

[The Green Manalishi]

69. My observation is that the only other POTUS

with this level of hatred by the wingnuts against him was JFK. The Catholic thing was darn near as freaky for the Teabagger precursors as the African American thing.... 'the Other is in charge', plus the Bay of Pigs deal with it's riling up of very unstable, paranoid and violent factions.

SS folks have some serious guts.

[tavalon]

109. They are true believers

I think that term comes from Serenity. It's amazing how guts don't come into play when one is doing something they believe in with all of their hearts.

In my job, I come up against life or death battles and there is no fear in the moment. OMG, after, though, there sure is and the overall stress is huge. And when I'm in the battle, it isn't my personal life up for grabs, I cannot imagine the stress levels and how they deal. Heck, come to think of it, I spend way too little time thinking about how I deal.

I just realized one way we probably both cope - gallows humor. Gads, I hope none of that ever makes it out into the public!

[tblue37]

160. "True Believers" was the title of a 1960s or early 1970s

book about the psychology of fanatics of all kinds.

[tavalon]

190. yeah, that was the angle I was trying to avoid so I went with a more current movie

as reference.

[anneboleyn]

175. Lincoln also -- Booth and his many southern sympathizers.

[siligut]

7. You confirm my fears

Introduce a bill now and speed it through, all threats toward the POTUS, no matter how small will be investigated and punished. Anyone attempting to harm the POTUS or his family will be put to death and any group the guilty is associated with will be prosecuted with a huge fine and prison time. Any successful assassin will not only be put to death but his/her family will also be imprisoned along with any group the guilty associated with.

Also, fast track to law that instigators like Rush and Billo will not be tolerated, depending, there will be fines and removal from public speaking and ultimately prison time.

This has to be stopped.

[LongTomH]

11. NO!!!!! Absolutely Not!!!! In this country, we do NOT punish the families of offenders!!!!!

No matter how vile the crime. If we start doing things like that, we cease to be America and become the Third World nightmare the Republicans want us to be!!!!

[siligut]

16. You are right, they would just send an unmarried orphan anyway. nt

[Posteritatis]

13. If you're pushing laws like that you're on the wrong site. (nt)

[nadinbrzezinski]

14. This violates legal precedent

So many ways, it is breath taking.

[siligut]

19. The threats against our POTUS are unprecedented

I am tired of playing nice with scorpions.

[nadinbrzezinski]

24. Hmm no they are not

There is a precedent to this, and sadly it did not end well, Kennedy.

That said in the US we do not punish family members unless they are actually part of the conspiracy, using the term in the legal sense.

If you said they are unprecedented in the modern period, me and the Secret Service will agree.

Why the SS is aggressive on this...but sorry, I am not willing to change US law.

[aletier_v]

27. And there is a big deterrent in place. Biden. :)

[PATXgirl]

122. My biggest fear after the term 1election was that he wouldn't finish it. Then I saw how much tRepubs

Can't stand Biden. I think the thought of Biden in the oval office gives them pause.

[jaysunb]

171. "There is a precedent to this"

Bullshit ! It's been well documented through the last 4 1/2 years of the unprecedented resources and strategys that have been expended to protect Obama both before and after his election.

Kennedy was riding in an open limo when he was shot, for crying out loud ! Can you even imagine Obama or any other President since JFK doing that ?

Obama's protection is unprecedented in this country's history.

[nadinbrzezinski]

173. Yes, that is a lesson of the 1960s

But serious, the threats Kennedy got were also unprecedented.

Read any history of the secret service

The reasons were scarily similar.

1.- Minority President, JFK's election was also historic

2.- A similar group of conspiracy driven loons, ironically financed by the same family...did I mention grand dad was also involved in a certain coup attempt in 1933?

At this point we should be able to connect a few dots. (Cough Koch cough)

But serious...we have been here before. What is different is that we are also this close to an actual shooting civil war.

[heaven05]

181. all

I know is the number of threats against our current POTUS is unprecedented. And while Kennedy was called Catholic in a derisive manner, he was not insulted racially everyday by ignorant people with hate in their hearts. Nor was Jackie insulted nor Caroline and John John. Michelle and the two daughters are insulted everyday with the n-word and assaulted with death threats. Kennedy was nowhere near the same.

[nadinbrzezinski]

184. You are right, why Kennedy lies at Arlington National Cemetery.

You might prefer to look at raw data, I prefer to look at history and the lessons learned. One f them was to take all threats very seriously, which is something they didn't do back then. That is one the lessons.

[heaven05]

185. you

have no problem with me on the cold hard truth about Kennedy. I'm just talking numbers and hoping he doesn't become another casualty of hateful and evil people. I just hope our Secret Service does well with this one. I worry like many others and get fretful over the hate exhibited this time.That's all

[nadinbrzezinski]

186. Read my original response to this thread

I am not minimizing it. I am aware of it...but those lessons learned are likely why worst cases have not happened.

The secret service is a top notch organization. They took Kennedy's loss hard, and later the attempts on Ford and Reagan. They learned lessons and I trust they will do their dampest to keep the first and second families safe, as well as speaker Boehner and Leader Reid. That is what they do. That s their job.

