BETHLEHEM — Some might say Dan Tilli's letters to the editor threaten conservative values. But the U.S. Secret Service briefly worried that the 81-year-old man's words threatened President Bush.

Tilli's letter published in last Monday's edition of The Express-Times of Easton earned him a visit from a pair of Secret Service agents.

The letter referenced the execution of Saddam Hussein and ended with the line, "I still believe they hanged the wrong man."

The government apparently saw that as a potential threat toward the president.

"I didn't say who — I could've meant bin Laden," Tilli said Friday, adding that the statement wasn't a threat.

The agents, who confirmed the visit, grilled Tilli at his Bethlehem apartment for nearly an hour Thursday morning before deeming him safe.