Letters to the Editor
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Oh. My. God.
Where to start? Speechless.
I understand why our country is in the place it is, why the War on Drugs continues, and why George W. Bush is still in office.
Because there are still so many people out there who believe that being "tough on crime" is paramount, without considering that it doesn't really work and that there are other options. Because they believe that the US model of locking up everyone who makes a dumb mistake, especially if they're a minority, is a great idea (you know, don't deal with them, educate them, give them a job or anything, just put them away so we don't have to look at them). Because they've totally bought into the "airplanes are sacred spaces" and that the security theater that inconveniences us all and steals our stuff in greater than 3 oz quantities is necessary and effective. Because the think it's ok for the government to spy on people to find the terrorists, because if you haven't done anything wrong you have nothing to hide. Because they agree with Bush, who believes the Geneva Conventions are "antiquated," without considering the severity of the punishment.
Don't you people have any sense of proportionality? The writer who said he should have gone to the drunk tank for a night and been let go with a fine was right. Yeah, sure, slap the guy on the wrist for being an asshole on a plane. To say this guy deserved what he got is one of the more cruel statements I've read this year. Next time you run a red light, or get pulled over for speeding, or your kid gets picked up for shoplifting..you know, something stupid, something you should have known better than to do, think about it. Think about how great it is that you're probably not going to get prison-raped for your dumb mistake.
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Protecting the UK???
Let's see, the British legal system and BA:
1. Caused HIV to be spread in Britain.
2. Conspired to commit numerous felonies against a citizen of its closest ally.
3. Demonstrated that Britain lacks freedom of religion.
4. Demonstrated that Britain's government is racist.
5. Gave the terrorists another victory destroying another democracy.
How did they know his father's religion? Survey says NSA wiretaps, or another illegal program.
God save the queen, because her government sure isn't.
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Little Nell visits the Scrubs...
To paraphrase Wilde, One must have a heart of stone to read the imprisonment of little Peter without laughing. My personal epiphany regarding this happened around:
'you think you're going to die... and it's made worse by the fact that others are demanding the radio be turned up so they can hear beyonce'
...but the real proof of PK's comic genius comes somewhere around the comparison to Empress Alexandra being dragged to Tobolsk...
whatever the case, this splendid piece is clear proof that the American Humor is alive, kicking, and still knocking the socks off it's sneering counterpart this side of the atlantic. All the saga really needs a stage , and andrew-lloyd weber, but i am claiming rights to the libretto, which is going to begin:
Is this the real life?
Is this just fantasy?
Caught by a lap top
No escape from reality
but somehow i can't work scaramouche in. anyone help?
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What a creep!
Here is what Kurth admits to saying on the plane:
"I am an American citizen! You are our lapdog ally!" and other remarks of a vulgar and unhelpful nature. Very vulgar, I'm afraid: At one point I called that tired stewardess the worst thing you can call a woman -- you all know what it is."
Thanks to Don Imus.
I have worked in a high security prison and every single inmate has a sob story about how he was hard done by. "I may have done some bad things, in my life, but I didn't deserve this" is the usual mantra. If Salon is finding it hard to get contributors, then here is a bottomless well of material.
Kurth deserved exactly what he got, except for the rape. But from his creepy slobbering over the young Chinese man with the "body like a God" we soon see that Kurth is starting to fit right in with the perverted world of prison.
The amazing thing is that he was able to find an airline that agreed to bring him back to the US.
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British Prisons
Say whatever you want bu the American prison system is easily worse than the British one. This seems to me to be one of those nightmare scenarios that could happen to anyone travelling anywhere. Fact is in Britain we don't have anything even approaching the 'three strikes rule'- the legal equivalent of going 'right, you have committed not one, not two but three burglaries- now your going to get it' and then that person gets locked up for life. The British prison system and immigration system is way more sympathetic than the American one. Fact is that if he had been in his home state and committed fraud with over $100,000 of damages he would have gone to a federal prison. He might not have survived. This could have happened anywhere but in a place like thailand it would have been a thousand tims worse. And as for the whole disregarding of personal responsibility thing-and yeas i realise this is not fox news thank you- its like WHAT WERE YOU THINKING airlines being the way they are. And the only reason they are like that is becuase the American government insists on it for people to even travel to and from Britain to America.
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Extended fit of pique
I'm sure you chose to publish this for some reason, but I fail to discern a good one. If readers were unaware that foreign law applies on foreign soil (or extensions thereof), then they are so ignorant as to be unfit for travel—or their sense of entitlement assures them that they need not bother learning such rules, since they don't apply to them.
If one drinks while taking medications which contraindicate doing so, then one has made a foolish decision. Prisons worldwide are populated by those who would give anything to take back the events unfurled by their decision to drink or drug, regardless of the amount consumed. The writer's subsequent behavior is not excused; he made the choice.
His petty protest that certain laws weren't enforced prior to political events only further illustrates his immaturity. Sometimes the speed traps are there, buddy, sometimes they aren't.
Although the shortcomings in the British legal and corrections systems may exist, the writer's essay boils down to "This shouldn't haven happened to me because I am educated." No sympathy, here.
I hope the flight attendants somehow see this story. Perhaps they are the intended audience.