Thursday, March 26, 2009
The dark side of populist anger
The NBC affiliate in Hartford, CT, reports on the specific threats made against AIG employees.
I hope, as the comment from Tony58 below the piece on that site states, that this is just a case of "people blow off steam on emails, big whup."
I am not a First Amendment lawyer, but it seems to me that a number of the reported comments fall outside the realm of protected speech and constitute the making of terroristic threats, which is itself a crime.
I have always felt secure in my home, but I can appreciate that it must be quite upsetting to feel threatened by comments made over the Internet. A close friend who is a senior executive at a large company had his home address posted on the Internet by someone who was a dissatisfied customer, and I could tell that he was concerned. The threats made to current AIG employees, almost none of whom have anything to do with the the company's implosion, are much more serious.
I imagine that this is a good time to be running a private security business.
Let's hope these kinds of threats aren't acted upon, that this anger doesn't get out of hand, and blows over quickly. Put down the pitchforks.
H/T: Hot Air Headlines
I hope, as the comment from Tony58 below the piece on that site states, that this is just a case of "people blow off steam on emails, big whup."
I am not a First Amendment lawyer, but it seems to me that a number of the reported comments fall outside the realm of protected speech and constitute the making of terroristic threats, which is itself a crime.
I have always felt secure in my home, but I can appreciate that it must be quite upsetting to feel threatened by comments made over the Internet. A close friend who is a senior executive at a large company had his home address posted on the Internet by someone who was a dissatisfied customer, and I could tell that he was concerned. The threats made to current AIG employees, almost none of whom have anything to do with the the company's implosion, are much more serious.
I imagine that this is a good time to be running a private security business.
Let's hope these kinds of threats aren't acted upon, that this anger doesn't get out of hand, and blows over quickly. Put down the pitchforks.
H/T: Hot Air Headlines
0 Comments:
