John Young writes, regarding Assassination Politics:

AP is a touchy topic for Cypherpunks, whoever they may be. It is likely the USA is attempting to link AP to Cypherpunks for prosecution, so not many will want to talk about the topic.

Cypherpunks pioneered the use of encryption and anonymity for many purposes, but one of them was precisely this: to allow discussion of forbidden subjects.

So my opinion is that AP is a lure set out by the authorities to entrap the unwary, Cypherpunks among them. I believe that Bell and Johnson have been, and are continuing to be, a part of that lure, whether witting or unwitting.

That's bullshit. Surely you can't deny that AP was conceived by Bell exactly as what it was claimed to be, a tool to be used against government agents who overstep their authority and violate the rights of American citizens. (And as an important consequence it would therefore encourage governments to behave legally and respectfully towards their citizens, as they should.) Bell certainly did not conceive of AP as a way of entrapping cypherpunks. He didn't even know about cypherpunks when he came up with the idea.

AP is highy suspect, and becoming more so as it gets additional promotion, not by whatever adherents it may have but by its opponents. I expect AP to be used to advance the anti-terrorism industry now booming.

Just keep in mind that AP is a joke among knowledgeable technologists for its unworkability, but a wonderful joke on those who believe it's anything more than a taunt.

Total bullshit again. Sure, AP requires anonymous digital cash, but so do most other elements of the cypherpunk vision. Would you say that crypto anarchy, information black markets, and commerce among pseudonyms are "a joke"? These are just as hypothetical as AP at present. It's entirely possible that some form of anonymous cash will be developed in the next few years, and once that happens AP will be trivial to implement. It's far from a joke, it is a very real possibility. AP is part of the dark side of the cypherpunk dream and it must be faced rather than evaded. The real problem with AP is not that it would be illegal, because much of what cypherpunks call for is presently illegal. Rather, the problem with AP is that it is mob rule at its worst. There are no checks and balances. It is the height of folly to suppose that AP would be used only against those whom cypherpunks themselves oppose, like corrupt government agents. AP could be used against anyone who has a high profile. If AP were implemented, there is no question but that Jim Bell would be one of the first targets! All those people who found himself on his list, along with their heirs and successors, would want revenge. Everyone involved with the assassinations would be anonymous except Bell himself, making him the most prominent target of their wrath. Other notable supporters of crypto anarchy would follow soon, such as cypherpunk founders May and Hughes. The people involved with the digital cash would be targets as well, and so on. Despite these unpleasant facts, once digital cash exists, AP will be inevitable, along with many other forms of anonymous murder-for-hire. Cypherpunks have discussed these possibilities from the very beginning. To pretend that AP is somehow outside of the scope of cypherpunk thinking, a hoax or joke perpetrated by outsiders as a lure, is just absurd. With crypto anarchy you have to take the bad with the good. What, then, is the solution to survival in a world of assassins at large? It is simple, and it is in fact the same as the solution to the problem of how to discuss AP in a world in which even mentioning it could get you arrested, the problem which led to John Young's dissembling above. Perhaps the alert reader will be able to conceive of the solution for himself.