# Praying for Obama's DEATH? Really? That's the depth you nutjobs have sunk to??
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/praying-for-obamas-death-really-thats-the-depth-you-nutjobs-have-sunk-to/537184
**Category:** The BBQ Pit
**Created:** [April 24, 2010, 6:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/praying-for-obamas-death-really-thats-the-depth-you-nutjobs-have-sunk-to/537184 "2010-04-24T06:06:10Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Cyningablod](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cyningablod)
#### Post date: [April 24, 2010, 6:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/praying-for-obamas-death-really-thats-the-depth-you-nutjobs-have-sunk-to/537184/1 "2010-04-24T06:06:10Z")
So I’m sure most of you have heard about that New Jersey teachers’ union scandal, in which [a humorous\* “prayer”, expressing a wish for the death of Gov. Chris Christie](http://wcbstv.com/local/governor.christie.union.2.1621917.html), was printed on a document that was distributed to union members. It made its way into the public and into the press, and there was political hell to pay.
\*I use the word “humorous” VERY loosely, here.
Well, some mouth-breathing, goat-screwing, Rush-sucking, right-wing, proto-hominid shitbag fucktard (or fucktard[s], plural) has run with the “joke” and created a FaceBook group based on it. The name of the FaceBook group is [sic]:
> [@](#):
>
> DEAR LORD THIS YEAR YOU TOOK MY FAVORITE ACTOR PATRICK SWAYZIE YOU TOOK MY FAVORITE ACTRESS FARAH FAWCETT YOU TOOK MY FAVORITE SINGER MICHAEL JACKSON I JUST WANTED TO LET YOU KNOW **MY FAVORITE PRESIDENT IS BARACK OBAMA** AMEN/
**Bolding** is mine.
A shocking number of my “Christian”, compassionately conservative :rolleyes: friends are joining this group, and spreading around this “joke”.
Now, I know that some Dopers will insist that all’s fair in humor, and that after all, hey, it’s just a joke, right? But I think decent people everywhere, of all creeds and political persuasions, ought to right proper PISSED OFF about this. Sure, tell a Jew joke or a baby joke every now and again. But don’t wish DEATH upon anyone!
It’s one thing to poke fun at one’s ideological/political opponents. Healthy, even. But there’s a fine line between satire, and a personal _attack_. In NO context of civil discourse are attacks considered appropriate. Well, this goes beyond even an attack. It is a wish for someone’s DEATH. In this case, the leader of our nation, our own democratically elected President! I don’t care if it’s “just a joke”. Decent people do NOT wish for an individual’s demise, even jokingly! Bin Laden? Hitler? OK, yeah, minor historical exceptions to the rule. But someone you just happen to _disagree with, politically_? **Grow the FUCK up, and develop some integrity!!!**
There’s also a despicable hypocrisy at work, here. A lot of people on the conservative side of the spectrum claim to be very religious. Oh, they wring their hands and yammer on about the helpless unborn, and the good honest heterosexual couples whose divinely-sanctioned marriages are under diabolical assault, in the form of legalized gay marriage. But instead of practicing what they preach, and consistently displaying Christian virtues, some of them give in to their own spiteful bile (and likely, their own latent **racism** ), and jump on this reprehensible, insipid, hateful bandwagon, and “play-pray” for the death of our nation’s leader. It is doubly wicked that they call upon the name of their own “Lord” to do so!
Never in my adult life–even joking–have I wished or called for or prayed for someone’s death. Not political leaders, personal enemies…NOBODY. I’ve never intimated that I would like to see GW Bush dead, or Pat Robertson, or Jenny McCarthy. So why do some people have the idea that disagreeing with our President’s policies means that the floodgates are open for **any and all** speech against him? It just ain’t so.
Am I the only one who thinks this is WAY the fuck out of line, and patently un-American??
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### Author:  [@ajb867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ajb867)
#### Post date: [April 24, 2010, 6:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/praying-for-obamas-death-really-thats-the-depth-you-nutjobs-have-sunk-to/537184/2 "2010-04-24T06:09:11Z")
Get the fucking sand out of your vagina.
