# I'd pit the president, but I'm afraid the Secret Service will come to my house.
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-pit-the-president-but-im-afraid-the-secret-service-will-come-to-my-house/273924
**Category:** The BBQ Pit
**Created:** [November 9, 2004, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-pit-the-president-but-im-afraid-the-secret-service-will-come-to-my-house/273924 "2004-11-09T23:39:19Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@toadspittle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/toadspittle)
#### Post date: [November 9, 2004, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-pit-the-president-but-im-afraid-the-secret-service-will-come-to-my-house/273924/1 "2004-11-09T23:39:19Z")
> **[a word to the wise](https://anniesj.livejournal.com/331112.html)**
>
> For all my LJ-loving friends, this is a word of warning, a word to the wise, and a word of utter exhaustion after the wringer I've been put through in the last twenty-four hours. A couple of weeks ago, following the last presidential debate, I said...
WTF?
So I would pit the President, the Secret Service, the FBI, and vindictive a-holes on the Internet who call the FBI to complain about online rants.
But I don’t want to be visited by the SS. So forget I ever mentioned it.
PS–Any snitches here on the SDMB?
---
### Author:  [@BubbaDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BubbaDog)
#### Post date: [November 9, 2004, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-pit-the-president-but-im-afraid-the-secret-service-will-come-to-my-house/273924/2 "2004-11-09T23:50:30Z")
I followed your link. Without any evidence as to whether this person’s rant was harmless or not I really can’t take a side on this one.
If the person was ranting on what a tool Bush is then the SS stuff is pure bull.
If the person was advocating violence against the Prez then no one should be surprised if another reader considered the rant to be a potential threat.
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### Author:  [@malkavia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/malkavia)
#### Post date: [November 9, 2004, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-pit-the-president-but-im-afraid-the-secret-service-will-come-to-my-house/273924/3 "2004-11-09T23:51:10Z")
> [@toadspittle](#):
>
> [http://www.livejournal.com/users/anniesj/331112.html#cutid1](http://www.livejournal.com/users/anniesj/331112.html#cutid1)
>
> WTF?
>
> So I would pit the President, the Secret Service, the FBI, and vindictive a-holes on the Internet who call the FBI to complain about online rants.
>
> But I don’t want to be visited by the SS. So forget I ever mentioned it.
> PS–Any snitches here on the SDMB?
I haven’t read through all of the comments, but in fairness it doesn’t say in the entry itself what exactly she said about the president.
I mean, if she wrote something stating that she was going to purchase an assault weapon (hooray AWB lapse) and march to DC to “take out Chimperor Bush” or something, then yeah… I can see why the Secret Service might take issue with it.
OTOH, If she was simply ranting about how incompetent BushCo is, then it was absolutely an injustice.
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### Author:  [@Garfield226](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Garfield226)
#### Post date: [November 9, 2004, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-pit-the-president-but-im-afraid-the-secret-service-will-come-to-my-house/273924/4 "2004-11-09T23:52:41Z")
Old news, man.
And you convienently left out the [clarification](http://www.livejournal.com/users/anniesj/331475.html#cutid1), which includes:
> [@](#):
>
> I made very big mistake in what I originally posted . . .I was wrong and I admit responsibility for making an inflammatory post.
>
> [and]
>
> I do not have any issues with the Secret Service for investigating the post. That’s their job. That’s what they have to do. I understand that, and the people who spoke to me were very nice, very understanding, and I appreciate how pleasant they were to me. I appreciate that they were kind and thorough, and I understand that they have to take every single claim seriously.
It’s ok to “pit” the president (It’s been done. Repeatedly, if you hadn’t noticed.) as long as you don’t make anything that could be construed as a threat.
The sky is falling! Or…things are the same as they’ve always been and you’ve never been allowed to threaten the President.
