# Obama gets 400% more death threats than W did **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [August 5, 2009, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-gets-400-more-death-threats-than-w-did/505385 "2009-08-05T03:01:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![tumbleddown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e9bcb4/32.png) [@tumbleddown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tumbleddown)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2009, 6:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-gets-400-more-death-threats-than-w-did/505385/61 "2009-08-06T06:32:33Z")
> [@Fotheringay-Phipps](#): > > I would say the opposite. Obama’s election has showed the country to be less racist than many people thought, and many people - both racists and non-racists - predicted that a black man could never get elected only to be proven wrong. The fact that a black man has been elected president has very little positive effect on what day to day life as a minority is like. This is something that all of the black people I know have been discussing amongst ourselves for the last six months. One of the biggest problems? People who think that Obama’s election has shown that racism is dying or dead, and therefore the work of anti-racism has lost a portion of its strength, because people no longer think it’s necessary or as necessary. There is far, far, far too much self-congratulations amongst white people, frankly. “Look, we’re not as bad as you thought! We voted for one of you!” Yay. Color me impressed when I’m ignored in the jewelry store or get followed through Macy’s by the world’s most obvious “loss prevention specialist.” ---
**Author:** ![Hyperelastic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Hyperelastic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hyperelastic)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2009, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-gets-400-more-death-threats-than-w-did/505385/62 "2009-08-07T01:51:04Z")
Since when does the Secret Service release data on death threats to the President, especially to some dingaling who’s writing a book? ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2009, 12:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-gets-400-more-death-threats-than-w-did/505385/63 "2009-08-07T12:12:04Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > Curious, **Shodan** –what percentage of your posts in political threads would you say consist of polysyllabic versions of “No U”? Depends on where. In GD, probably less than ten percent. In the Pit. 23.6%, plus or minus .03. 😉 Are you really trying to deny that **Der Trihs** is a hate-spewing bigot? And have you considered why you attack me and not him? Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Scud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f08c70/32.png) [@Tom\_Scud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Scud)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2009, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-gets-400-more-death-threats-than-w-did/505385/64 "2009-08-07T14:07:18Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > An average of 30 a day. Story [here.](http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/barackobama/5967942/Barack-Obama-faces-30-death-threats-a-day-stretching-US-Secret-Service.html) I Pit . . . well, I guess I Pit a substantial minority of the American people (because I don’t think most of these are coming from foreigners). I also Pit RW idiots who insist and insist that the left’s hatred for W was in any way comparable to this shit. I wonder how many Clinton faced? He certainly faced a lot of similar bizarro-conspiracy-lunacy to what Obama’s faced, much of it extremely hateful. (I don’t think the birthers generally consider Obama a mass-murderer, f’rinstance). ---
**Author:** ![Normal\_Phase](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Normal\_Phase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Normal_Phase)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2009, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-gets-400-more-death-threats-than-w-did/505385/65 "2009-08-07T14:46:08Z")
To the extent that the birthers overlap with the people showing up at Town Halls claiming that Obama’s health care plan will require euthanasia of the elderly and anyone with a disability (doubt there’s much distinction in that Venn diagram) – yes, they do. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2009, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-gets-400-more-death-threats-than-w-did/505385/66 "2009-08-07T15:22:19Z")
> [@Hyperelastic](#): > > Since when does the Secret Service release data on death threats to the President, especially to some dingaling who’s writing a book? That is an excellent point. They keep death threats secret (hence their name) because part of their mission is to make it look like things are always under control. Even if Obama gets more death threats than George W Bush did, why weren’t Bush’s death threats made public. For that matter, all modern presidents and ex-presidents get death threats all the time. How much do you hear about those unless it was acted on? That renders the whole premise of this thread suspect. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2009, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-gets-400-more-death-threats-than-w-did/505385/67 "2009-08-07T15:26:07Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > Are you really trying to deny that **Der Trihs** is a hate-spewing bigot? And have you considered why you attack me and not him I’d never deny that. For some reason, it was your post-pattern that irritated me in this case, but you’re right, that his post-pattern is equally irritating. ---
