You’ve probably seen the email going around about how to argue with a pacifist. You know, the one that says that you should just listen to their arguments, and then suddenly, without warning, punch them in the nose? Rinse, lather, repeat until they get the point?

Well, someone sent it to some peace activists, and they took it as a physical threat. They’re upset because they can’t get the police to do anything about it. But my favorite line of the story was the last one:

Police filed an initial report after receiving a complaint and will likely interview Howell, Atkinson said. But because it contained no specific threats, the e-mail is most likely not criminal, Atkinson said.

Diana Hirschi, who issued Thursday’s press release, worries the e-mail might jeopardize protesters, who have already been pelted by eggs during recent rallies.

“I’m a pacifist,” Hirschi said. “But if somebody punched me in the nose, I don’t know what I’d do.

[Update at 2:10 PM PST]

Someone in the comments section was looking for the original essay. Here’s a link to it.

And thanks to Dave Neiwert–a lefty freelance journoblogger (whose politics can be inferred from his blogroll–Atrios tops the list…) through whom I found it because he was whining about it. In his foolishness, he takes it to be “…describing how to physically assault war protesters.” He obviously misses the point as well.