Plot to Assassinate Obama Thwarted

[Azure]

Originally Posted by FanIn80

Oh man... I can't tell you how many times I actually yelled at her on my TV set from my living room...

Such an awesome show, and I'm completely stoked that it's back on in a month.


Edit: Actually, it was probably only once or twice. I was just going for effect... but I better clarify before someone calls for a straight jacket.

She wasn't THAT bad in Season 1.....but man, Season 2 I wanted to reach through the screen and knock her out.

[HelloHockeyFans]

Well, I think based on history over the last year, I think it's safe to say there probably will be additional attempts by unorganized rednecks or even organized and well-funded groups, but to actually succeed? The chances of that are likely next to none.

We're talking about penetrating and breaching the secret service here people. Getting within range first of all to be able to do any damage with the rifle and doing so without getting spotted by Obama's own very well-trained security personnel who have been guarding people their entire lives.

[chris lindberg]

Originally Posted by Azure

Nope, still don't believe that there are 3 million people in the US that want to kill Obama.

It's only gonna take one bullet from some racially crazed ex-military marksman with the sniping abilities of a Charles Whitman or a Lee Harvey Oswald.

[moon]

It seems as though people think that Obama is the first President that have had people that want to kill.

I am willing to bet that there have been numerous attempts by much more highly organized and competent people on every President since WWII, maybe only since JFK (?).

It seems pretty unlikely that moronic redneck X is more likely to kill Obama, then say CIA trained terrorist from Al Qaeda is to Bush or Mccain or Obama or any President that gets elected.

These attempts get high publicity because of the nature of the threat but the likelyhood that these types of "plans" ever come close to being successful have to be less than 1% and have to be pretty far down on the list of real threats to the President/Candidates.

[HOZ]

Originally Posted by HotHotHeat

Something I've been thinking about a lot lately is his inauguration coming up in January, should he win. It's such a highly publicized event with tens of thousands of people. There's no way they could make that completely secure. I'd have to think they'll use bullet proof glass in front of the stage, or something. Crazy.

They always have. The podium they stand behind is supposed to be able to take an RPG hit. Now if can just find the sight......

[HOZ]

Check it out


Nevermind, that no one will be in a position to shoot from above nor approach the President without being checked. All aircraft are not allowed to take off either.

[Coach]

Originally Posted by Azure

Nope, still don't believe that there are 3 million people in the US that want to kill Obama.

I think the point is that even one person is to many people willing to kill someone just because of their race. That kind of thinking has no place in our society, and never shouldve had one. It doesnt matter if he's president or random black guy in Alabama

[Five-hole]

Originally Posted by MattyC

I think the point is that even one person is to many people willing to kill someone just because of their race. That kind of thinking has no place in our society, and never shouldve had one. It doesnt matter if he's president or random black guy in Alabama

Of course that kind of thinking has no place. Nobody here is defending racism.

People are up in arms (and rightfully so) at America being painted by the brush of these idiots who "hatched" this "plan". There's a big leap from not wanting a black man to be President because he is black-- which is indeed racist -- to not being upset if he's killed. There's another big leap from that to being happy he was killed. There's an even bigger leap from that to wanting to kill him yourself.

Suggesting there are 3 MILLION people who want to kill Obama is totally ######ed. There may not be that many people in the WORLD that would want to kill him. In fact there probably isn't. With that number you're suggesting that a group of people three times the size of the population of Calgary want to find a way to kill Barack Obama and follow through on it.

F80 has said the number was ridiculous. It's clearly ridiculous. It's as ridiculous as the bias that gave him that poorly-thought-through conclusion in the first place.

[FanIn80]

Originally Posted by Five-hole

Of course that kind of thinking has no place. Nobody here is defending racism.

People are up in arms (and rightfully so) at America being painted by the brush of these idiots who "hatched" this "plan". There's a big leap from not wanting a black man to be President because he is black-- which is indeed racist -- to not being upset if he's killed. There's another big leap from that to being happy he was killed. There's an even bigger leap from that to wanting to kill him yourself.

