Under Threat of Death
One of my trusty readers, Psalm_11, provided a link to a story about several black politicians, and Tavis Smiley, receiving death threats for not supporting Barack Obama's candidacy for President.
Now, before I go any further, in the vain of full disclosure, I am an Obama supporter, and plan to vote for him in the general election this coming November. Now, that having been said, I'm going to be very objective about this situation.
First, it is absolutely crazy, the height of lunacy, even, to threaten another human being over any contest. In fact, if someone is that obsessed about this or any other contest, (sporting event, election, etc.) that person has severe issues. Severe. And they'd be a threat to anyone, including themselves, because they are obviously unstable. Should you be reading this article and know someone (including yourself) who's that wound up about the Democratic primary, you should advise them to seek professional mental assistance. No joke. Plus, your actions give the rest of us politically-interested persons who believe in the capability of our candidate, a bad name. So please, don't pass yourself off as a representative of your chosen candidate.
Politics are interesting and all, but not worth losing one's life over.
All that being said, I'd like to take on the article and these alleged threats. I'll be honest, and say I'm somewhat dubious on the content of the aforementioned article. I admit freely that I want to see Senator Obama do the deed, but from a journalistic standpoint, there are lots of holes here.
At this moment, weeks after the threats were reported to be made, the article I linked to is the ONLY source reporting on the alleged threats. Every other link points back to this one blog post. There's no independent corroboration. Not one quoted source giving information on a verifiable threat. I'm no "trained" journalist, one of the first things a good journalist learns is that you need to have sources that you can attribute, and audit. And preferably, one should have more than one source, in order to confirm a story. Where there is only one source with no one willing to go on record with specifics of the threat, it calls the whole article into question.
It may in fact be true that some threats have been received. I don't know. But I'm surprised that if there were threats made against Tavis and some black politicians, we've not heard anything about it 'til now.
That being said, if this is true, its horrible and nothing I'd condone or support. Nothing that sane people would condone or support. There are zealots on both side of the coin, and I don't think either side has a monopoly on the goodness of the behavior of their supporters. Most (like probably 99% of) Obama supporters are not down with threatening anyone's life. But like anything, there are people who are extremely unstable that might be dumb enough to threaten the life of someone who thinks differently.
Has Mr. Smiley received hate mail, emails, and maybe even a few calls? Yes, he has. Have black politicians received calls, emails, and letters from their constituents? Yes, they have. Should they? Sure. Tavis' ego got in the way of his accepting the offer to have Senator Obama's surrogate, his wife Michelle, represent him at the State of Black America event the held. I wonder how much hyperbole he's injected into his reports of harassment. But, Tavis kinda played himself, as he violated a well-understood principle: if you can't get the principal, take the surrogate.
And should black politicians be brought to heel by their constituents? Yes. If my district is voting 3- or 4-to-1 for the person I'm not supporting, I might want to listen to my constituents, consider them, and remember that not answering to them might cost me my job.
I'd like to get more information on these threats, but suffice to say, no one needs to die.
It ain't that serious.
Now, before I go any further, in the vain of full disclosure, I am an Obama supporter, and plan to vote for him in the general election this coming November. Now, that having been said, I'm going to be very objective about this situation.
First, it is absolutely crazy, the height of lunacy, even, to threaten another human being over any contest. In fact, if someone is that obsessed about this or any other contest, (sporting event, election, etc.) that person has severe issues. Severe. And they'd be a threat to anyone, including themselves, because they are obviously unstable. Should you be reading this article and know someone (including yourself) who's that wound up about the Democratic primary, you should advise them to seek professional mental assistance. No joke. Plus, your actions give the rest of us politically-interested persons who believe in the capability of our candidate, a bad name. So please, don't pass yourself off as a representative of your chosen candidate.
Politics are interesting and all, but not worth losing one's life over.
All that being said, I'd like to take on the article and these alleged threats. I'll be honest, and say I'm somewhat dubious on the content of the aforementioned article. I admit freely that I want to see Senator Obama do the deed, but from a journalistic standpoint, there are lots of holes here.
