Very informative post Glenn. It was especially good to see General Odom not take the bait presented by HH and instead deal with the realities of the whole sorry mess. The problem is of course that the true believers can't be made to change their minds, no matter how logical or credible the messenger is. Hence, comments after the article depicted General Odom as a freedom-hating, white-flag waving loon.

While I was there I decided to read a few other of HH's articles, and I don't know what is scarier. The positions he takes or the postings of his readers!

Apparently many, many people don't have any clue what our country is really all about and would instead prefer to live in a right-wing, wingnut, kill them all fantasy land. They're still arguing that the Democrats were responsible for the failure of Vietnam.

All in all very disheartening ...

I read with real surprise the amount of heat you took over your last column. Not only did I read said column, but I've been reading your columns for a long time now, and for people to go as ballistic as they did shows two things:

1] Rudeness is rampant, everywhere, even against those who don't deserve it in the slightest bit.

2] And as you mentioned, most people obviously didn't read the column. Or if they did, their reading skills must be completely null-and-void.

As for being called an "elitist prick", well that just goes to show how truly ignorant most people are. See, this is the curse of our modern era, where everyone thinks they actually know everything there is to know about any and all subjects. Then when someone who actually does know something calls them on it, even explaining it in the most gentle, calm, and rational manner, the idiots get insulted. What did Clint Eastwood say as Dirty Harry?

"A man has to know his limitations ..."

Unfortunately, in today's world most people don't have a clue what their limitations are. Or more as I see it, the humility to bow gracefully when in the presence of a true professional. Especially, one such as yourself who writes with such a down-to-earth style. You'd think more people would respect that, wouldn't you?

If I sound harsh, it's only due to the fact that I see this same attitude in my line of business - computers. I've been working with systems and software now for over 20 years, and I know the reality of how the industry grew, its failures, how SW and HW work, and most importantly how operating-systems really work.

But try to explain to people anything having to do with computers? Forgetaboutit ... They know everything, so they think. After all, they read it on ZDNet on the web! Or better yet, Computer Shopper. Such crap. Read a few articles, and suddenly they are an instant historian and expert.

The bottom line as I see it, is as you wrote: No one wants to pay for anything these days, particularly service. They all want everything for the absolute cheapest price. Then when it doesn't work, or they need some sort of help or hand holding they bitch and moan about the terrible customer service. Back in the day WordPerfect cost $400 and came with real support. 24-hours a day you could call a 1-800 number and talk to a techie who knew the application. It came with a spiral bound manual, explaining in detail nearly everything one needed to know about the program. That all cost money.

Money that people just don't want to spend these days.

And as you said, the same goes for the airline industry.

My question is, when is this bottom line, lowest common denominator, cheap-ass attitude going to change?

And finally, a HUGE thank you to Patrick! For making the ins-and-outs of the airline industry understandable and accessible to us mere mortals who have the self awareness that we don't know shit about what *really* goes on. I for one enjoy your columns, the cultural references you throw in, and most importantly, the humanity and humor you employ in your writing.

A Fan ...