Watch: Rep. Robert Brady (D-PA) Proposes Legislation Making Threats to Congress a Federal Crime
Rep. Robert Brady says he's planning to introduce legislation that would make it a federal crime to use language or symbols that are perceived as inciting threat or harm to members of Congress. Brady says he wants to introduce it as soon as possible.
Watch, AFTER THE JUMP...
That's one hell of a slippery slope there...
Posted by: Jesus | Jan 10, 2011 12:26:08 PM
yeah, this sounds a bit police-statey to me. i am all for more protection for these guys...but. I don't know.
Posted by: jgm22 | Jan 10, 2011 12:28:18 PM
Wow... we could re-join the world with our considered and reasonable limits on free speech.
You cannot shout FIRE in a theatre, and you cannot advocate murder as a tool for political change.
Posted by: bgk | Jan 10, 2011 12:31:58 PM
Uhhhh.....making threats is already a crime, can't we just leave it at that?
Posted by: Andrew | Jan 10, 2011 12:42:14 PM
Why do I feel like life is getting more and more like the movie Brazil?
Posted by: joe | Jan 10, 2011 12:45:07 PM
There is no legitimate reason to advocate for the murder of an American politician. None. If you can't convince the masses that your political opinion is correct without resorting to calls for violence, then perhaps your political opinion really isn't as correct as you thought it was.
Posted by: The Milkman | Jan 10, 2011 12:46:36 PM
He's targeting targeting! Political grandstanding like this is all fun and games until someone gets hurt. Making terroristic threats is already a crime. Going after SP for innuendo will be struck down by the courts.
Posted by: anon | Jan 10, 2011 1:03:05 PM
anon
target sights on people and "don't retreat, reload" is not innuendo on your diva sp
until a lawyer says otherwise , i am of the firm belief her family should file a civil suit against sarah palin for financial damages to cover the lifetime of medical care gifford will most likely need (it was a head shot = think bradey)
Posted by: mstrozfckslv@yahoo.com | Jan 10, 2011 1:06:52 PM
Hmmm - here's a better idea.
Make it FAR more difficult to buy guns!
Posted by: SteveC | Jan 10, 2011 1:26:18 PM
How many years did it take to includes LGBTs in the federal hate crimes law? Not to belittle what happened this weekend, but our lawmakers haste in working for self-serving legislation always disgusts me.
Posted by: D. | Jan 10, 2011 1:51:45 PM
Uhhhhh - what about HAND GUN CONTROL?
What about the hate speech that the right wing conducts on a daily basis?
What about a mental health-care system that is (obviously) broken and needs additional funding?
Posted by: Steve | Jan 10, 2011 2:14:52 PM
If we outlow symbolism, only outlaws will use symbols.
Threats are already illegal. Who gets to decide when a metaphor is actually a threat? Some politician? No thank you.
If the Palin map were really such a dangerous incitement to violence, why are supposedly reponsible people reproducing it all over the internet? Won't more people see it this way? By this theory, won't more congresspeople be shot?
Posted by: Mike | Jan 10, 2011 2:23:58 PM
Yes, make it far more difficult to buy guns, then take care to identify and treat mental ill people.
Posted by: Gregoire | Jan 10, 2011 2:38:27 PM
No laws, please.
Let's make change in society's attitude toward what is acceptable, okay?
But thanks in advance for not making laws about it.
Posted by: JeffNYC | Jan 10, 2011 2:46:12 PM
A civil tort trial is not what this congressman is advocating. He is suggesting that prior restraint be used against speech that crosses some imaginary line. The families of the victims are all free right now to sue SP for tort, though in reality a case like that will not get very far. They don't even need a lawyer to say anything.
SP is not my diva! The woman would become the US equivalent of Evita Peron. Around 1900 Argentina was the 4th wealthiest nation in the world, and it was all downhill from there.
Posted by: anon | Jan 10, 2011 3:07:09 PM
JeffNYC says: "But thanks in advance for not making laws about it"
I think laws banning hand guns are essential. The sickness in US society which has made our country the homicide capital of the developed world, requires a drastic response.
FAR stricter gun laws are absolutely required.
Posted by: SteveC | Jan 10, 2011 4:24:18 PM
It's surprising it's not been a law already decades ago. Make sure threatening language proscribed is clearly defined, and there is no "slippery slope."
I have a clear first amendment right to voice my opinion. That's not what's at stake. I have no right to cloak a threat of physical violence in the first amendment. That's already illegal in all jurisdictions.