**Author:** ![Merijeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f05b48/32.png) [@Merijeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merijeek)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2009, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-gets-400-more-death-threats-than-w-did/505385/68 "2009-08-07T15:53:06Z")
> [@Gangster\_Octopus](#): > > On the flip side, racists primarily, while maybe conservative or not, would be far more happy with Joe Biden. I dunno, serving a black man might make him a race traitor or something. -Joe ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2009, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-gets-400-more-death-threats-than-w-did/505385/69 "2009-08-07T16:11:53Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > I’d never deny that. For some reason, it was your post-pattern that irritated me in this case, but you’re right, that his post-pattern is equally irritating. I’m equally irritating as **Der Trihs**? Now that’s an insult! Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Merijeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f05b48/32.png) [@Merijeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merijeek)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2009, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-gets-400-more-death-threats-than-w-did/505385/70 "2009-08-07T16:19:58Z")
[quote=“Shodan, post:63, topic:505385”] Depends on where. In GD, probably less than ten percent. In the Pit. 23.6%, plus or minus .03. 😉 Are you really trying to deny that **Der Trihs** is a hate-spewing bigot? And have you considered why you attack me and not him? /QUOTE] Oh, look, another “No U”. Shocking. -Joe ---
**Author:** ![LonesomePolecat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a88e57/32.png) [@LonesomePolecat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LonesomePolecat)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2009, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-gets-400-more-death-threats-than-w-did/505385/71 "2009-08-07T16:29:05Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > Unfamiliar with the Southern Strategy, are you? There’s a reason for this overlap; it’s not coincidental. The Republican Party spent decades actively courting racist white Southerners. I’m glad they’re not doing so to nearly so strong a degree anymore, but the ugly residue of the despicable practice remains. Yeah, if you’re gonna court racists, you should court black and brown racists, not white ones. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2009, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-gets-400-more-death-threats-than-w-did/505385/72 "2009-08-07T16:30:49Z")
Two points. First, a number of open racists supported Obama because they thought a black man in the White House would spur mainstream white Americans to “wake up”, paving the way for their “racial holy war”. Two, there are a lot of racists who tend towards a populist ecopolitical philosophy. The Klans, Aryan Brotherhood and similar groups are unarguably on the conservative end of the spectrum, but the more “urban” racist groups- Neo-Nazis, mostly- are often (though not mostly) more on the liberal side in terms of politics and economics. ---
**Author:** ![LonesomePolecat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a88e57/32.png) [@LonesomePolecat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LonesomePolecat)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2009, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-gets-400-more-death-threats-than-w-did/505385/73 "2009-08-07T16:32:30Z")
> [@tumbleddown](#): > > The fact that a black man has been elected president has very little positive effect on what day to day life as a minority is like. This is something that all of the black people I know have been discussing amongst ourselves for the last six months. One of the biggest problems? People who think that Obama’s election has shown that racism is dying or dead, and therefore the work of anti-racism has lost a portion of its strength, because people no longer think it’s necessary or as necessary. There is far, far, far too much self-congratulations amongst white people, frankly. “Look, we’re not as bad as you thought! We voted for one of you!” Yay. Color me impressed when I’m ignored in the jewelry store or get followed through Macy’s by the world’s most obvious “loss prevention specialist.” That’s only a minority of whites. Most of us are sick of hearing you whine and snarl about racism all the time and see no reason that we should be endlessly preoccupied with your complaints, accusations and sensitive little feelings. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2009, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-gets-400-more-death-threats-than-w-did/505385/74 "2009-08-07T16:40:09Z")
> [@LonesomePolecat](#): > > That’s only a minority of whites. Most of us are sick of hearing you whine and snarl about racism all the time and see no reason that we should be endlessly preoccupied with your complaints, accusations and sensitive little feelings. Most of us are sick of you. Shouldn’t you be over at S\*\*\*mfront? ---
