Secret Service Probes Boy's Art Depicting Bush as Devil

What is that I hear? Oh, that's just a civil right being taken away. ::)

It is called the First Admendment. That says that we can say anything we want about the government (and those in it) without recourse. What this kid did sounds like a political cartoon to me-which is covered under the First Amendment. If I was that kid's parent, I would hire a lawyer and sue the school. If they were so concerned about it, they should have called the parents.



Cat

LOL. Oh dear.  :D

PROSSER, Wash. -- One drawing showed President George W. Bush's head on a stick. Another depicted Bush as a devil launching a missile.

I wonder if it was the head on a stick picture that caused the bruhaha.  It is illegal to even joke about killing the pres.  I can't imagine that the secret service got all huffy over the devil one.  That would be ridiculous.  Sounds like nothing happened so I bet the school blew the pictures out of porportion and called the Secret Service then they found nothing wrong.

I think the school owes the boy an apology.

Im sure the ACLU is all over this one already.

This is similar to when the Secret Service pretty much manhandled a Daily Californian columnist who "satirized" dragging Chelsea Clinton's dead mangled body through the streets of Berkeley when Berkeley won the Big Game (we lost because our quarterback sucked).  Chelsea was going to Stanfurd at the time and I was at Cal, and after he wrote this article the Secret Service pretty much forbade him from stepping outside his apartment and writing for two weeks because he had attacked (albeit in jest) the President's daughter.

The President was Bill Clinton, btw.  The point is that you don't do this kind of nonsense, the First Amendment does not protect against inciteful speech or anything that suggests a clear and present danger.

This is similar to when the Secret Service pretty much manhandled a Daily Californian columnist who "satirized" dragging Chelsea Clinton's dead mangled body through the streets of Berkeley when Berkeley won the Big Game (we lost because our quarterback sucked).  Chelsea was going to Stanfurd at the time and I was at Cal, and after he wrote this article the Secret Service pretty much forbade him from stepping outside his apartment and writing for two weeks because he had attacked (albeit in jest) the President's daughter.

The President was Bill Clinton, btw.  The point is that you don't do this kind of nonsense, the First Amendment does not protect against inciteful speech or anything that suggests a clear and present danger.
Double Standards....Okay for Clinton....Not for Bush ::)

He was not arrested.  He was investigated.  And he was investigated because the Secret Service has to check out every possible threat sent to them, no matter how stupid or trivial, because you never know.

If you want to get mad at anyone, get mad at the administration of the school that reported him to the White House.  This just reinforces my belief that high school is the worst place for anyone.

It is illegal to even joke about killing the pres.

No, it's not. 

Double Standards....Okay for Clinton....Not for Bush

I think you misunderstood what Rice was trying to say.  I'm pretty sure he was saying it's okay for any president to respond to a supposed threat in this way.  And I disagree completely.

This country just gets more and more anal retentive every year.

simply put, We have freedom of speech. as long as we dont exorcise that freedom.

and heaven forbid we ever show disrespect to our beloved Dictator. Mr Busch.

BTW, I live in florida so I know he isnt an elected official.

The devil wants to sue for libel.
;)

It is illegal to even joke about killing the pres.

No, it's not. 



Yes it is.  A kid called into a local radio show (during the Clinton presidency) and joked about killing the president.  The dj's got arrested because it is a perceived thread.

And, it isn't the president that reacts to this kind of stuff...it is the Secret Service.  I don't think any president should be blamed for crap like this.

He was not arrested.  He was investigated.  And he was investigated because the Secret Service has to check out every possible threat sent to them, no matter how stupid or trivial, because you never know.

If you want to get mad at anyone, get mad at the administration of the school that reported him to the White House.  This just reinforces my belief that high school is the worst place for anyone.


I agree with you.  Up to a point.  As I read the short article, the school administrators called the police.  The kid's drawing may have been harmless, they may not have.  Columbine caught school authorities flat-footed, so I can understand it if they erred on the side of caution.
The police, not the school, according to the article, contacted the Secret Service.  The chain is art teacher telling school authorities telling police telling Secret Service.  So there's four levels of authority that felt the kid did something worth investigating.

I'm pretty sure he was saying it's okay for any president to respond to a supposed threat in this way.  And I disagree completely.


Nah, a modicum of common sense should be applied to these situations, I was just saying that it's happened before and therefore the situation with the kid with the Bush-on-pike picture isn't a precedent.  Y'all are blowing it out of proportion.

I don't think a kid drawing a picture of the President's head on a pike, in itself, rises to the level of a "threat."  However, it's not a real good idea.  If I drew that picture I'd do it where no one could see it.  My draftsmanship is so crummy no one would be able to tell who it was anyway! :D
It is illegal to threaten the life of the President, but the authorities in this case didn't find reason to pursue the matter beyond the initial inquiry.

The recent Spin article on Morrissey mentioned the time British authorities questioned him about "Margaret on the Guillotine," but the song was not censored.

I remember,  a few years ago, when that kid in NJ was suspended for drawing a picture of a gun in school.  At about the same time another kid, I forgot where, was suspended for drawing a picture of a Confederate Flag.  This kind of hysteria comes and goes.

In 1980, Iron Maiden released a single with this cover:

http://www.librariusmetallicus.com/photos/7070.jpg

The picture's not real good, but that's Margaret Thatcher laying on the ground after being stabbed. There was a lot of controversy surrounding it, but a few months later, they released another single with this cover:

http://www.librariusmetallicus.com/photos/7071.jpg

If you can't make it out, it's Maggie in combat gear, waiting to get back at her attacker. I wonder what would happen if the first one was released today with Bush instead of Thatcher?

