Do not threaten the President

[msgt/ret]

SC man accused of threatening to shoot president
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — A 78-year-old South Carolina man with more than a dozen weapons in his home has been arrested after federal authorities say he told a nurse he was thinking about killing President Barack Obama.

Michael Stephen Bowden was being held Friday at the Spartanburg County jail. Bowden was arrested recently after he told a nurse at a Veterans Affairs clinic in Spartanburg he was thinking of killing the president, according to a sworn statement by a U.S. Secret Service agent.

During a checkup at the clinic Nov. 16, a nurse asked Bowden if he ever thought about killing himself. According to the affidavit, Bowden told the nurse, "Yes, I would like to shoot the president then myself."

http://enews.earthlink.net/article/u...0-62cbe04791c1

No matter what your views are of a public official, threats are taken very seriously.

[DefensiveCarry.com]

[Sig35seven]

Even if you are joking, it's a horrible thing to say.

[socal2310]

Maybe he was hoping to spend his twilight years with three hots and a cot plus free first rate medical care? I would have gone with an unarmed bank robbery myself but...

Ryan

[Glocksin]

Well,it still makes me wonder.These people who have been serious,can they truly not kill the president simply out of too good security? I imagine their is a way,not that i am going to say it over the internet.I dont want to kill anyone and dont want to die myself.

[Bubbiesdad]

http://enews.earthlink.net/article/u...0-62cbe04791c1

No matter what your views are of a public official, threats are taken very seriously.

Strange, Jesse Jackson threatened then candidate Obama once and nothing seemed to happen to him.

[mcp1810]

Killing elected officials is illegal, not nice, un-American, and it is stupid too! It just gives that particular politician's supporters an excuse to portray whatever group the nut job killer associates himself with as dangerous radicals that must be reigned in for the good of society. Whatever method is used has now demonstrably become the tool of choice of violent criminals and must be further restricted (look at buying firearms before 1963 and after 1968) to protect everyone. It also lets them make a martyr out of the slain official and a cause they can rally around.

Much better and much more American way of doing things is just to vote them and anyone that supports their agenda out of office. They lose the ability to blame their undoing on some lone radical nut job, and to claim any kind of moral high ground.

Could it be done? Most definitely. There is always someone with the knowledge, skills, and ability to get to anyone. There is not a problem until someone with the requisite KSA's also has the motivation to do it. History books are full of political figures that their terms in office cut short by nut jobs.

[GunGeezer]

The law takes any sort of threat to the presidents life very seriously. But given the man's age and the fact that he was in a military medical facility, I would think everybody's interests would be better served if the man was admitted to a hospital for observation and tests rather than tossed in the pokey like a common thief. Maybe I'm just being paranoid, but after all the TSA "junk", more frequent cases of people legally defending themselves against criminals ending up in jail and total suspension of our Constitutional rights by anyone associated with Homeland Security for any reason they invent, why do I feel like I am living in Russia or Communist China. Last week I was boarded by the Coast Guard for what they said was a routine safety inspection, from an unmarked boat, by 6 or seven guys in Swat outfits with guns, in coastal waters and I was disarmed, my gun unloaded and held by them until they left my boat and told me not to reload it until they shoved off and they had no interest in looking at my resident CCP. Where did due process go? When did we stop being presumed innocent until proven guilty by a jury of our peers? What happened to probable cause? I have a lot of questions and our officials don't seem to think I deserve any answers.

[rson63]

Don't agree with any president getting death threats of any kind, but it goes both ways and every President should get the same protection. But that didn't always happen now did it ? http://www.zombietime.com/zomblog/?p=621

[Glocksin]

You do know pictures can be shopped? Not that i doubt people threatened George,i know they did.Just saying...

[Hopyard]

Lets look at it this way: Did this guy have ability? probably not. Did he have opportunity? no Did he have intent? maybe, or maybe he was just spouting off. Was our Prez in jeopardy? I think not.

Get the old boy some medical care and move on down the road.

[Old School]

Lets look at it this way: Did this guy have ability? probably not. Did he have opportunity? no Did he have intent? maybe, or maybe he was just spouting off. Was our Prez in jeopardy? I think not.

Get the old boy some medical care and move on down the road.

+1 Seems like it could have been handled better with psychiatric help for this veteran as opposed to putting him in jail.

[gatopardo]

Goes to show you, one needs to know when to keep the mouth shut, or the keyboard for the same reason, this days is anybody's guess who is who, anywhere anymore.

For instance: A guys starting a thread with "How many weapons do you have at the ready to defend your household?" you'd have to ask yourself if the ingenuity is real or, is any agency with devious motives, indexing people around to make the "numbers".

In some forums there is a "religion and politics" section,( which IMO is the worst pit you can ever fall into, is like the devil's trap for the unaware) anyways, there is such an exchange of ideological ballast, bigotry, and hatred, it only makes sense to be careful.

In any case to pretend that we can waive our loyalty away when we as Americans don't like something is no loyalty at all, is something else.

So, you'd think this guy with his age would know, more likely than not he's going senile, he deserves a break IMO.

[gottabkiddin]

Even if you are joking, it's a horrible thing to say.

What if the same thing was being said about Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, or Hugo Chávez. Just sayin.

[Hopyard]

What if the same thing was being said about Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, or Hugo Chávez. Just sayin.

What if.... Gottabe, no doubt anyone who would do or say these things in those countries would receive a similarly unpleasant message from their own gendarmes.

[gatopardo]

Are we still talking about the United States of America? Because as far as I understand it my loyalty is with the President of our nation, I couldn't care less about presidents in other countries, only God knows what is in their minds.

Hopyard is right, in other countries you would get in trouble for just about anything you do, in fact you don't have to do anything, just to look foreign is enough to become a target.

Which is a good reason to avoid bigotry as much as we can, quite frankly nothing good can come out of it, we can alienate and sub group people according to their looks and origins, but that will, for once, keep us from detecting the likes of Timothy McVeigh, which of all things, was awarded a Bronze star for its participation in the Gulf War and Terry Nichols which discontent stemmed from banks repossessing farms in the '80's.

My point? Reality is stranger than fiction.

We Americans have the freedom to speak openly about our government, but there is definitely a line between that, and using derogatory words to describe it, that in fact would put whomever plays that role alongside with our enemies, whose speeches are just as bad.

So someone turning this old guy is not a surprise to me, It doesn't surprise me his mushy brain came to this idea, been unhappy seems the norm this days. In the end we all share the same destiny as a nation, so just make sense to buckle up, and to keep the mouth shut , especially when we are unhappy.