Suggesting there are 3 MILLION people who want to kill Obama is totally ######ed. There may not be that many people in the WORLD that would want to kill him. In fact there probably isn't. With that number you're suggesting that a group of people three times the size of the population of Calgary want to find a way to kill Barack Obama and follow through on it.

F80 has said the number was ridiculous. It's clearly ridiculous. It's as ridiculous as the bias that gave him that poorly-thought-through conclusion in the first place.

First of all, the point I was making is valid. The number was pulled out of my ass for effect, but arguing an obviously exaggerated non-scientifically generated number used for effect and to illustrate a point is just as ######ed as the number itself. You're not a robot, stop thinking like one.

Secondly, I never claimed that there were 3 million people currently organizing in a plot to kill the President. I said there were probably 3 million redneck racists sitting in their basements, polishing their shotguns and saying "no black guy is gunna tell me what to do."

That's all I said. I wasn't talking about a well thought- out and organized 24-like inner-nation terrorist cell. I was illustrating the concept of a hillbilly racist with three teeth and a Right to Bear Arms sitting in his basement dreaming about an all-white world.

Have you not even seen the rally videos on Youtube that have been linked in the other thread? These people do exist and there are alot of them. The only thing that's keeping this a hypothetical discussion is the fact that, even if there are 3 million of them, they still don't have enough brain matter between them all to generate one intelligent thought.

Now why don't we move passed the number and discuss the point, which still stands and is still valid.

[Itse]

I doubt there's significantly more people fantazising about killing Obama than there were people fantazising about killing Bush, it's just for a large part different people.

(It also seems that violent rhetorics is these days more accepted among the right-wing extremists than the left-wing, who seemed to have had their fill in the 70's.)

Being the president of the United States is statistically speaking among the more dangerous professions in the world.

[transplant99]

And I get attacked for saying that 2 million won't vote for him because he is black. This should really make transplant's brain explode.

My brain is fine...but the whole suggestion is humourous.

2) In a country of 306 million people, are you saying it's unfathomable to think there is 3 million redneck racists with polished shot guns and a couple pitchforks?

is there 3 million people with shotguns? Absolutely. Is there that many that are even willing to THINK about killing someone else based soley on his race? Absolutely not.

[Traditional_Ale]

Obama has got some serious courage. I'd be voting for him based on that alone. Real leaders need real courage.

If he does get killed (especially by a white), I have a feeling the American black community as a whole will have a huge attitude shift towards whites pretty much all at once. I'm kind of nervous about that.

[FanIn80]

Originally Posted by transplant99

My brain is fine...but the whole suggestion is humourous.


is there 3 million people with shotguns? Absolutely. Is there that many that are even willing to THINK about killing someone else based soley on his race? Absolutely not.

Actually... I was just thinking about this. 3 million is 1% of the US population. In other words, 1 in 100 people. I can understand why people would think that number is ridiculous. It is ridiculous.

The context of my post, however, wasn't about the number. It was like saying, "no I can't go out tonight, I have 7 billion piles of clothes sitting in my laundry room I have to deal with." I wouldn't expect someone to want to come to my house to see what 7 billion piles of clothes look like, but I would expect them to get the point that I have to do the wash or I'll have nothing to wear in the morning.

Kinda like I didn't really expect anyone to think that there were 3 million people lined up waiting to shoot the President, but I did expect people to think that there was a greater possibility of a black President getting shot than a white one.

It must just be because of the medium (in text, there are no vocal cues), but sometimes people take simple statements far too literally. If any of you would have had this conversation with me in person, you would have realized right from the start I was exaggerating to make a point, and you probably would have agreed.

...or maybe not.


Edit: Perhaps we need a new font color to highlight text that is dramatically exaggerated with the intention of illustrating a point. Kinda like how orange is "I'm being sarcastic," maybe blue could be "please don't follow me home, looking for 7 billion piles of laundry."

Edit 2: I'm not really serious about the blue text thing.

[Bobblehead]

Am I the only one who think these seem like noe-nazi versions of Harry and Lloyd from from "Dumb and Dumber"?

(OMG, I can't believe that movie is 14 years old! Man I feel old.)