Well, I can't ask him at the moment.  He's in a closed session with the 9/11 Commission, he and his muse, VP Cheney--no oath, no recordings, no transcript.  My fellow Americans, how long are we to put up with this sh*t?

I remember all that scary Iron Maiden cover art from the '80s.  I never realized they depicted Thatcher in the ghoulishness.  She was certainly a good subject.  If somebody did that with Bush, the right-wing media stormtroopers would scream for blood, and the artists involved would meekly apologize.  That's been the record so far. 

Their latest target is Pierre Trudeau's Doonesbury, but Trudeau doesn't care.  He hasn't depicted a mutiliated Bush, either.

BTW, Bill O'Reilly of Fox Newt's "O'Reilly Factor" is now threatening to organize a boycott of Canada if our neighbors to the north don't hand over those two U.S. army deserters.  He was the media force behind a boycott of France, which has gone for over a year.  Maybe Canada would be more cooperative if the U.S. hadn't been ridiculing them for the past 18 months.  The Bush Administration now accuses Canada of creating a safe haven for terrorists.  This is not useful except as a deflection for the administration's own failures!

Well, I can't ask him at the moment.  He's in a closed session with the 9/11 Commission, he and his muse, VP Cheney--no oath, no recordings, no transcript.  My fellow Americans, how long are we to put up with this sh*t?

I remember all that scary Iron Maiden cover art from the '80s.  I never realized they depicted Thatcher in the ghoulishness.  She was certainly a good subject.  If somebody did that with Bush, the right-wing media stormtroopers would scream for blood, and the artists involved would meekly apologize.  That's been the record so far. 

Their latest target is Pierre Trudeau's Doonesbury, but Trudeau doesn't care.  He hasn't depicted a mutiliated Bush, either.

BTW, Bill O'Reilly of Fox Newt's "O'Reilly Factor" is now threatening to organize a boycott of Canada if our neighbors to the north don't hand over those two U.S. army deserters.  He was the media force behind a boycott of France, which has gone for over a year.  Maybe Canada would be more cooperative if the U.S. hadn't been ridiculing them for the past 18 months.  The Bush Administration now accuses Canada of creating a safe haven for terrorists.  This is not useful except as a deflection for the administration's own failures!



I do agree with you but it is GARRY Trudeau of Doonsbury. Peirre Trudeau is the former Prime Minister of Canada.



Cat

simply put, We have freedom of speech. as long as we dont exorcise that freedom.

and heaven forbid we ever show disrespect to our beloved Dictator. Mr Busch.

BTW, I live in florida so I know he isnt an elected official.


That is just your opinion, sir.  Five independent newspapers all went to Florida after the voting problem and all 5 of them say Bush won.  By only 527 votes, but he did win. Wise up sir.

Interesting point, Powerslave. I doubt that Iron Maiden would get away with this kind of imagery nowadays. I guess it would suggest treason or something.  :-\\

Well, I can't ask him at the moment.  He's in a closed session with the 9/11 Commission, he and his muse, VP Cheney--no oath, no recordings, no transcript.  My fellow Americans, how long are we to put up with this sh*t?



You can just smell the kool-aid, eh?  Funny democrats don't want to mention how Bob Kerry didn't stay through-out the entire session because Bush was taking to long.  He was answers ALL their question when even the republicans expected him to pass on at least one question.  Whats even funnier is that no one on your side wants to mention Bill Clinton did the exact same thing.  Funny no one cares about that, huh?

simply put, We have freedom of speech. as long as we dont exorcise that freedom.

and heaven forbid we ever show disrespect to our beloved Dictator. Mr Busch.

BTW, I live in florida so I know he isnt an elected official.


I'm not a supporter of Bush. I think he's a moron. But, can we give up the Florida thing? PLEASE!

Tim
RATT-n-ROLL

I do agree with you but it is GARRY Trudeau of Doonsbury. Peirre Trudeau is the former Prime Minister of Canada.



Cat

:-
I'm not a supporter of Bush. I think he's a moron. But, can we give up the Florida thing? PLEASE!
It is a perversion of priorities that we, who were wronged by criminal election fraud, are treated as though we're just gadflies, and the theft of the 2000 Presidential election no longer matters.
If you would like to understand why you should not dismiss this story, start here:
http://www.makethemaccountable.com/caro/Interview_Bugliosi_Vincent_010618_Transcript.htm

and proceed to here:

http://democrats.com/display.cfm?id=248

I urge you to look beyond the surface partisanship to the ugly facts, few of which they've even tried to refute.

And in the words of Forrest Gump, "That's all I have to say about that."

Im sure the ACLU is all over this one already.


Im sure they are. the ACLU rocks, i love that group!!!

www.aclu.org
:P

Im sure they are. the ACLU rocks, i love that group!!!

www.aclu.org
:P


Evan though they sometimes pursue cases that disagree with, they are a bastion of defense for all our civil liberties, and I am a casrd carrying member, and proud of it.

Evan though they sometimes pursue cases that disagree with, they are a bastion of defense for all our civil liberties, and I am a casrd carrying member, and proud of it.


Ditto that ;)

Evan though they sometimes pursue cases that disagree with, they are a bastion of defense for all our civil liberties, and I am a casrd carrying member, and proud of it.


I totally agree with that. But thats also one of the things i love about them , is that even though they pursue  cases i dont agree with, the principle behind pursuing a liberty no matter how unpopular it is. I dig that!:)