Another Twitter threat to Obama, Secret Service takes note

By GottaLaff

My Twitter pal IanDavidB called the Secret Service on this guy and they listened. The Boston office forwarded it to "The Internet Threat Desk", taking a particular interest in this tweet:


I took a screen grab of his page, just in case (click on image to enlarge, but first take a swig of something strong):


As you know, I continue to air this horrific stuff out, because I feel that ignoring it is allowing the miscreants way too much wiggle room. By exposing them, it allows the Secret Service to nail a few of them, and it calls them out for what they are: Racists, bigots, terrorists.

The level of hatred is unacceptable. The boldness with which some of these animals bear their fangs is downright scary. Whether they do it solely for attention, or because they are committed to their brand of toxic prejudicial sludge, it's out there and needs to stop.

And I repeat my demand for those in positions of leadership to stand up to them and condemn them publicly, on a daily basis, until we see this violently ugly trend ebb.

As President Clinton acknowledges:

“[L]egitimate” comparisons can be drawn between today's grassroots anger and resentment toward the government and the right-wing extremism that bubbled up prior to the bombing of a federal building in Oklahoma City 15 years ago.

Tea Baggers, take note. You wouldn't want another Oklahoma City on your resumes.

Secret Service looking into Obama effigy in Plains, Ga

It just never stops.

A spokesman for the U.S. Secret Service says the agency is investigating an effigy of President Barack Obama found hanging from a building in the hometown of former President Jimmy Carter.

Secret Service spokesman Ed Donovan told The Associated Press that the large black doll was found Saturday morning along Main Street in the small town of Plains.

According to footage from WALB-TV, the doll was hanging by a noose in front of a red, white and blue sign that says "Plains, Georgia. Home of Jimmy Carter, our 39th President." A witness told the television station that the doll wore a sign with Obama's name on it.

Donovan said the doll was removed Saturday. He declined further comment.

Biden’s Secret Service motorcade involved in fatal accident

By GottaLaff

The Secret Service has some 'splainin' to do:

Two Secret Service vehicles used by Vice President Joe Biden allegedly struck and killed a pedestrian at an intersection on Washington, DC's Suitland Parkway in the early morning hours of Wednesday, news reports say.

The vice president was not in either of the vehicles when the motorcade, on its way from Andrews Air Force Base to a garage on Washington, struck a pedestrian.

Not just a poll: Death threats on Facebook rampant

By GottaLaff

After dealing with the aftermath of my series of posts on the "Should we kill Obama?" Facebook poll, we all deserved a breather from thoughts of assassination. No such luck.

A Twitter pal of mine, The Spin Killer, did a little sleuthing. The results, are once again, eye-popping:

Facebook Photos: Photos can be posted to Facebook pages, but even here, there are veiled threats to the life of the President. One such photo displays a noose around the neck of the President while a member comment published under the photo says, “Oh, I wish!!!” This very same member posts in another location on Facebook that, “We really have to do something ourselves not to let this piece of shit win the election in 2012." And these photos are not necessarily hidden behind layers of webpages. One anti-Obama Facebook Group uses a photo of Obama’s head in gun crosshairs to represent their group in the widely used Facebook Group search index.

The threats against President Obama’s life mentioned in this article aren’t the only ones on Facebook, nor are the threats limited to President Obama. There are threats posted against President Bush as well that have been on Facebook for quite some time.

Ever since 9/11, the public has been told not just that terrorists utilize the Internet to secretly organize their attacks, but also that our intelligence has devoted substantial resources to uncovering terrorist dealings online. So it seems rather incredible that possible assassins can organize, promote, and discuss carrying out the assassination of the President of the United States right out in the open and for as long as they need to on the most popular networking website around without any investigation or safeguards in place whatsoever. If a blogger can find these threats in a mere matter of minutes, Facebook should be able to find these threats instantly, promptly remove them and then report them to the Secret Service. The fact that these threats were able to survive so publicly for months and months on Facebook is unacceptable. God forbid something ever happens to the President and it turns out that the simple clues to stop the tragedy had always been there for the viewing.

Much more here, if you can stomach it.

I go on record right here and now, as I have in Comments, as saying that any threat to anyone, anywhere, is wrong. Period. I don't care if it's to Bush, Obama, or Jon and Kate. Well, okay, maybe Jon... NONO, kidding.

By posting threats on Facebook or Twitter or anywhere else, it emboldens and encourages others to do the same. What worries me is that there will be one person, one more deranged, angry, frustrated Timothy McVeigh, whose rage will be ignited enough to act.

