This is Funny and Scary at the Same Time

[Hostile]

I have a sister-in-law whose father is a 90 year old rancher. Not former rancher, rancher. He still gets up and works every single day.

He is a very good man, but he is kind of no nonsense. He will tell you exactly what he thinks even if it hurts your feelings. If he doesn't like your clothes, he will tell you. If he thinks something is stupid he will say so. In other words he is not too afraid to say exactly what he thinks even if it causes an uproar.

He is also a staunch conservative Republican.

Apparently that is exactly what happened last week. He answered the phone and it was a political survey. Several of the questions had to do with President Obama. Let me just say that he was less than kind about the President. I don't want to go into specifics because it might offend someone.

The next day twp Secret Service Agents knocked on his door and he was questioned at length for a couple of hours before they determined that this 90 year old man was no threat to the President. He just doesn't like him.

Be careful how you answer surveys.

[JBond]

Did he make threats or just voice his displeasure with Obama? It would be a sad day if the SS is investigating people just because the believe Obama is an ***.

[vta]

Originally Posted by Hostile

He is a very good man, but he is kind of no nonsense. He will tell you exactly what he thinks even if it hurts your feelings. If he doesn't like your clothes, he will tell you. If he thinks something is stupid he will say so. In other words he is not too afraid to say exactly what he thinks even if it causes an uproar.

I like him already.

Originally Posted by Hostile

The next day twp Secret Service Agents knocked on his door and he was questioned at length for a couple of hours before they determined that this 90 year old man was no threat to the President. He just doesn't like him.

Be careful how you answer surveys.

That's ****ing despicable.

[Rackat]

Originally Posted by vta

I like him already.



That's ****ing despicable.

Agreed on both counts.

[zrinkill]

I am not surprised.

I have heard some scary things.

[ABQCOWBOY]

Can't ever happen in America. That's not what this administration is about.

It's amazing to me how things happen and people seem to look the other way. One day you wake up and before you know it, your living in a brave new world but it can't happen to us. That's not what this is all about.

The worm has turned.

[Sam I Am]

Originally Posted by Hostile

I have a sister-in-law whose father is a 90 year old rancher. Not former rancher, rancher. He still gets up and works every single day.

Thats just like my grandfather. He is 90 and has had Ephazma for 10 years, yet he still ranches and mows every single acre of his land with a tractor, builds / re-builds fences and porches.

He is a no nonsense guy too, but he is a very hard man and not very nice one at that. I know nothing of his political status, (if he even has one) but I'm sure he doesn't like Obama. No need to even ask that.

I saw him about a month ago when I was in Dallas to see my other grandfather (much better man) before he passed away. It was the first time I have seen him in 16 years. It took my dad some serious arm twisting to get me to go.

[Hostile]

Originally Posted by JBond

Did he make threats or just voice his displeasure with Obama? It would be a sad day if the SS is investigating people just because the believe Obama is an ***.

What he said was interpreted as a threat. I am not sure his exact words, but I am told he was asked what he thought of President Obama, and he replied in some version that he wished Obama would die. He did not say he'd like to kill him or anything like that. It's kind of hard for me to fathom them needing 2 hours to question a 90 year old man as to whether he was a serious threat to the President. He hasn't left his home town to drive more than 30 miles in 5 years.

Like I said, he minces no words.

[arglebargle]

Originally Posted by ABQCOWBOY

Can't ever happen in America. That's not what this administration is about.

It's amazing to me how things happen and people seem to look the other way. One day you wake up and before you know it, your living in a brave new world but it can't happen to us. That's not what this is all about.

The worm has turned.

If you think this hasn't been happening for a while now, you have not been paying attention.

Not to mention that there are always some real dangers out there, and the Secret Service, by definition, is manned by paranoids....

[joseephuss]

Originally Posted by Hostile

What he said was interpreted as a threat. I am not sure his exact words, but I am told he was asked what he thought of President Obama, and he replied in some version that he wished Obama would die. He did not say he'd like to kill him or anything like that. It's kind of hard for me to fathom them needing 2 hours to question a 90 year old man as to whether he was a serious threat to the President. He hasn't left his home town to drive more than 30 miles in 5 years.

Like I said, he minces no words.

