You expect to drive behind someone with at least one tone-deaf bumper sticker on his or her car, or see one in the parking lot. But there are some bumper stickers on both sides of the spectrum that go way over the line. One of them is lurking near Baltimore.
Dan Rodricks of The Baltimore Sun recently got a disturbing tip. A man was driving along a street outside Baltimore when he discovered a parked Jeep with this bumper sticker calling for Hillary Clinton to be murdered.
The man, who understandably wanted to remain anonymous, said that he felt “contempt, like any normal human being” when he saw this outrageous sticker. As Bodricks put it, his contempt was such that he could not “simply drive by and grumble quietly” that it would be even remotely acceptable to call for a presidential candidate’s murder.
Most of us in Liberal America have long since started yawning at the conspiracy theories suggesting Hillary was in any way culpable for the Benghazi tragedy, as well as the numerous other smears that have dogged Hillary over the years. But conspiracy theories are one thing. Threatening violence is another altogether.
Sadly, this bumper sticker is but the latest manifestation of veiled and not-so-veiled calls for violence against Hillary. As early as July, there have been reports of Donald Trump supporters chanting “Hang the b***h!” Trump himself has stoked this, suggesting that “Second Amendment people” may take matters into their own hands if Hillary follows through on her promise to pick judges who support gun control.
This bumper sticker is not only outrageous, but it may also be illegal. Indeed, it comes very close to violating a long-standing federal law that makes it a crime to “knowingly and willfully” threaten a major presidential candidate who qualifies for Secret Service protection. The owner of this vehicle, as well as the person who made this sticker, could be staring down the barrel of five years in prison.
But even if this isn’t illegal, there is no doubt that it is not acceptable. I haven’t been able to track down anyone who sells this bumper sticker, but I find it hard to believe that this would be permitted by any reputable ISP’s acceptable use policy. And I would have no problem with the owner of this vehicle losing his job over this, either.
Rodricks sums this situation up best:
“The day we accept this as free expression is the day we lose all pretense of being a civilized country.”
And that would be true regardless of what side of the aisle spews this kind of bilge. This sort of talk, as well as merchandise like this, deserves nothing less than the strongest condemnation.