I was ridiculed by a few readers for reporting the Facebook poll to the Secret Service, but it was the right thing to do. If someone turns out to be harmless (as, thankfully, the Facebook pollster was), terrific. I was relieved, not disappointed as some misguided wingnuts might have assumed, to hear that the pollster was not a danger to anyone.

So: I will keep on reporting to the Secret Service-- and encourage others to do the same-- whenever I see something that triggers mental alarms.

Oh, and I suggest Facebook and other venues think about being more vigilant too.

H/t: umadrants

Going on the Radio Machine

By GottaLaff

I've been asked to do a half hour on this station tonight, some time between 6-8 Pacific. Gulp. They are broadcast on XM (Clear Channel, if I got that right.. I was so nervous!) and KKGN-960AM.

Earlier today, Josh Levs of CNN called me to let me know about TPC being credited. He knew we'd been given the short shrift by many outlets and wanted me to see that he was giving us a shout out. How cool was that?

P.S. I'm a wreck.

A hat tip to Obama poll Developer Guy

By GottaLaff

Jesse Farmer, aka Poll Developer Guy (he has made his name public, so I feel comfortable using it now), may have started off on the wrong foot with us, but he did a really menschy thing. Here's the e-mail he just sent me:

I've been talking with lots of news organizations today and I'm making
sure to mention you broke the story, even if I disagree with the way
in which you broke it.

I have an in-person interview with the AP in a few hours. Is there
anything in particular you'd like me to say?

- Jesse

That was very cool, Jesse, thank you.

For the record: We here at TPC have never held Jesse responsible for the contents of the poll itself. Any eyebrow-raising was over the tone of the initial e-mail, nothing more. Bygones.

My original story is here. The sequel in which I discuss the Secret Service's call back to me here. Jesse's response here. Scroll around for additional posts on the subject.

NEWSFLASH! By reporting threatening poll to Secret Service, I'm looking for fame

By GottaLaff

Yes, yes, it's all about ME! And "Ken" made sure I saw this via a Tweet. What a sweet guy:

The blogger that started this — “GottaLaff,” at the The Political Carnival — is luxuriating in the reflected glow of petty fame from having reported an asshole on Facebook to the Secret Service. I find the triumphalism in the blog posts, and in the comments, over getting the application shut down because it didn’t magically stop anti-Obama extremist rhetoric, more than a little odd and disturbing — in some ways, more odd and disturbing than some anonymous and petty asshole starting a troll poll. Take this post, for example:

If we stopped ONE person from inciting hate or violence, then we’ve done our jobs.

Here’s the thing, Buttercup: not all incitement of violence is illegal. Take, for example, incitement that does not present a clear and present danger of imminent lawless action — hyperbole by idiots on the internet, for example. Nor is most incitement of hate illegal. Do you really think it’s your “job” to go about “stopping” people from hateful speech, like some sort of self-important internet Batman carrying a belt full of ball-gags?

While we are on the subject of inciting hate and violence, let’s take a look at GottaLaff’s tone while discussing this story...

Blahblahblah.

But gee, looks like we hit a nerve. Rant all you want, but the Secret Service was awfully grateful to us... Buttercup.

UPDATE: (quoting two of my Twitter pals) Looks like FreeRepublic is in panic mode, wondering if they "freeped" the poll.

The Freepers think Secret Service planted the poll to entrap them into advocating Treason!

Developer of the Facebook Obama Poll Application Fights Back

By GottaLaff

Apparently, Poll Developer Guy felt the need to defend himself after my post here.

He did his best at Daily Kos:

Hey everyone. I'm the developer of the Facebook Poll Application that hosted the "Should Obama be killed?" poll. You can read about it here.

I'm sure you have all sorts of assumptions about me, my application, and how this went down, but I want to start by listing a series of facts followed by an open-ended Q&A.

I guess he felt as if he needed to explain... again. Wasn't he happy enough with the comments he left on our post?

I wish him the best.

UPDATE: An astute Tweeter reminded me that Developer Guy accused me of wanting my 15 minutes of fame. Pot. Kettle...

H/t: raine1967

VIDEO: TPC's Facebook Poll story on CNN

By GottaLaff

This story has gone international! Think Progress has it of course, but so does just about everyone else, including BBC News, USA Today, The Daily Beast, etc:



Thanks to Blondetwit, we have a video of TPC's story on CNN!

My original story is here. The sequel in which I discuss the Secret Service's call back to me here. Pollster response here.

