I find it interesting that a few posters have gone out of their way to point out that Volkmann is White. Would it have been different if a Black fighter had called out Bush a few years ago?
There are a couple issues here. This isn't the first time a weak threat against the President has been investigated at this level and made the news. Anyone with any common sense/understanding of the government knows what happens when you initiate something like this. Volkmann was a fucking moron for saying what he said.
I think the issue here is a consistent response to any perceived potential threat. If they "google it" or dismiss it after reading a transcript without personally checking out the individual who made the statements, it sets a precedent. So the next moron who says he wants to go to DC and "whoop Obama's ass" gets to point at the Volkmann case and cry discrimination when they check him out...and if they don't check him out, there is another dumbfuck down the corner somewhere who is going to say something worse. It's a consistent policy, a line needs to be established and followed.
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Originally Posted by Mac  So much for freedom of speech. |
That's an interesting perspective, and I can understand why you feel like it's an infringement, but I disagree.
Volkmann wasn't arrested, he wasn't detained, he wasn't charged or financially burdened. He got to pop off and get his 13 minutes of fame--minutes that transcend his ability to achieve fame as a fighter--and he's none the worse for it.
I could see where the government might feel justified in presenting him with a bill [to save the taxpayers] for the fees involved with investigating and resolving the concern as a non threat. He initiated it, he's at least theoretically responsible. But they didn't, because that's not what the constitution is about.
And I'm comfortable with whatever contribution I've had to make as a taxpayer to ensure there isn't a threat against the President [I'd have felt the same if it was Bush, and I had even less respect for him as a person and a politician] while simultaneously upholding the tenets that made this country great. Despite having an African American in the Oval Office, we're more conservative and closer to a police state than at any time in my adult life, and I'm pleased that nothing else happened to Volkmann--even if he's a moron--besides a short conversation.
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