Two Men Arrested for Doing Their Job

This is totally fucked up.

Several illuminated electronic devices planted at bridges and other spots in Boston threw a scare into the city Wednesday in what turned out to be a publicity campaign for a late-night cable cartoon. Most of the devices depict a character giving the finger.

Peter Berdovsky, 27, of Arlington, and Sean Stevens, 28, of Charlestown, were each charged Wednesday night with one count of placing a hoax device and one count of disorderly conduct, state Attorney General Martha Coakley said.

The two men worked together to place the devices, Coakley said in a news release announcing Stevens' arrest [...]

Turner Broadcasting, a division of Time Warner Inc. and parent of Cartoon Network, said the devices were part of a promotion for the TV show "Aqua Teen Hunger Force," a surreal series about a talking milkshake, a box of fries and a meatball. (funny deadpan, AP - ed.)

"The two men worked together to place the devices," like they were planning a bank heist or something. They were HIRED by Turner Broadcasting! You want to arrest someone, arrest the marketing manager? Or better yet, arrest yourselves for being dumb enough and so paralyzed by fear to think that a cartoon character giving you the finger was a FUCKING BOMB! This promotion was in a dozen cities over two weeks. Somehow NO OTHER CITY managed to whip themselves into a frenzy. Only Boston. And you're embarrassed, so you arrest the employees? THE EMPLOYEES?

This is a prime example of how the corporatocracy has completely changed America, to the extent that there isn't even a thought given to holding them responsible. They have fancy lawyers, and can apply corporate pressure. Time Warner Cable's in Pittsfield and Athol, MA (you can look it up). Since Time Warner hired a third-party company to put up the designs, they are once removed from the repsonsibility, I guess.

And the charge is ludicrous. These weren't HOAX DEVICES, they were advertising! There wasn't a deliberate attempt to scare the city of Boston, it was A CARTOON CHARACTER GIVING THE FINGER!

Because it's necessary to ratchet up fear to prove that you're protecting the homeland, two poor shlubs who did absolutely nothing but their jobs are going to sit in jail, victims of someone else's paranoia. This is a civil rights travesty.

(By the way, everyone involved in this is a Democrat, and they're all being completely stupid)