[heaven05]

188. yeah

I have a response to that person also. Yep let's hope all mentioned stay safe.

[ScreamingMeemie]

58. How about we round up all Republicans and place them in concentration camps...

No, families often have nothing to do with the deranged personality it takes to commit such a crime.

[gkhouston]

18. Apart from being utterly barbaraic, such an approach would be completely ineffective.

Would-be assassins are plugged into a belief system where such a "deterrent" would be meaningless. Either they would consider such a sacrifice "worth it" or they imagine themselves in a situation so dystopian that death doesn't seem like a bad thing. They might even consider it a meaningful martyrdom for their cause.

[awoke_in_2003]

26. For a second I thought I was reading...

Soviet underground.

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

38. It's not the people who make threats I worry about

[pangaia]

40. I agree with longtom

It is interesting, Limbaugh, Michael Savage, Coulter,.. none of these people would be allowed on Canadian TV, if I am correct. I know Fox News is not.

[Posteritatis]

46. I'm in Nova Scotia and can get it just fine

What we can get on TV is mostly up to the producers of the content, not the Canadian government per se. Fox was prevented from actually setting up a domestic station in Canada due to a mix of the media regulations here and the "no, you can't make shit up and still call yourself news" laws.

Most typical cable packages will include their US station. We aren't quite as broad-brush censorious as Americans seem to think with stuff like this.

[pangaia]

54. Interesting,

The only place I have been in O Canada the last few years is Toronto where I visit friends. They were not able to get Fox, and wouldn't watch it even if they could.. Maybe I should have done a little more research..
Still, you guys have a much, much higher sanity rate than we Yanks do... :&gt )

Who was it who tried to go to Canada recently for a speech, or convention, something and the "Border Guard" wouldn't let him in. Whomever it was, that was priceless.

[laundry_queen]

149. We get Fox

I think it depends on your cable provider. And I think the guy who couldn't get across was Mr. Koran-burner.

[Beacool]

49. Are you for real???

Why would the family necessarily be guilty? Get a grip!!!

[heaven05]

50. no

leave the non-combatants alone, just kill combatants. That's what they are looking for. And sedition charges should be investigated in regard to all these right wingers calling for revolution. Throw them in prison.

[tblue37]

161. Wanna bet Trump got a cautionary call or visit

strongly "advising" him to take down his tweets calling for a revolution?

[heaven05]

180. yep

that would be nice. I'd love to be there.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

56. Good God, no! That's banana republic stuff.

That's one of the most anti-progressive, scary-authoritarian notions I've ever seen expressed on DU.

[RedCappedBandit]

60. What the hell? I'm ashamed this is on DU.

[Sheldon Cooper]

66. Oh for fuck sake what is wrong with you?

This is America and the sins of the father are NOT visited on the sons. What the fuck.

[justiceischeap]

115. Funny you bring that up because in Barack Obama's case, the "sins" of the father ARE visited

on the son... by the Teabaggers. Just had to point that little irony out.

PS... I don't agree with any punishment placed on people just because they're related to someone whom may break the law. If that were the case, I'd have a criminal record since all my siblings have either been in jail or arrested. I promised my mama that'd never be me and so far I've been able to keep that promise.

[dairydog91]

87. I'm going to be charitable and assume this post is a joke.

I don't think that someone on DU could seriously be arguing for "corruption of blood" and other similar acts of barbarism. Or, for that matter, advocating execution for "attempting to harm" (meaning what, exactly?) the President. Or advocating the crushing of political opponents.

[OldDem2012]

103. That would make us no better than the people we oppose....perhaps much worse. nt.

[bayareamike]

116. Yes, let's employ Soviet tactics circa 1935

Disgusting.

[orpupilofnature57]

130. +1000

[WinkyDink]

139. That's pretty much insane, what you're suggesting.

[BarackTheVote]

148. As much as I would like to see Limbaugh prosecuted

for hate speech, et all, what you're talking about is exactly what him and his ilk have warned their viewers and listeners the Democrats would do if elected. This is not going to have your imagined outcome of safety and security, it will only consolidate their hate and make them more likely to be violent. I've been going around to my Republican friends and reassuring them, "it won't be as bad as you think," and "we've dragged you kicking and screaming into a better world, you're welcome." Do what you're talking about and, damn, they will go batshit insane. No question.

[Marrah_G]

154. What the fuck is wrong with you?

"Any successful assassin will not only be put to death but his/her family will also be imprisoned along with any group the guilty associated with. "

You really posted that? really?

[cherokeeprogressive]

183. I'm sorry, but I find this post to be evidence of some kind of mental issue.

People like you worry me. People like you, who would put GROUPS of people in prison after executing a citizen for an UNSUCCESSFUL attempt at some bad act scare me bigtime.

Fuuuuuuck.

[Maeve]

8. I have worried since 2008

The Right has demonized that good Christian family man to the point that reality isn't even on their continent. We know there are wackos with ammo out there--the White House has been fired on at least once in the past four years. Yet the RW nutjobs keep saying things to egg the fools on.

