So the Secret Service is an idiot, but hey what else is new?

Julia Wilson, a typical 14-year-old who didn't realize it was against the law to threaten the president of the United States (and apparently, the ersatz president, too) used to have a MySpace page dedicated to a group called "People who want to stab Bush" or something like that. The page included a collage graphic of Bush being stabbled in the hand. When Julia learned in her civics class that threatening a president is illegal, she changed the title to "So Bush is an idiot, but hey what else is new?"

Too late. The Secret Service already had her in their system, and she received a visit from them on Wednesday. They pulled her out of her biology class at McClatchy High School to question her about her MySpace participation. First, the agents went to Julia's house, and was told by her mother that she didn't want to pull her daughter out of class. Julia's mother asked the agents to return in an hour, then sent a message to Julia to come home right after school. But by that time, the agents had yanked Julia from her class.

Ann Brick, an ACLU attorney, said "The courts have to distinguish between political rhetoric and hyperbole and a real threat. A reasonable person would have to interpret what was said as indication of a serious intent to commit harm." If Brick is poking around Homeland Security for a reasonable person, she is out of luck. Assuming that those of us who are reasonable see the statement for what it is, Julia Wilson's words are protected by the First Amendment.

As for Julia, she had already taken the page down because she decided that her MySpace participation was "juvenile."