---
### Author:  [@Harborwolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harborwolf)
#### Post date: [November 9, 2004, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-pit-the-president-but-im-afraid-the-secret-service-will-come-to-my-house/273924/5 "2004-11-09T23:53:31Z")
> [@toadspittle](#):
>
> [http://www.livejournal.com/users/anniesj/331112.html#cutid1](http://www.livejournal.com/users/anniesj/331112.html#cutid1)
>
> WTF?
>
> So I would pit the President, the Secret Service, the FBI, and vindictive a-holes on the Internet who call the FBI to complain about online rants.
>
> But I don’t want to be visited by the SS. So forget I ever mentioned it.
> PS–Any snitches here on the SDMB?
I’m sorry. Could you speak into my collar and repeat what you just said slowly. 😃
No worries. The S.S. said what was said could be construed as a threat. As long as you don’t threaten the President, you can say as many mean things about him as you want.
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### Author:  [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)
#### Post date: [November 10, 2004, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-pit-the-president-but-im-afraid-the-secret-service-will-come-to-my-house/273924/6 "2004-11-10T00:06:42Z")
I read part of the original post. It was written as a fairly impassioned prayer that God would kill Bush (maybe not phrased as “kill”, I don’t recall), and about what an evil man Bush is/why he needs to go. Now if I saw that in the journal of someone I knew, I’d just kind of nod my head, knowing they’re rational and not **really** going to go off the deep end. But if I saw that in any random other journal, I might well wonder. And I’d say it’s the Secret Service’s **job** to investigate stuff like this, to figure out who’s just an overly emotional liberal who thinks that Bush is the enemy, and who’s a nutjob who might just come to believe that he or she is the instrument of God’s wrath.
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### Author:  [@Roseworm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roseworm)
#### Post date: [November 10, 2004, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-pit-the-president-but-im-afraid-the-secret-service-will-come-to-my-house/273924/7 "2004-11-10T00:10:44Z")
I know a person who is a hardcore lefty and a Reagan-hater. In 1984 (I think) he was planning a trip to Ireland at the same time that Ronald Reagan was going to be there.
So this person contacted Washington (repeatedly) and asked for - nay, _demanded_ - a copy of Reagan’s Irish itinerary. He was surprised when a group of hardfaced Secret Service men showed up on his doorstep (he lives with his mother). They asked him some tough questions for several hours. He explained that he only wanted Reagan’s itinerary because, “I hate the SOB and I want to make sure that, wherever he is in Ireland, I can avoid him.” \<_snicker_\>
Anyway, the Secret Service men finally decided he was a harmless ass and they left. To this day, the idiot has no clue why they were interested in him.
My point is: The Secret Service has the right to check up on these things. That is their _job_. In the SDMB BBQ Pit, there is a rule against wishing death on anyone. I assume that applies to the President of the US, as well - \*especially \* the President.
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### Author:  [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)
#### Post date: [November 10, 2004, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-pit-the-president-but-im-afraid-the-secret-service-will-come-to-my-house/273924/8 "2004-11-10T00:17:54Z")
> [@Roseworm](#):
>
> I assume that applies to the President of the US, as well - \*especially \* the President.
OK, this is the part I don’t get. Why _especially_ the President. He’s just another citizen. He’s not God, he’s not the king, he’s not irreplaceable. If anything should happen to him, we have another (at least in theory) capable man ready to step in and do the job. Why put him on a pedestal above all the other almost 300 million citizens of this country?
P.S. He shouldn’t be allowed to have traffic stopped during rush hour, either.
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### Author:  [@Orbifold](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Orbifold)
#### Post date: [November 10, 2004, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-pit-the-president-but-im-afraid-the-secret-service-will-come-to-my-house/273924/9 "2004-11-10T00:30:25Z")
> [@This Year's Model](#):
>
> OK, this is the part I don’t get. Why _especially_ the President. He’s just another citizen. He’s not God, he’s not the king, he’s not irreplaceable. If anything should happen to him, we have another (at least in theory) capable man ready to step in and do the job. Why put him on a pedestal above all the other almost 300 million citizens of this country?
