Newspaper apologizes for running ad that calls for Obama's death

The Warren (Penn.) Times Observer says the ad "alludes to the wish that President Obama meet an untimely end by linking him with four assassinated presidents ...[and that] the ad representative didn't make the connection among the four other presidents mentioned and mistakenly allowed the ad to run." Daily Kos reports the ad reads, "May Obama follow in the footsteps of Lincoln, Garfield, McKinley and Kennedy!" (Warren Times Observer)

Comments

[LimeGreenLizard]

Well now, that's just not nice.

[sometimesilie]

Just some pig ignorant red neck with a fifth grade education who uses gun oil to jerk off. Nothing to see here, folks.

[stopeatingmysesamecake]

The daily mail to Obama must be a real interesting read - especailly those postmarked south of Tennessee.

[amurican]

So these guys poke fun at the south, and no one cares, but i get "reprimanded?" You guys are interesting.

[Sheila]

Stereotyping is foolish and indicates lack of intelligence.

[RockyMtnMac]

Being the right winger here, I of course, did not vote for the guy; however, he IS the president and to wish for his death is as ignorant and low class as you can crawl.
The President of the United States deserves a little respect. That was completely uncalled for.

[J A Reyes]

The advertisement was published in a Pennsylvania newspaper not in one in the Deep South. As someone who has lived in Pennsylvania, I can tell you that a lot of them do not like anyone who isn't like them, read "white and rural".

[lynn]

semsc--i would imagine all of his hate type mail is rather intersesting and scary to read.

sheila is right...not all us southerners are pig in a poke country and not all rednecks come from the south.
SIL has probably seen his share and more in penn. and the northern states.

[Phranqlin]

Warren, PA, is in a part of Pennsylvania called "God's Country," which should give you a clue as to the prevailing mindset of its inhabitants. More specifically, it's part of the rural, conservative, Republican "T" in the central and northern part of the state. There's Pittsburgh in the west and Philadelphia in the east, and between them is Alabama.

This area is also a popular hangout for white power, survivalist and militia types, so I'm not surprised that someone ran an ad implying that Obama should be assassinated. Not sure if it's a lapse of editorial judgement by the newspaper, either, although money probably was more of deciding factor than conformity to the area's wingnutism. That the folks who placed the ad are anonymous cowards says it all.

Anyhow, I'm sure that the gentle ministrations of the Secret Service will put the "ass" back in "assassinate" for our merry McKinley-lovin' adverts.

[MidtownCoog]

I do have to wonder how many Obama supporters even know who Lincoln, Garfield, McKinley and Kennedy are.

You know the ones I am talking about.

[mcduff]

The non-Fox media is always going on about what a tough job Obama has right now ("two wars, worst recession in a generation, etc., etc."). NO! The toughest job in America right now is being head of Hopey's Secret Service detail.

[Phranqlin]

Garfield and McKinley certainly aren't going to ring any bells among the conservatards, although Rove and his buddies do worship the robber baron capitalism of that era.

[jojo]

I don't care where a person lives, expressing a thought is not a crime. Wishing for a change in government is not a crime. Disliking and criticizing a president is not a crime. Every four years a large portion of the population is disappointed in the election of the president. George Bush was downed relentlessly by the same people who are now outraged by the thought that someone hates the elected president! Where are the crys for freedom of speech? Oh yeah, I forgot, that doesn't count for the white, Christian population...my bad.

[RockyMtnMac]

I hear ya jojo.
Bush should have (and was) criticized. Obama should be (and is) being criticized.
Neither one of them should be wished dead.
Anyone who wishes the President dead has every right to wish that, but is also a major P.O.S. themselves.

[sometimesilie]

Calm down there, southerners. I know full well where this story takes place and there are more mis-placed Stars and Bars in Pennsyltuckey than probably anywhere else North of the Mason Dixon Line. I don't say nothing about Southerners flying the Stars and Bars because that's *your* heritage, but as a proud 100% Yankee, I resent the hell out of seeing that up here.

Shiela, "Stereotypes" come from somewhere, dear. You know what kind of yokels I'm talking about and they stereotype themselves. Anyway, 1 person's stereotyping is another's satire ;)

jojo- I agree with you- white Chrustians sure have been and remain a downtrodden, oppressed lot here in the USA!

[Tank]

Freedom of speech doesn't apply here.

It's always been a limited right, (one overused but accurate example is yelling "fire" in a crowded theater.)

Hate speech, threatening speech, or speech that encourages others to violence are all forms of restricted speech.

And it doesn't matter if you're white, christian, or even KKK and Proud, the rules are the same for everybody.

[USMerc]

As another die hard conservative, I have to put my two cents in...These guys are dolts....As my esteemed colleague, RMM has pointed out, it is BAD FORM to threaten our president! Whether or NOT we believe in what he is doing!!!!

[Phranqlin]

Jojo, it would have been just as inappropriate for cowardly liberals to run an anonymous newspaper ad insinuating that President Bush should be assassinated as it is for cowardly conservatives to do the same for President Obama. If the people who placed the ad were truly interested in freedom of speech, they'd have signed their names to it.

