< ----------------------------------------------------------------- Student paper raided after request to 'smite' President Bush
http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_210056.html?menu=news.quirkies
US Secret Service agents raided a student newspaper which jokingly asked Jesus to "smite" George W Bush.
The satirical editorial was inspired by Bush's announcement that he had "found" Jesus after the US election.
But government agents took the Stony Brook Press article seriously and allegedly threatened the editor with prosecution.
The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press is asking the Secret Service to issue a formal apology to Stony Brook Press editor Glenn Given, and not to prosecute him over the editorial.
Mr Given's editorial, titled "Dear Jesus Christ, King of Kings, all I ask is that you smite George W Bush," was in the form of an open letter to Jesus.
The RCFP said: "We understand that threats against the President are a serious matter, and we in no way mean to imply that the Secret Service should not undertake to protect the President and investigate credible threats.
"Mr Given's editorial, however, was not a credible threat. The editorial was satire, or, at a minimum, sarcasm. We believe that it is inappropriate to harass a journalist, editor, writer, or any citizen for exercising his or her right to free speech."
Last updated: 10:51 Friday 16th February 2001
http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_210056.html?menu=news.quirkies
> ----------------------------------------------------------------
Strange. There was a Republican state senator in Montana IIRC who called for Clinton's assassination. Nobody protested, certainly not Mark Racicot, the boss Republican for that senator, and there were no visits from the Secret Service.
Talk show hosts openly called for Clinton's assassination. No calls from the Secret Service. I remember Molly Ivins was spurred to protest that there are enough unwrapped individuals in this country that such calls by talk show hosts really could bring about Clinton's assassination.
But a student sarcastically asks the Lord to smite George, and the Secret Service takes it seriously?
It used to be a capital offense to predict the ruler's death. I guess this lets us know that George II is ruler, while Clinton was not.
I can only imagine that George II takes prayer seriously.
I'm gonna consult the I Ching. I've got the yarrow sticks. I'm sure the I Ching will tell me that George II will be blessed with an extraordinarily long life, and will be selected for many many more terms.
I'll lay out the Tarot too. There's a career here. Remember Pat Nixon's astrologer?
I think this is going to be the most sickening administration since Coolidge. Fah!
-- John K. Taber