Maybe SS just hung out with him for 2 hours. They have their formal questions that they have to ask, but that doesn't mean they spent the whole 2 hours grilling him. Maybe they all sat around for 2 hours drinking coffee or whiskey.

I am pretty sure that when you use terms like "I wish he was dead" that it is going to raise some flags. It may just be standard operating procedure that they have to do some sort of follow up. It doesn't matter who is in office, either. I am sure the same things happened when Bush, Clinton, the elder Bush and so on and so on were in office. I remember stories of people being arrested at Bush rallies wearing t-shirts with a line through the W and stories about people being arrested at Clinton rallies while he was in office. It happens.

It sounds silly and in this specific case it really is silly, but their job is to protect the president. Unless they do some sort of follow up how are they supposed to tell which ones are non threats and which ones may be actual threats.

[JBond]

Originally Posted by Hostile

What he said was interpreted as a threat. I am not sure his exact words, but I am told he was asked what he thought of President Obama, and he replied in some version that he wished Obama would die. He did not say he'd like to kill him or anything like that. It's kind of hard for me to fathom them needing 2 hours to question a 90 year old man as to whether he was a serious threat to the President. He hasn't left his home town to drive more than 30 miles in 5 years.

Like I said, he minces no words.

Good thing Obama does not allow water boarding. I will not be the least surprised if the SS starts visiting people for what they write on the internet. I remember Google was complicit with the Chinese during the crack down before the Olympics. We know how tight Obama and google are.

[Wheat]

Originally Posted by Hostile

What he said was interpreted as a threat. I am not sure his exact words, but I am told he was asked what he thought of President Obama, and he replied in some version that he wished Obama would die. He did not say he'd like to kill him or anything like that. It's kind of hard for me to fathom them needing 2 hours to question a 90 year old man as to whether he was a serious threat to the President. He hasn't left his home town to drive more than 30 miles in 5 years.

Like I said, he minces no words.

You 100% sure he didn't say something that involved killing him? I mean, I don't want to suggest he would mean it. But my Granny is 96. Some of the stuff she says would have been generally accept 50 years ago. But today seems downright racist and really dangerous if she wasn't overall a sweet sweet lady.

[TheCount]

Originally Posted by Hostile

What he said was interpreted as a threat. I am not sure his exact words, but I am told he was asked what he thought of President Obama, and he replied in some version that he wished Obama would die. He did not say he'd like to kill him or anything like that. It's kind of hard for me to fathom them needing 2 hours to question a 90 year old man as to whether he was a serious threat to the President. He hasn't left his home town to drive more than 30 miles in 5 years.

Like I said, he minces no words.

Well there's being honest and there's that, I wonder (but doubt) if it was overheard on the phone line or whether he was "reported" by the people taking surveys.

[ABQCOWBOY]

Originally Posted by arglebargle

If you think this hasn't been happening for a while now, you have not been paying attention.

Not to mention that there are always some real dangers out there, and the Secret Service, by definition, is manned by paranoids....

Perhaps, but let me just point out that their were no shortage of people who wished death on GW on a daily basis. If you think that their feet were held to the fire, OK. That's fine but I did not see it.

This man did not make a threat. He was called in his own home and asked what his opinion was. If he said, "I wish he would die.", does it not seem odd that the SS would show up on his door step?

[arglebargle]

Originally Posted by ABQCOWBOY

Perhaps, but let me just point out that their were no shortage of people who wished death on GW on a daily basis. If you think that their feet were held to the fire, OK. That's fine but I did not see it.

This man did not make a threat. He was called in his own home and asked what his opinion was. If he said, "I wish he would die.", does it not seem odd that the SS would show up on his door step?

Apparantly you missed some of the shenanigans with government detractors getting on the 'no fly' list. And I have heard of people who publicly voiced certain statements getting a visit from the SS twenty years ago.

I don't disagree that it's a little worrisome, but this sort of thing has gone on for quite a while now. With modern methods of intelligence gathering, it can be done so much more easilly. It's also easier to have something mis-reported as a threat.

Also, I do agree that the SS probably knew within ten or twenty minutes that this was a wild goose chase, but they had to pad their time numbers for the accountants. I can easilly imagine the rancher in question to be a pretty entertaining guy to interview as well.