...and pass the ammunition

[arguchik]

Great. The gun nuts are adding to their arsenals because Obama is a "gun snatcher." This is exactly what the U.S. needs right now. Paranoid, reactionary wackos with larger collections of assault weapons and a brand new reason to use them.

Here's the NYT story about it.

I sure hope Obama's Secret Service detail know what they're doing. Seriously. I can't be the only person worrying that some of this hateful, paranoid rhetoric will boil over into an assassination attempt...? I know people have been talking about the possibility for awhile, but some of this shit is really scaring me.

Comments

[jennaxide.livejournal.com]

Oh no. No no no. Did you Michelle Obama at the acceptance speech, when the fireworks went off? You certainly aren't the only one worried about this.

Take heart, dear.

[arguchik.livejournal.com]

I didn't notice Michelle Obama flinching at the fireworks. I don't blame her. Her husband occupies a doubly dangerous position: he's a newly elected President who promises change and inspires people with his powerful oratory; and he's a prominent black leader. Combine those two...and I wish I could feel more optimistic about people in the U.S., but I don't really have any reason to. I feel like it's a matter of time. I don't want to feel that way, but I do. And like I said, my hope is that the inevitable attempts on his life will be thwarted by Secret Service agents doing their job well. I don't like thinking about what that might mean for them though, and other people around him. James Brady (press secretary), Thomas McCarthy (DC cop), and Timothy Delahanty (secret service agent)--the three men wounded along with Ronald Reagan--come immediately to mind.

[ms-violet.livejournal.com]

and the NRA is sending letters to John Hinckley saying,

"Glad you're rehabilitating. Things will get better. We understand you get to go home for weekend visits with your folks sometimes. That's terrific, it shows you have growth potential and a strong commitment to family. P.S.; Obama's dating Jodie Foster."

[jennaxide.livejournal.com]

Bwa ha ha ha!

[arguchik.livejournal.com]

LOL. It's funny, but in a way that's exactly what they're doing, just not with Hinckley.

[rojonoir.livejournal.com]

Don't be too worried. I'm sure the Secret Service take their job seriously and have the resources they need. The last thing they want is someone being taken out on their watch.

Also, at the risk of sounding a bit cold and cynical, assassinating Obama would be a serious overplay on the part of right-wing kooks. Obama would become our generation's JFK, rising to mythical proportions. Biden would lead the effort to smash down every last KKK and neo-nazi group, as well as "patriot" militias. All of Obama's domestic agenda would be rammed through congress with just a peep from the republicans.

Not that I want that to happen, just it's not too likely and even if it did happen, it wouldn't stop the Obamomentum.

I guess the bigger risk is crazy nazis like those two that were picked up recently that had the idea of killing Obama *after* shooting up a black school. The assassination plan would have failed, but they probably could have succeeded in killing a few kids before the swat team got them.

But even still, let's stay focused on the hope. Eight years of fear has been far too much.

[arguchik.livejournal.com]

Very true, and thank you for being a calming voice of reason. However, this 8 years of fear...I have spent being afraid of the fear mongers, not the stuff they've been telling me to fear. I don't think that's an irrational fear, and the thing about fear mongers is that they don't tend to down quietly.

Meanwhile, Bush is practically throwing the keys to the White House at Obama. I think there is noone more acutely aware of the tangled mess he has made than he is, and he can't wait to get out of the middle of it. Asshole.

[rojonoir.livejournal.com]

McCain's was the happiest concession speech I've ever seen. You mean I never have to deal with Sarah Palin ever again? You mean the economic meltdown is someone else's problem? You mean Obama and Bush get blamed for the two failed wars and republican's decades later will be saying "the *maverick* would've won 'em!"?

[arguchik.livejournal.com]

I agree--it was a gracious speech, delivered with a relieved tone. He actually looked a little worried about some of his more vocal supporters, though, both during that speech and previously on the campaign trail as he had to sort of talk people down from their paranoid, reactionary invective. I'm not sure he succeeded all that well.

[swingchickie.livejournal.com]

i think the problem is that the kind of wackadoos who would try to assassinate him are not the kind of people who would stop to think about the effects you mentioned. they just see democrat + black and that = wanting to be a hero to their little incestuous racist circle.

ugh, i don't want to think about it.

[gushgush.livejournal.com]

some thoughts:

bite your lip!

Did you see the crowd outside the White House on election night?
You have to think the Secret Service secretly rushed the President (Bush) away to a safer place because if that crowd had turned ugly and decided to go over the fence, there wouldn't have been enough AK47 rounds to stop all the attackers.

If Obama gets "hit" there will be riots in the streets for many days.

As someone who grew up with repeated assassinations of prominent political figures, all I can say is "please, no!".