Tea Partiers And GOP "Christians" Respond To Criticism With Death Threats

http://www.politicususa.com/en/journalists-death-threats?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+politicususa%2FfJAl+%28Politicus+USA+%29

July 9, 2011
By Rmuse

It is fashionable for teabaggers and conservatives to cite the Founding Fathers’ original intent in the Constitution as a solution to every problem America is facing, but especially since Barack Obama was elected president. The ignorant neo-conservatives really have no conceptual understanding of the Constitution, but they still make reference to the Founders’ intent for every issue they feel strongly about whether it is taxation, education, or the Affordable Health Act. The Constitution has become a sacred cow of conservatives and alleged patriots, but they fail to understand the most basic premise of the 1st Amendment and become violently angry at any citizen who exercises the rights guaranteed in the document.

The First Amendment guarantees religious freedom, free speech, and freedom of the press and yet there are a great number of people who deny those rights to all Americans because they disagree with a message or an individual’s failure to follow the Christian religion. Many people who claim to be ardent supporters of America and its guarantee of freedom and liberty are the first to protest when another citizen exercises any of the 1st Amendment’s guarantees, and they make every attempt to silence free speech through intimidation, threats, and acts of violence.

There are documented cases over the past year-and-a-half of journalists who have been threatened with death, dismemberment, firebombing, and beheading that originate with uber-patriots and religious fanatics that are intended to intimidate and silence free speech and religious freedom, and they demonstrate how conservatives really feel about the Founding Fathers’ original intent in the 1st Amendment. In the following instances, the recipients of intimidation asked to remain anonymous to protect their families and property from retribution for speaking out. Also in each instance, local law enforcement and the FBI were notified about threatening phone calls, emails, and comments on blogs, but little can be done because in America everyone has the right of free speech; even if the speech is a death threat.

A newspaper opinion writer received a series of death threats for a commentary on church involvement in her local school district and was told to make her peace with god and write a retraction or she would be abducted outside of the newspaper where her truck was parked and taken to a field and set on fire. The writer parked her vehicle on a different street for the next two days and a caller informed her that they knew she was parking in a different area and would find her at her home instead. When the woman took a recording of the threats to the local chief of police, he told her to “get right with Jesus, write a retraction, and stop intimidating Christians.” The woman transferred to a different city and writes about local high-school sports and theatre.

A male journalist received a phone call from an irate conservative who informed him that unless he stopped criticizing the tea party, the true patriots of America would invade his home at night, tie him up and make him witness his wife and two daughters being raped and then dismembered before his eyes. [...]

In California, a reporter awoke to the sound of breaking glass and shouts of, “USA, USA” and “fucking traitor” for writing a column criticizing the city for spending tax dollars on firework displays instead of assistance for homeless veterans. [...]

These types of threats are by no means unique to writers. When a member of the country group, The Dixie Chicks, remarked that she was embarrassed that George W. Bush was from the state of Texas, she received death threats from Republicans from around the country. Country radio stations pulled The Dixie Chicks hit record from rotation and furious conservatives held record-burning rallies to protest an American citizen exercising her right of free speech. [...]

The FBI says most threats journalists receive are from cowards emboldened by the anonymity the Internet provides and disposable cell phones, but at the same time, they give a warning that all journalists should heed. They said a person who takes the time to call, email, or write a letter is just one small outrage away from acting on a threat of violence. The good news is that although the FBI cannot act on every reported death threat, they know exactly who to arrest if the worst happens. The solution and better news is for conservatives, teabaggers, religious fanatics, and uber-patriots to afford every American the same freedom of speech and religion they enjoy because their free speech can be prohibited very quickly; when they are in prison for making death threats, or worse, carrying them out.

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