I posted yesterday wishing that the Obama administration would post statistics on threats. Today the Post has a piece on threats to Social Security Administration's personnel. The number of threats has gone from 897 in 2007 FY to 2,336 in 2010FY. The administrative judges, who deliver decisions on eligibility, such as eligibility for disability benefits, feel especially insecure.
This Politico article reports on statistics of threats to Congresspeople, while this was yesterday's Post piece.
Seems to me there's a valid argument possible that political rhetoric and mudracking media stir antagonism to the establishment, which should show up pretty directly in the threat and assault statistics. Of course, the big question is what other factors could be involved? For example, in the case of SSA, people who are out of work due to the Great Bush Recession could be expressing, not political anger, but economic frustration. That's why we need a long term project to gather and display such statistics.
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