All Blog Posts from Political Hotsheet

Below, a chart showing monthly U.S. troop deaths in and around Afghanistan built off Associated Press data. 929 U.S. troops have been killed in the conflict, according to iCasualties.

Updated 12:24 p.m. ET

When a poll was posted to the popular social networking site Facebook asking if President Obama should be killed, the Secret Service launched an investigation.

Today they announced the results: Turns out a kid was behind the poll. And no criminal charges will be filed against him or his parents, according to the Associated Press, citing a Secret Service spokesman.

The poll, posted to the site over the weekend, asked, "should obama be killed?" The possible answers were "yes," "maybe," "if he cuts my health care" and "no."

At least 730 people took the user-generated poll before it was removed by Facebook. Results were not available because the third-party application used to post the poll was disabled.

Facebook said at the time that the person behind the poll had been banned from using the service.

Secret Service spokesman Edwin Donovan did not identify the child who posted the poll or release his or her age. He said agents had determined that he or she was not a threat to the president.

"Case closed," Donovan said, according to the AP. "I guess you could characterize it as a mistake."

In an email, Barry Schnitt, Facebook Director of Policy Communications, said, "we commend the Secret Service on their quick and thorough action and have complete confidence in whatever conclusion they have reached as a result."

Updated 4:14 p.m. ET

A poll posted on the social networking site Facebook asking if President Obama should be assassinated has prompted a Secret Service investigation.

The Huffington Post has a screen shot of the poll. It asks, "should obama be killed?" The possible answers are "yes," "maybe," "if he cuts my health care" and "no."

"We are aware of it and we will take the appropriate investigative steps," Secret Service Darrin Blackford told the Associated Press. "We take of these things seriously."

At least 730 people took the user-generated poll before it was removed by Facebook upon officials learning of its existence. Results of the survey were not available because the application was disabled. The company said the person who created the poll has been suspended from using the site.

"The third-party application that enabled an individual user to create the offensive poll was brought to our attention this morning," said Barry Schnitt, Director of Policy Communications for Facebook. "The application was immediately suspended while the inappropriate content could be removed by the developer and until such time as the developer institutes better procedures to monitor their user-generated content."

"We're working with the US Secret Service but they'll need to provide any details of their investigation," he added.

Secret Service spokesman Ed Donovan confirmed to CBS News that the Secret Service and Facebook are working together on the issue.

Read full post…

A Wisconsin man named Steven Joseph Christopher has been arrested for threatening to kill President-elect Barack Obama on the Internet.

The Associated Press reports that Christopher, who was arrested by the Secret Service in Mississippi, has been charged with threatening to kill Mr. Obama for "the country's own good," according to prosecutors.

The 42-year-old Christopher reportedly made the threats on Jan. 11 and 15 on the site http://www.alien-earth.org. He is being held until a bail hearing scheduled for next Thursday.