Some jokes really aren't funny

"David Socha, a 17-year-old on his way to Hawaii from Paxton, Mass., was arrested last week in Boston and charged with a felony for having a note in his gym bag which read: "[Expletive] you. Stay the [expletive] out of my bag you [expletive] sucker. Have you found a [expletive] bomb yet? No, just clothes. Am I right? Yea, so [expletive] you.

"According to WCVB, he was charged with "making a terrorist threat." Now, I know I don't have the ability to read tea leaves like today's prosecutors and "law" makers, but I do know that there's no terrorist threat contained in that note. Nor is there a "bomb threat," a "false bomb threat," or a reminder to pick up a quart of milk at the local cash 'n' carry.

"However, reality can't stop the Suffolk County District Attorney's Office locomotive. Their spokesman, David A. Procopio, is quoted as saying, "Putting a false bomb threat in your luggage is not something we take lightly. In the current climate, it's just unacceptable because of the fear and panic it causes."

"Will one of these federal, state, or neighborhood lunkheads please explain exactly how Socha's note is a bomb threat? Well, they don't have to, because TSA quack Ann Davis says, "There was no commotion whatsoever, but when [we] see the word 'bomb,' we take it very seriously. In today's security environment, there's no room for that sort of joking."

"Nor is there any room for brains. Where, in Socha's brief note, is there a joke to be found? Please show us. Show us, you unaccountable fruit loops.

"Making things a little more sinister, the note is quoted elsewhere as saying, "Have you found the bomb yet?" The bomb, rather than a bomb. In other words, there's a bomb somewhere. Nothing like piling on against the poor guy. And the final blow comes from loyal Socha neighbor Ruth Ryan, who says, "I'm surprised. I thought he was a good kid."

"Let me tell all you lying pukes something: He is a good kid. He's obviously better than the lot of you obedient sheep who would never think to shout "LUDICROUS" at people who've done nothing but finish the job for Osama Bin Laden. Bin Laden's gift to the ruling class was a publicly delivered, Grade-A license to ill. There's nothing they can't say or do now, apparently, for when truth is removed from public discourse, anything goes. George OrwellGeorge Orwell either predicted it or wrote the manual – hard to tell which.

"And doing its part for the end of humanity, the driveling public falls right in line with the script. A passenger is quoted as saying, "Maybe a little over reacting, but challenging the federal government to find a bomb in his bag is the wrong thing to do."

"Did he challenge the federal government to find a bomb in his bag? Has everybody gone bananas? Mr. Socha, I would have worded the note slightly differently, but ya done good, brah. We need another 200 million like you. People like you founded this country, and look how you're treated now – in Boston of all places! I swear those damn British must have left some sleeper cells back in the 1780s. Maybe it's time to dig under Logan Airport.

"No, that's not a terrorist threat. It's a joke – just like TSA."

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OK, let's discuss this.

I don't know who wrote it, but he obviously sees this kid as a hero for standing up to the jack-booted storm troopers of TSA.

How silly. Most of the folks working security at airports are people who don't make much more than minimum wage and are just happy to have jobs. And what is Socha protesting? The fact that we're doing our best to make sure air travel is safe while creating a minimum of annoyance for those who travel?

Boy, what a rebel.

I don't know if this is teabagging gone wild, but let me ask one question in all fairness:

Would any of you want to fly if the screening was what it was in the 1950s, which is to say non-existent? People used to carry handguns onto flights then, and before an NRA type says that could have stopped the hijackings, I have two words for you.

Pressurized cabins.

I'm sorry, but the kid is a jerk. He obviously made a decision before he went to the airport that he was going to have fun with the screeners. I don't know how often he flies, or what indignities he might have suffered previously, but if I were with TSA, this kid would go on the list for mandatory body cavity searches every time he flies.

It isn't about taking anyone's rights away. It's just about making travel as safe as possible in a very dangerous era.

So Dave, do us all a favor.

Next time, go Greyhound.