What passes for news

isn't necessarily new news:

Supreme Court Justice Reveals Death Threats

Sounds serious and urgent until you read the story:

WASHINGTON (March 15) - Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg said she and former Justice Sandra Day O'Connor have been the targets of death threats from the "irrational fringe" of society, people apparently spurred by Republican criticism of the high court.

"apparently"?

Ginsburg revealed in a speech in South Africa last month that she and O'Connor were threatened a year ago by someone who called on the Internet for the immediate "patriotic" killing of the justices.

Oh, so it was a year ago. Not news. And obviously, no one acted on the "immediate" part of the call, so also not very serious, either.

Hang on, maybe it is news. Someone on the left smearing conservatives while overseas. Oops, never mind, that's old hat too.

Jokes are apparently threatening as well:

Conservative commentator Ann Coulter joked earlier this year that Justice John Paul Stevens should be poisoned.

The story just breaks down from here:

Ginsburg said the Web threat was apparently prompted by legislation in Congress, filed by Republicans, that would bar judges from relying on foreign laws or court decisions.

"It is disquieting that they have attracted sizable support. And one not-so-small concern - they fuel the irrational fringe," she said in a speech posted online by the court earlier this month and first reported Wednesday by LegalTimes.com.

According to Ginsburg, someone in a Web site chat room wrote: "Okay commandoes, here is your first patriotic assignment ... an easy one. Supreme Court Justices Ginsburg and O'Connor have publicly stated that they use (foreign) laws and rulings to decide how to rule on American cases. This is a huge threat to our Republic and Constitutional freedom. ... If you are what you say you are, and NOT armchair patriots, then those two justices will not live another week."

So one person in a chat room constitutes "sizable support". And if you're wondering who the "they" is, the story is written to suggest she's talking about Republicans:

Rep. Tom Feeney, R-Fla., a sponsor of one of the congressional proposals, wrote about the legislation on his Web site and in bold letters featured a quote from O'Connor predicting the Supreme Court would probably increasingly rely on foreign courts.

I suppose that many in public life get periodic threats of harm - I imagine that many are probably not serious, such as Ms. Coulter's statement. The ones that truly are serious are likely from a variety of ideologies. File this one under "what liberal media?".

Oh - here's the headline Huffington Post tagged the story with (complete with photo of armed guards protecting the Supreme Court from the Republican horde):

Justices Say They Are Targets Of Death Threats From The "Irrational Fringe" Spurred By GOP Criticism...

Is "irrational fringe" the left's equivalent of "unhinged"?

Here's a screen shot in case it changes.