5 ms·

I like your take but politicians do have a target on their back that the average citizen doesn’t.

TheRealPomax 4y ago
But not one so big that every one of them needs multimillion dollars worth of protecting. A handful absolutely do, the vast majority don't. They will be perfectly fine. They might catch an egg or cake, or in the rare instance a fist: they'll still be fine.
- sjsdaiuasgdia 4y ago
  As far as I am aware, the vast majority of politicians in the US do not receive Secret Service protection. "every one of them needs multimillion dollars worth of protecting" is a straw man. Of course the vast majority of politicians, which includes a lot of city council members of tiny towns and so forth, do not need a 24hr security detail. And they don't have them either. It happens for the handful, not the majority. Which seems to be what you want, but your tone is frustrated or angry.
- mschuster91 4y ago
  Unfortunately, that is increasingly changing. The covid pandemic, for example, has led to a massive increase in threats to everyone advocating for containment measures, and so do the advocates of other political issues impacted by conspiracy myth spreaders and/or the far-right (e.g. 5G rollouts, single-payer healthcare, gun control, immigration). Having been the target of about five dozen death threats myself as a political commentator/activist here in Germany, I can tell you the political climate drastically devolved over the last seven years, and police is nowhere near the security system it should be. In my case it took over four years until the main perpetrator was identified, arrested and subsequently sentenced to almost six years in prison[1]. And for what it's worth, it's not limited to politicians, journalists and activists - even ordinary doctors can be driven to suicide [2], or YouTube streamers such as the infamous Drachenlord [3]. [1] https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/NSU_2.0 https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/NSU_2.0 [2] https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lisa-Maria_Kellermayr https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lisa-Maria_Kellermayr [3] https://www.focus.de/politik/deutschland/kommentar-wer-dem-drachenlord-die-schuld-gibt-hat-nichts-verstanden_id_182210847.html https://www.focus.de/politik/deutschland/kommentar-wer-dem-d...
  - TheRealPomax 4y ago
    That's a problem with a different solution, though. Loads of people in other countries issue the same threats, but because they don't readily have access to ranged weapons, and specifically firearms (and every legal firearm that they do have are registered with the police), those threats are just that: threats. Of course, we know the problem there, and everyone knows the solution, and everyone knows that solution cannot happen in the US, even if in the past it might have been possible to solve. So by all means, protect the ones who really need it, but in a lot of cases, the solution to someone whose agenda is so controversial that they need secret service protection during elected visits to adversarial places (rather than being compelled to do so because of the office you hold) is to go "we're not going to protect you for personal activities. If you want to walk into a lion's den, expect lions. If you don't like that, maybe consider that you don't need to rile people up"
    - mschuster91 4y ago
      > Loads of people in other countries issue the same threats, but because they don't readily have access to ranged weapons, and specifically firearms (and every legal firearm that they do have are registered with the police), those threats are just that: threats. All my examples were from Germany, a country with very strict gun control. And yet, Drachenlord got haters literally every single day shouting at or vandalizing his property, attacking him physically, swatting him (the first conviction of swatting in Germany was for a Drachenlord hater). LGBT people or people "looking foreign" routinely get beaten up with fists. Gun control is a relevant issue, yes, but it's only a very small part. >If you want to walk into a lion's den, expect lions. If you don't like that, maybe consider that you don't need to rile people up That's pure victim blaming with a healthy dose of "chilling effect" applied and I'm sad to see such a take on this site. Speaking the truth, advocating for democracy must be protected at all costs.
      - TheRealPomax 4y ago
        > That's pure victim blaming with a healthy dose of "chilling effect" applied and I'm sad to see such a take on this site. Speaking the truth, advocating for democracy must be protected at all costs. quite the overreach: by all means, have your opinions and spout them, and by all means, request local police protection because that's what police is for, but if you're so divisive that need the US Secret Service to protect you: maybe you don't. There are very few people who should qualify for that. Don't pretend I'm saying no one deserves protection, I'm saying almost no one deserves USSS protection.
- gizmo686 4y ago
  Most politicians do not get secret service protection. Only those in the line of succesion, former presidents and family of the above. The handful of congresspeople in leadership get special protection from capital police. Most elected congress people only get special protection if there is a specific concern. https://www.secretservice.gov/about/faq/general https://www.secretservice.gov/about/faq/general