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### Author:  [@Cyningablod](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cyningablod)
#### Post date: [April 24, 2010, 6:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/praying-for-obamas-death-really-thats-the-depth-you-nutjobs-have-sunk-to/537184/3 "2010-04-24T06:13:18Z")
> [@ajb867](#):
>
> Get the fucking sand out of your vagina.
I had a platoon sergeant that used to say that.
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### Author:  [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)
#### Post date: [April 24, 2010, 6:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/praying-for-obamas-death-really-thats-the-depth-you-nutjobs-have-sunk-to/537184/4 "2010-04-24T06:53:11Z")
Really? Was she a lesbian?
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### Author:  [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)
#### Post date: [April 24, 2010, 7:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/praying-for-obamas-death-really-thats-the-depth-you-nutjobs-have-sunk-to/537184/5 "2010-04-24T07:09:18Z")
Yeah, it’s dumb, but it’s a joke, and it’s Facebook. The world will not end because people are being dumb and crass on Facebook, or it would already have ended.
If this sort of thing shocks you, stay away from Yahoo Answers.
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### Author:  [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)
#### Post date: [April 24, 2010, 7:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/praying-for-obamas-death-really-thats-the-depth-you-nutjobs-have-sunk-to/537184/6 "2010-04-24T07:39:31Z")
> [@Cyningablod](#):
>
> Am I the only one who thinks this is WAY the fuck out of line, and patently un-American??
Considering American history… not really.
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### Author:  [@marshmallow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/marshmallow)
#### Post date: [April 24, 2010, 8:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/praying-for-obamas-death-really-thats-the-depth-you-nutjobs-have-sunk-to/537184/7 "2010-04-24T08:01:43Z")
That’s hilarious.
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### Author:  [@kidneyfailure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kidneyfailure)
#### Post date: [April 24, 2010, 8:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/praying-for-obamas-death-really-thats-the-depth-you-nutjobs-have-sunk-to/537184/8 "2010-04-24T08:43:31Z")
This is nothing new on the right. Wasn’t Pat Robertson or Falwell or somebody praying for Chavez to die? And for some SCOTUS justice to kick off, too? Shit, how many right-wing religious zealots do you think were praying for Tiller to die?
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### Author:  [@ivan\_astikov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivan_astikov)
#### Post date: [April 24, 2010, 10:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/praying-for-obamas-death-really-thats-the-depth-you-nutjobs-have-sunk-to/537184/9 "2010-04-24T10:02:53Z")
Us heathens don’t pray for people to die. We might wish it while holding our lucky rabbit’s foot talisman, but that’s not the same.
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### Author:  [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)
#### Post date: [April 24, 2010, 10:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/praying-for-obamas-death-really-thats-the-depth-you-nutjobs-have-sunk-to/537184/10 "2010-04-24T10:15:15Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#):
>
> Considering American history… not really.
Americam History _also_ includes a fair number of assassinations, if you’ll recall.
The President’s job is more dangerous than an infantryman’s.
I hope to Heaven that the US Secret Service is at the top of their game.
The Tea Party is stuffed with bigots & dangerous nutjobs, even if there is a core of decent people.
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### Author:  [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)
#### Post date: [April 24, 2010, 10:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/praying-for-obamas-death-really-thats-the-depth-you-nutjobs-have-sunk-to/537184/11 "2010-04-24T10:39:36Z")
I just don’t understand why you’re surprised. There was already that “Christian” bumper sticker that indirectly pointed to Obama’s assassination. And I’ve seen worse elsewhere.
Yeah, praying for someone to die is an oxymoron\*, but people do it.
\*Unless you are admitting your God is evil…
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### Author:  [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)
#### Post date: [April 24, 2010, 11:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/praying-for-obamas-death-really-thats-the-depth-you-nutjobs-have-sunk-to/537184/12 "2010-04-24T11:38:18Z")
I never wished death on Dubya, but many was the time I hoped he’d just…go away.
And, hey, he did! See, prayer works!
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### Author:  [@ivan\_astikov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivan_astikov)
#### Post date: [April 24, 2010, 11:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/praying-for-obamas-death-really-thats-the-depth-you-nutjobs-have-sunk-to/537184/13 "2010-04-24T11:41:23Z")
How does it work, anyway? If they can get a million people praying simultaneously, will that be enough to get God’s attention?
