Getting Some More of that Freedom Thing
I'm not, particularly a Penn and Teller fan (nor anti-Penn and Teller either--I'm refreshingly neutral on the whole Penn and Teller issue), but I am a big fan of this story:
Seems Penn was pulled aside for a search before a flight. He told the security guard that grabbing his crotch without permission was assault. The guard told him, "Once you cross that line, I can do whatever I want." Penn called the local police, who said, when they arrived, "What's wrong with you people? You can't just grab a guy's crank without his permission." Penn tells him that his genitals weren't grabbed and the cop says, "I don't care, you can't do that to people. That's assault and battery in my book."
Eventually, he ends up talking to a PR person for the airport:
I said that I had talked to two lawyers and they said it was really a weird case because no one knows if he can be charged with assault and battery while working in that job. But I told her, that some of my lawyer friends really wanted to find out. She said, "Well, we're very new to this job . . ." and I said, "Yeah, so we need these test cases to find out where you stand."She said, "Well, you know a LOT about this." I said, "Well, it's not really the right word, but freedom is kind of a hobby with me, and I have disposable income that I'll spend to find out how to get people more of it."
...via BoingBoing
Comments
Neat last clause, especially.
Maybe we need two Supermen these days. One to save people from run-of-the-mill violence and wrongdoing (and fight the evil mad scientists and whatever else the original Superman did), and his sickly thoughtful well-read twin, who has no physical superpowers but is extremely rich and highly educated, has lots of lawyers and political clout, and thinks like you. :)
(Shoot, I think I just described Jed Bartlet. Bugger.)
Posted by: TM(tm) | January 6, 2003 07:45 AM
I'm always a 'worst case scenario' person and I often think too much so that if there ever was a moment to act, it's, like three weeks ago and a little late now. One of the things I particularly like about this story is that Penn stands up for his rights and we find out that everyone's walking around confused and not quite knowing what they're doing or why they're doing it. It points out how important it is to know our rights and to speak out in a calm and rational way about them.
But I still worry about those worst case scenarios...
Posted by: debco | January 6, 2003 11:11 AM