The nut in Tucson is already facing federal charges specifically because he assaulted a judge and a federal employee. This is not uncalled for legislation.
Posted by: Craig | Jan 10, 2011 4:25:58 PM
Let's examine something right now. My congressman, Raul Grijalva, is a nice guy in a very safe seat (up to last election). He's very in tune with his district, doesn't do any weird legislation, etc. NOBODY had an issue with him before, and he gets re-elected by huge margins because the perennial opponent is so obnoxious even the Republican party repudiates him on the ballot.
But with talk radio locally, suddenly THIS guy is getting regular death threats. This is ridiculous. The sheriff gets them. ALL the local politicians are getting them, routinely. NOBODY should have to deal with getting death threats as a regular part of their job. This is insane.
If you make physical threats, you should go to jail. Period. There is no excuse for this.
Posted by: Craig | Jan 10, 2011 4:31:10 PM
BTW, yeah, Gabrielle Giffords' district is literally one block east of where I live. I've helped canvass this past election for both candidates. These are incredibly nice people in the democrat party here in Tucson.
Posted by: Craig | Jan 10, 2011 4:32:53 PM
There is already adequate legislation on the limits of free speech with regard to threats - enforcement and follow-up is what is lacking. But out of curiosity, WTH would legislation like this be limited only to members of Congress? Do they somehow deserve more protection than the average resident of this nation? I think not.
Posted by: Justin Werner | Jan 10, 2011 4:42:30 PM
I just can't stand that in any tragedy people are reactive and don't understand that just taking a knee-jerk reaction assumes that making this knee-jerk reaction will prevent something bad happening again. It won't.
Posted by: Joseph Singer | Jan 10, 2011 4:52:22 PM
Arizona suspect had made death threats-sheriff
Jan 8 (Reuters) - The suspect in Saturday's shooting rampage in which a U.S. congresswoman was critically wounded was unstable and had been known to make death threats in the past, the local sheriff said.
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSN0824904120110109
===============================
Jared Loughner has been making death threats by phone to many people in Pima County including staff of Pima Community College, radio personalities and local bloggers. When Pima County Sheriff's Office was informed, his deputies assured the victims that he was being well managed by the mental health system. It was also suggested that further pressing of charges would be unnecessary and probably cause more problems than it solved as Jared Loughner has a family member that works for Pima County. [His mother] Amy Loughner is a Natural Resource specialist for the Pima County Parks and Recreation.
http://thechollajumps.wordpress.com/2011/01/09/jared-loughner-is-a-product-of-sheriff-dupniks-office/
==========================
The sheriff is scared due to his past failures at dealing with Loughner. He's now trying to deflect attention.
This Brady character is a moron trying muzzle his opponents and get political gain from out of the actions of an insane killer.
Posted by: ratbastard | Jan 10, 2011 7:54:53 PM
Mean spirited political discourse?
Anger over Halloween display of Palin with noose
http://edition.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/10/29/palin.noose/
Bernhard defends Palin 'gang rape' joke
http://www.upi.com/Entertainment_News/2008/09/20/Bernhard-defends-Palin-gang-rape-joke/UPI-54281221944567/
David Letterman's Sarah Palin's Daughter Jokes issues
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Q3o6TC0qRg
A Democratic target map
http://rhymeswithright.mu.nu/archives/images/DLC-Targeting-map[1].gif
Posted on daily kos by a regular contributer
Thu Jan 06, 2011 at 11:07:17 AM PST:
My CongressWOMAN voted against Nancy Pelosi! And is now DEAD to me!
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Posted by: ratbastard | Jan 10, 2011 8:04:41 PM
Bush assassinated? New film depicts it
“It’s an extraordinarily gripping and powerful piece of work, a drama constructed like a documentary that looks back at the assassination of George Bush as the starting point for a very gripping detective story,” Dale told reporters.
“It’s a pointed political examination of what the war on terror did to the American body politic,” he said.
Dale said he expected the film would upset some, but defended it as a sophisticated piece of work.
http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/14608725/ns/today-entertainment/
Posted by: ratbastard | Jan 10, 2011 8:09:40 PM
I agree with this legislation. If you see the way people talk about their elected officials, it is completely disrespectful, dirty, and threatening. If you go onto Nancy Pelosi's facebook page, Tea Party people sit there 24/7 and threaten her, insult her, and call people who support her homophobic and racist slurs. If you're calling for harm against your elected official, just like against your President, you should be held accountable.
Posted by: IndyTown | Jan 10, 2011 11:08:47 PM