**Author:** ![villa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/bc79bd/32.png) [@villa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/villa)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2009, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-gets-400-more-death-threats-than-w-did/505385/75 "2009-08-07T16:59:25Z")
> [@LonesomePolecat](#): > > That’s only a minority of whites. Most of us are sick of hearing you whine and snarl about racism all the time and see no reason that we should be endlessly preoccupied with your complaints, accusations and sensitive little feelings. Yeah - who has time for whining and snarling when there is cotton to be picked! :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Fotheringay-Phipps](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/d9b06d/32.png) [@Fotheringay-Phipps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fotheringay-Phipps)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2009, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-gets-400-more-death-threats-than-w-did/505385/76 "2009-08-07T18:22:12Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > Unfamiliar with the Southern Strategy, are you? There’s a reason for this overlap; it’s not coincidental. The Republican Party spent decades actively courting racist white Southerners. This seems like nothing more than irrelevant nastiness (to Republicans, that is, not to me). Perhaps you can explain what your point is in the context of this discussion. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2009, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-gets-400-more-death-threats-than-w-did/505385/77 "2009-08-07T18:28:00Z")
> [@Fotheringay-Phipps](#): > > This seems like nothing more than irrelevant nastiness (to Republicans, that is, not to me). Perhaps you can explain what your point is in the context of this discussion. Not at all. You seem to be suggesting that overlap in political views between racist Southerners and Republicans is coincidental. It’s not: the GOP spent decades trying to tear racist Southerners away from their traditional allegiance to the Democrats, and their strategy was successful. One aspect of that strategy was the adoption of a lot of issues that these extremely traditional Southerners wanted, thus the list I gave. The GOP made a Faustian deal in order to gain political power. They sold their soul to a pretty unsavory bunch. I’d be thrilled if they’d just take it back. ---
**Author:** ![Fotheringay-Phipps](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/d9b06d/32.png) [@Fotheringay-Phipps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fotheringay-Phipps)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2009, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-gets-400-more-death-threats-than-w-did/505385/78 "2009-08-07T19:59:14Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > Not at all. You seem to be suggesting that overlap in political views between racist Southerners and Republicans is coincidental. I didn’t say it was a coincidence. I said it was not directly related. What we are discussing here is whether racism is the extreme end of the conservative spectrum. What you claim has no bearing on that, even if true. Even if the Republicans adopted a whole slew of positions that they did not believe in as a way of attracting Southern whites, that doesn’t mean that these positions are connected to racism, though there may be some correlation. If Republicans started a big push to make grits the Official Food of the US as a sop to Southern Whites, there would be a correlation between holders of racist views and supporters of this push, but that wouldn’t mean that this view is connected to racism. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2009, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-gets-400-more-death-threats-than-w-did/505385/79 "2009-08-07T21:27:16Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > Depends on where. In GD, probably less than ten percent. In the Pit. 23.6%, plus or minus .03. 😉 > > Are you really trying to deny that **Der Trihs** is a hate-spewing bigot? And have you considered why you attack me and not him? > > Regards, > Shodan Although **Merijeek** ’s point is well taken, maybe we still engage with you because we continue to believe that you’re open to rational discourse. ---
**Author:** ![Hyperelastic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Hyperelastic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hyperelastic)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2009, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-gets-400-more-death-threats-than-w-did/505385/80 "2009-08-08T02:18:07Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > Unfamiliar with the Southern Strategy, are you? There’s a reason for this overlap; it’s not coincidental. The Republican Party spent decades actively courting racist white Southerners. I’m glad they’re not doing so to nearly so strong a degree anymore, but the ugly residue of the despicable practice remains. Boo hoo, the Southern Strategy, waah. It’s called democracy. All those millions of horrible scary racists would have voted anyway, whether their dreadfully unfashionable candidates had run as Republicans or Redneckians. At least the Republicans went after existing voters. The Dems couldn’t win with Americans, so they had to import their electorate via the 1965 Immigration Act. I guess when the government no longer serves the people, it’s time for the government to elect a new people. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-gets-400-more-death-threats-than-w-did/505385.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-gets-400-more-death-threats-than-w-did/505385.md?page=5)