May the president be kept safe and healthy.

[Matariki]

9. That's chilling.

[nadinbrzezinski]

12. I have no friends

And have written as much. None of this is laughing matter. They mean it.

[distantearlywarning]

20. This is the #1 thing I worry about right now

I was thinking about it even before the election results were in - that Obama could be assassinated by the whackjobs.

I hope and pray that nothing of the sort will happen during his second term. It would be absolutely terrible for the national spirit if anything like that happened.

[valerief]

21. I'm hoping we don't have a replay of the sixties and watch out leaders be assassinated. nt

[Bernardo de La Paz]

22. For years, death threats against Obama are at four times the rate of any previous President. nt

[janx]

23. The media fear mongering *must* be creating a strain on the Secret Service, no doubt!

I remember taking my daughter to an Obama rally here in NM before he was elected. We got there seven hours early and the wait was worth it. During that time, we saw the Secret Service arrive, organize, and position themselves.

I'm telling you, it was impressive! We watched them for hours.

[Whisp]

25. I am very grateful that the secret service is doing such a great job.

Yeh, I've thought about this ever since he was elected in 2004 and can imagine how upscale those crazies are after his re-election.

Bless you, SS (in the good way) for keeping President Obama and his family safe.

[EmeraldCityGrl]

28. I can't imagine what Michelle goes thru knowing this and having to put

up a positive front. I think most of us here would take a bullet for President Obama.
I hope they cut back his personal appearances to the barest minimum.

[Iris]

44. No kidding. I felt a little panicky just watching Presidents Obama and Clinton walking out into the

crowd to shake hands with people after one of their appearances together. The Secret Service were basically surrounding them, but still....

[grantcart]

111. She deserves a medal

[zentrum]

29. Very seriously. I'm actually

...terrified for O's safety in the second term because of how unhinged the nuts are becoming. Beck and Limbaugh and O Reilly and company are just stoking and stoking it.

[Swede Atlanta]

30. The GOP scoffed when Janet Napolitano said right wing fringe groups were a danger......

It is bad to have religion, guns, racism and a world view that is disconnected from fact and reality.

Today's GOP is the same or worse than the Taliban, AQ or any other terrorist organization. They behave like children but are far, far more dangerous. If they can't have their way they don't want to just take their toys and go home (I would be okay with that). No, they want to kill the other children in the sandbox and then burn the sandbox down. They have a total scorched earth mentality. It is disconcerting and very disheartening.

I am in my mid-50s. I really don't know if there is any hope for us to return to civility, not just in the political arena but in general. People are in such a hurry and are so inconsiderate of one another from cutting one another off while driving, road rage, littering everywhere, total lack of respect for one another, etc.

When I was growing up and really, I think, until Clinton's presidency, there was a modicum of civility and respect. I'm sure things were deteriorating up to that time but didn't seem so pronounced. I recall the real vitriol started when Clinton sought to integrate gay and lesbian servicemen and women and Hillary championed the first attempt at health care reform. It went downhill from there through the relentless investigations and waste of money on Whitewater, the impeachment proceedings, etc.

I regret that there were so many on the left harbored such deep hatred of GWB. I understand their frustration, especially after the 2004 election results. But I don't recall the left being out for blood against their fellow Americans. None of us wanted anything to happen to GWB because then Darth Cheney would be in charge.

This is a visceral thing with the righties now. They see "their America" that was white and Christian fading away. A new America is taking form and it is increasingly ethnically diverse, more liberal when it comes to issues such as abortion, same-gender issues, immigration, health care reform, etc. They are frightened because they have always, more or less, had it their way. Sure Clinton raised taxes but they were used to that because Reagan raised taxes 17 times.

But this is something new.

[janx]

43. I am your age and agree with you. n/t

[cprise]

102. Interesting you mention road rage-

The post-1980s irrationality of the Right is to a large extent founded on road rage, on getting suburbanite drivers riled up while they are captive in frustrating commuter traffic.

Notice that over-air progressive/left shows are rare for 20 years now. It's not because of demographics.

Progressive ideas are somewhat freer flowing on subscription services like cable, but only just. They are tolerated there because economically desperate people are much less likely to encounter them there.

Media reform will have to be on the agenda, and sooner than most people here would expect. The alternative will be continued blockage in Washington and further erosion of the moderate left's popularity by the 'Citizens United' spending environment.

[bigbrother05]

137. Clear channel buying up the small market radio stations

Has homogenized the media in favor of the RW. Was able to listen to Mike Malloy and others on the radio in AL in the late 90s, early 2000 before 9/11 not so now. Makes living in the blue part of TX not so bad by comparison. Can take solace in having J Castro as our mayor.

NPR helps to avoid the crazies, but sometimes even have to turn that off on the commute.

[CrispyQ]

146. I had not thought of the connection between hate radio, being stuck in your car & road rage.

"Media reform will have to be on the agenda, and sooner than most people here would expect."

This is an absolute necessity! Read what this DUer said up above.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10021778894#post118


We need to take back our electoral process & our media.

