Because I am not about to ever get myself in this sort of a position, ever.
Check it out:
The Justice Department has issued a federal grand jury subpoena to Reason, a prominent libertarian publication, to unmask the identity of commenters who made alleged threats against a federal judge.In the June 2 subpoena, first published by the blog Popehat on Monday, the Justice Department orders Reason to provide a federal grand jury with “any and all identifying information” on the identities of commenters who mused about shooting federal judges and/or feeding them through a wood chipper.A May 31 article on Reason’s blog about the prosecution of Silk Road founder Ross “Dread Pirate Roberts” Ulbricht spurred the anonymous commenters’ vitriol. Ulbricht pleaded for leniency, but a federal judge sentenced Ulbricht to life in prison without parole for setting up the illicit online drug market.“It’s judges like these that should be taken out back and shot,” one Reason commenter wrote.“It’s judges like these that will be taken out back and shot,” another responded.“Why waste ammunition? Wood chippers get the message across clearly,” a third wrote. “Especially if you feed them in feet first.”Another comment suggested shooting such judges on courthouse steps instead.Other comments flagged by the Justice Department were less violent, such as one that wished for “a special place in hell reserved for that horrible woman.”In the subpoena, the Justice Department says it is seeking evidence regarding possible violations of federal laws against interstate threats. — Source: Justice Department Subpoenas Reason.com To Unmask Commenters – BuzzFeed News
There is an argument and a counter-argument to be made here. The Conservatives are most likely saying that this is just more of “Obama’s America” at work and that, “This sort of thing did not happen during the Bush-era.” Well, there is a good reason for that.
President George W. Bush served in office from 2000 until 2008. Blogging really took off in 2003 and especially in 2004. Back then, TypePad was king, Blogger, which was owned then by Pyra Labs; was second and WordPress was just getting started. Blogging was being done, mostly by a few enterprising people, who saw potential in this new medium. Back then, the Government mostly viewed blogging as a novelty and rarely paid attention to it. Back in those days, the comments section on blogs, were like the “Wild West” as was most of the internet back then.
Well, things have changed. Blogs are now lumped in with this new buzzword: Social Media. They are a small part of it; because it is now dominated by Facebook, Twitter and the rest. But, it is still there and as a result; the Government is actually paying attention. Also too, I think Bush didn’t allow for the Government to do stuff like this, is because Bush did not, especially after 2006, want to be perceived as using the Government to stifle freedom of speech, especially among his harshest of critics. More than anything, I just happen to believe that the Government is simply paying more attention, especially seeing that we have a black President.
Another thing is simply boils down to, is this here: Don’t threaten Government employees, like judges. That is just plain common sense. Judges do not make laws, they simply enforce them and make decisions based on case-law and the constitution and laws passed by the lawmakers. They are simply just doing their jobs. Just like them so-called racist white cops that I keep hearing about all the time.
Again, this is just all good common sense; something that in this politically polarized society that we live in today, is in dreadfully short supply.
Others: Wall Street Journal, Popehat, Raw Story, Balloon Juice, Bloomberg View,The Daily Caller, The Last Refuge, The Verge and Washington Post, Bloomberg View, Forbes, Techdirt, The Daily Caller, @mrfopow, The Verge,@popehat, @puellavulnerata, @wendymcelroy1 and Mediashift