Letters to the Editor
Amerigo
Published Letters: 955 Editor's Choice: 60
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Did he get what he deserved?
[Read the article: At her majesty's pleasure]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]In an earlier letter, I said that Kurth got what he deserved. A number of people disagreed with this.
I will backtrack a little. He did not deserve to be raped in prison. No one does.
Personally I would rather fight to the death than be buggered by another man. I would also tell them that I was HIV positive (even though I am not) in the hope that this information would dampen their arousal. He apparently chose not to tell them he was HIV positive, possibly fearing that this would put a target on his back.
I hope now he has been released and is safely back in the US, he has notified the Wormwood Scrubs prison authorities of the rape and the real names of the rapists, so that they can be tested for seroconversion.
Other than that, it still seems to me that he got what he deserved. Refusing to obey the directions of air crew on a passenger flight is a serious offense and DOES endanger the safety of the flight.
Hopefully his account of his experiences will serve as a warning to others.
Since the United States does not allow entry to people who are HIV positive and even under the Visa Waiver Program requires a passport valid for 6 months, I don't quite see why he thinks Britain should bend over and accommodate him. He is obviously quite out of touch with travel requirements post 9/11.
I am just surprised that the US let him back in again. He should consider himself lucky.
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LGBT
[Read the article: At her majesty's pleasure]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]What does LGBT stand for? Why do people have to write in code?
It is noticeable that every single Salon-starred letter seems to be somewhat sympathetic to Kurth. What is this? It is fair enough to star one or two letter to show that even someone as obnoxious and creepy as Furth will have sympathizers, but it hardly serves to give the quick reader a balanced view of overall opinion.
The fact is that he got what he deserved (except for being raped), and let that be a lesson to every drunken asshole who thinks he can get away with misbehaving on international airline flights.
If you call the flight crew whores, you probably will end up in jail, and very likely you will get anally raped by some pervert. And you will deserve it.
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A deserving case?
[Read the article: At her majesty's pleasure]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I have gone on the record as saying that Kurth got what he deserved.
By that I don't necessarily mean that I think that the exact number of days he was confined was a punishment that precisely fitted the crime, or that he should have been anally raped for what he did.
A few days and a hefty fine would have been enough, except that he was apparently indigent. I am not sure that keeping him overnight and letting him go would have had the same deterrent effect.
What I mean is that when you travel to any foreign country, you cannot expect to be treated the same way that you would in your own country. For example, if you are arrested and jailed in the Dominican Republic, you do not get meals provided. Your family or friends have to bring food for you. No friends, no food. Fair? Maybe not, but that is how it is in that country.
If you insult the King of Thailand, you can end up locked up for 10 years. Is this fair? No, but...
So when you choose to fly on a foreign airline, and then insult that nation and the employees of that airline, refuse to follow directions, etc., then you are taking your fate out of your own hands--and you deserve whatever comes to you.
Some people say that he did not endanger the safety of the flight, but I think it is obvious that if all the passengers refuse to follow directions, then the safety of the flight is endangered--and there are laws that tell you you must do what you are told, whether it be fastening your safety belt, not smoking, staying in your seat, and so on.
Of course you can feel sorry for him to some extent. We all experience a spot of schadenfreude when we hear about someone being homosexually raped in prison--something which most of us would rather die than endure, and I certainly would rather die than survive it and write about it, so there is some bravery on his part.
But in the end the sentence has been rehabilitative. Kurth does not seem to have suffered severe injuries and he is unlikely to repeat the offense, but more important, and perhaps this is why Salon published the piece, thousands of people who have read his article will be discouraged from following in his footsteps.
So it is all for the good.
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Hereditary wealth?
[Read the article: George Tenet, spook for all seasons]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]When I was younger I thought ridiculous the idea that cabinet level posts were better filled by independently wealthy men who didn't need the job, because they would give more honest counsel.
But looking at Tenet, and now Gonazales, you have to wonder. Did both of these guys just act as yes men because they wanted to protect their salaries, government pension rights, and current, no doubt luxurious, lifestyles?
Perhaps Robin Cook's resignation from the British cabinet over Iraq was partly enabled precisely because he still retained his parliamentarian's salary even when he lost his ministerial one.