Washington – The U.S. Secret Service is investigating an online survey that asked whether people thought President Barack Obama should be assassinated.
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The poll, posted Saturday on Facebook, was taken off the popular social networking site quickly after company officials were alerted to its existence. But, like any threat against the president, Secret Service agents are taking no chances.
The poll asked respondents “Should Obama be killed?” The choices: No, Maybe, Yes, and Yes if he cuts my health care.
Facebook says the question was not created by the company, but by an independent person using an add-on application that has been suspended from the site.
I’m sure there will be the usual meshuge arguments that such postings are totally appropriate under the First Amendment. Fortunately, there are several ongoing federal prosecutions that will show these lunatics that anyone promoting such messages will do some quality time in a federal institution. Also, any website such a Facebook that allows such postings may also be at risk, althoughj in this case, they acted responsibly and took down the material as soon as they were alerted to it.
I can’t believe these crazies say these insane things & get away with it! All it needs is for some wacko to think this genuine & G-d knows what could happen. How did it get through FB? Of course, I wouldn’t know, I don’t have FB! Now I know why.
This is a terrible thing to say. I am certainly no Obama fan, but this??? Horrifying! I pray he fulfills his term in safety & good health. If anyone wants to see a new President in 1012, you’ll have your chance at the voting booth. That’s why we are still a democracy. That’s how we get change…it worked in 2008!
First Amendment is one thing…threatening anyone & promoting assassination as this FB nut seems to be doing is another thing entirely! I hope they lock this lunatic up ASAP. Bet he belongs to a White Supremicist group.
Every shabbos and yom tov we say special tefilot on behalf of the leaders of the U.S. and EY. Maybe on succos, we should add a special tfilah for their safety as well, given the level of rhetoric has escalated so badly that I fear for the president’s well being.
I’d vote yes
Why would you want to kill the president of our united states?! I am NO obama fan and I hope they impeach him. But he is our president and we need to protect him from these nuts
To add to #1 , this is standard Secret Service practice. During Bush’s presidency, they investigated tens of thousands of such statements about the president, to determine whether there was a genuine threat or not. It’s not some new Obama-era free speech restriction.
However, I don’t think anyone will go to jail, because making the poll is not a crime.
BTWs, we were the ones who put the ridiculous idealist in power, with hardly any real experience in a political seat, and a really, really young age.
we were warned about him, he is bad news for israel and klal yisroel.
im yirtzeh Hashem in 2012 we will have moshiach and Hashem lead us, not any more of these power hungry democrats and republcans, (hillary clinton anyone?)
Me thinks its just another leftist hoax to make the opposition look violent..
I worked at an ISP back in the ’90s and at least once we got a call from the secret service about a threat to president Clinton that had gone over our servers. Of course 99% Of these threats are hot air, but they check them all out because 1% are not and it only takes one crazy with a rifle.
And threating the life of the president is a crime, it is not covered under the first amendment. For that matter threating the life of anyone else is also a crime.
true, to the best of my, somewhat limited knowledge, only real threats are illegal. and true 99% of these are not real threats, but the fact is that 1%, maybe even .1% of these are real threats, and it only takes one bullet to kill a person and so the fbi has to check, checking to see if a person meant a threat is not illegal, and while the fbi cannot tell a person to take down such a poll they can certainly look into it. the fbi is not prosecuting these people in any way as of yet, there just checking to see if its one of those .1%
tihiyeh mitalmidei shel aharon
The way to see if something is fair is to turn it around and see if you like it as well.
Suppose it wasn’t President Obama. Let’s say that anonymous people started putting up polls saying “Would you like to see the Jew-filth wiped out? Yes? No? It depends?”
Everyone here would be giving birth to a porcupine (breech presentation), purple with rage at the evil of the Anti-Semites.
Think about it for a moment. If it’s so terrible to say things like that about Yids because you happen to be one – and presumably like them – then why is it alright to do the same thing to someone simply because you don’t like him?
I seem to remember some guy a long time ago saying “That which is hateful to you do not do unto your neighbor.” That includes curses, death threats and murder.
I don’t believe the First Amendment absolves threats, and to me the poll constitutes a threat. Book ’em Dano.
While such a poll is, to me, grossly offensive as an Ameircan, the government has no business getting involved here.
I don’t find it offensive that it is about Obama… I couldn’t care less about that. It is offensive that someone would take such a poll to show ones willingness to kill the President of the United States. While these people are certainly within their rights under the 1st Amendment, they spit on our entire Constitution when they say “Yes” in this poll. The office of the President of the United States is a part of our Constitution and part of the foundation of our Union.
(Shloime, the Reply function is broken. Again.)
“Can it be that I agree with Millhouse?! Oy vey iz mir. Anyway, Millhouse is correct because McCain would have done some of the same stupidity BHO is doing but with McCain it would have set the Conservative opposition back decades since McCain has “chazer feece” and claims to be what he isnt.”
IAW both of you. Essentially, we’re back to 1976 – anyone here thinks it would have been better for Ford to win the election? You’re both right and wrong. Carter’s four years of ineptitude set the stage for Reagan.
Or, maybe we’re back to 1963 – I’m not old enough to remember, but my parents told me that Kennedy was a disaster, people in their circles open hated him, but his assassination turned public opinion around overnight. We DON’T need another 11/22/1963.