Whatever happen to freedom of speech?
When will they begin to have thought crime?
Today people get jailed for their views vs their actions!!
Threats Against the President
By Paul Krassner
Groucho Marx said in an interview with Flash magazine in 1971, "I think the
only hope this country has is Nixon's assassination." Yet he was not
subsequently arrested for threatening the life of a president. In view of
the indictment against David Hilliard, chief of staff of the Black Panther
Party, for using similar rhetoric, I wrote to the Justice Department to find
out the status of their case against Groucho. This was the response:
Dear Mr. Krassner:
Responding to your inquiry of July 7th, the United States Supreme Court has
held that Title 18 U.S.C., Section 871, prohibits only "true" threats. It is
one thing to say that "I (or 'we') will kill Richard Nixon" when you are the
leader of an organization which advocates killing people and overthrowing
the Government; it is quite another to utter the words which are attributed
to Mr. Marx, an alleged comedian. It was the opinion of both myself and the
United States Attorney in Los Angeles (where Marx's words were alleged to
have been uttered) that the latter utterance did not constitute a "true"
threat.
Very truly yours,
James L. Browning, Jr.
United States Attorney
At the time, I was the host of a radio talk show on ABC's FM station in San
Francisco. Naturally,
I went on the air and read that letter. And then I added, "Well, "I'm" an
alleged comedian. Kill Richard Nixon." But I would never get away with doing
something like that in these ultra-fearful times.
In July 2003, the Los Angeles Times published a Sunday editorial cartoon by
conservative Michael Ramirez. Depicting a man pointing a gun at President
Bush's head, it was a takeoff on the Pulitzer Prize-winning photo from 1968
that showed a Vietnamese general executing a Viet Cong lieutenant at
point-blank range. In the cartoon, the man with the gun was labeled
"Politics" and the background was labeled "Iraq."
"I thought it was appropriate," said Ramirez, "because I was drawing a
parallel between the politization of the Vietnam war and the current
politization that's surrounding the Iraq war related to the Niger uranium
story." He said that he was not advocating violence against Bush. "In fact,
it's the opposite."
He explained that he was trying to show that Bush was being undermined by
critics who said the president overstated the threat posed by Iraq and lied
in his State of the Union speech about Saddam Hussein's alleged effort to
illegally obtain uranium from Africa for nuclear weapons. Bush has since
admitted that the accusation was based on faulty intelligence.
"President Bush is the target, metaphorically speaking," he said, "of a
political assassination because of 16 words that he uttered in the State of
the Union. The image, from the Vietnam era, is a very disturbing image. The
political attack on the president, based strictly on sheer political
motivations, also is very disturbing."
Nevertheless, the cartoon was enough to prompt a visit on Monday by a Secret
Service agent who asked to speak with Ramirez. He was turned away by an
attorney for the Times. The agent had called Ramirez and asked if he could
visit. Ramirez assumed it was a hoax and jokingly said yes.
"How do I know you're with the Secret Service?" he asked.
"Well," replied the agent, "I've got a black suit and black sunglasses and
credentials."
"Sure, come on down, and make sure you bring your credentials."
The agent arrived half an hour later.
However, in an interview by Brooke Gladstone on WNYC radio, Ramirez said,
"The firestorm began actually with Matt Drudge's report on Sunday evening,
which was a little interesting because he had the headline on his his report
that said that I was being investigated by the Secret Service. And I really
wasn't contacted by the Secret Service until the next morning at 10:30."
Gladstone: "Sounds like he has a line in to the Secret Service."
Ramirez: "I think Matt Drudge is "with" the Secret Service."
Gladstone: "Now, threatening the president is against federal law, and it's
the Secret Service's job to protect the president against potential threats.
Do you think that Bush's security detail should have felt threatened by your
cartoon?"
Ramirez: "No, I think that this is a pretty famous image, and I think the
use of the metaphor [is justified] especially in light of the fact that it
really is a cartoon that favors him and his administration."
That irony aside, if Bush were actually assassinated, then Vice President
***** Cheney would be demoted to the presidency.
Other examples of the thought police in action:
A man who shall remain anonymous sent Bush a letter saying that if he
required a smallpox shot for the troops, he should get a shot himself. He
was visited by a Secret Service agent. Another man, Richard Humphreys,
happened to get into a harmless bar-room discussion with a truck driver. A
bartender who overheard the conversation realized that Bush was scheduled to
visit nearby Sioux Falls the next day, and he told police that
Humphreys--who was actually making a joke with a Biblical reference--had
talked about a "burning Bush" and the possibility of someone pouring a
flammable liquid on Bush and lighting it. Humphreys was arrested for
threatening the president.
"I said God might speak to the world through a burning Bush," he testified
during his trial. "I had said that before and I thought it was funny."
Nevertheless, he was found guilty and sentenced to more than 3 years in
prison. He decided to appeal, on the basis that his comment was a prophecy,
protected under his right to freedom of speech.
In August, Donnie Johnston, reporter for the Free Lance-Star in
Fredericksburg, Virginia, wrote about the trickle-down effect of such
official repression:
"A few days ago, a public official called me over to his car to discuss his
displeasure with the war in Iraq and the way the Bush administration is
handling the nation's economy. This well-respected man would talk only from
his vehicle, saying he was fearful of criticizing the president or his
policies in public. Before our conversation ended, the man told me of other
public officials who also are fearful of speaking out." "You have to be
careful what you say in public these days," he added...,
"Almost daily, someone informs me that he is scared of openly expressing his
views. Even those who do dare to speak out do so in hushed tones, fearful of
what ears might overhear. In the politically charged atmosphere that exists
in America today, having the wrong person hear criticism of the government
can lead to trouble. That became evident recently when an entertainer [a
singer] who innocently joked that President Bush had 'chicken legs' was
banned from performing further at Borders Books and Music in
Fredericksburg."
The nation continues to gallop toward a police state in the guise of
security. And, in the process, rampant paranoia has now become our Gross
National Product. Some elementary schools have even gone so far as to ban
parents from bringing cameras to record their children performing in the
annual Christmas pageant, because authorities are afraid that those
videotapes might somehow find their way into the horny hands of breathless
pedophiles.
© Paul Krassner
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