Will Obama Be Assassinated?

[Darius871]

I hate to be insensitive, but there would be a bright side - a national tragedy of this magnitude would give Biden (or Pelosi if god forbid Biden's taken out too) a huge popular mandate to pass and implement every measure Obama ever promised and then some, whereas Obama would have been lucky to get even a quarter of what he promises through even a non-filibuster-proof Senate.

Remember all the "do it for Paul" fervor in the campaign after Wellstone's death? (Yeah I know, Coleman ended up winning but it was still pretty powerful.) Imagine that dynamic tenfold pushing through a New New Deal that Obama could never have managed himself. He would have been a more historically significant figure dead than alive, much like the oft-noted relationship between the emotional shock of JFK's death and the Civil Rights Acts of 1964 & 1968, and even Great Society though to a lesser extent.

Just a thought.

[Nikolai]

Nazi and Christian hardly can describe a Christian. But I wouldn't be surprised if some nutjob tried to off him, unfortunately.

[Riesstiu IV]

Well in the US there is a small movement of extreme right-wing Christians collectively known as, "Christian Identity." Their advocates believe that Christianity is a white religion and they generally overlap with Neo-Nazi groups. It's an insignificant movement.

[DRoseDARs]

Originally posted by Boris Godunov
Tasteless.

[Darius871]

Originally posted by DRoseDARs

Tasteless.

What, it's not like everyone's been cracking jokes and knee-slapping. What's the problem with a serious discussion?

Would it be as utterly reprehensible if someone discussed the effect of McCain's death resulting in a Palin presidency? Oh wait nevermind, people think, speak, and type about that day in and day out. My bad.

[Zkribbler]

I think so. I've lived through so many assassination, I'm very pessimistic on this point. All our good leaders are targetted.

We'll need another verse for "Abraham, Martin & John."

[Nikolai]

Originally posted by Riesstiu IV
Well in the US there is a small movement of extreme right-wing Christians collectively known as, "Christian Identity." Their advocates believe that Christianity is a white religion and they generally overlap with Neo-Nazi groups. It's an insignificant movement.

Incredible. Did they forget that Jesus was a Jew?

[Lancer]

Bill Ayers.

[Zevico]

Nikolai:
No. Some think that 'Jews' today are in fact the children of Satan, and that they are in a sense the 'real' Jews, i.e. the truly chosen people of God, as are all white Christians, etc. I'm not too sure about the specifics.

[Meticulous Man]

Well in the US there is a small movement of extreme right-wing Christians collectively known as, "Christian Identity." Their advocates believe that Christianity is a white religion and they generally overlap with Neo-Nazi groups. It's an insignificant movement.

I've come across one of these people, otherwise seemed like a nice enough fellow but the social/religious views were just insane - Jews should be exterminated and blacks "corrected" etc... It definitely sounded like they could just assassinate someone like Obama

[Seedle]

I hope not, but I can't imagine that there won't be an attempt or twenty. And I completely fail to see how this thread is in any way tasteless. It is a legitimate concern, and is being discussed in a serious manner, not "ha ha, wouldn't that be cool." Also, Darius has a very good point about the hypocrisy angle.

[DRoseDARs]

Originally posted by Darius871


What, it's not like everyone's been cracking jokes and knee-slapping. What's the problem with a serious discussion?

Would it be as utterly reprehensible if someone discussed the effect of McCain's death resulting in a Palin presidency? Oh wait nevermind, people think, speak, and type about that day in and day out. My bad.

There's a large difference between speculating on McCain's proven track record of poor health and very real possibility of dying while in office because of it, leading to a potential Palin presidency, and speculating on the active, intentional murder of a presidential candidate. One weighs heavily on a candidate's fitness for the presidency in the first place, and the other is utterly abhorrent in US politics, healthy candidate or not.

[OneFootInTheGrave]

taboo?

[KrazyHorse]

I'd put the likelihood of this as significantly higher than the average president.

White racist with a gun isn't exactly unheard of in US politics.

[KrazyHorse]

I don't get why this is a taboo subject. It is going to be a very real danger in an Obama presidency.

Who were the last few "transformational" figures in US presidential politics? Reagan and the Kennedy brothers. Two for 3 with a pretty good shot at the third.

Hopefully security around Presidents and candidates has improved to the point where any plots will be unlikely to succeed.