Oh my fucking god.

[emmagrant01]

Okay, look: if you support the current US administration and nothing will shake you in that belief, just cruise on by. Otherwise, read on.

Have you ever made a snarky comment about Bush on your LJ? Have you ever ranted about politics? Have you ever criticized the government? Think you have some right to freedom of speech on your own LJ?

Think again.

Got the link via _inbetween_, btw.

Comments

[inyadreems.livejournal.com]

Bloody hell. Think if I post snarky stuff they'll come over here? (UK) Scary.

[ias.livejournal.com]

In a moment of synchronisity, I have just got off the phone with my other half about exactly this wherein we were both amazed at how much the Bush administration has managed to turn the US into a police state.

[amberleewriter.livejournal.com]

This is just one more example of how LJ and fandom can go bad. Aja (writer of LUW) lost her job about ten months ago because of comments made on her LJ.


The fact is that when you post something on the internet, people find it. Your neighbor, your parents, your friends, your coworkers -- you name it and they run across it. The fact that I haven't been visited by the FBI or CIA as a result of things I've put on my blog in the last two years is amazing to me (mostly because I know I have a file somewhere thanks to having so many "Top Secret" and "Eyes Only" clearance people in my family).

It's sad, wanky, and nutty that someone could get a visit like this thanks to an LJ post but it's not surprising.

In short, I'm looking into buying a small island that I can set up camp on if things keep going like this. Geesh.

[phoenix-starr.livejournal.com]

Oh come on people. How about a bit of sanity here? It is the FBI's job to follow up on tips and reports. I read the entry and I didn't see anywhere that she said was beaten, threatened with a beating, her door was not smashed in, or even that they told her not to say it any more! They didn't know her from Adam's house cat so they did some follow up after it was REPORTED! They weren't out searching for such things and this is a public forum. They didn't know if she really meant it or was just blowing off steam. And for the record I know someone they did this to when she was (not on LJ but something similar) ranting about Clinton when he was in office. This was not political. This was reasonable procedure. They were doing their job of protecting the President of the United States.

She needs to take responsibility for her own actions. She said something that could be taken as threatening, therefore she should have expected follow up. If it mattered that much to her, then she should have been more "politically correct" with her speech. I mean give me a break, there is a published book out there that advocates the assignation of the President. I'm sure the FBI followed up with them too, and NO the author was NOT arrested. Nor the publisher.

Also may I point out, that if you really belived this was a warning of a threat to you, you'd not be using that icon you have up.

[nattybear.livejournal.com]

Wow. Damn. The thing I find the most surprising (read: appalling) is that it was someone from LJ who reported her. I was hoping most LJ users understood the rule that pretty much goes unsaid about being able to write whatever we wanted in our own journals. Christ.

[slashprincess.livejournal.com]

wow, I really did not believe that they monitor things that closely

[helens78]

I'm not afraid of the FBI randomly knocking on my door to ask me a few questions about things I've said about the president. That's not what happened here. Someone decided playing drama queen on LJ wasn't good enough, and they reported this chick's journal to the Secret Service as having death threats against the President on it. That'd get you in trouble no matter who was in power.

*headdesk* *headdesk* *headdesk*

Dear LJ drama queens: Could that be less funny? No, I don't think so.

[jedirita.livejournal.com]

Eh. When I worked at my national denominational office, The United Church of Christ, and also at the Fellowship of Reconciliation, people were PROUD to have an FBI file!

But then, what do you expect from a bunch of former hippies? :P

[emmagrant01.livejournal.com]

Ummm... You're missing the point. The point is that she was tracked down and harrassed because of a sarcastic comment she made on her LJ, after someone she knew turned her in. It was personal and a bit too Big-Brotherish for my taste, and THAT is what disturbs me.

Do YOU take responsibility for every snarky comment you make? Should you have to? Where is the line between a joke and a threat? I've never been an advocate of censoring speech, even hate speech. I just don't trust anyone -- let alone the government -- to decide that. I regularly see stuff on Daily KOS that makes what Annie said look tame. Why did SHE get picked on? I haven't said anything that hasn't been said by someone on talk radio or late night TV, but that doesn't seem to mean anything.

And no: I honestly don't see how anyone could find my icon above threatening. Perhaps some small-minded person would interpret it as a threat to "spank" the president, and come after me. That would make for an interesting FBI file, now wouldn't it?

I can't help but wonder if you would (maybe you already have) repeat your above comment to her, on her LJ. You know, *I* wasn't attacked here; I'm just passing along the news that someone was singled out for something many of us have done. It's just another reason for me to vote against Bush this election, one of a very, very large and growing set.

[emmagrant01.livejournal.com]

Right, exactly. Smacks of Big Brother and Gestapo, ya know?

[emmagrant01.livejournal.com]

You never know... :-P

[emmagrant01.livejournal.com]

It's depressing. What disturbs me the most is the fact that disagreeing with this administration is not only "un-American", but considered threatening.

[emmagrant01.livejournal.com]

And this is exactly why I keep my identity a pretty tight secret. Of course, I'm sure "they" probably know what I'm up to. Maybe if I stick to writing porn and leave the politics out of it, I'll stay out of trouble, huh?

[emmagrant01.livejournal.com]

Well, apparently they pay attention when someone points it out, at least.

