BCT Editorial – 3/30/08

This page was last updated on March 30, 2008.

Cattle call; Editorial; Beaver County Times; March 30, 2008.

The editorial subtitle is “Lack of a passengers’ bill of rights means that flying will be even more of a hassle.”

The editorial was mostly doing OK until the end where it said, “Frustrated passengers dealing with overworked, unappreciated airline employees; get used to it. This is the kind of stuff that used to occur in Third World countries. Not anymore. And without a federal passengers’ bill of rights, it’s only going to get worse.”

First, where’s the evidence “airline employees” are “overworked, unappreciated?” I’m not saying they are or aren’t, but the editorial slipped this comment in as if it’s fact. Regarding the “overworked” assertion, if true this would appear to indicate labor union management isn’t earning the dues it collects.

Second, I have to thank the Times for helping prove a point I made two days ago in my critique of “Stoop labor.” In that critique I wrote, “The ‘Third World’ BS is a regular fixture (scare tactic) in Times editorials on various issues. Either the author knows nothing of Third World conditions, or simply likes to engage in hyperbole.”