![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
By now, most of you have probably seen the account of the secret service's visit to ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
anniesj's place. I didn't wade through the 3000+ comments, so I don't know what's on everyone's mind about this. However, I've come across a copy of what is supposed to be the original post that was saved by some people before anniej deleted it--anniej mentioned that these copies are floating about, so I'm just waiting to confirm where it came from before I link to it. If this is indeed the original post, I do not find any threat to anyone in it. It's in the format of a direct prayer; the first lines strongly indicating it is parody. The prayer is asking the said God to mortally smite Bush, i.e, a prayer for his death.
A prayer is a wish. A wish is not a threat. The expression of a wish or desire is not a statement of intent to do harm. Even without the layer of parody, a written WISH is not a THREAT. Without a real threat, what grounds could the ss have for visiting said poster except as an intimidation tactic? Are there any legitimate non-fascist reasons for this to occur? Thoughts.
On a personal level one person stating the wish to harm another can be construed as a threat, but the grounds are fuzzy--it is not legally the same as stating intent to do harm. And this is certainly not the same as wishing a divine being would do harm to another person as in the case above. So can the written expression of a person's wish to do harm upon a public figure with whom the subject of the wish has no direct personal involvement be legally contrued as a threat? This seems rather far-fetched to me as well. And a wish for a divine being to carry out the threat is even one more step removed. So is there any reason to NOT consider the ss's decision to visit a writer of such a statement as fascist?
I'm just puzzling through all this as I consider playing meme-style Spartacus with the original post, which seems the best way to combat the fear this incident seems to have instilled in the LJ community.
And tomorrow afternoon I'm off to Florida with 500 other Emily List volunteers to help encourage people to vote Democratic. Wish (desire/pray/or even intend for if you can) me roomates who Respect the Importance of Sleep. I won't be back until Wednesday, unless I get some internet access down there in the wilds of Florida. I will miss you all so much.
anniesj's place. I didn't wade through the 3000+ comments, so I don't know what's on everyone's mind about this. However, I've come across a copy of what is supposed to be the original post that was saved by some people before anniej deleted it--anniej mentioned that these copies are floating about, so I'm just waiting to confirm where it came from before I link to it. If this is indeed the original post, I do not find any threat to anyone in it. It's in the format of a direct prayer; the first lines strongly indicating it is parody. The prayer is asking the said God to mortally smite Bush, i.e, a prayer for his death. A prayer is a wish. A wish is not a threat. The expression of a wish or desire is not a statement of intent to do harm. Even without the layer of parody, a written WISH is not a THREAT. Without a real threat, what grounds could the ss have for visiting said poster except as an intimidation tactic? Are there any legitimate non-fascist reasons for this to occur? Thoughts.
On a personal level one person stating the wish to harm another can be construed as a threat, but the grounds are fuzzy--it is not legally the same as stating intent to do harm. And this is certainly not the same as wishing a divine being would do harm to another person as in the case above. So can the written expression of a person's wish to do harm upon a public figure with whom the subject of the wish has no direct personal involvement be legally contrued as a threat? This seems rather far-fetched to me as well. And a wish for a divine being to carry out the threat is even one more step removed. So is there any reason to NOT consider the ss's decision to visit a writer of such a statement as fascist?
I'm just puzzling through all this as I consider playing meme-style Spartacus with the original post, which seems the best way to combat the fear this incident seems to have instilled in the LJ community.
And tomorrow afternoon I'm off to Florida with 500 other Emily List volunteers to help encourage people to vote Democratic. Wish (desire/pray/or even intend for if you can) me roomates who Respect the Importance of Sleep. I won't be back until Wednesday, unless I get some internet access down there in the wilds of Florida. I will miss you all so much.
