About That Plot Against Obama...

Yeah, you knew I was going to spend some more time on this story today.

A law-enforcement official familiar with the investigation has told NEWSWEEK that three men are now under arrest in connection with an inquiry into a possible plot to kill Barack Obama. The official, who asked for anonymity when discussing sensitive information, said the three men presently face firearms and drug charges filed by police and prosecutors in Arapahoe County, in the Denver suburbs. The FBI and the Secret Service are deeply involved in the investigation, although no federal charges have been filed to date. The official added that it was unclear at present how real the plot was; further investigation could prove that it was an empty threat, or that the suspects were flakes or loudmouths.

News of the alleged plot was first reported by the local CBS affiliate in Denver and the Rocky Mountain News. The local reports said the investigation was opened after local police in Aurora, Colo., which is located in Arapahoe County, made a traffic stop and discovered two rifles and methamphetamine. Authorities subsequently went to the Cherry Creek Hotel and knocked at the door of a guest in the middle of the night; the guest jumped out of his sixth-floor window but was subsequently recaptured. The man allegedly said something about Obama to authorities, but it could not be ascertained what comments were made, the reports said. Earlier today, I asked federal authorities about the FBI presence at the hotel last night, but officials declined to comment. Tonight, authorities in Aurora and Arapahoe County also couldn't be reached for comment.

Monday evening, the U. S. Attorney's office in Denver issued the following statement confirming an unspecified number of arrests. "This is a methamphetamine and firearms case that arose from a traffic stop made by an Aurora Police officer," the statement read. "Firearms and methamphetamine were seized, and a number of individuals are in state custody. The matter continues to be under investigation. We'll provide more information as it becomes available." A law enforcement source said that prosecutors plan to file federal drug and gun charges against the suspects on Tuesday.

Wednesday evening, the FBI confirmed the identity of one of the suspects: Tharin Robert Gartrell. A source familiar with the investigation said that Gartrell and the other two suspects were believed to be white supremacists. The real question now is whether the men were in position to carry out any kind of threats against the candidate—or whether they were trying to impress girlfriends, the source said. The Obama campaign declined comment, referring reporters to the U.S. attorney's statement.

Steven D at BooMan Tribune notes that a CBS affiliate in Denver has investigated this further and come up with some pretty shocking stuff.

One of those suspects spoke exclusively to CBS4 investigative reporter Brian Maass from inside the Denver City Jail late Monday night and said his friends had discussed killing Obama.

"So your friends were saying threatening things about Obama?" Maass asked.

"Yeah," Nathan Johnson replied.

"It sounded like they didn't want him to be president?"

"Yeah," Johnson said.

Maass reported earlier Monday that one of the suspects told authorities they were "going to shoot Obama from a high vantage point using a ... rifle ... sighted at 750 yards."

Law enforcement sources told Maass that one of the suspects "was directly asked if they had come to Denver to kill Obama. He responded in the affirmative."

The story began emerging Sunday morning when Aurora police arrested Tharin Gartrell, 28. He was driving a rented pickup truck in an erratic manner, according to sources.

Sources told CBS4 police found two high-powered, scoped rifles in the car along with camouflage clothing, walkie-talkies, wigs, a bulletproof vest, a spotting scope, licenses in the names of other people and 44 grams of methamphetamine. One of the rifles is listed as stolen from Kansas.

Well, honestly, is anyone surprised at this? Do you think that this will be the last time it happens? How many other crackpots out there, fueled by hate radio's open racism and violent rhetoric, are waiting to become famous by taking out America's Uppity Next President?

This story's getting almost no play in the media this morning. But of course there's plenty of news about all those dirty f'ckin hippies running around getting maced in Denver.

But irrelevant is not how the protesters will be portrayed by a media that has been salivating over the possible disruption of the Democratic convention -- by angry, broom-riding succubi! -- for weeks. Never mind that there were probably no more than 50 shouting PUMAs. Never mind that every national political convention in modern history becomes a locus for vocal agitators. Never mind that over the weekend, antiwar protests had been larger. Never mind that in three days in Denver I had not spotted a single PUMA or Hillary protester until I found where Chris Matthews was broadcasting. Never mind the guy in the toilet outfit. To hear Matthews, and the talking heads at CNN tell it, these demonstrators were "ground zero" in a rift that could potentially destroy the Democratic Party and ruin its national convention.

This scene was pretty much the worst nightmare of the women I had spoken to earlier in the morning at the Unconventional Women program, devoted to exploring the current climate for women in politics. At the Buell theater, mentions of Hillary Clinton, as well as a clip from her stirring concession speech, were met with enthusiastic applause and some light cheering, but nothing resembling disruptive anger. In truth, most of the current or former Clinton loyalists could not be more different from the afternoon's demonstrators, but they will likely be tarred with the same hysterical brush.

"There is such a fear of women coming into power, that when they protest, they are given more weight," said Marie Wilson, head of the White House Project, before speaking as part of the Unconventional Women's programming, acknowledging the likelihood of protest. "Just the fact of women saying they support their candidate and want to make their voices heard sounds more scary than it would be if it were guys. That's just part of backlash. But come on. When women gather around a water fountain, men get scared. People oughta just chill."

And now some perspective: when you talk about fear of a woman leading the country, it's not leading to people being arrested with rifles and plans to kill Hillary. Just sayin'.

It's wonderful that the discussion on gender and politics can lead to a frank and powerful dialogue that advances the rights of women across the country, and Hillary has been a beneficial part of it. We need to have that same discussion on race.

All it's going to take is one of these douchebags getting lucky once.