You and me. We're in this together.

[andrewducker]

John Gilmore: I was ejected from a plane for wearing "Suspected Terrorist" button.

I'm glad that someone has the moral pigheadedness to stand up for themselves. Because I suspect that I wouldn't.

Comments

[novalis.livejournal.com]

I made a statement about A: you offered situations B and C that you claimed were the same as A, though in fact they were not, and the standard follow-up is: "Well, you don't agree with B and C, so how can you agree with A, because A B and C are the same." To which the only possible response is: the lines you drew are a completely different shape from the lines I was drawing.

I tried to read the lines from your words -- you said
There's nothing anyone can do about their ethnic origin, nor should they wish to: but anyone can decide to wear, or not to wear, a badge.

This said to me that the issue was whether or not it was a "choice" (certainly a line I've heard before...)

The BA staff had no power to threaten him with federal law enforcement action: that must have been American airport staff. God knows why they bothered.

Gilmore said that the Captain did this. I see no reason to disbelieve him -- it must have sounded as absurd to him as it does to you.

I said: And again, this is not the line you actually believe in, because if the member of staff had politely requested that he remove a turban, you would be outraged.

yonmei replied:Except that I disagreed that a turban is identical with a badge. You see where drawing the wrong lines can lead you?

I think you are changing your lines -- you said that the issue was not one of the content of Gilmore's action, but of his refusal to obey a polite request. I pointed out that you think the content is important, since you would think differently of a polite request to remove a turban.

True - I was thinking of British buses, rather than American buses. There is less distance between towns/cities in the UK than in the US, and getting off a bus midway in a journey might be a hassle but wouldn't be a disaster.

I can certainly think of many cases in which it might be a disaster -- if the person was being met, or was on the way to a wedding or to catch a plane, or to see a dying relative....