And here are a couple of cool screen grabs. If we stopped ONE person from inciting hate or violence, then we've done our jobs.

Secret Service probing Facebook poll on Obama

By GottaLaff

UPDATE: Washington Post too!

My original story is here. The sequel in which I discuss the Secret Service's call back to me here. Pollster response here.

Another chapter:

The U.S. Secret Service is investigating an online survey that asked whether people thought President Barack Obama should be assassinated, officials said Monday.

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.

"We are aware of it and we will take the appropriate investigative steps," said Darrin Blackford, a Secret Service spokesman. "We take of these things seriously." [...]

"The third-party application that enabled an individual user to create the offensive poll was brought to our attention this morning," said Barry Schnitt, Facebook's spokesman for policy.

Because the application was disabled, the responses to the nonscientific polls are not available.

Bingo. Thank you. Maybe some of these nutcases (not the pollster, those who are hostile and violent) will see how seriously their words and actions are taken, and think twice...

... although many of them seem to have difficulty thinking once.

NPR: Blogger (TPC) Gets Credit For Blowing Whistle On Vile Poll

By GottaLaff

NPR, thank you. Seriously, thank you:

A blog called The Political Carnival is getting credit this afternoon for calling out the ridiculous "Should Obama be killed?" poll that showed up on Facebook over the weekend (and is now being investigated by the U.S. Secret Service).

GottaLaff, one of the blog's authors, pointed out the offensive post last evening. Today, says GottaLaff, the Secret Service tracked her down to say thanks for having posted a screen grab of the poll.

Facebook, the company, had nothing to do with the poll, according to spokesman Barry Schnitt. It's no longer on the site.

NPR. Link. Go. Give them hits. They deserve it.

Facebook "Should Obama be killed?" pollster responds to TPC post

By GottaLaff

I got a tweet and an e-mail from I'm the developer who built the poll application that I reported to the Secret Service. (Original story is here. The sequel in which I discuss the Secret Service's call back to me here.)

He is not a happy man, and who can blame him? Then again, it seems he thinks I'm reveling in some kind of glory. Not exactly. My only motive was to prevent this kind of thing from happening again, in my tiny little bloggy way. ... although now, every major news outlet is reporting on this story, too (very few credited TPC, by the way). And so, I reported it.

In that way, I do feel rewarded, yes. Glorified? Hardly.

Developer Guy has no connection with Facebook and is asking those who find egregious polls, as he agrees this one was, to contact him directly to have them removed.

Here's what he wrote:

Mostly I want to make sure you understand how these polls work.

Some facts:
1. Polls is a third-party application and are not affiliated with Facebook
2. Polls are created by other users on Facebook, not me or Facebook
3. There is a mechanism for reporting polls and we take action after a
poll has been reported a sufficient number of times
4. If a poll is egregious enough (and this one certainly was), you
should have just contacted me directly. Facebook provides links to
contact the developer (that's me!). I would have deleted the
application in a second.

I've deleted polls in the past that have to do with killing gays, etc.

As it stands now, Facebook has disabled the entire application (not
just that one poll), which is frustrating for me and will be taking up
most of my time for the next few days. I'm sure I'll also get a call
from the Secret Service which will be awesome.

I understand you're enjoying your 15 minutes of blogging fame and are
feeling pretty righteous right now, but keep in mind this could have
been resolved in a much less public and destructive way if you had
taken the time to reach out to me first.

Best,

[Poll Developer Guy]

He did not tell me any of this was off the record, even after I e-mailed back telling him I would post his feelings the way he described them. So, there you go.

The Secret Service just called to thank me

By GottaLaff

NOTE TO READERS: We so, so appreciate everyone who called the Secret Service to report this incident, and hope that will continue when you spot any other such horrific-itude. With that in mind, if we may, if you appreciate the work we do here, and boy do we work, feel free to donate (click on "make a donation" button on upper right side bar) to TPC to help us continue to do our best for you.

Last night I posted about a scary Facebook entry, specifically a poll asking whether Obama should be killed. Go here to read the original post.

Just now, I got a phone call from the Secret Service. Yes, that Secret Service. It was from a very sweet woman with a very sweet voice. She called to thank me for my screen grab of the poll, and said without it, they wouldn't have been able to address the matter.

I asked if the reason the poll was removed was due to the Secret Service following up on my call. She said she couldn't answer that, because it would have been another officer who was working on it, and she simply didn't know. But she thanked me over and over, emphatically, saying that there would be no way for the Secret Service to catch something like this without assistance. The Internets are too vast for that.

