Please Stop Doing This
One of the most disturbing aspects of the political debate in the US right now is that some people are talking about how Barack Obama might be assassinated. Frankly, it sounds as if these people are looking forward to a nice big controversy like that or, if they’re not, well, then they’re just macabre ( to make this clear, and I’m sure the author of the article I link to isn’t looking forward to it).
At The Moderate Voice William Kern writes:
One of the most disturbing questions that Barack Obama’s candidacy raises is this: What if he were murdered? If Barack Obama won the Democratic nomination and was gunned down before November, what effect would this have on the presidential race? In this uncomfortable op-ed from Mexico’s Excelsior newspaper, Francisco Martín Moreno outlines what he sees as the danger to the United States and the rest of the world if this were to occur. He writes in part, ‘A violent dispatching of Obama would leave the road to the White House paved for McCain, with Mexico and the rest of the world having to deal with four more years of Republican nightmare … If Obama wins, he can lose his life … Shouldn’t Hillary, just in case, accept the vice presidential ticket?’
What? Excuse me? Is this considered to be normal by some? “What if he were murdered?” Why, I don’t know, why don’t you continue to talk and write about it and maybe someone will act on all the speculation?
More importantly though, it’s completely irrelevant. Chances are that he’s not going to be killed. It’s not as if there’s some big plan out there to assassinate Obama that we are aware of, that the FBI has warned people about it, etc. Media and bloggers have just made this scenario up.
And then they’re writing about it. As if it would actually happen in this case.
“What if Jesus comes back tomorrow?” I mean, wouldn’t that make the entire political process of today irrelevant? Why yes, it would. Does that matter? No, chances are He won’t return tomorrow. So lets focus on the race and the issues and on what truly happens.
To make it even more scary look at the image included in the post:
Seriously. What’s up with that?
Stop talking about this. It’s firstly likely not going to happen and, secondly, you are making it more likely to happen the more you write about it (it could give people ideas).
I agree, and I can only guess that these speculations are based on the fact that today’s political climate is feeling a bit like the late 60’s, combined with of course the fact that Obama’s the first serious black presidential candidate.
I did see a weird story though that supposedly the FBI let up on security at a recent Obama rally, and let the last several thousand people in without screening them because the lines were too long and it ’seemed like a friendly crowd’. If true, that’s ridiculous and I’d be complaining loudly about it if I were Obama or a staff member.
While I understand worry about encouraging twisted minds, being that Obama has been likened so many times to JFK (actually more to Bobby Kennedy, but sadly the comparison holds) and also to MLK, in the sense he’d be the greatest black role-model since that time, it’s natural that assassination be a worry.
I don’t know to what degree it’s more of a worry if Obama gets the nomination or presidency than any other candidate though. Allegedly the problem would be organized white supremacy groups, I guess. But today’s world is not the world of the sixties. White supremacy groups are thoroughly infiltrated by government agencies and almost universally hated, making the likelihood of an organized group able to plan such a thing in secret rather low. After that you’re left with the random crazies, which is something any president, indeed any public figure, must contend with. I’m surprised no one has thought to mention that certain members of the Neanderthal branch of the species might have issues with a woman being president and decide to "put her in her place". I bet you it’s an attitude AT LEAST as common as racism, probably more.
I don’t know that we gain much from speculating, but I don’t think we lose much either. The fact of the matter is that it’s very, very hard to defend yourself from someone who doesn’t fear death. If they value their own lives, it gets simpler, and the Secret Service is a phenomenal group (I once met Pres. Clinton and his protectors, I didn’t think they made humans that big).
I don’t know, I did a piece recently about the irresponsibility of his protection and in doing so I researched and found dozens of threats aimed directly, by name, at Obama, from White Supremacists, KKK, and neo-nazis…it was vile, but with those types of threats, it IS a news story whether it is right or wrong. If someone threatened Hillary, or any other candidate, we would expect the news to be reported, so I also expect it to be reported when threats are issued towards Obama. Send me an email and I will happily provide you the links where the threats are being made. I have no intention of linking to them publicly though.
Susan, they all receive death threats. Hell, I receive death threats occasionally. What matters is whether they can be taken seroiusly, that’s what the FBI does. Figuring that out. In the meantime, idiot bloggers (not you obviously) should stop encouraging that kind of behavior and, above all, stop talking aout something that has not happened and is unlikely to happen.
It ain’t the 60s.
Why assume an (unlikely) Obama assasination ebfore the election would pave the way for McCain? Far, far more likely is that the sympathy vote would sweep the Democratic ticket in. At which point, whomever Obama eventually has as a VP candidate with him ends up as President.
Obama got Secret Service protection in May last year, only major candidates get that and only a couple of months before the election. And that was before he was leading the democratic primary and looking to be the next president of the US.Also, not talking about it won’t make it go away. We should talk about it, especially since the news about the Secret Service letting in people to his rallies without screening them.