“Obviously, the hat provoked some of the stuff,” said Alexis Zimmerman, who was flying back to Newark from a business trip... “He wanted to sit in the whole row by himself,” Zimmerman said.The Trump angle is interesting, and (unsurprisingly) the video shows the incident beginning after things had cranked up, but I'm not surprised if passengers behave badly, given the incentive of special treatment (upgrades) and nervous fear-of-litigation payoffs.
Her video shows him leaning back in his seat — hands folded behind his red hat, feet propped on someone else’s arm rest — while a woman in crutches and many others stand in the aisle, snap photos and glare....
The man said he was a diabetic, Zimmerman said. But at one point, passengers said, he also dared the flight crew to cuff him and drag him off the plane — reminding other passengers of last month’s infamous deplaning, amid a barrage of in-plane horror stories that have plagued United and the rest of the airline industry in recent years....
“He was trying to explain to the crew and captain … because he had points, he felt he deserved an upgrade,” he said. “So this was his way of getting it.”
IN THE COMMENTS: Matthew Sablan said:
Does the author know what a parody is? Where's the comic exaggeration? What is funny about "lock him up?" That's not parody; that's irony.Ah! This is why I have a tag "MSM reports what's in social media." The story is that something's in social media. And that's the end of it. La la la. How funny!
"It’s unclear whether Chinese police did jail the man or who he was." -- If we don't know who he was... what's the story?
I mean, the guy sounds like a nutjob, if we believe everything that these people reported.MSM is just traipsing along after social media, thinking that's what we must want. It will do that, then suddenly reel around and yell at us for not wanting to receive our news as curated by professional journalists.
I mean... really? The guy wearing the MAGA hat engages in every leftist stereotype, even the cackling "I wasted your time!" like a cartoon villain?
"The man remained defiant until the end — jeered in multiple languages, surrounded by police, he finally walked down the concourse and out of sight to an unknown fate."
WHY is his fate unknown? You're a Goddamned News Reporter. If you're going to report this, at least have the bleepin' nerve to do your job and follow up on the story to find out WHO this guy is, WHAT happened to him, etc. As it is, this sounds like an urban legend, or maybe the Chinese disappeared the MAGA Man. Who knows? Who cares! WaPo got to publish a 5-minute hate.
Why don't we hear from the female passenger he berated, or the one he called a lesbian?
So many questions that a decent reporter could solve.
Posts
54 comments:
Forgive me, but my false flag sensor is twitching.
Obviously, the hat provoked some of the stuff..
So the hat was doing the provoking? Was it shouting? That's some hat.
Perhaps a cousin of this one?
Performance art.
When people were shouting 'Lock him up!' did they mean the man or the hat?
Free the hat!
Dylan is 76 today and this is the first post? Sad!
Yeah you're going to be a rude douche on the plane you're going to get trouble no matter what hat you're wearing.
So diabetics need extra seats now?
I'm glad I almost never fly. Between the airlines and airport authorities finding new ways to turn the experience into a degrading experience, and the fellow passengers turning more into douchebags, it's reaching a point where the whole thing is dreadful.
WaPoo is really on the case here. If there is a potential anti-Trump angle, it'll make their website.
Their entire staff needs a long rest. Maybe Jeff Bezos can get them some gigs in Amazon distribution centers as a form of therapy.
Yesterday morning I was struck, as if by Thor’s hammer, by Althouse’s heartfelt plea for a greater spirit of peace, love and understanding within the alt-house comment section. Her words touched off some profound soul searching on my part, which consumed my thoughts throughout the day. Initially I was at a loss, bereft of insight into how we could rise to match the expectations of our hostess. Then, much like Saul on the road to Damascus, I experienced an epiphany - we need an Awards Ceremony.
Although some details may need to be fleshed out, I would like to formally propose that we institute a weekly awards program. In this proposal the Althouse commentariat would vote each week for the poster who best instantiates our personal vision of an internet troll. To deal with the inherent bias in the voting population I suggest that there should be two awards, the ‘Lefty’ and the ‘Righty’, collectively the Trollies. Right wing folks would be eligible to vote for the Lefty and left wingers for the Righty.
Although I may have misread Althouse’s message, I believe that this will be a valuable team building exercise, strengthening our esprit de corps and creating a greater sense of community. As a moderate I, unfortunately, would be ineligible to vote for either award but in the spirit of community I volunteer my services as an honest broker - someone who could step in to resolve tied votes or adjudicate any procedural matters that might arise during the voting process.
