March 9, 2002
"A television is sort
of like
your umbilical cord to life."
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Coffee, coffee, coffee, coffee, coffee and coffee.
Six coffees in one sentence.
Too many coffees.
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Now I would like to draw your
attention to what may turn out to be one
of the great Dilemmas of Our Times: Is it cruel and
unusual punishment to deprive an American of his right to
watch television? According
to the New York Times, a New York judge
last year sentenced a 60-year-old credit card fraudster, Edward
Bello, to 10 months of precisely such a punishment, "in order
that he have ample opportunity to reflect
on the ways of harm that he had brought to
his family." Now his lawyers have
challenged the no-TV order, on the grounds
that "these are dangerous and uncertain
times, and television is the primary way to get news"—
and because his wife is upset.
It strikes me that Mr. Bello might find other
ways of getting his news. He
could read a newspaper, for example. Or
listen to the radio. Or
download Slate. But his wife's argument is
hard to beat. "A
television is sort of like your umbilical cord to life," she
told the New York Times.
Anne Applebaum,
Cruel and Unusual Punishment,
Slate.
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