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Tasteless dumb*** or terrorist?

http://blog.al.com/spotnews/2012/12/blou...after.html

Tasteless dumb***.

Tasteless dumb***.

Some of the comments were not exactly reassuring to public calm. Some took the position that unless he actually pulls a trigger, he has the right to say anything he wants to say. That is as reassuring as the parents right to punish a child's behavior right up to the point that the child dies (like by running around the house for 3 hours or more). The law THEN switches sides to the child, but it is too late at that point to do any good for the child except a decent burial ceremony.

Again, RIGHT VS. RESPONSIBILITY

If you said, "I'm so hungry I could eat a horse" are you guilty of trite hyperbole or threatening an animal?

(12-21-2012 02:37 PM)BAMANBLAZERFAN Wrote:  Some of the comments were not exactly reassuring to public calm. Some took the position that unless he actually pulls a trigger, he has the right to say anything he wants to say. That is as reassuring as the parents right to punish a child's behavior right up to the point that the child dies (like by running around the house for 3 hours or more). The law THEN switches sides to the child, but it is too late at that point to do any good for the child except a decent burial ceremony.

You have the right to say anything you want in this country, they are correct. However, if you yell fire in a crowded theater, you will have consequences for your actions. You could go on Facebook tonight and post that you were going to shoot the President in 7 days. You have every right in the world to post that. However, I'm fairly certain the outcome for posting this would not be a good one.

Regardless of what his intentions were, it was in very poor taste, and even worse, it was extremely poor timing. I don't believe the guy was actually going to do anything, but I'd rather have somebody sit down and talk to him now than see another incident like we just had.

(12-21-2012 02:47 PM)Smaug Wrote:  If you said, "I'm so hungry I could eat a horse" are you guilty of trite hyperbole or threatening an animal?

And if he had said what he did and no one checked it out, and then he carried through on it, then what?

I tend to agree that jailing him is excessive... but a kid that brings a pocketknife with a 1" blade to school can land in alternative school, post-Columbine.

Here's what I think happened:

Dude uses a tasteless piece of hyperbole to get (he thinks) a chuckle/rise out of his facebook friends. Because he's an ass, he doubles down when he's called out on it.

In a hyper-sentitized environment, given recent events, not only did it go over like the lead balloon it was, it also freaked out/pissed off one of his friends (or one of THEIR friends) enough to drop a dime on him.

Blount County's Finest, not to let anyone think they're going to take some home-grown idiot talking about shooting up a school lying down, they bust him.

If he's charged with making threats, a hardass prosecutor will will hammer him, an elected judge will hammer him, and a jury of his neighbors will hammer him.

Why? Because he picked the wrong day to be a wiseass.

And the 1st Amendment takes another kick in the teeth.

That's what I think, anyways.