One obvious objection to my proposal is that Michael K would dominate the Righty awards making it difficult for younger, up and coming trolls to get a look in. I propose that we deal with this problem in the time honored fashion, by giving Michael K a Lifetime Achievement Righty Troll Award, which then takes him out of consideration for the less prestigious weekly awards.
Please get back to me with your thoughts and suggestions.
From the article:
“I was one of those chanters,” Zimmerman said. “I didn’t start it. But oh my God, it was so funny, I couldn’t help myself.”
If I'm in that situation, I hope I feel compassion for the person heading to jail even if he's been a jerk.
Zimmerman should feel ashamed of herself.
Every time (twice) someone has been in my seat on my plane, I tell them they're in my seat, and they always move. If they're blocking access to my seat, and don't want to move, I'll just climb over them. I'm old, but I'm nimble. ("Oh, I'm sorry, did I step on your leg? What were you expecting, exactly?") And I don't put up with much.
Just back from a flight out of Amsterdam. In the boarding area there was a shouting, spitting, angry woman. Not sure where she was from, some place where gesticulation is a major form of communication.
KLM Security, airport staff and eventually several paramilitary police surrounded her.
I give 'em credit, they spoke softly to her for a long time. Some official in a red blazer directed passengers elsewhere.
After a while she got up and went with them.
I heard later that she was demanding to be taken to jail.
Flight crew and airport staff have a damnably difficult job.
Hat tip KLM and Schipool.
Tacitus
At least a Zimmerman was cited in this post.
Now we know what Bernie Sanders has been up to.
I'm sure MAGA hats will be banned from flying soon
Two likely motives: Soros hired him as a Fake Trump Deplorable acing out as a disrupter, or he is mentally ill and trying suicide by Flight Crew.
All people who don't viscerally hate Trump need to own this guy as one of their own, but the long string of terror events perpetrated by Muslims is like getting tails 30 times in a row, it happens. Gonna even out soon!
Rude a-hole on plane in China, inanimate hat becomes the story line. Wonderful journalism there, WaPost.
I have clapped as an assholian passenger has been deplaned, hat wouldn't come into it.
This seems like a planned stunt to me. The MAGA hat was a prop, a good one it seems.
The chanting is pretty funny.
"Lock him up" was funny.
"Bizarre parody" of a Trump rally, would just be a Trump rally.
“I was one of those chanters,” Zimmerman said. “I didn’t start it. But oh my God, it was
so funny, I couldn’t help myself.”
-- And that is how all the boys accidentally murdered Simon.
Does the author know what a parody is? Where's the comic exaggeration? What is funny about "lock him up?" That's not parody; that's irony.
"It’s unclear whether Chinese police did jail the man or who he was." -- If we don't know who he was... what's the story? I mean, the guy sounds like a nutjob, if we believe everything that these people reported.
I mean... really? The guy wearing the MAGA hat engages in every leftist stereotype, even the cackling "I wasted your time!" like a cartoon villain?
"The man remained defiant until the end — jeered in multiple languages, surrounded by police, he finally walked down the concourse and out of sight to an unknown fate."
WHY is his fate unknown? You're a Goddamned News Reporter. If you're going to report this, at least have the bleepin' nerve to do your job and follow up on the story to find out WHO this guy is, WHAT happened to him, etc. As it is, this sounds like an urban legend, or maybe the Chinese disappeared the MAGA Man. Who knows? Who cares! WaPo got to publish a 5-minute hate.
Why don't we hear from the female passenger he berated, or the one he called a lesbian?
So many questions that a decent reporter could solve.
Thank you, Matthew Sablan. That is one of the best comments I have ever seen on this blog.
...and the United flight departed 3-1/2 hours late (undoubtedly after repairs had been surreptitiously completed) with the passengers, entertained by the United employee in the MAGA hat posing as the disruptive passenger, blissfully unaware of the real reason for the delay.
"...follow up on the story to find out WHO this guy is"
WAPO reporter: The Narrative has been served. My work here is done.
" As a moderate I, unfortunately, would be ineligible to vote for either award but in the spirit of community I volunteer my services as an honest broker"
ARF, you're not good at the disingenuous schtick. It requires a lighter touch and a cooler head than any Golden Shower Leftist could manage. Perhaps a change of identity and a plunge into full mobyism? Despite a strong start, Chuck has continually let the mask slip in the last year, so there's definitely an opening in the Lifelong Republican department. Whichever path you choose, good luck.
TherapyTV™ now extended to include print- TherapyMEDIA™.
Speaking of social media/MSM, are you going to comment about the retraction of the article cited in this post?: http://althouse.blogspot.com/2017/05/the-democratic-national-committee.html
One obvious objection to my proposal is that Michael K would dominate the Righty awards
Interesting to see the "moderate" immediately attack another commenter by name.
