> There is no evidence that MTG does not believe that Nancy Pelosi should be murdered. There is evidence that she does. She has never apologized for it.
I have a hardcore feminist friend who repeatedly gets banned from Facebook for hyperbolic rhetoric like “kill all men.” Is that evidence she wants to kill all men? No it’s hyperbole. (And it’s stupid that Facebook bans it but the rest of the world doesn’t run by Facebook rules).
> If you, or anyone else, makes a death threat to a public figure on social media, you will be at minimum receiving a visit from law enforcement, and will be arrested if you don't immediately disavow what you said or are thought of as a threat.
The comment MTG liked, “a bullet would be quicker,” would not be perceived as a “death threat” in any court of law. It’s archetypal political hyperbole.
> "Watts" ruled that "mere political hyperbole" is not illegal, have fun in court trying to convince the judge of that.
I’d take that case in a heartbeat. It’s a straightforward application of Watts.
> Death threats are not just "distasteful rhetoric", come on.
3) The fact that you a) gloss over the rest of my post and b) don't even bother to condemn this stuff is really telling.
I condemn MTG completely. But this one is a stupid justification.
> One more thing: have you ever received a death threat from a stranger?
The whole point is that a violent comment made on a Twitter board about a public figure isn’t a death threat. If I called you up and said “I’m going to put a bullet in your head,” that’s a death threat. If I say “someone should take Ted Cruz out back and shoot him” that’s obviously not a death threat. You know this because you’ve heard this phraseology a million times.