Instead, they rely on people like us to help them out. Sounds awfully grassrootsy, doesn't it? Almost community service-like. Imagine that.

Here is what the page looks like now: (h/t: Zerlina)

(click on image to enlarge)

Dear Secret Service,

You are more than welcome.

Love,

Laffy and the Twitterverse, especially Gr8RDH.

Knock knock! Who's there? Secret Service. Joke over.

By GottaLaff

Watch what you say and what you write. This Live Journal entry is from 2004. The author had written a jokey prayer that read, "God, please take W?".

Knock knock:

A couple of weeks ago, following the last presidential debate, I said some rather inflammatory things about George W. Bush in a public post in my LJ, done in a satirical style. We laughed, we ranted, we all said some things. I thought it was a fairly harmless (and rather obvious) attempt at humor in the face of annoyance, and while a couple of people were offended, as is typical behavior from me, I saw something shiny and forgot about it, thinking that the whole thing was over and done and nothing else would come of what I said.

I was wrong.

At 9:45 last night, the Secret Service showed up on my mother's front door to talk to me about what I said about the President, as what I said could apparently be misconstrued as a threat to his life. After about ten minutes of talking to me and my family, they quickly came to the conclusion that I was not a threat to national security (mostly because we are the least threatening people in the entire world) and told me that they would not recommend that any further action be taken with my case. However, I do now have a file with the FBI that includes my photograph, my e-mail address, and the location of my LJ. This will follow me around for the rest of my life, regardless of the fact that the Secret Service knows that I am not a threat.

Now go read her advice.

Allow me a stream-of-consciousness reaction...

I'm not big on the Secret Service telling me what to say, but it goes without saying why they have to take these things so seriously.

Personally, I've always drawn the line at wishing death or harm on others. I've held to those standards whether it was during my Comedy Store/Improv days, teaching comedy to the kiddies. my private life, or during my angriest moments here at TPC...not because I might get snagged by the Secret Service, but because I've always found that kind of humor distasteful.

Yes, they're just words, but words count. That's how we communicate. Without them, we couldn't talk or write. They mean something, especially when uttered publicly.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not invalidating anyone's emotions, considering I have a few strong ones of my own that I have to keep in check from time to time.

But, speaking for myself, when it comes to wishing pain, suffering, or death on others, my little quips come to a screeching halt. Again, that's just me. I'm sure I've slipped from time to time, and I regret that, but as a rule, I steer clear of death humor.

I feel for the author of the Live Journal, she was throwing out a mild, casual joke, and she got a very rude awakening. I believe that was overkill on the part of the SS (no pun).

And just like her, I will continue to write what I feel, I will continue to voice my opinions and snark like a maniac... but I will be now be even more aware of how I express myself.

However, I have to admit, I'm glad Boy Georgie's not in office any more, or I'd have a much tougher time self-monitoring.

H/t: txvoodoo in response to this post.

VIDEO: Rep. Gingrey (R-GA) Encourages Guns at Town Halls

By GottaLaff

Oy:



TPM tell us that there were a dozen with firearms at the Obama event, the same one that I posted about earlier.

This is becoming a bad habit. Why is it happening more and more often? Since when were gun owners' rights trampled? They weren't. So what do these people have to prove, other than their own "manhood"? This is dangerous behavior, unnecessary and unacceptable considering the recent toxic, hostile environment.

As author and former Secret Service agent Joseph Petro is saying right now on the Rachel Maddow Show, stunts like these, carrying weapons to public events, can encourage violence against the president. The threat of force is right out there for all to see, with the very real potential for tragedy, which is not exactly the calm atmosphere the Secret Service--and the more rational and peaceful among us-- strives for.

Secret Service looking into Obama-Joker fax

By GottaLaff

By now, you've all seen this image of President Obama (I posted about it here):

That image was sent to Rep. Brian Baird (D-Wash.) in a fax, with the message, "“death to all Marxists." The Secret Service is taking this insanity seriously, as they should:

The Secret Service may investigate a fax sent to a Democratic lawmaker that depicts President Barack Obama as the Joker and warns of “death to all Marxists.” [...]

On Obama’s forehead is a communist hammer-and-sickle insignia, and beneath the image is the text: “Death to All Marxists! Foreign and Domestic!”

Rep. Brian Baird (D-Wash.) received the fax and passed it along to U.S. Capitol Police.

The Secret Service investigates threats made against the president. Ed Donovan, of Secret Service Public Affairs, said that the fax was “potentially an investigative intelligence matter.” [...]