At this moment, weeks after the threats were reported to be made, the article I linked to is the ONLY source reporting on the alleged threats. Every other link points back to this one blog post. There's no independent corroboration. Not one quoted source giving information on a verifiable threat. I'm no "trained" journalist, one of the first things a good journalist learns is that you need to have sources that you can attribute, and audit. And preferably, one should have more than one source, in order to confirm a story. Where there is only one source with no one willing to go on record with specifics of the threat, it calls the whole article into question.
It may in fact be true that some threats have been received. I don't know. But I'm surprised that if there were threats made against Tavis and some black politicians, we've not heard anything about it 'til now.
That being said, if this is true, its horrible and nothing I'd condone or support. Nothing that sane people would condone or support. There are zealots on both side of the coin, and I don't think either side has a monopoly on the goodness of the behavior of their supporters. Most (like probably 99% of) Obama supporters are not down with threatening anyone's life. But like anything, there are people who are extremely unstable that might be dumb enough to threaten the life of someone who thinks differently.
Has Mr. Smiley received hate mail, emails, and maybe even a few calls? Yes, he has. Have black politicians received calls, emails, and letters from their constituents? Yes, they have. Should they? Sure. Tavis' ego got in the way of his accepting the offer to have Senator Obama's surrogate, his wife Michelle, represent him at the State of Black America event the held. I wonder how much hyperbole he's injected into his reports of harassment. But, Tavis kinda played himself, as he violated a well-understood principle: if you can't get the principal, take the surrogate.
And should black politicians be brought to heel by their constituents? Yes. If my district is voting 3- or 4-to-1 for the person I'm not supporting, I might want to listen to my constituents, consider them, and remember that not answering to them might cost me my job.
I'd like to get more information on these threats, but suffice to say, no one needs to die.
It ain't that serious.
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Well said...hence the reason why Rep. John Lewis switched up.
John was faced with his constituents looking at him like "WTF" in the next election. And his switch makes me wonder if he really was down with Hillary the candidate, because of her positions that he agreed with or was it because she was Hillary, The Coronated, and when he gave the endorsement, she was presumed to be the choice of the party.
Methinks that many of her early endorsers are thinking that they jumped on the bandwagon too early, in an effort to "unite" the party, and start campaigning for the general election, early.
As for the death threats, I still have my doubts.
I know a ton of Obama supporters (across all racial, ethic, and class lines), and I know they respect (and even like) Hillary, but don't see her as president. They also wouldn't threaten another voter if that person didn't share the same view. For sane people, it's not that big a deal.
The not-quite-wrapped-tight folks might threaten you if you said peanut butter and jelly was more tasty than turkey and cheese.
That's why they're not-quite-wrapped-tight.
On the real, to assume, generalize, or suggest that the alleged acts of a misdirected few are indicative of the wider behavior of any group makes one as wrong as the zealots who might in fact, be doing dumb, ignorant, or dangerous things towards those they disagree with.
Death threats are part of cost of celebrity. Politicians, pundits, movie stars all get them. Just par for the course. Not condoning any of them. Like you stated. They are a sign of a clearly and remarkably unstable mind. Still, I like the idea of the black political landscape being representative of diverse and contradictory positions. Keeps folks from treating us like cattle, thinking they can herd us behind a candidate with a whistle and a word from the right sponsor. Tavis can not support Obama. If Obama wins the nomination, Tavis will fall in line, definitely not supporting McCain. He and other Hillary supporters will shrug off her loss and a bad bet, and continue on their merry way. Won't be the first or last time. Maybe Tavis will have Obama (or Michelle) write a passage in the next iteration of the Covenant series...
LOL! Yes, the alleged threats from poeple who might be insane do represent the breadth and scope of the wider society.
I do hope the threats are not true, but surely the potential for death does make the point that not all of us are on the same page with our political positions. :)