DU This Poll: Did the SS over-react to the anti-Patriot-Act postage stamp

[Ian David]

SURVEY
The U.S. Secret Service paid a visit to a Columbia College art show that included a mock U.S. stamp showing President George W. Bush with a gun to his head. Did the Secret Service overreact?

http://www.nbc5.com/news/4371143/detail.html?z=dp&dpswid=2265994&dppid=65194

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

1. You know, that's really pushing the envelope. n/t

[MrModerate]

3. I don't agree . . .

Anyone could see that it was an art project and not a call to threaten Bush. Even making the inquiry was a waste of my tax dollars.

I understand and support the Secret Service's mission, but this is a case of bad judgment, on the level of interviewing the high school band that played Dylan's "Masters of War" at a talent show a few months ago.

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

4. I'm sure you'd say the same thing if it were Kerry.

This cuts both ways, you know. I, for one, am glad that the SS investigated the freepers who did this stupid shit to Clinton when he was in office.

[MrModerate]

6. Actually, I'd say the same thing if it were Kerry

It was an art project. Everybody knew that. What did they gain by investigating it?

Such acts come way too close to "imagining the death of the king," a crime in medieval England.

It also makes it harder for the Service to do its job when they paint themselves as bullies.

[Warpy]

8. How come when they scream for the murder of Federal judges

and the imprisonment and death of all liberals, hey, it's a joke, aint you people gotta sensayuma?

When some kid paints a sheet of postage stamps, it's TERRORISM.

It's the HYPOCRISY, folks.

The stamps were beautifully done, although the subject aint my cuppa tea, kind of like Warhol and his soup cans. However, they could be read any number of ways, and the Secret Service looks really, really stupid for overreacting to it.

[Vickers]

2. How many Clinton-in-the-gunsights things have I seen?

IOKIYAR I reckon.

And by "paid a visit" do they mean "tried to intimidate" or something? :eyes:

[wakeme2008]

5. I could not find a online version of a newspaper article I read

a couple days ago. BUT under Bush the SS budget is now something like 1.2 BILLION to protect Bush/Cheney and others. But it sounded like mainly the Bushes.

One could ask what the SS budget was the last year of President Clinton.

[FreeStateDemocrat]

9. I saw the same article with the 1.2 billion to protect the ruling junta.

It also stated that the idiot's total compenstation package was in excess of 1.4 million not counting health and retirement.

[liberal N proud]

7. If the stamps were created as just that "postage stamps"

Then it would be considered counterfeiting and would warrant a visit by the secret service.
But I highly doubt that they were actual stamps and I would bet that it was clear they were art, not counterfeit.

[Ian David]

10. Yes they were art, and yes, you can make your own postage stamps now

The US Postal Service offers software you can download to create and print your own legal postage stamps on your home computer.

Technically, with the artist's permission, we could use that image to send real letters through the mail.

Also, while I do think the SS over-reacted, I'd like to say that maybe some people are missing the pun: Patriot Act

The Act of a Patriot- putting a gun to Bush's head.

The message could be that the artist thinks putting a gun to Bush's head is a Patriotic Act.

The way I see it, the gun is merely symbolic. It would be silly to have a stamp that shows Bush being impeached.

It also shows that The Patriot Act puts a gun to all our heads, including Bush's.

IMHO, it would have been crossing the line if they showed Bush swinging from a noose.

[TreasonousBastard]

11. They probably did, but...

they're always doing this sort of thing.

Most of the time it doesn't make the news, but their job is to respond to any potential threats to any President, and they investigate any and all potential threats. Silly or not.

Vaterland Security is regularly hanging out at art shows, and I've seen other reports of the FBI asking some very rude questions at some shows, and threats to close the shows.

Just where it goes over the line in their investigations can be problematical. This time they got a lot of press because of all the hollerin' from NYC activists who remember a recent show that Hizzoner forceably objected to , but it's tough to tell if they were really planning on harassing the artist or the show sponsors.