Pa. newspaper ad calls for Obama assassination

[John Kerry VonErich]

Source: Philly.com

Posted on Fri, May. 29, 2009


Pa. newspaper ad calls for Obama assassination

The Associated Press

WARREN, Pa. - A northwestern Pennsylvania newspaper is apologizing for running a classified advertisement calling for the assassination of President Barack Obama.

Warren Times Observer Publisher John Elchert says the ad appeared Thursday. It read, "May Obama follow in the steps of Lincoln, Garfield, McKinley and Kennedy!" The four presidents were all assassinated.

Elchert tells The Associated Press that the newspaper's advertising staff didn't make the historical connection.



Read more: http://www.philly.com/philly/wires/ap/news/state/pennsylvania/20090529_ap_panewspaperadcallsforobamaassassination.html

[Solly Mack]

1. Damn

[RufusH]

2. That's sick. I hope she's charged with something.

[laureloak]

4. She?

[RufusH]

11. Funny, I read it quickly and thought it mentioned a "she"

I must have been reading two articles at once. How odd.

[RamboLiberal]

3. Hope the Moran had a fun time with the Secret Service

There's some white supremecists & KKK in that area of PA sadly.

[lamp_shade]

5. I wrote to the publisher early this morning and he responded to me as follows:

"Thanks for sending your email regarding the personal ad that published in yesterday’s paper. We did publish a notice explaining the error in today’s paper.

First of all, my apologies that it did make it to print. The ad has been canceled and will not run again. Unfortunately, the employee that took the ad did not make the connection as to what tied those four presidents together.

Secondly, the information on the person who placed the ad with us has been turned over to the City of Warren chief of police. His protocol is that issues such as this be reported to Secret Service. I understand that has taken place. I suspect the writer of the ad will have some explaining to do in the coming days.

We do not condone such ads in any way and regret that it made it into print.

Best regards,

John T. Elchert
Publisher

[Sheltiemama]

27. I feel for the publisher.

No way I'd want his job. I bet he was taking Excedrin, washed down with Mylanta, today.

[Robbien]

34. That publisher has still not issued an apology in his paper

No retraction, no apology, no nothing. The only ones to receive an apology are the ones who wrote to him. The general reading public of that paper still believes it is allowable to run ads in that paper which call for the death of this president.

[Sheltiemama]

40. Yes, he did.

From the AP:

WARREN, Pa. —
A northwestern Pennsylvania newspaper is apologizing for running a classified advertisement calling for the assassination of President Barack Obama.

...

A note in Friday’s paper says the newspaper “apologizes for the oversight.”

[ovidsen]

44. I'm not up in arms over the "fact:" that there was no apology

Even though, as the poster above noted, there was indeed a published mea culpa.

My guess is that most of the paper's readers never even read that provocative classified. And of those that did, many (like the employees who took the ad, proofed it, and set the type) didn't.

This is much ado over nothing. I hope the guy who placed the ad gets the 3rd degree (no, not waterboarding) from the FBI and the Secret Service.

[Ken Burch]

42. Excedrin, washed down with Mylanta, with a Wild Turkey chaser.

That's what I'd need to deal with the calls that guy must have taken that day.

[LisaM]

6. Why is their advertising staff so stupid?

I mean, really? People like that have jobs in this economy, while some of my smart friends are losing their jobs?

[RamboLiberal]

7. Its a small town paper & I'd bet staffer is working for minimum wage

Most Americans know of Lincoln & JFK assasination, but I'd bet few McKinley & Garfield. Staffer probably thought it was some kind of praise for Obama equating him to 2 great presidents.

The whole of Warren county only has a bit over 40,000 people.

[elocs]

15. Papers do not always catch everything.

Right, your run of the mill small paper employee who might be 20 something might not know about McKinley and Garfield, but would be sure to recognize Lincoln and Kennedy.

In the comments section of my local paper there was once a comment that had seemingly random capitalized letters which set off my brain. When I put them together it was a racial slur. I called the editor about it and he never recognized it and immediately deleted it.

[woodsprite]

26. Ewwww, that's the county I was calling into for the Obama/Biden campaign

Most people either insulted you, cussed you out, or hung up on you.

[No Elephants]

18. Seriously. If you are not aware that JFK was assassinated, why are you at a newspaper?

[sybylla]

20. Well, in all fairness

Lincoln and Kennedy were great presidents and the classifieds person probably thought this was a compliment. It's not until you add the other two in that you understand the truth behind the "blessing" in the ad. To get it, you'd have to know they were assassinated.

[RamboLiberal]

22. I'd even bet there are some under 30-40 who don't know JFK

was assasinated. That's ancient history to younger people. And unfortunately it seems in school history courses American history still ends at WWII.

[onenote]

33. good point

[sybylla]

19. My SIL has worked in the classified dept of a local Gannett paper for 20 years

Bless her heart but she's proof you don't need much of a brain to work in classifieds.