But not one so big that every one of them needs multimillion dollars worth of protecting. A handful absolutely do, the vast majority don't. They will be perfectly fine. They might catch an egg or cake, or in the rare instance a fist: they'll still be fine.

sjsdaiuasgdia 4y ago
As far as I am aware, the vast majority of politicians in the US do not receive Secret Service protection. "every one of them needs multimillion dollars worth of protecting" is a straw man. Of course the vast majority of politicians, which includes a lot of city council members of tiny towns and so forth, do not need a 24hr security detail. And they don't have them either. It happens for the handful, not the majority. Which seems to be what you want, but your tone is frustrated or angry.
mschuster91 4y ago
Unfortunately, that is increasingly changing. The covid pandemic, for example, has led to a massive increase in threats to everyone advocating for containment measures, and so do the advocates of other political issues impacted by conspiracy myth spreaders and/or the far-right (e.g. 5G rollouts, single-payer healthcare, gun control, immigration). Having been the target of about five dozen death threats myself as a political commentator/activist here in Germany, I can tell you the political climate drastically devolved over the last seven years, and police is nowhere near the security system it should be. In my case it took over four years until the main perpetrator was identified, arrested and subsequently sentenced to almost six years in prison[1]. And for what it's worth, it's not limited to politicians, journalists and activists - even ordinary doctors can be driven to suicide [2], or YouTube streamers such as the infamous Drachenlord [3]. [1] https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/NSU_2.0 https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/NSU_2.0 [2] https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lisa-Maria_Kellermayr https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lisa-Maria_Kellermayr [3] https://www.focus.de/politik/deutschland/kommentar-wer-dem-drachenlord-die-schuld-gibt-hat-nichts-verstanden_id_182210847.html https://www.focus.de/politik/deutschland/kommentar-wer-dem-d...
- TheRealPomax 4y ago
  That's a problem with a different solution, though. Loads of people in other countries issue the same threats, but because they don't readily have access to ranged weapons, and specifically firearms (and every legal firearm that they do have are registered with the police), those threats are just that: threats. Of course, we know the problem there, and everyone knows the solution, and everyone knows that solution cannot happen in the US, even if in the past it might have been possible to solve. So by all means, protect the ones who really need it, but in a lot of cases, the solution to someone whose agenda is so controversial that they need secret service protection during elected visits to adversarial places (rather than being compelled to do so because of the office you hold) is to go "we're not going to protect you for personal activities. If you want to walk into a lion's den, expect lions. If you don't like that, maybe consider that you don't need to rile people up"
  - mschuster91 4y ago
    > Loads of people in other countries issue the same threats, but because they don't readily have access to ranged weapons, and specifically firearms (and every legal firearm that they do have are registered with the police), those threats are just that: threats. All my examples were from Germany, a country with very strict gun control. And yet, Drachenlord got haters literally every single day shouting at or vandalizing his property, attacking him physically, swatting him (the first conviction of swatting in Germany was for a Drachenlord hater). LGBT people or people "looking foreign" routinely get beaten up with fists. Gun control is a relevant issue, yes, but it's only a very small part. >If you want to walk into a lion's den, expect lions. If you don't like that, maybe consider that you don't need to rile people up That's pure victim blaming with a healthy dose of "chilling effect" applied and I'm sad to see such a take on this site. Speaking the truth, advocating for democracy must be protected at all costs.
    - TheRealPomax 4y ago
      > That's pure victim blaming with a healthy dose of "chilling effect" applied and I'm sad to see such a take on this site. Speaking the truth, advocating for democracy must be protected at all costs. quite the overreach: by all means, have your opinions and spout them, and by all means, request local police protection because that's what police is for, but if you're so divisive that need the US Secret Service to protect you: maybe you don't. There are very few people who should qualify for that. Don't pretend I'm saying no one deserves protection, I'm saying almost no one deserves USSS protection.
gizmo686 4y ago
Most politicians do not get secret service protection. Only those in the line of succesion, former presidents and family of the above. The handful of congresspeople in leadership get special protection from capital police. Most elected congress people only get special protection if there is a specific concern. https://www.secretservice.gov/about/faq/general https://www.secretservice.gov/about/faq/general