A $100,000 joke?

U.S. News ^ | 09/30/2002 | John Leo

[EggsAckley]

So what are you gonna do if you overhear something indicating a terror attack? I, for one, will report it.

[BlessedBeGod]

An odd comment came from Anthony Romero, the new ACLU executive director: "Satire, humor, jokes are part of our everyday lives. We shouldn't be afraid that what we say might trigger a reaction from law enforcement."

Really? Try that in an airport.

[Marine Inspector]

Great post. Thanks.

I'm glad the school they were to attend told them to take a hike.

[A CA Guy]

Ms. Stone challenged them all to lie detector test and they refused
Game, set and match - Ms. Stone.

[Benrand]

Romero from the ACLU is a sleazy little bastard. REAL shifty.

[fhayek]

..or at a border crossing.

[Libloather]

Stone said she knew they might have been joking (her son, who was there, said, "Oh, Momma, they're just messing with you") but felt she had to report their comments, just in case the danger was real.

She did the right thing...

[martin_fierro]

Hear, hear. I'd've done the same as Ms. Stone under those circumstances.

[Who dat?]

"Satire, humor, jokes are part of our everyday lives. We shouldn't be afraid that what we say might trigger a reaction from law enforcement."

I've got an idea. The next time he's standing in line to get on a plane he should say something like "I'm going to blow it out of the sky." Then he can discuss satire, humor and jokes with the port police, FBI, security and whoever else wants to listen.

One of the earlier reports I read said that they were "messing around with her" because she had given them "a look." That seems to indicate to me that they wanted her to believe what they were saying - they wanted to concern her and wanted to scare her. She didn't just overhear something and read too much into it - they wanted the reaction they got. They just thought they'd drive off and not have to worry anymore, IMO.

[RightOnline]

A) I don't, for a second, believe that these pricks were "kidding".

B) Whether they actually were or not, they should be hit with the tab.

[SES1066]

A point unsaid in this piece but stated elsewhere is that these 3 'victims' have refused polygraph examinations to validate their stories. While I know that lie-detectors are not actual lie-detectors, I do also recognize that the innocent are far more inclined to take one than the guilty. Add this to the stated inconsistent explanations offered at the scene to the police and I end up thinking that this was a really STUPID HUMAN trick and that these idiots should be offered a chance to pay for all of the delayed travel and law enforcement expenses that this 'prank' cost!

[martin_fierro]

The ACLU wants it both ways.

On the one hand, they join in criticism of the Bush administration for not detecting/foiling the 9-11 sneak attack in advance.

Then they criticize Ms. Stone for taking reasonable action AFTER 9-11.

[Tripleplay]

Has the medical school of the three been identified?

[EggsAckley]

The ACLU wants it both ways.

eggsackley!!!

[Cindy]

[Illbay]

You're right. Let's refuse to play along. Then, when the terrorists blow up a city center, or set fire to a hospital, or machine-gun a school, we can all take solace in the fact that at least not a single American stooped to being a "government stooge."

Silly thing about people who think the way you do: You forget the government is US.

[Illbay]

It's an off-shore school, somewhere in the Caribbean.

[Tripleplay]

Thanks...........Hope my doctor isn't an alumness.