Sometime in the past week somebody created and posted a poll on Facebook asking whether President Obama should be assassinated. The poll asked “Should Obama be killed?” The answer choices were “yes”, “no”, “maybe”, and “if he cuts my health care.”
In cooperation with the U.S. Secret Service, Facebook has pulled the “Should Obama be killed?” poll, but not before 750 users had voted.
“Once we found out about it, we worked with Facebook to have it removed,” said a Secret Service spokesperson.
And, of course, the U.S. Secret Service is investigating. “We are certainly investigating; just like we would with any threat case,” said the spokesperson.
Any bets on what will happened to the person who created the poll? To those who answered “yes” (or even “maybe” and “if he cuts my health care”?
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(Wouldn’t it be interesting if it turned out that one of the President’s staffers had created the poll, to get their finger on the pulse of how young American voters are feeling?)
“This is sick and sad,” opined one Facebook user.
Said Facebook spokesperson Barry Schnitt, “Of course we are offended by the content of the poll but objectionable ideas are in the world and, unfortunately, manifest on Facebook.”
“We felt we dealt with it in a responsible way by removing it as quick as we were notified,” added Schnitt.
No word on what answer was in the lead at the time that the poll was shut down.
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I agree with Hector!
Free speech, no threat, what’s the problem?
Yes, on this I do agree with the secret service investigation. I do agree that the person who started the poll went way overboard and it yes, should be removed immediately because on the other hand it is defaming and could possibly lead to an incident with the wrong interpreters. In addition, it can be interpreted as instigating violence in form of harassment which the individual becomes protected first. Bad choice of words freedom to publish. Now I must go fishing.
Freedom of speech and freedom to publish. The author did the same thing your doing right now by publishing your own work. At what point was the presidents life threatened? was their a direct threat? No there was not. Is it harassment? That’s what happens! Your own government is brainwashing your citizens yet you take no action to remove these criminals from their government positions. He can write what ever he wants with-out being punished or ridiculed by the government. The same way the president is a law maker, the citizen has the right to an organized poll, as long as there was not a direct threat, implied is not sufficient and holds no ground. That is not concrete evidence to remove the poll from the internet.
while i have a very low opinion of president obama talk of killing him is stupid and irresponsible as well as outright dangerous. let nim make an ass of nimself and vote him out in 2012. when another black candidate for president comes along do not judge him by obama, judge him om his own merits.