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### Author:  [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)
#### Post date: [April 24, 2010, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/praying-for-obamas-death-really-thats-the-depth-you-nutjobs-have-sunk-to/537184/14 "2010-04-24T12:33:20Z")
It’s pretty ugly, but I have to say that I’ve seen similar, and much less humor-tinged, sentiments directed at Dick Cheney after a round of hospitialization. And I really don’t remember any such passion-filled screed decrying those, even though they were right here, instead of on Facebook.
Perhaps the OP simply missed them. Would he like links?
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### Author:  [@Camus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Camus)
#### Post date: [April 24, 2010, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/praying-for-obamas-death-really-thats-the-depth-you-nutjobs-have-sunk-to/537184/15 "2010-04-24T12:46:37Z")
> [@Bricker](#):
>
> It’s pretty ugly, but I have to say that I’ve seen similar, and much less humor-tinged, sentiments directed at Dick Cheney after a round of hospitialization. And I really don’t remember any such passion-filled screed decrying those, even though they were right here, instead of on Facebook.
>
> Perhaps the OP simply missed them. Would he like links?
**Bricker** , if, God forbid, one of these loons assassinates Obama and there is a thread pitting the assassin, would you remind people not to get too upset or charged up since another political fanatic assassinated Lincoln (a Republican)? And after all, there has been no thread pitting John Wilkes Booth.
I suppose it must be nice to live in a world where there is no injustice or outrage because someone, somewhere, at some point in time, did or said something that might have been similar but on the opposing political side.
Maybe you could put your legal training to use and write a boilerplate disclaimer that anyone who pits political or politically-motivated actions or speech can simply cut and paste so they can avoid being called a hypocrite by you for not also denouncing other actions that they may or may not know about.
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### Author:  [@Oy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oy)
#### Post date: [April 24, 2010, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/praying-for-obamas-death-really-thats-the-depth-you-nutjobs-have-sunk-to/537184/16 "2010-04-24T12:58:49Z")
Well, I’m a hard core liberal who strongly supports Obama and hopes Chris Christie wins his senate race (assuming the Democrat is a lost cause), and _I_ think it’s a funny email.
This isn’t a serious death threat; this is a joke about a politician! Save your outrage for times when it’s appropriate - heaven knows there is enough loose talk about violence among a lot of these nut jobs who actually have guns and are itching for a chance to use them. This is just a joke, one that I would happily make about John Boehner or Mitch McConnell or the previous administration.
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### Author:  [@joebuck20](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joebuck20)
#### Post date: [April 24, 2010, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/praying-for-obamas-death-really-thats-the-depth-you-nutjobs-have-sunk-to/537184/17 "2010-04-24T13:22:11Z")
One of my friends from high school sent me an invite to join that group on Facebook.
He also sent out an e-mail awhile back grumbling about how his kids got MLK Day off at school but not Good Friday.
Man, am I glad I left my hometown years ago.
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### Author:  [@Una\_Persson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Una_Persson)
#### Post date: [April 24, 2010, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/praying-for-obamas-death-really-thats-the-depth-you-nutjobs-have-sunk-to/537184/18 "2010-04-24T13:29:20Z")
> [@Cyningablod](#):
>
> A shocking number of my “Christian”, compassionately conservative :rolleyes: friends are joining this group, and spreading around this “joke”.
Perhaps you need to show greater wisdom in picking friends. Or somehow find the courage to tell them what you posted here.
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### Author:  [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)
#### Post date: [April 24, 2010, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/praying-for-obamas-death-really-thats-the-depth-you-nutjobs-have-sunk-to/537184/19 "2010-04-24T13:50:35Z")
Just checking with the OP. So you consider the source material as humorous (though pointing out that it wasn’t actually funny). But for some reason Facebook page is not given the same consideration? Do you have the same level of outrage for the original death wish against Governor Christie? Or did you answer that when you called it humorous?
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### Author:  [@LilyoftheValley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LilyoftheValley)
#### Post date: [April 24, 2010, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/praying-for-obamas-death-really-thats-the-depth-you-nutjobs-have-sunk-to/537184/20 "2010-04-24T15:26:14Z")
The thing that bothers me about this “joke” is the total inability to spell their “favorite” people’s names. “Farah”? “Swayzie”?
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