Do you mean why does the Secret Service take death threats against the President more seriously than death threats against the guy at the corner store down the street?
If so, then I can suggest an answer. While the President is theoretically replaceable, it’s in the same way that my kidneys are theoretically replaceable: doable, but a serious pain in the ass. The Vice-President may be able to step in, but there still will be a whole lot of serious consequences to the economy, the state of national security, and to the mood of the populace. Not to mention that the President is just a bigger target than most other people.
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### Author:  [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)
#### Post date: [November 10, 2004, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-pit-the-president-but-im-afraid-the-secret-service-will-come-to-my-house/273924/10 "2004-11-10T00:31:52Z")
Gratuitous _tu quoque_ involving haircuts aboard Air force One coming up in 5 . . . 4 . . . 3 . . .
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### Author:  [@FinnAgain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FinnAgain)
#### Post date: [November 10, 2004, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-pit-the-president-but-im-afraid-the-secret-service-will-come-to-my-house/273924/11 "2004-11-10T00:35:31Z")
> [@This Year's Model](#):
>
> OK, this is the part I don’t get. Why _especially_ the President. He’s just another citizen. He’s not God, he’s not the king, he’s not irreplaceable. If anything should happen to him, we have another (at least in theory) capable man ready to step in and do the job. Why put him on a pedestal above all the other almost 300 million citizens of this country?
> P.S. He shouldn’t be allowed to have traffic stopped during rush hour, either.
I think the refrence was due to the fact that while wishing death on someone in the pit is an infraction of board rules, threatening the president with death is a federal crime.
Could be wrong.
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### Author:  [@Orbifold](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Orbifold)
#### Post date: [November 10, 2004, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-pit-the-president-but-im-afraid-the-secret-service-will-come-to-my-house/273924/12 "2004-11-10T00:36:26Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#):
>
> Gratuitous _tu quoque_ involving haircuts aboard Air force One coming up in 5 . . . 4 . . . 3 . . .
Okay, I know what a _tu quoque_ fallacy is, I know what a haircut is, and I know what Air Force One is, but that sentence still didn’t make any sense to me. Is there some context that I’m missing here?
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### Author:  [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)
#### Post date: [November 10, 2004, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-pit-the-president-but-im-afraid-the-secret-service-will-come-to-my-house/273924/13 "2004-11-10T00:40:49Z")
> [@Orbifold](#):
>
> Do you mean why does the Secret Service take death threats against the President more seriously than death threats against the guy at the corner store down the street?
Well, not really, I understand that, I think. Let me try to put it better.
It’s an attitude I get that the President is above us all, that the mere fact of his being president makes him better, more special than the rest of us. I have respect for the office, but it’s filled by one of us - one of us that worked hard and got lucky. He’s not an incarnation of the country.
I shook hands with Jimmy Carter once, and I’ll never forget it. I’m sure that if I shook hands with George Bush I’d never forget that either. It really is something to shake hands with the President of the United States; it’s special. But they’re just men.
Does that make more sense?
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### Author:  [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)
#### Post date: [November 10, 2004, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-pit-the-president-but-im-afraid-the-secret-service-will-come-to-my-house/273924/14 "2004-11-10T00:43:26Z")
> [@Orbifold](#):
>
> Okay, I know what a _tu quoque_ fallacy is, I know what a haircut is, and I know what Air Force One is, but that sentence still didn’t make any sense to me. Is there some context that I’m missing here?
Bill Clinton once held up traffic at Los Angeles International to get a haircut. Or so the story goes.
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### Author:  [@davenportavenger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davenportavenger)
#### Post date: [November 10, 2004, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-pit-the-president-but-im-afraid-the-secret-service-will-come-to-my-house/273924/15 "2004-11-10T00:43:52Z")
> [@This Year's Model](#):
>
> OK, this is the part I don’t get. Why _especially_ the President. He’s just another citizen. He’s not God, he’s not the king, he’s not irreplaceable. If anything should happen to him, we have another (at least in theory) capable man ready to step in and do the job. Why put him on a pedestal above all the other almost 300 million citizens of this country?
