Freedom of speech?

BETHLEHEM, Pa. - An elderly man who wrote in a letter to the editor about Saddam Hussein's execution that "they hanged the wrong man" got a visit from Secret Service agents concerned he was threatening President Bush.

The letter by Dan Tilli, 81, was published in Monday's edition of The Express-Times of Easton, Pa. It ended with the line, "I still believe they hanged the wrong man."

Tilli said the statement was not a threat. "I didn't say who — I could've meant (Osama) bin Laden," he said Friday.

Two Secret Service agents questioned Tilli at his Bethlehem apartment Thursday, briefly searching the place and taking pictures of him, he said.

The Secret Service confirmed the encounter. Bob Slama, special agent in charge of the Secret Service's Philadelphia office, said it was the agency's duty to investigate.

The agents almost immediately decided Tilli was not a threat, Slama said

"We have no further interest in Dan," he said.

Tilli said the agents appeared more relaxed when he dug out a scrapbook containing more than 200 letters that he has written over the years, almost all on political topics.

"He said, 'Keep writing, but just don't make no threats,'" Tilli said of one of the agents.

It wasn't Tilli's first run-in with the federal government over his letter writing. Two FBI agents from Allentown showed up at his home last year about a letter he wrote advocating a civil war to unseat Bush, he said.

Our government is completely flipped out. There's no ifs or buts about it. The guy is correct, he could have meant Bin Laden. He made no reference to the preznit, nor used the preznit's name... yet the State Security Apparatus flunkies showed up to shake down an old man.

I can imagine the agent getting home from work that night..

Wifey-poo; "So honey, catch any bad guys today?"

Jack Bauer; "Well, we scared the piss out of a geriatric, searched his house and photographed him, because he wrote a letter to a newspaper whining about politics."

Wifey-poo; "I'm so proud of you.. that man might have had nukular weapons."

I think it's pretty obvious that it's a bad idea to make bodily threats to anyone, much less the prez. Heck, Glenn Beck gets a new show on ABC after making comments about how he could murder Michael Moore.. but this old man writes a letter and tax-payer funded James Bond wannabies show up at his door. Heck, the right wing freaks routinely make threats of bodily injury to anyone they perceive as a "traitor" - such as the entire editorial staff of the New York Times. Net result? Not a god damn thing.

It truly is disturbing, this whole "we're all going to die" mentality that people have, that seems to excuse any action taken by what is rapidly turning into a fascist government. Fuck that bullshit. I refuse to live in fear, and I refuse to be threatened because of words.

The other odd thing that occurred to me.. is that the government employs people to read the "letters to the editor" section of small time newspapers. I fully expect that I'm on a list in some computer someplace.. I don't care. True Americans are distrustful of a large central government. We are governed by consent - and if we don't like those fuckers, we replace them... which I honestly hope we're in the process of doing.