So I've seen a few people linking to
this today.
Let's get one thing straight:
this is not the Secret Service (or the FBI, or whatever government agency you choose to have a conspiracy theory about) watching or monitoring journals.
anniesj posted something that was, by her own admission, inflammatory about the current President of the United States. Someone else, whose identity - last time I checked - had not been revealed, reported this to the FBI. The FBI reported it to the Secret Service. The Secret Service went and paid
anniesj a visit to see what was going on.
At no time were
anniesj's First Amendment rights infringed; she took down the post in question
of her own volition. At no point did the FBI or the Secret Service monitor anybody's journal, at least with regards to this incident. The FBI received a report of what someone believed (or wanted the FBI to believe) was a threat against the President. The FBI
did their job and notified the Secret Service. The Secret Service
did their job and went to investigate.
Keep in mind that we are less than a week away from a national election. Keep in mind that there are
thousands of people who
genuinely want to see George W. Bush or John Kerry dead and who have the resources to do the job. Keep in mind that the Secret Service has to figure out who they are and hope desperately that they're not missing anybody and that they can find out in time if they have. Quite frankly, the fact that the Secret Service paid
anniesj a visit - and that after some quick reconaissance determined that she was not, in fact, a threat - makes me feel
safer, because it means that they are doing their job
well and
thoroughly.
So let's not start any more conspiracy theories or make any more
1984 references than we absolutely have to, okay, folks?