> P.S. He shouldn’t be allowed to have traffic stopped during rush hour, either.
I agree. This isn’t like in ancient times, where the leader was an incarnate deity. I can see confiscating some Egyptian guy’s papyrus scrolls and giving him forty lashes if he said something bad about the pharaoh, but not this.
There’s a screen capture of the anniesj post somewhere online, but I can’t find the link right now since it was posted on another message board that’s down right now. Someone with better Google skillz than me might be able to find it. IMO it wasn’t any more inflammatory than most of what was said here during the election. And I seriously doubt that webloggers would actually go after the president; would someone in charge of a paramilitary group bent on assassination be so stupid as to put their intentions on a public website? Even if it was under a “lock” like LJ? Then again, I’m sure this was just a plot to keep bloggers on their toes and keep up the public anxiety level. I don’t think the Secret Service is really scared of nerds who spend hours working on their blogs or posting on message boards. Hardcore webloggers’ carpal tunnel syndrome precludes them from firing a weapon.
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### Author:  [@Orbifold](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Orbifold)
#### Post date: [November 10, 2004, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-pit-the-president-but-im-afraid-the-secret-service-will-come-to-my-house/273924/16 "2004-11-10T00:59:52Z")
> [@This Year's Model](#):
>
> Does that make more sense?
Yes, it does.
> [@](#):
>
> Bill Clinton once held up traffic at Los Angeles International to get a haircut. Or so the story goes.
Aha. Thanks.
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### Author:  [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)
#### Post date: [November 10, 2004, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-pit-the-president-but-im-afraid-the-secret-service-will-come-to-my-house/273924/17 "2004-11-10T01:07:38Z")
> [@continuity eror](#):
>
> And I seriously doubt that webloggers would actually go after the president; would someone in charge of a paramilitary group bent on assassination be so stupid as to put their intentions on a public website? Even if it was under a “lock” like LJ? Then again, I’m sure this was just a plot to keep bloggers on their toes and keep up the public anxiety level.
Did you miss point #5 of her post? She suspects something far more mundane, that someone on LJ who dislikes her decided to fuck with her life.
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### Author:  [@BubbaDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BubbaDog)
#### Post date: [November 10, 2004, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-pit-the-president-but-im-afraid-the-secret-service-will-come-to-my-house/273924/18 "2004-11-10T01:33:48Z")
> [@This Year's Model](#):
>
> It’s an attitude I get that the President is above us all, that the mere fact of his being president makes him better, more special than the rest of us. I have respect for the office, but it’s filled by one of us - one of us that worked hard and got lucky. He’s not an incarnation of the country.
I disagree. The office holds the leader of the most powerful nation on earth. That’s not a ego statement as much as a fact that has to be dealt with. The person in that office has a life that is carefully scheduled out day by day. It’s a big damn inconvenience for the locals anytime the President is traveling but it sure makes a lot of sense to keep him on schedule.
And his life **is** more important that yours or mine. The individual deaths of either one of us on the job will not affect commerce, markets, or national security as much as the death of a president. As US citizens the country provides our lives with protection but I can very well understand that more effort is put into the protection of the President’s life.
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### Author:  [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)
#### Post date: [November 10, 2004, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-pit-the-president-but-im-afraid-the-secret-service-will-come-to-my-house/273924/19 "2004-11-10T03:17:27Z")
I would never advocate assassinating President George W. Bush.
It would be ineffective, tactically.
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### Author:  [@gobear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gobear)
#### Post date: [November 10, 2004, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-pit-the-president-but-im-afraid-the-secret-service-will-come-to-my-house/273924/20 "2004-11-10T03:18:56Z")
> [@AHunter3](#):
>
> I would never advocate assassinating President George W. Bush.
>
> It would be ineffective, tactically.
Shooting Mortimer Snerd is futile if you leave Edgar Bergen alive.
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