Yes, Margaret. Martha Deserves Jail Time

I decided to head over to Margaret Cho's blog to see what all the fuss what about. Generally, it's a decent read, until you get to this post.

What exactly did Martha Stewart do that was so wrong that she needs to go to jail for five months?

Umm, she received an inside tip from her broker, acted on it, and then lied about it. On top of that, she continues to insist that she did nothing wrong. She's lucky she wasn't charged with insider trading.

I don't think she is any danger to herself or society. Getting her off the streets and into the Big House just doesn't make sense. Why are we wasting all this taxpayer money to put her in her place? It isn't worth it. I am not afraid of Martha Stewart. I think prison should be for people who may be harmful to others, and I just cannot imagine that her passion for entertaining is going to turn her into a menace to society.

Putting Martha in the Big House is exactly what we need to do. And it makes perfect sense. We need to discourage insider trading because letting people get away with it allows investors who engage in insider trading to make money at the expense of other investors who play by the rules. If we let this kind of behavior go unchecked, institutional investors would screw all of us out of money we've put into the market. Something about being screwed out of my retirement plan money doesn't appeal to me. Call me crazy.

That was the main criticism against Stewart. She wasn't a nice lady. Why are manners always going to have to be part of the package? If you mind your p's and q's, is that going to be what keeps you out of jail?

No, but it helps. I'm reminded of a story my friend told me about Martha Stewart. In a store in Connecticut, Martha cut the line of people waiting to pay at the register. When my friend told her she had cut the line, Martha insisted she was entitled to do so.

While line-cutting isn't exactly a crime, I think this story is telling. Martha thinks the rules don't apply to her. And when you stand convicted of a crime, it doesn't help to show everyone that your sense of entitlement is out of control by constantly parroting "I've done nothing wrong" when the courts just proved that you did.

Martha Stewart is a political prisoner. The unceremonious denial of her freedom should make us seriously question our own.

No, Martha Stewart is a criminal. And she's not just a criminal - she's an unrepentant criminal. She's lucky she didn't end up in the pokey for years instead of months. I don't care how many doilies she knits for Connecticut's underprivileged. She committed a crime, lied about it, and refuses to admit she did wrong. I say send her up the river.