[CrispyQ]

145. I posted my feelings below - almost exactly the same as yours.

We're about the age. It's a different world. I can remember the first time I said to my husband, "I think we may get off this planet just in time." We looked at each other as we both realized what I'd said. Now we talk about it a lot, especially when those eco-reports come out & the computer models show that everything is accelerating more quickly than they expected & we wonder if we'll check out in time or if we will actually see the beginning of some really ugly stuff.

~Heavy sigh. What a load for a Saturday morning! You did give me a chuckle with this line, though:

None of us wanted anything to happen to GWB because then Darth Cheney would be in charge.

[Diclotican]

32. 11 Bravo

11 Bravo

I fear the same - the republicans would hope for no less, than someone got to shoot the US president ... kill him, like "some" did with Kennedy in 1963

The Secret Service need to stand vigilant - and to protect the president from enemies abroad or home - as I fear the next 4 year could be very alarming for the President of the United States... The Hate I feel here in Norway is maybe just a little after glow from what you in the US experience this days - but dam it can be hot even here in cold winterly Norway... The Hate they express is something I have never experienced before - and I have been active on message boards in Norway for many years - and have discussed with some right wing fanatics over the years - some of them is bab shit crazy - some is just resentful - but good on the bottom - some if just misguided and can be followed to the light...

I hope Secret Service stay vigilant - and protect the president, the first lady and the children's of President Obama.. And we others, who get to know this things, need to put this information to the ones who can do something with it.. Even I who have no personal interest in this election - and who are not living in the US, is scared about the hate I read many places.. They REALLY HATE THE GUY...

Diclotican

[AsahinaKimi]

33. I once

referred to my friend as an ex-Marine. She corrected me and said she was a "Former Marine" I wonder if that should apply to the Secret Service as well???

[hifiguy]

41. "Marine" is one of those things you are forever.

Like Presidents, Playboy Playmates, Oscar winners, Nobel/Pulitzer prize awardees and boxing champions like Muhammad Ali. You're never an "ex."

[Native]

82. "ex" implies you were somehow disassociated with your profession under negative circumstances while

"former" does not. That is how it was once explained to me.

[hifiguy]

84. Indeed.

Just because you're no longer on active duty doesn't mean you're not still a member of the select.

[Manifestor_of_Light]

89. No such thing as ex-Beatle, either.

(Baby Boomer here)

[Leopolds Ghost]

189. And Crips.

And DUers, and samurai, and juggalos. *mumbles something about bronies*

There are lots of "ex" hippies, however. It's one of the favorite pastimes of hippies I know to be ex.

Reply to above: Except for Stuart Sutcliffe, or whatever his name was.

[yardwork]

34. I've been thinking about this.

I can't imagine how difficult this must be, especially for the president thinking about his wife and children. I doubt that President Obama thinks much about the threats to his own life. Meanwhile, I imagine how difficult it must be for Michelle, worrying about her husband and their children. They live with this reality every single minute of every day, and yet they stay calm and strong. They smile and greet the public and do their work.

[RB TexLa]

36. It's very real. It IS like the movies portray it. You have to be willing to give up your life

to kill a president. For one or a small group of crazed people to do it would be hard but it's only hard because the men and women of the secret service make it hard. God bless them, and I wanted the same from them when George Bush was president and for any president.

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

39. When you see idiots like the girl who got fired at Coldstone....

....you wonder if some people would even care. It's fucking scary.

[spooky3]

42. Look at the hate posted in response to any Yahoo.com story remotely related to PBO

and you see evidence of this.

Please thank your friend and his colleagues for the good work they do.

[ProudProgressiveNow]

121. +1 nt

[heaven05]

47. America

has always been full of pigshit racist nuts and always will be. That false equivalency bs is put out there to make the uber patriots who feel america is sooooo great feel better about the pigshit segment of white culture that is so stupid, ignorant and hateful based on the color of ones skin. In my 50 yeas of knowing I was different from the then majority society, I have slapped plenty of these people down and yes I tried my best to hurt if they were unarmed and send them on if they are armed. That is the only thing these people understand. I hope that if one of these ignoramuses makes a mistake with my POTUS that their heads get blown clean off as an example that it ain't NEVER going to be a day where one race will fear anothers alleged power. All races have power and dry powder now.

[Herlong]

51. but millions of Americans think that every fucking word they utter is gospel.

...but millions of Americans think that every fucking word they utter is gospel. And I won't even get into the bat-shit, spittle-flecked lunacy of the Nugents, Malkins, and Coulters.


As much as we may love him, it may only take one.

[ItsTheMediaStupid]

52. Hate radio bearing fruit

I believe in free speech for individuals, but doesn't a broadcast media have some responsibility not to incite people to violence?

I also remember the vitrol against Clinton (mentioned above) and it's not coincidence that hate radio was just taking off at the time.

[ErikJ]

53. Son of a Teabagger!

Scary stuff

[The Wizard]

57. Every threat must be addressed

with extreme prejudice. That's all these butt plugs will understand.

[adirondacker]

59. Thanks for sharing. Definitely a lot of misery/bad vibes in teabilly heaven, NY where 90% occupy

their time listening to hate radio and fox news, so I can just imagine what it's like in the real thick of it.

