Free Republic

The JetBlue air steward who fled his plane via the emergency exit chute after a row with a passenger today admitted a charge of criminal mischief and was ordered to undergo a year of counselling. Steven Slater was also told to receive treatment for substance abuse after appearing at a brief hearing at a New York court. Slater, 39, became an internet sensation after his August 9 meltdown in which he unleashed a four-letter tirade to passengers aboard the Pittsburgh-to-New-York flight, before taking beer from the galley and inflating the plane's evacuation slide to make his dramatic exit.

CANTON, OH -- With less than two weeks until voters decide an increasingly intense race, Democratic vice presidential candidate John Edwards yesterday slammed President Bush as incompetent and out of touch with problems facing Ohioans and the rest of the nation. And Vice President Dick Cheney is a hypocrite, Edwards told a crowd of 1,000 at Canton Memorial Civic Center, for saying this week in Ohio that terrorists could strike U.S. cities with nuclear weapons and Democrat John Kerry isn't tough enough to protect the nation. "I think it's the height of hypocrisy, coming from a president and a vice...