Quote:
Originally posted by Undertoad
And similarly, since Richard Reid's shoes were wet, and he couldn't light them, he has committed no crime. Right?
|
If I am a wise guy in a room full of wise guys, and my wise guy friends at the other table shot the waiter in cold blood, then am I also guilty of conspiracy to kill that waiter? That same question must be asked of John Walker. Just because he associated with terrorists does not make him responsible for terrorist activities.
Richard Reid was in possession of a deadly weapon, was in possession of that weapons in violation of international security and transportation laws, was in possession (we think) of stolen property, was in possession of that weapon with intent to use it in the act of a crime, attempted to use that weapons to kill, attempted to use the weapon to destroy an international transportation vehicle (is that a violation of the Warsaw accords?), and how many more crimes is he accused?
John Walker's only crime, according to investigator leaks to the press, are the things only he claimed. Richard Reid tried to murder people. John Walker was just in a room of undesireable people. As Maggie notes, those facts against Walker may be thrown out as a violation of his constitutional rights. There is no other evidence that John Walker committed any crime other than be in a room with other criminals. Is that a crime?
I suspect Cheney is guilty of more serious crimes than John Walker. But, of course, Cheney is the VP and we know how politicians are rarely prosecuted for crimes; yet prosecuted for morality reasons. Do we now convict a man because we don't like his associates? In which case, Enron means a serious problem for George Jr and much of his staff.
A dirty little problem with John Walker's case is that he really commited no crime - just claimed to conspire - and then without a lawyer. John Walker appears to be nothing more than a dumb kid - a Symbonese Liberation wanna-be who could not even get that right. Patty Hearst is a bigger criminal than Walker. At least she could drive a get-away car successfully.