[Jaimeb]

61. On high alert

11 Bravo - where you are going with this is very loud and clear, the loonies lost big time and many are bewildered to the point of making threats to our (beloved) President. Better to have all Gov agencies on high alert than not.

Like many Democrats (Repugs think they own all the guns - they are wrong), I'm also well armed, so if the Sec. Service needs help, here we are! God forbid such a scenario!

[ScreamingMeemie]

62. Above all else... I hope the President takes these threats to his safety seriously.

I hope he does.

[JoePhilly]

63. Fox and the GOP continue to try and dislodge the next Timothy McVeigh from the crazy tree.

They don't need to design the plan or fund it. They simply need to create the conditions under which an intelligent paranoid psychopath develops their own plan, finds their own funding, and then acts.

There is no direct path back to the source because their is no single direct connection.

This is how Valerie Plame was outed. Not by a single act, but by a set of almost completely unrelated actions which together create the dots, which when connected, create the path to her outing.

Kenyan, Socialist, Racist, Commie, hates America, hates Christians, love the terrorists ... these are all DOTs being laid out so that some nut will follow them ... and then ACT.

[Jaimeb]

65. U r correct!

I concur with you, that is how they do it. Lots of "McVeigh's" out there waiting to be motivated.

[adirondacker]

72. Excellent analysis. n/t

[aletier_v]

76. McVeigh was a function of Waco and FBI bumbling

an honest investigation and indictments may have defused him.
but nobody wanted to know that and still don't.

[JoePhilly]

179. Nonsense.

Folks like him decide that the government IS THE PROBLEM ... humm, who said that? Oh yea, Ronald Reagan.

The government is THE PROBLEM, and every negative event, real or imagined, fosters the anger of the craziest members of the far right.

The GOP has no problem feeding those who have paranoid delusions and endless stream of reasons to take action. In some cases, they just buy more guns and ammo. And then in some cases, they act out.

Think about it ... you just blamed the FBI for a nut job's actions. If anything, the GOP and the far right wing sees people like him as useful tools.

Kind of like O'Reilly and "Tiller the baby Killer". O'Reilly lights the match ... some unrelated nut job explodes. No direct connection.

[Manifestor_of_Light]

91. The concept is called "stochastic terrorism".

Meaning measured by statistics.

One broadcaster speaks hate speech. The odds are good that one of the millions of listeners will get a gun and kill someone. Then the broadcaster can say "I'm not responsible, he's a lone nut."

Prime example: Murder of abortion dr. George Tiller in his own church on Sunday, after being called "Killer Tiller" and other names frequently by Bill O'Reilly.

[CrispyQ]

147. I will pop a bottle of champagne when Rush Limbaugh dies.

I have no shame in saying that either.

[Stardust]

192. I sooooo wish I could rec your post. That first sentence sums it up with

alarming clarity.

When Obama was first elected, I dreaded turning on the TV or radio or internet for fear that something had happened to him. Gradually, thankfully, I began to relax and deluded myself into thinking maybe the hatred was dying down. I only watch MSNBC (no Joe Schmo), listen to progressive talk shows, and read mostly DU, so I was admittedly sheltered. Then came this latest campaign...reality is ugly.

I live in a community of older people and these zombies watch FoxBoobs all day long. One neighbor harkened back to the day when they could get American flags for $5 from our resident war-lover. Now the flags are either harder to get or cost more. She wondered if Obama could be blamed for that, too.

The first time I heard Rush, back in the early 80s, I couldn't believe my ears. Not only was he spouting off BS, but he sounded like a pig. His meteoric rise in popularity would make Goebbels proud, but it's mystified and scared me.

My neighbor may be ignorant but she not deranged. Unfortunately, many are.

[underthematrix]

64. y'all if you truly love the president

as much or more than I do if that is even possible, you can help in the following way. Tell all your friends that one of the most terrifying things a person can do to the President is grab him around the neck or place their arms around his body in a hug. This should never be done because it interferes with the President's body man to maintain physical UNOBSTRUCTED CONTACT with the President at all times which he is required to do. From a viewer's perspective, the most terrifying thing I have ever observed are people hugging the President in a rope line. That should never ever happen because it increases the risk to the President and makes it difficult for the Secret Service to grab his whole body and move him out of danger's way. Please, please if you truly love him tell all your family, friends, and co-workers to follow the 12 inch rule. Keep at least a 12 inch space between yourself and President at all times. Would I love to hug the President? Of course I would. But his safety is always tantamount in my mind so I never ever want to interfere with his Secret Servuces ability to protect him.

Now about those angry hateful people who would hurt the President. I'm sorry I blame the FOX HATE NEWS. I think if anything happened to the President, I would want the producers of these hate shows to prosecuted right along with the perpretrator. Look what happened to precious Gabby Gifford. I cannot stop crying whenever I see her. To me, she is the personification of love. I really think domestic terrorist Sarah Palin should have been prosecuted right along with the guy he injured Rep. Gifford. That was horrible. Just horrible.