[Sheltiemama]

25. I work in a paper's newsroom.

You'd be surprised what younger people who have no interest in history don't know.

[progressivebydesign]

39. some of my favorites from our local staff...

The classified ad rep that took the ad for an "ADOBE" puppy. (doberman) The "Nipple Nook is hiring" (nibble nook), and so on.

[Ken Burch]

43. "The Nipple Nook is hiring"? COOL! You got a phone number for them?

n/t.

[onenote]

32. are your smart friends applying for jobs like that?

[NikRik]

36. Bingo !

I see some of the most inebt people still working while soome really good workers going unemployed ? I've been in retail sales for years ,however due to the slow down in retail sales find myself out of work. So many times I've come accross rude and and awfull sale reps that treat customers like they are being bothered,even when I had a very hard to please customer I kept a smile on my face and tried my best to make them happy with the out come of their exprience in our store !
Take Cae NikRik

[montanto]

8. Blame the oversight on a history teacher already.

[RamboLiberal]

10. Heck last week I was listening to a local Pittsburgh talk host +30 years business

who's right wing. He was talking with an author of a book about some wacky American history and he didn't know McKinley & Garfield were the other 2 presidents assasinated.

Of course it just proved once more to me that he one dumbass host when it comes to facts he should know.

[LisaM]

21. No, I'd blame it on her family

My dad was a history teacher. He had plenty of dolts who weren't interested, and it came from the family. He had one person put on a (multiple choice) test that Woodrow Wilson was hung upside down by his heels and stoned by an angry mob! We as a family got a good laugh out of that one.

[Maine-ah]

30. maybe we should blame it on the fact that schools are under-funded

hell, I graduated in 1993, and my text books didn't even get to the vietnam war. I didn't learn about Mai Lai until about 2000/01 - and the only reason I learned about that was because of the internets....and my parents (devoted dems, btw) lived through it, and talked to us about history, politics, wars, religion ect...

[Bluebear]

9. What the hell was the ad selling? White sheets?

[RamboLiberal]

12. Wasn't selling anything

Though there are a few up there that wear white sheets instead of sleeping on them.

Ad can be seen here: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x8438012

[TheCowsCameHome]

13. Maybe they'll publish a nice picture and address of the person that paid for it

That would be a nice gesture.

[greiner3]

23. And when they find out who;

I wonder what their freeper nic is.

[scarface2004]

14. limbaw paid for the ad!!

he said he would setup the legal defense fund if someone took him out!

[Downwinder]

16. Thought for a while we had as much freedom as Venezuelans. n/t

[NBachers]

17. Well, shit, McKinley was shot in Buffalo,

not THAT far away from Warren.

An un-educated population is a docile, easily manipulated population.

[greiner3]

24. And that he and Garfield;

Are among the 8 presidents that came from Ohio; terrible, each and every one of them, assassinated or not!

[Downwinder]

28. I didn't think Ohio went through the proper procedures to be admitted, n/t

[Mnemosyne]

29. Thirty miles down the road from me; not a surprise. I've been tail-gated and

flipped off by numerous folks there.

Didn't like my bumper stickers I guess. :evilgrin:

I need to move.

[slampoet]

31. The Law is you go to jail even if you didn't mean to threaten the president. Lock up this editor.

They obviously are a danger to others if they can't do a simple job like this.

There are LOTS of competent people who can do this person's job while they are locked behind bars.

[onenote]

35. the editor isn't going to jail and - probably - neither is the person who placed the ad

it will be investigated, as it should. But the ad almost certainly doesn't rise up to the level of a "true threat" that would be actionable. As for the person placing the ad, convicting them would be particularly difficult given that the legislative history of the statutory provision making it a crime to threaten the president indicates that the person charged must have "a willful intent to do serious injury to the President. If you make it a mere technical offense, you do not give him much of a chance when he comes to answer before a court and jury. I do not think we ought to be too anxious to convict a man who does a thing thoughtlessly."

As indicated, the Secret Service should definitely investigate the person who placed the ad to determine if there is other evidence that they personally have an intent or plan to harm the President. But if there is no other evidence, that's where it will end.

[slampoet]

37. Who are you quoting?

[Sheltiemama]

41. Editorial and advertising are separate departments.

The editor of the paper had nothing to do with this.

[progressivebydesign]

38. How fucking stupid do the people taking ads have to be???

Shocking. Of course, having worked in newspaper, some of the classified ads that were printed prove that you don't have to be a genius to do that job.

[Kievan Rus]

45. Warren is in Mercer County....

which is every bit as racist and backwards as the Deep South...this isn't all that surprising. Ku Klux Klan rallies with cross burnings aren't all that uncommon up there.

Somebody needs to contact the Secret Service pronto.