On Saturday night, Adam Weinstein, an editor at Mother Jones, entered into a Twitter "discussion" with Jeff Cox, a lawyer who draws a paycheck courtesy of Indiana taxpayers as one of the state's 144 deputy attorneys general. In the midst of this conversation, apparently taking a page from tyrants elsewhere in the news, Cox tweeted what should be done to deal with protesters at the state capitol in Madison, Wisc. Read for yourself:
Weinstein wrote:
From my own Twitter account, I confronted the user, JCCentCom. He tweeted back that the demonstrators were "political enemies" and "thugs" who were "physically threatening legally elected officials." In response to such behavior, he said, "You're damned right I advocate deadly force." He later called me a "typical leftist," adding, "liberals hate police." ...
[Cox has labeled] President Obama an "incompetent and treasonous" enemy of the nation to comparing "enviro-Nazis" to Osama bin Laden, likening ex-Labor Secretary Robert Reich and Service Employees International Union members to Nazi "brownshirts" on multiple occasions, and referring to an Indianapolis teen as "a black teenage thug who was (deservedly) beaten up" by local police. A "sensible policy for handling Afghanistan," he offered, could be summed up as: "KILL! KILL! ANNIHILATE!"
Although Cox's equally inflammatory "Pro-Cynic" blog has been deleted, a comment last May at his Facebook page pondered: "Which is more useful to America: Barack Obama or tapeworm?"
Last week he also tweeted: "Planned Parenthood could help themselves if the only abortions they performed were retroactive."
A spokesman for the Indiana Attorney General's office, Bryan Corbin, initially told Mother Jones that Cox's comments were "inflammatory" ... We do not condone any comments that would threaten or imply violence or intimidation toward anyone." He promised an "immediate review." Subsequently he wrote:
"Individuals have the First Amendment right to post their own personal views in online forums on their own time ... but as public servants, state employees also should strive to conduct themselves with professionalism and appropriate decorum in their interactions with the public. ... We have reiterated to the employee the standards of professional conduct expected for all licensed attorneys and for employees of the Indiana Attorney General's Office. After all the relevant information is obtained, this agency then will determine whether there has been any violation of the personnel handbook."
Weinstein offered Cox a chance to explain his various comments in the pages of Mother Jones. The deputy A.G. did not respond.
Updated by Meteor Blades at Wed Feb 23, 2011, 01:26:41 PM
Given that Republicans in the Indiana legislature have have chosen to ax their anti-union "right-to-work" bill, Cox won't get his wish for dealing with protesters in his own state.