Don't Snitch

It's not just street gangs that embrace the code of "don't snitch." Back in the 60s, we hippies lived by the same maxim. It's a code I pretty much lived by all my life. Of course, once I grew up and stopped hanging around with drug dealers, it wasn't that hard to keep. I don't get exposed to a lot of crime in my sheltered little world.

But now that the extreme right wingers have gone into full out assault mode on the Obama presidency, it's become somewhat more material. I'm sure you've heard about the Facebook poll that was asking whether Obama should be killed. If you're not up to speed on the story, then see GottaLaff who broke it on Twitter and was one of the people who alerted the Secret Service.

It received enormous media attention, but this tweet from an account called several hasn't been mentioned much. It says:

Don’t just sit back and be disgusted when you see a post online that threatens the President or other federal official. Report it to the Secret Service. Contrary to popular belief, they can’t see everything by themselves. Contact info for reports here.

As a long time champion of free speech, especially political speech, I don't suppose I'll ever be fully comfortable with reporting my fellow citizens. But honestly, I'm becoming terrified by the relentless escalation of anti-Obama furor among the sore losers of the fringe right. I don't suppose every single off-hand reference to wishing him gone is worth reporting, but serious threats of bodily harm probably qualify, no matter how uncomfortable one might feel about "snitching." I don't see any other way to make these maniacs stop.

[More posts daily at The Detroit News]