[emmagrant01.livejournal.com]

I wonder if *I* have an FBI file? Considering the no-fly list thing, probably. Hey, I need to chat with you, BTW.

[jedirita.livejournal.com]

Oh, okay. When are you ever around? And don't I owe you comments on the LMH sequel? Deadlines! I need deadlines!

[emmagrant01.livejournal.com]

Yeah, it's the whole "reporting" thing that gets me. You could probably take something *I* said out of context and the same thing could have happened to me, you know? Annie pissed somebody off, and this was the result. Given the powers granted by the Patriot Act, I'm not convinced it couldn't happen to more of us.

As I said somewhere above, I have issues with censoring of any kind of speech, even hate speech. I'm uncomfortable with a lawyer, or the government, or anyone else deciding what someone can or can't say. This just hits a little too close to that -- someone (LJ Drama Queen, as you put it) decided s/he didn't like what Annie was saying, and took a pretty drastic step to silence her.

It's just... beyond words. *shudders*

[emmagrant01.livejournal.com]

See, this is the issue! I'll log on now.

[helens78]

*hugs bunches*

I've cut people off for making one too many joking death threats against "all MS employees"; they make me uncomfortable, since friends and family fit in the category of "all MS employees". But there's such a big difference between cutting off contact with someone, but leaving them alone to say whatever crap they feel like, and sending the FBI after them. o_O I can't imagine sending any government after anyone, let alone this one. Just awful awful awful. *shakes head*

[slashprincess.livejournal.com]

I cannot believe someone would go that far cause they did not agree with your ideas

[(Anonymous)]

don;t know if you know but she's made it onto michael moore's website click on the must read link

[amberleewriter.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I don't think the FCC is allowed to use the FBI or CIA to sniff around us p0rn pushers. *snark*

[(Anonymous)]

Actually, the point is that she was tracked down after she was reported as having made a DEATH THREAT towards the President of the United States, which in this country is illegal. It was illegal LONG before George W. Bush ever came into office and will continue to be illegal regardless of who wins the next election.

The Secret Service came into being because too many presidents were being assassinated. It's their job to keep the president alive no matter what. anniesj was reported to them, and they followed up on that report. In fact in her post she says they were very polite about it. They certainly didn't throw her in a van and cart her off to an interrogation facility. They sat down in her house and had coffee and said "Did you?" and she said, "Uh, NO!" and they asked her to be more careful in the future about how she worded her statements so that they would not be perceived as actual death threats.

If you want to know how anniesj would respond to the above comment... copperbadge had some thoughts on the situation, which were very similar to what phoenix_starr said above:
http://www.livejournal.com/users/copperbadge/540490.html

anniesj's response was basically WORD to everything copperbadge said:
http://www.livejournal.com/users/copperbadge/540490.html?thread=9845578#t9845578

Too many people are completely misconstruing this situation and using it to bash the current administration. You can say anything you want against the administration, love it or hate it--that's called freedom of speech. But you cannot legally make a specific DEATH THREAT against the president, no matter who happens to be in office at the time the threat is made.

Whether anniesj made an actual death threat or not, she was REPORTED as having done so, and that's what the Secret Service visit was all about. She wasn't being picked on, and she wasn't being attacked by anybody (except maybe indirectly by whoever reported her). The Secret Service was just doing their job in following up on a reported threat.

It's really too bad that this happened to her, because now she could potentially run into difficulties on the basis of her brand-new FBI file. But she did make a mistake, and she has owned up to and taken responsibility for that fact, and she has to deal with the consequences just as anyone else would in the same situation.

(Posted anonymously, but not because I don't stand behind my statement--I most definitely do. I simply want to keep political flak away from a username which is specifically intended to be about fanfic and only fanfic and nothing but fanfic. Any rebuttal may be directed to kailin25@yahoo.com.)

[phoenix-starr.livejournal.com]

No, the point was someone who was a friend (and I use the term loosely) was a tattle tale, and acted spitefully. You are correct; many other people post and say worse. Unfortunately this mess was the result. Any threat made against the president that is reported is followed up. That is procedure. It doesn't matter if it was Bush, Clinton, and they would do the same if Kerry gets into office. This has nothing to do with politics.

Also, I don't think your icon is a threat, and I don't think anyone else would. You misunderstood my point. I was trying to say that if you were truly worried about your freedom of speech and being picked on for your political opinion, you wouldn't post it. Thus you are not worried because you do.

Also, I did repeat the comment, and we had a very civil discussion. Feel free to go look at it.

The main point of MY post was a desperate (and obviously futile) attempt to point out to people that the man in office is not responsible for what happened, and that the USA is not suddenly become a police state. Not an attack on you. That it has been a long established policy with presidents from both parties. As I said before I know someone else that had nearly the same thing happen, but they were talking about Clinton.

[phoenix-starr.livejournal.com]

Yes Yes! Someone else that agrees!

[spark-of-chaos.livejournal.com]

Freaked out indeed.

Now I know that my father was right when he told me to be very careful when putting personal information -of any possible kind- on the Net. I'm happy I took his advice and never recorded something more personal than first name and country. Not that the IP isn't compromising enough but yet I surf mainly from cyber-cafes so...

I'm truly tempted to make a nasty remark but I'll hold my tongue having in mind all that has happened. If someone comes to talk to me about democracy, I'll laugh in their face hysterically.

*doesn't change her opinion of Bush*