The message made no specific reference to Baird and it is unclear why it was sent to his office. No other congressional office reported receiving a similar fax.

Baird has compared protesters who have shown up at lawmaker town halls during the recess to the Nazis.

“What we're seeing right now is close to Brown Shirt tactics,” Baird said in an interview with the Vancouver, Wash., Columbian on Thursday. “I mean that very seriously.” [...]

Baird has also compared protester tactics to those of Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh, which drew calls for an apology from Oklahoma Republican Party Chairman Gary Jones.

“For Congressman Baird to use the tragedy [of] Oklahoma families and the loved ones of those who were injured and lost their lives for political gain is inexcusable,” he said.

Hey Gary, here's a thought: Substitute "Republican mob" for "Congressman Baird", and "those who are sick, dying, and can't afford health care because of Big Pharma/Insurance/Rushpublic obstructionists" for "Oklahoma families". Then someone might take you seriously.

White House won't disclose executive visits

By GottaLaff

It's getting more and more difficult to see the White House through all that transparency:

Citing an argument used by the Bush administration, the Secret Service rejects a request from a watchdog group to list those who have visited the White House to discuss the healthcare overhaul. [...]

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington sent a letter to the Secret Service asking about visits from 18 executives representing health insurers, drug makers, doctors and other players in the debate. The group wants the material in order to gauge the influence of those executives in crafting a new healthcare policy.

The Secret Service sent a reply stating that documents revealing the frequency of such visits were considered presidential records exempt from public disclosure laws. The agency also said it was advised by the Justice Department that the Secret Service was within its rights to withhold the information because of the "presidential communications privilege."

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics said it would file suit against the Obama administration as early as today. The group already has sued the administration over its failure to release details about visits from coal industry executives. [...]

As a candidate, President Obama vowed that in devising a healthcare bill he would invite in TV cameras -- specifically C-SPAN -- so that Americans could have a window into negotiations that normally play out behind closed doors. [...]

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics asked about visits from Billy Tauzin, president of the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America; Karen Ignagni, president of America's Health Insurance Plans; William Weldon, chairman and CEO of Johnson & Johnson; and J. James Rohack, president of the American Medical Assn., among others.

Sigh. Someone want to talk me down?

Anti-Gay "Journalist" Dragged From Air Force One

By GottaLaff

Secret Service personnel remove Brenda Lee from near Air Force One after Lee attempted to give President Obama a letter, Thursday May 28, 2009, at LAX.

Who is this loon?

[S]he refused to leave, saying she had to personally deliver a letter to the president urging him "to take a stand for traditional marriage." [...]

On the Georgia Informer site, however, Lee is identified as Rev. Brenda Lee, where so far I can only find an incomprehensible editorial by her in which she thanks God for not destroying California with an earthquake, despite all the wicked people living there. It also doesn't look like the Georgia Informer site has been updated since last year.

See, here's the thing. You can't just hand things to the Secret Service, see, because their job is to protect the, you know, life of the president.

Next time, try e-mailing. The ObamAdministration has about a dozen interactive sites to choose from.

Lawsuit against Cheney's Secret Service detail a go

By GottaLaff

One of my very earliest posts at this blog--well, back in 2007, it was our good friend Cliff Schecter's spiffy blog-- got a huge amount of attention, and for good reason: The story never went away. Today there is a significant update:

A man who was arrested for allegedly harassing former Vice President Dick Cheney will see his lawsuit against the Secret Service proceed, a U.S. District Court Judge ruled today.

The Denver Post has more:

Steven Howards sued the four agents claiming they violated his civil rights after he was arrested for allegedly harassing Cheney in June 2006.

Howards said he simply walked up to Cheney in the Beaver Creek shopping mall, touched him and said his policy in Iraq was "disgusting."

The U.S. Attorney's Office and the Eagle County District Attorney declined to pursue a criminal case against Howards.

The Secret Service agents gave conflicting accounts of the incident in depositions taken by attorneys in the civil case.

Justice is making a comeback. Imagine that.

Jenna Bush Secret Service vehicle towed for unpaid parking tickets

By GottaLaff

Pay parking ticket fees? Nah. Not when you're a Bush. Laws never apply to anyone named, or formerly named, or working for, Bush:

The Web news site investigativevoice.com, a creation of former Baltimore Examiner staffers, has just broken the news that Baltimore parking officials towed a Secret Service vehicle from the city's Federal Hill neighborhood. The vehicle may be part of the protection for former first daughter Jenna Bush, who moved to Baltimore last year after getting married.

H/t