[drm604]

67. This is my big fear.

In the 60s bullets were used to attempt to stop change (before that, if you include Lincoln).

Then they learned how to control the media to confuse the voters and worked to suppress the vote of those that weren't confused. So they no longer had to use violence, at least not against prominent leaders.

Now those tricks are no longer achieving their goals. Will they go back to the old ways?

[Eddie Haskell]

74. There was a private limo parked in front of our grocery store this afternoon.

The driver stood by an open back door awaiting the owners return. It was a very large Mercedes SUV with an anti-Obama sticker on the back, and we commoners had to walk around the SUV to get in the door. The assumption of privilege pissed me off so I accidentally elbowed the driver as I went by. He gave me a look ... I gave him the finger.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

75. Now that Obama doesn't have to campaign his public exposure can be limited.

[inamatteroftime]

77. Light is fatal to darkness...

I wish a journalist would read this and it was published; wish these tactics would be loudly voiced because the only way to fight back is to expose them to the ninth degree.

[ProfessionalLeftist]

78. Unprecedented 400% increase in threats on the life of the Pres

when Obama was first elected. KKK and other hate groups swelled their ranks and increased their terrorist activity in the U.S.

I doubt it has let up one iota. I suspect it's quite the contrary.

SS was very concerned about being able to protect this President.

There had been a few articles on the net about this issue - particularly that 400% increase. It's frightening and extremely disgusting.

[Doremus]

79. I wondered about this very possibility.

Far too many unbalanced RW foamers out there, stressed out to the max after Tuesday's thrashing.

[SCALA13]

80. As much as the threat level against our president is alarming,

I still believe that he will still be, unharmed, on capital hill on Jan. 20th, 2017.

[usafvet65]

85. I was stationed in the south in the mid 1960's...

on a daily basis when I left the confines of the base and ventured into the local communities I saw the racial hated expressed openly and widely throughout the south. As a "dam yankee" raised north of the Mason-Dixon I was amazed at the open expression of this hatred.

I remember the feeling of relief when my discharge day arrived and I head north. Head home to live where the Civil War was over and the fact that "the north had won" was written in the history books.

Open racial hatred was not seen and felt. "Whites Only" signs were non-existent.
That was all behind me and life went on for nearly 40 years.

It stayed behind me until we elected our first black President. I soon start to hear and see daily expression of a hatred direct at that _______ (fill in the blank) in "Our" White House. I remembered the standard deep southern retort regarding the Civil War "We didn't lose the war we just lost the battle. The south shall rise again!

40 years later and the same racial hatred still exists and it's expression it now Twittered, blogged and Facebook to the world.

Sad but true and the GOP seems to the host organism for spreading this pandemic disease.

[Tsiyu]

97. +1 n/t

[spin]

104. I was stationed at Keesler AFB in the same time frame. ...

It was an eye opening experience for me as I grew up in a rural area of Ohio. We only had two Black students in our high school and they both were treated with respect. One was the quarterback of our football team and his sister was a cheerleader.

I distinctly remember riding through Biloxi Mississippi on a bus. I was on my way from basic training to my training in electronics at Keesler and was sitting beside another white airman from the South. We passed by a laundromat with a "White Only" sign on its door.

I commented to the airman beside me, "Does that mean you can only wash white clothes there?"

He laughed and said, "You dumb Yankee. That mean only white people can wash clothes in that laundromat!"

I became friends with several black airmen and this irritated the hell out of some of the white Southerners that I served with.

Admittedly that probably WAS one of the stupidest comments that I have ever made but in my defense I had never witnessed true racism before. It's ugly.

I feel that since that time our nation has made a lot of headway in overcoming racism but there is no doubt that it still remains.

[ProudProgressiveNow]

123. +1 nt

[aquamarina]

86. Sadly, I am not even remotely surprised.

Those SS agents will have their work cut out for them these next four years.

[Kablooie]

90. I hope Obama lays low until the shock of the election wears off.

And those agents had better be damned good.

(I know they are. I was in Culver City a day before Obama was supposed to arrive a couple of years ago and there were secret service agents all over town observing everyone a day before.)

[Hekate]

94. The threat is stochastic terrorism from the minions of the far right...

It's a term I learned only this year and the concept is a doozie. Do look it up.

Tell your friend that some of us do indeed understand the threat to President Obama and his family, and all we can do is pray. The people we are relying on are the Secret Service, and we pray that they keep eternal vigilance.

A good share of this country is batshit crazy, and enough of them are manipulatable that they comprise a serious threat to all of us, but most especially to the President.

[Tigress DEM]

98. The "left" was mad as Hell at *ush FOR GOOD REASON

And we wanted him OUT of OFFICE away from our Democracy, and if someone happened to shoot him we honestly wouldn't have been too broken up over it. BUT we are gun-toting CRAZIES. Those of us who do have guns have them for protection or sport and killing public officials isn't on our bucket list or holiday plans. WE aren't LIKE THAT.

the professionals who put their asses on the line have now called BULLSHIT on the media-generated false equivalency that "Yeah, but the left demonized Bush"! They take this shit seriously, and so do I.

p.s. We didn't "demonize" *ush.
The horns were already there, we just mucked off the shit surrounding them so everyone could see them.