[Reno the pregnant goddess]

What will happen to this man now, after so foolhardily expressing his thoughts in a newspaper? Will he be 'disappeared'? Is that why his name is not being publicly announced? Might he be placed on a perpetual watch and/or harassment list?

[nellagain]

Stereotyping is not foolish. Its optimization. You couldn't possibly operate in a world where EVERY person, place, and thing had to be treated as a unique event.

Good Golly-Burton! It would take you a year and a half just to locate a jar of peanut butter in grocery store if you had to examine and test each item in the store in detail as you encountered it.

That said, effective use of stereotyping relies on not being a jackass.

This doesn't pass the satire test; any more than the "jokes" about the increased chance of Bush's assasination (because of the year he was elected)did. Its sorry state of affairs when everyone *tries* to behave as badly as possible.

[twerp]

May that newspaper follow in the footsteps of Rocky Mountain News and The Baltimore Examiner!

[christy]

My predominately white, Christian, southern community exercises it's right to free speech daily. We have mega churches, mega crosses, and mega church signs.
No one has asked them to remove themselves.
Didn't know they felt so 'threatened'.
As for threatening the president, extremely poor taste. I voted for Obama, did not vote for Bush, but I promise had I met the former president in line at Dunkin Donuts I would've addressed him as Mr. President. The office demands respect. There are ways to express dissent without being an idiot.

[sometimesilie]

Some observations from my time in the Center part of the state, relating this to hot button political issues reflected here, and in the electorate:

Economics: There are few jobs out there. Yet many of the (economically poor)"Red" voters decry Obama as being "Socialist" and a "wealth spreader": when they would directly and economically benefit the most from any wealth being spread. If you dig a little deeper, what this "wealth spreading" is is code speak for Urban Welfare. Many of the folks in the center part of the state hate the "outer" cities and the idea of increased urban (or "Black") welfare in particular. Remember, Pa has one of the highest- if not THE highest- number of white supremacy groups in the country. Lest you think I am picking on these center state red voters, my idea about where a lot of these ideas come from- about the evil, city welfare mom that would take all their hard earned money for Newports and Car Rims- is not from racism or even ignorance, per se, but inexperience. Many of these "God's Country" people are born and die in the same little backwater area with little experience in the larger population centers of the state- which, incidentally, is where many of the financial and material resources which they use originate from. Finally, some of their ideas about the "evils" of the big city, even just just those of it's fast paced, impersonal lifestyle are, indeed, very well placed.

Gay Marriage: We're all going to have to marry other member of our sex and eventually, fish, if those Philadelphia Sodomites have their way. Obviously absurd. There are few- very, very few- openly gay people in much of the center part of state. In some areas waving a rainbow flag would be tantamount to waving a red flag in front of a bull. Of course many people are also friendly or at least tolerant to gays- but I'm not stereotyping, only writing from experience.

Obama's going to take away our guns: No he's not. He's just not. Philadelphia has an epidemic of gun violence. In some neighborhoods, young (black) men between the ages of, say, 18-24 are statistically more likely to be wounded by a *firearm* than soldiers in Iraq were at the height of combat operations. Philadelphia is Blue. Philadelphia is trying to do something about that appalling statistic. Obama is not going to take your guns- that's simply something the opposition says to frighten you away from voting for him. And it works.

I spend a lot of time out that way in the summer because I love the country and have many friends, some who are decidedly right leaning. However, when I see stories like this I am not even *slightly* surprised. Many of those folks out there are my ideological opposite- and I don't mean reasonable folks like RMM or Merc or the folks I hang with- but frightening types, like the idiot from this story. When we go camping, the guns aren't for the bears ;)

[pnwgal]

lynn's right. Stupidity, ignorance and bias isn't limited to just one section of this country. I'm so far north I'm almost Canadian and we have our fair share of backwoods idiots.

One of the joys of living in a free society is the right to question your goverment. However, the office of President should garner respect, even if the man occupying the office may not. To call for the President's death is appalling and, to me, unpatriotic.

[jojo]

I did not intend to sound as if I thought this moron was right in what he did or that the Presidents should not be respected. I don't wish for anyone to die, not even the idiots! Life should be respected, not offices or titles as much as just the life of the human occupying them. What concerns me is that the media jumps on stuff like this and runs with it without cause, just to make a racial statement. So the idiot paid for and ran the ad, and the paper ran it. Take the ad out and move on. He'll answer for his actions. There is a possibility that this idiot just thinks the other presidents were great leaders...

[Bill Burke]

It was well done. A bit dark but funny, still.
I, personal think it would be terrible if the POTUS was assassinated. Let him continue to work his magic. Blame Bush for the crap the (Dem) congress did. Fools.
As for the "He ain't takin' the guns" comments. Guess again. Get informed. Clinton made a huge push to ban guns and it failed NOW it's ammo.
Not all people in the south are, rednecks, gun owners, and unable to read.
Maybe we can blame ALL the worlds ills on the white power wacos. They're a great fallguy, as everyone hates them already and they're white.