Raymond Davis, a former C.I.A. contractor, was in a courtroom in Denver on Tuesday, where he was formally charged with second-degree assault. How different was that from his appearance, just a few months ago, before a court in Lahore, Pakistan, where he was charged with murder? That question came up when the district attorney suggested that it might be a good idea if Davis wasn’t allowed to carry a gun while the charges were pending. According to the Associated Press, his lawyer, William Frankfurt, replied that Davis needed a gun, since he is now working as, of all things, a firearms instructor, and that anyway the incidents were “miles and worlds apart.” Miles, yes, but worlds? Pakistan is not in another world, behind some dimensional door; everything that happens there can’t, and shouldn’t, be left behind. And beyond that, there are some common elements to both stories: cars, rage, questions of privilege.Friday, October 7, 2011
Raymond Davis, miles and worlds apart
Raymond Davis, a former C.I.A. contractor, was in a courtroom in Denver on Tuesday, where he was formally charged with second-degree assault. How different was that from his appearance, just a few months ago, before a court in Lahore, Pakistan, where he was charged with murder? That question came up when the district attorney suggested that it might be a good idea if Davis wasn’t allowed to carry a gun while the charges were pending. According to the Associated Press, his lawyer, William Frankfurt, replied that Davis needed a gun, since he is now working as, of all things, a firearms instructor, and that anyway the incidents were “miles and worlds apart.” Miles, yes, but worlds? Pakistan is not in another world, behind some dimensional door; everything that happens there can’t, and shouldn’t, be left behind. And beyond that, there are some common elements to both stories: cars, rage, questions of privilege.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment