STORY OF MUSLIM AIRLINE PASSENGER INSULTED BY FLIGHT ATTENDANT MAY BE PHONY

Mark Hemingway at the Weekly Standard found out that a story about a Muslim woman supposedly insulted by airline staff may be a hoax, perpetrated by a mainstream press that thinks tabloid social rumor milling is suitable for journalism:

What's really remarkable about this story is, near as I can tell, at no point in the last week did any of these major media outlets try and independently verify the details of of Ahmad's story.

Well, according to the Savvy Stews travel website, passengers who were on board the same flight have posted messages on the Internet with very specific details about what transpired that appear to contradict Ahmad's story and portray her as the one being rude and out of line. For the record, Ahmad's story always struck me as not entirely credible for lots of reasons, including the fact that I personally have been denied an unopened Coke Zero on a flight, and as a white Christian male, this did not occur to me to be a discriminatory act. Indeed, the Savvy Stews point out that there are all sorts of logistical reasons -- e.g. there's a limited number of Coke Zeros in the small beverage carts -- why flight attendant may not be inclined or able to give someone a full can of soda.

Don't expect the Muslim woman to apologize for any trouble she caused with her victimology, nor the mainstream press.