Someone somewhere is a smart Secret Service agent.
from the Salem, OR Statesman-Journal
Secret Service blames Palin for rise in death threats against Obama
November 15, 2008
The Secret Service reportedly is investigating defeated Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin, who agents say is responsible for provoking a spike in death threats against President-elect Barack Obama.
The Secret Service would not say how many threats have been made, but said that from Maine to Idaho, it’s the most threats ever made against a President-elect. Earlier this week, the Secret Service looked into the case of a sign posted on a tree in Vay, Idaho, with Obama's name and the offer of a "free public hanging." In North Carolina, civil rights officials complained of threatening racist graffiti targeting Obama found in a tunnel near the North Carolina State University campus.
And in a Maine convenience store, an Associated Press reporter saw a sign inviting customers to join a betting pool on when Obama might fall victim to an assassin. The sign solicited $1 entries into "The Osama Obama Shotgun Pool," saying the money would go to the person picking the date closest to when Obama was attacked. "Let's hope we have a winner," said the sign, since taken down.
During the bitter election campaign, Palin questioned Obama's patriotism and accused him of "palling around with terrorists," citing his links with the sixties radical William Ayers.
The Secret Service warned the Obama family last month that they had seen a dramatic surge in threats against the Democratic leader, coinciding with Palin's attacks.
Agents say Palin's demagogic tone encouraged white supremacists to plan attacks on the future president.
Agents said there were two threatening cases involving racial overtones:
--In Denver, a group of men with guns and bulletproof vests made racist threats against
Obama and sparked fears of an assassination plot during the Democratic National Convention
in August.
--Just before the election, two skinheads in Tennessee were charged with plotting to behead
blacks across the country and assassinate Obama while wearing white top hats and tuxedos.
In Milwaukee, police officials found a poster of Obama with a bullet going toward his head -
discovered on a table in a police station.
Chatter among white supremacists on the Internet has increased since Election Day. One of the most popular white supremacist Web sites got more than 2,000 new members the day after the election, compared with 91 new members on Election Day, according to an Associated Press count. The site, stormfront.org, was temporarily off-line Nov. 5 because of the overwhelming amount of activity it received after Election Day. On Nov. 8, one Stormfront poster, identified as Dalderian Germanicus, of North Las Vegas, said, "I want the SOB laid out in a box to see how 'messiahs' come to rest. God has abandoned us, this country is doomed."
John McCain’s associates distanced themselves from Palin’s attacks and have said that she began slamming Obama on her own accord and did not have the backing of the McCain campaign. They say after she accused Obama of cooperating with terrorists, they instructed to her to stop. The verbal attacks by Palin on Obama had provoked a near lynch mob atmosphere at her rallies, with supporters yelling "terrorist" and "kill him.
According to revelations contained in a Newsweek history of the campaign, the ordeal is likely to create more controversy linked to Palin, who has been under criticism by anonymous John McCain staffers in a frenzy of finger-pointing after the majority of Americans handed the campaign a huge defeat.
Political strategists say Palin’s actions could severely damage her credentials as a future presidential candidate, who is seen as a frontrunner with Indian-American Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal in four years time.
--News and wire reports
Copyright
As is almost always the case, Jill at Brilliant at Breakfast pointed this one out in her blog.
Secret Service blames Palin for rise in death threats against Obama
November 15, 2008
The Secret Service reportedly is investigating defeated Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin, who agents say is responsible for provoking a spike in death threats against President-elect Barack Obama.
The Secret Service would not say how many threats have been made, but said that from Maine to Idaho, it’s the most threats ever made against a President-elect. Earlier this week, the Secret Service looked into the case of a sign posted on a tree in Vay, Idaho, with Obama's name and the offer of a "free public hanging." In North Carolina, civil rights officials complained of threatening racist graffiti targeting Obama found in a tunnel near the North Carolina State University campus.
And in a Maine convenience store, an Associated Press reporter saw a sign inviting customers to join a betting pool on when Obama might fall victim to an assassin. The sign solicited $1 entries into "The Osama Obama Shotgun Pool," saying the money would go to the person picking the date closest to when Obama was attacked. "Let's hope we have a winner," said the sign, since taken down.
During the bitter election campaign, Palin questioned Obama's patriotism and accused him of "palling around with terrorists," citing his links with the sixties radical William Ayers.
The Secret Service warned the Obama family last month that they had seen a dramatic surge in threats against the Democratic leader, coinciding with Palin's attacks.
Agents say Palin's demagogic tone encouraged white supremacists to plan attacks on the future president.
Agents said there were two threatening cases involving racial overtones:
--In Denver, a group of men with guns and bulletproof vests made racist threats against
Obama and sparked fears of an assassination plot during the Democratic National Convention
in August.
--Just before the election, two skinheads in Tennessee were charged with plotting to behead
blacks across the country and assassinate Obama while wearing white top hats and tuxedos.
In Milwaukee, police officials found a poster of Obama with a bullet going toward his head -
discovered on a table in a police station.
Chatter among white supremacists on the Internet has increased since Election Day. One of the most popular white supremacist Web sites got more than 2,000 new members the day after the election, compared with 91 new members on Election Day, according to an Associated Press count. The site, stormfront.org, was temporarily off-line Nov. 5 because of the overwhelming amount of activity it received after Election Day. On Nov. 8, one Stormfront poster, identified as Dalderian Germanicus, of North Las Vegas, said, "I want the SOB laid out in a box to see how 'messiahs' come to rest. God has abandoned us, this country is doomed."
John McCain’s associates distanced themselves from Palin’s attacks and have said that she began slamming Obama on her own accord and did not have the backing of the McCain campaign. They say after she accused Obama of cooperating with terrorists, they instructed to her to stop. The verbal attacks by Palin on Obama had provoked a near lynch mob atmosphere at her rallies, with supporters yelling "terrorist" and "kill him.
According to revelations contained in a Newsweek history of the campaign, the ordeal is likely to create more controversy linked to Palin, who has been under criticism by anonymous John McCain staffers in a frenzy of finger-pointing after the majority of Americans handed the campaign a huge defeat.
Political strategists say Palin’s actions could severely damage her credentials as a future presidential candidate, who is seen as a frontrunner with Indian-American Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal in four years time.
--News and wire reports
Copyright
As is almost always the case, Jill at Brilliant at Breakfast pointed this one out in her blog.