[Kurovski]

100. talk about a stressful job.

the assholes you list in your post reach the equivalent of stochastic terrorist with the awful lies and fear-filled rants they often produce.

[Lugnut]

101. My husband is beside himself with worry about the President's safety.

I told him to trust the Secret Service to keep him as safe as they can. It doesn't surprise me that the threat level is through the roof. There are a lot of armed whackos out there so it is very serious.

[AtheistCrusader]

105. All it takes is some nutbag like Loughner.

Someone having or on the edge of having 'issues' already. Feed him enough of that AM radio bullshit, some good old unadulterated main-line hatred, and watch out.

I bet the SS is keeping their heads on swivels. Not a job I would enjoy.

[tavalon]

106. Damn it all.

If they touch one hair on any of these people's heads, I have nothing to end this sentence with. This is just so fucking wrong. So you don't like the President. I didn't like the last one, but I never threatened him or even his stupid little spawn.

This is so not okay. Knock it off, crazy people!

[lebkuchen]

108. Friend and I talk about this frequently since Tuesday

The country is not just divided; it's on the brink of what the RW is hoping for--true civil war.

[tavalon]

110. So, how do we get them to rachet it down?

I mean, valium in the ground water is not a very viable idea. But this has to stop. The freakout after this election is not cool. How do we get them to see that this isn't Armageddon, it's just another election, just another day in another year? How do we stop Bullshit Mountain from spewing their shit? They've got to know they are stirring up people to the point of insanity.

[nc4bo]

112. ^This. Pull the plug, jackhammer the foundation, start some lawsuits

Hell I don't know but we're reaching a point of no return........RW loon mass shootings, Gabby...........RW assholes calling for revolutions and taking out liberals.........How many more, how much more can be tolerated under the cover of free speech?

[tavalon]

113. How do we pull the plug on Fox News?

I know that's the big thing that has to happen but how?

[nc4bo]

114. There will have to be mass RW rejection barring some catastrophic calamity

of the entire network.

They look a little wounded now, caught with their pants hanging when KKKarl (their boy) acted unhinged election night and the effort to prop up Romney as a shoe-in turned out to be completely wrong. They lost a tiny bit of their credibility (or whatever they or their fans want to call it) with that. I don't watch Fox News that much and when I do, it's just to compare how different bizarro world stacks up to reality.

They lack credibility and that's obvious to those who aren't willing victims. How do you get a willing victim to see the obvious?

Look how Rush Limp is being underminded through the public's ability to sway advertisers into pulling their products off his program. Is there a way the same thing can happen to FNN?

[ReasonableToo]

144. start with a minor regulation - require on-air corrections as part of broadcasting license

If a show or network contains the word "news" in the title then any false information needs to be corrected three times per day for three days - including the time of the lie (not 2am, 3am, 4am).

If a guest on a "news" show lies, then same correction regulation applies and that guest has to begin their next appearance with an on-air correction(s) for any "old business" before they can continue on to any "new business"

When the viewers SEE and HEAR the lies, the network will decrease the lies.

[dixiegrrrrl]

174. Massive boycott of their sponsors, which worked with Beck.

and to some extent with Limbaugh.
It is all about the money.
That game can be played both ways.
Remember how fast Beck was let go after enough people twittered and facebooked and wrote to the advertisers?

[CrispyQ]

150. We Survived 8 Years of Bush. You Can Survive 8 Years of Obama.

I so want to post that on FB. Unfortunately, they are of a different mindset & it wouldn't help.

An excerpt from post #30, above:

Today's GOP is the same or worse than the Taliban, AQ or any other terrorist organization. They behave like children but are far, far more dangerous. If they can't have their way they don't want to just take their toys and go home (I would be okay with that). No, they want to kill the other children in the sandbox and then burn the sandbox down. They have a total scorched earth mentality. It is disconcerting and very disheartening.

[ccinamon]

117. So why aren't they going after the hate-filled vitriol of tv and radio?

A lot of talking heads have crossed the line with their hate-spewing....they deserve to have the Secret Service show up and question them on their vitriol...doesn't matter how much money you make or if you are a celebrity.

[ProudProgressiveNow]

124. +1000 nt

[Hutzpa]

125. The Secret Service need to start making a regular visit

to the Rush's of this world, Hannity's, Malkins, Coulters et al. Us on the left should also stop buying into the bullshit that the right throw out there that both sides do it. I will like to see evidence of folks on the left saying and doing the same things during Bush's disaster era.

This is very serious people.

[orpupilofnature57]

127. Misanthrope Sycophant Monsters.... Are worse than terrorists using

the 1st amendment to incite ignoramuses, and spew unfounded assertions they don't have to be responsible for .

