[Previous entry: "The Real Question"] [Next entry: "Wannabe Singer ... Genuine Eye Candy!"]
06/01/2007: "Why We Hate Lawyers, Part III"
By now you've heard the story of Andrew Speaker, the Atlanta businessman who travelled through Europe despite warnings that he was putting others at risk of catching his extremely drug resistant form of tuberculosis. This led to an international manhunt, and his decision to try and sneak back into the country via Canada because he was on the no-fly list.
Today, all sides are airing their stories in the media, and you can see where this is going. The networks are all tripping over themselves to get an "exclusive" with someone - anyone - who claims to know Speaker; Speaker himself claims to have an audio tape of the medical people saying they "preferred" he not travel (note to self: who the hell tapes this stuff if they don't already have a nefarious plan in mind?), and now the lawyers are starting to line up for duty. The passengers want to sue Speaker for interfering with their lives (they'll have to get TB tests), Speaker wants to sue the government for forcing him in quarantine ... it goes on and on. Oh, and don't forget Congress - mostly a bunch of lawyers - who want to have hearings next week about the "systemic failure" that allowed Speaker to drive back into the country from Montreal.
It's gonna get ugly before it's through. Lost in all of this is that this guy has a disease for which there's only about a 30% chance of recovery ... but I guess that's not newsworthy.
One last lawyer slam - know what Speaker does for a living? Personal injury lawyer ... 
