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#1 Australian kicked off flight for anti-Bush T-shirt
Posted: Sun Jan 28, 2007 11:07 pm
by Kreshna Aryaguna Nurzaman
The news.
Australian kicked off flight for anti-Bush T-shirt
Airline staff takes issue over message calling president ‘number 1 terrorist’
CANBERRA, Australia - An airline passenger barred from a flight for wearing a T-shirt labeling President Bush a terrorist has threatened legal action against Australia’s flag carrier Qantas.
Allen Jasson, 55, an Australian IT expert who lives in Britain, was stopped from boarding a London-bound Qantas flight at Melbourne Airport last Friday for wearing what the airline said was an offensive T-shirt.
Airline staff said the T-shirt of Bush with the tagline “World’s number 1 terrorist” could have upset other passengers and demanded it be changed for another.
But Jasson, who had earlier traveled on a Qantas domestic flight wearing the Bush T-shirt, said his right to freedom of speech had been infringed by Qantas.
“I am not prepared to go without the T-shirt. I might forfeit the fare, but I have made up my mind that I would rather stand up for the principle of free speech,” Jasson told Australian media on Monday, adding he would seek legal advice.
Qantas issued a statement saying comments made verbally or on a T-shirt which had the potential to offend other travelers or threaten the security of aircraft “will not be tolerated.”
So, according to Qantas, the t-shirt "had the potential to offend other travelers or threaten the security of aircraft."
Am I the only one who think that it was all ridiculous?
#2
Posted: Mon Jan 29, 2007 12:18 am
by Ra
Offend other passengers?
Who the hell was on the flight? A bunch of inbred Southern Baptist hillbillies, Kansas ranchers, and Halliburton employees?!
I mean, good God.
"Oh, let's not step on any precious neocon toes here! We don't want the rednecks getting rowdy. And then piss off Bush! They might want regime change!
AUSTRALIA HAS WMDS!!!"
I bet if the shirt said "Pelosi: World's #1 Terrorist" no one woulda batted an eye.
#3
Posted: Mon Jan 29, 2007 12:50 am
by Kreshna Aryaguna Nurzaman
Ra wrote:Offend other passengers?
Who the hell was on the flight? A bunch of inbred Southern Baptist hillbillies, Kansas ranchers, and Halliburton employees?!
Frankly, though, I was really surprised that this shenanigan was done by
Australian --instead of American airlines.
#4
Posted: Mon Jan 29, 2007 8:09 pm
by Stofsk
Interestingly, back in '04 my brother had a t-shirt that insulted both Bush Snr and Bush Jnr, each having the caption 'Dumb & Dumber'. He got it in New York and wore it straight through to LAX. Most people who saw it cheered, one person (some airport guard) made a huff & puff about it.
When I read the title I was fully expecting this to have happened in America - now knowing where this took place, I feel doubly ashamed of both leaping to conclusions and feeling embarassed at my own country.
You could argue that the plane is private property, so you have to obey the rules if you're on it. However, you've already paid for the privilege of being a passenger through your fare, and at the end of the day you are also a customer, and the customer is always right.
#5
Posted: Mon Jan 29, 2007 8:10 pm
by frigidmagi
I'm trying to figure what was so bad about Bush Senior honestly.
#6
Posted: Mon Jan 29, 2007 8:22 pm
by Stofsk
frigidmagi wrote:I'm trying to figure what was so bad about Bush Senior honestly.
I don't really know. He was a one-term president, which sorta raises eyebrows from some people, and there's the criticism that he should have gone into Iraq to begin with rather than his son going in a decade later. Plus he lost to Bill.
#7
Posted: Mon Jan 29, 2007 8:24 pm
by rhoenix
The irony of this entire thing is just...exquisite. Man, I'm laughing.
#8
Posted: Tue Jan 30, 2007 2:21 am
by Josh
frigidmagi wrote:I'm trying to figure what was so bad about Bush Senior honestly.
Recanting on his tax pledge, geeking for the AWB, and fucking up the diplomatics over Kuwait that ultimately led us to our current predicament. Probably no more keen on gay rights than his son, though the issue didn't crop up so much during his term.
Other than that, I suppose he was mostly harmless.
#9
Posted: Tue Jan 30, 2007 3:45 am
by Cynical Cat
Don't forget Iran-Contra and saying that atheists weren't real citizens of the United States.
#10
Posted: Tue Jan 30, 2007 5:31 am
by Kreshna Aryaguna Nurzaman
Cynical Cat wrote:and saying that atheists weren't real citizens of the United States.
Bush Sr. said that?
I thought Christian fundamentalism is something that rises with Jr.?
#11
Posted: Tue Jan 30, 2007 11:22 pm
by Stofsk
Kreshna Aryaguna Nurzaman wrote:Cynical Cat wrote:and saying that atheists weren't real citizens of the United States.
Bush Sr. said that?
I thought Christian fundamentalism is something that rises with Jr.?
Holy shit KAN, where have you been? Fundamentalism has been on the rise since Reagan. That's if you don't go back further. RedImperator has often said that fundamentalism has been a cyclical event in American politics. It rises and falls all the time.
#12
Posted: Tue Jan 30, 2007 11:35 pm
by frigidmagi
Christian Fundalmentism as a religious belief set arose in the early 1900s and formalized in the 1960s. Until recently (about the 60s/50s) Fundalmentist isolated themselves from the outside world, refusing to interact at any meaningful level.
Red is likely thinking of the influence of Purtians and other religious forces have ideologically speaking have nothing to do with fundalmentalism and frankly is rather a bad idea to lump them togather. No offense meant to anyone on that statement.