[Blue4Texas]

132. All threats must be looked at

[jimlup]

136. I say arrest 'em all and ship them to re-education camps in black helicopters...

[certainot]

138. RW radio monopoly can't survive if students stop their university sports from supporting it

here's a list of 76 universities broadccasting sports on 171 limbaugh stations.

https://sites.google.com/site/universitiesforrushlimbaugh/

maybe as many of 1/2 of the total 1000 plus RW radio stations piggyback university and college sports for community standing and local ad dollars while those stations do partisan, racist, sexist, anti education, anti-99%, anti science, global warming denial all day long, making jokes out of their mission statements.

only a few pulling out would start a cascade that would destroy RW radio, and half the problem

[CrispyQ]

141. I, too, worry for this president & his beautiful family.

When the teabaggers started showing up at events with weapons strapped to their thighs, I thought, "Oh this isn't going to end well." And I was right. For some it hasn't. For four years their hate's been simmering on the back burner. With this win, I worry it will break into a full boil.

My husband, who is several years older than I, thinks that the 60s were more contentious. Maybe they were. I was a just a kid. But it seems pretty bad, now. Hate radio & shows like Jerry Springer, where people were encouraged to behave badly to get attention, this is what I see so much of in our society today, a complete lack of regard for others.

More than anything, I felt this election was a referendum on the repubs bad behavior, on their racism, their misogynism, their hatred for gays. I feel the real moral majority spoke out in this election.

[polly7]

142. One incident that stood out for me

was when that woman, Liz Trotta(sp?) called him Osama and said something about knocking him off. That was awful.

[Turbineguy]

151. The FCC

might be able to increase broadcast license fees to cover the increase in security costs.

[AndrewP]

157. I worry about this all the time

With the right wing punditry spouting their nonsense to the uneducated sheep, it makes for a very dangerous environment.

[Anthony McCarthy]

163. There is a level of pushing implied encouragements of assassination

in the past four years where I don't think it's tolerable. I don't have any problem with shutting off any broadcast or cable company that incites violence. There is a limit to what is tolerable. There is no right to incite murder, certainly not one that is superior to the right of people to not be murdered. There is no right to broadcast incitements to murder.

If one of the major venues of hate told their armed to the sky followers to start killing us, I wouldn't bet you that a lot of them wouldn't start killing as in Rwanda.

[Flatulo]

164. I saw an article with links to quite a few Tweeted threats to assassinate Romney if

he was elected.

There are fools and loudmouths on both sides of the isle

[Walk away]

165. I have a bunch of clients in the news media and they are really frightened for the President and...

his family. Apparently things were very bad in 2008 but they are much worse this time. What a nightmare. We should appreciate the terible price this family pays everyday for our sake.

[drmeow]

166. I have feared for Obama's life

for the last 4 years and that fear has only gotten greater with this re-election. I can't imagine what Michelle, Sasha, and Malia feel.

[JPZenger]

167. We might be seeing fewer public appearances by Pres. Obama until things cool down

[Cleita]

168. I'm just happy he doesn't have to run for office anymore and expose himself

to dangers when he's campaigning.

[SleeplessinSoCal]

169. I believe Doris Kearns Goodwin respects Obama very much, but . . .

she wants him to get out of the "White House Bubble" and speak with the people more. I thought immediately about the threats to his life.

[get the red out]

177. My 76 year old mother is worried about this

Today my Mom just kept asking "will they try to kill President Obama, since they couldn't beat him?" She is so worried. I told her the SS is GOOD and that these Tea Bagging idiots aren't in as good of shape as they are by far. But I worry, these fools are probably more unhinged than ever right now, they were in their bubble and were let down HARD! We can't imagine, I know how down I was for so long before the congressional elections of 2010, because we don't live in a bubble.

I am tired of hate being spewed over the radio while Fox News creates an alternate reality where the President, and all people living in reality, are simply evil and must be stopped. This is INSANE. Something has to give, this is definitely screaming fire in a crowded theater.

[upi402]

182. I remember the Kennedy's and Dr King

and worry when I hear our President is said to be headed to Republican areas to plea with them. I don't want to see that - not likely they can be reasoned with down south.

[get the red out]

195. I agree

He shouldn't go any farther south than Louisville or Cincinnati. The people on the right are irrational now. I read a FB post of a friend from HS just tonight going off on all his idiot FB friends still saying that Obama "stole the election". He explained how the President won and told them to shut up. I doubt he got through. The righties we have in Kentucky and further south simply can't be reasoned with because anything other than what they hear on their "Conservative Entertainment Complex" is a lie to them.

[newspeak]

187. there's JFK, RFK, MLK and there's rabin

i've always thought, "what in the hell are the people thinking putting those in office that are rewarded for an official's assassination?" it seems to me, that rubbing out a leader, especially a leader who is concerned about all of the people or about peace; the one who benefits is the opposition, usually with the same ideology as the assassin. now, why is that?

if you elected someone from the victim's party or someone with the same goals, then i'm thinking you wouldn't have as many leaders rubbed out; however, when you elect those who opposed the leader-what the fek?

i remember the UU shooting, dr. tillman, colorado progressive radio talk show host and others done in by RW poisonous blather-heads. and if anything happens to the president, it seems that the first targets for protest are the ones who have been given license by their right wing corporate greed-heads to spew the dividing, ignorant, violence inciting bullshite.