William Mattison, a 70 year-old Amarillo resident, recently wrote an angry e-mail to U.S. Rep. Mac Thornberry (R-Clarendon). The e-mail expressed Mattison's anger that President Obama had not released his "long-form Hawaiian birth certificate" (the short form, verified by the State of Hawaii, is shown above). But Mattison wasn't content with expressing his anger, which is his constitutional right.
He went a step further and in the last line of the e-mail he threatened to assassinate President Obama. He said he was "considering assassinating" the president, and doing so would fulfill the oath he took when he entered the Air Force in 1958.
Thornberry's office reported the threat to the Secret Service. Alison Lynn, Thornberry's communications director, said, "Our office takes threats very seriously. It's mandatory to report to the appropriate authorities."
The Secret Service paid Mattison a visit last Monday. So far, no charges have been filed and the case remains open. Mattison told the Amarillo Globe News, "(The Secret Service) told me I had committed a crime, and I told them I did it on purpose. I'm tired of having a president that refuses to make public his birth certificate." Mattison said he expects to be arrested and wants to defend himself in court (although he would seek legal counsel to help).
It sounds like Mattison wants to turn a federal courtroom into a political circus to further his own fringe right-wing political views. He is going to be sorely disappointed when a federal judge refuses to allow him to do that. Politics, even fringe right-wing politics, is not a justification or legal defense against a charge of threatening to assassinate the president.
I know there will probably be some who think charges should not be entered against Mattison because of his age. I am not one of those. I think he should be charged, convicted and sent to a federal prison for five years. He knew what he was doing was against the law and intentionally did it anyway. If he's not charged this time, he might actually try to harm the president to get his show trial.
This "birther" nonsense has gone too far. The president has already gone further than any previous president by authorizing the release of the short-form birth certificate, and the state of Hawaii has verified its authenticity. There is no doubt to any reasonable person that President Obama was born in the United States. Frankly, the whole mess is starting to stink of racism to me.
When I read this, my first reaction was, "Oh no! Not again!"
ReplyDeleteSince I first moved to Amarillo in 1993, our fair city has had a number of dubious distinctions:
1994: The flag of Chile flew over the Potter County courthouse for a whole day before anyone noticed it wasn't the Texas state flag.
1995: Judge Kiser declared in open court that speaking only Spanish to your child is a form a chlid abuse.
1997: The Brian Deneke murder and the subsequent probation of Dustin Camp.
1998: The Oprah trial
Since then, it would seem that we'd been spared any really bad publicity -- until now. The only consolation is that when I googled "William Mattison," I only found one other report on this incident, and that was in the relatively obscure San Angelo Standard-Times.
For those who don't know Amarillo, I find it a great place to live, not nearly as bad as it's been reported in the national press.
But maybe I'm overly paranoid. When I told a couple of old Army buddies last spring about the bad press Amarillo has gotten over the years, they couldn't remember any of the stories I listed above.
Still, I wish just once in a while Amarillo would get a some good press.
Please don't misunderstand my intent in posting this. I was talking about the stupidity of the "birther" movement -- not Amarillo.
ReplyDeleteI have really enjoyed living in Amarillo and plan to remain here for many more years. It may be in the middle of nowhere, but it is a really good place to live and I sincerely hope I didn't give the impression that it isn't.
Birthers are everywhere, and this could just as easily have happened anywhere in this country.
Like I said, I tend to be a little paranoid and overprotective of my adopted city.
ReplyDeleteI didn't take your post as a slight against Amarillo; I just wish Mr. Mattison had been from Lubbock :)