Experts: Angry rhetoric protected, but can be disturbing

Experts: Angry rhetoric protected, but can be disturbing Letting disgruntled citizens vent is important to national security,DVD Ripper experts say, but some messages emanating from angry Americans in recent weeks have pressed the boundaries of free speech.

Politicians have reported slurs as well as threatening letters and phone calls. Congressmen have reported vandalism to their offices. One said he was spit on. Another said his brother's gas line was cut after a Tea Party member posted his address online.

Tea Party leaders denounce the threats and deny involvement, pointing to fringe elements -- not Tea Party members, per se, but groups with degrees of overlapping ideologies.

But the angry rhetoric is not isolated to fringe groups. Both mainstream liberal and conservative camps have joined the chorus, and while some of the language sounds threatening, most of it is protected.

As the Tea Party held its April 15 tax day protest against government spending, related groups were planning an April 19 protest at Fort Hunt National Park near Alexandria, Virginia. The purpose of the latter, the groups say, is to "restore the Constitution," and the location was chosen because it is the nearest point to Washington where firearms can be carried openly.

Outside a few rogue comments from visitors, Tea Party Web sites focus on education, news and organizing protests of a government the group sees as out of control. Peruse fringe Web sites, though,DVD Ripper and you'll hear a darker, conspiratorial tone: President Obama isn't American; the U.S. and/or Israel perpetrated 9/11; the government is constructing concentration camps; or foreign troops will populate U.S. soil when an amorphous New World Order takes over.