Dylan is 76 today and this is the first post? Sad!
Hey! The story at least had a Zimmerman in it.
[Once again my rush to quip was outflanked by my failure to read the comments, Mr. Begley. Being second to note something is decidedly not the soul of wit. You beat me to it!]
@Althouse, well you can safely assume that I, for one, would not care to have my news curated by this generation of professional journalists.
how much did george soros pay this man to wear the hat and kicked off tge plane? i want in on some of this action.
I used to think the Media was lazy when they prominently featured "man on the street" segments, especially one where the reporter gives a random person a few sentences about a story and then asks for a reaction. Hey, you're just some person who likely knows nothing about this subject other than what I've just told you: why don't you spout your immediate reaction and we'll broadcast that to everyone and pretend like this interaction has some "news" value!
I underestimated just how shitty the Media is, though: the heavy reliance on Twitter and other social media "stories" to drive news narratives proves that the current crop of Media megaminds are orders of magnitude more lazy than their peers from a few years ago. They don't even have to walk down to the ground floor of the office to stick a camera in someone's face--now it's just "let's check out what Twitter's saying!" Pathetic.
I did laugh about the "lock him up!" chants, though.
Interesting to see the "moderate" immediately attack another commenter by name.
5/24/17, 9:06 AM
Sorry, Doc, I hate to disagree with you, but very little that ARM does is interesting. To provide value to others would go against his principles. Or am I ad homming now? I believe I am factually correct.
Today's special Trump-hate collection from the WaPo:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/powerpost/?utm_term=.bc42d2f4340d
Matthew Sablan nailed it. Once again the WaPo exposes itself as less than capable National Enquirer. As for this fool passenger, a real rocket scientist to pull this crap in China. The Chinese do not tolerate foolishness very well.
That is why Matthew is on my control F list.
It will do that, then suddenly reel around and yell at us for not wanting to receive our news as curated by professional journalists.
Since news was made a profit center it's all social media, the only recent change being more competition for eyeballs.
The same story was reported two days ago in the Daily Mail, complete with video.
Plane passengers chant 'lock him up' at man in a Trump hat after he delays United flight for FIVE hours when he refuses to sit in his allocated seat after being denied an upgrade
You may direct your eagle-eye skepticism there, rather than the Washington Post.
...looks like a "False Flag" operation to me...
@lawyerdad Fox's retraction just underscores, once again, that there is not one "news" organization in this country that can be trusted to do the work that should be done. I read the WSJ and find them somewhat trustworthy, but I have seen the same deterioration there as has happened at the NYT, WaPo and others. I don't think reporters have any idea how to go about researching a story, editors - if there are any left - don't, or can't, do their jobs, headline writers all seem to have gone to the National Inquirer school of headline writing. I don't think any of this will improve because it seems like there are no adults left in the "news" business and the financial pressures are too great for anyone to actually invest in the quality of their coverage
Michael K said...
Interesting to see the "moderate" immediately attack another commenter by name.
Not attacking, celebrating years of effort on your part.
He wasn't acting on a principle attributable to his alleged identity. He's either an impostor, having a bad day, or responding to a provocation.
Too bad I don't click links to WaPo, lol.
As a moderate I, unfortunately, would be ineligible to vote for either award but in the spirit of community I volunteer my services as an honest broker - someone who could step in to resolve tied votes or adjudicate any procedural matters that might arise during the voting process.
This commenter is not a convincing moderate. I state this after years of observation.
*sniff* *sniff* I smell Moby ...
chickelit said...
This commenter is not a convincing moderate.
You been so right for so long, moderate looks like left to you.
I would be a better moderate. I have voted for more D's than R's over my voting lifetime. Just because I happen to lean right these days does not in any way negate my empathy and understanding of Democrats and Lefties.
Foul.
"Professional Journalist" is oxymoronic.
10 yard penalty, repeat 1st down.
Well, ARM gives too many tells. The most gratuitous: including "reasonable" in his name. Like when you someone starts off with "common sense" gun laws - you know what follows is going to be crap.
If it was "common sense" there would be no need to assert it, it would be obvious. Same is true of anyone feeling a need to name themselves "reasonable".
chickelit said...
I would be a better moderate.
No. The bizarre thing about the Althouse commentariat is just how right wing it is. As far as I can tell none of the so-called 'lefties' voted for Clinton. You have a population of commentators where essentially no one voted for the candidate of one of the two major parties. Obviously moderates look left under those remarkably biased circumstances.
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