It is hard not to empathize with him. And it is very difficult to understand why he was arrested. Those charges are going absolutely nowhere IMHO.

A modern-day Travis Bickle? A man who had had enough?

Poor guy. First his dad, then caring for his sick mother. And now all this publicity is probably not helping her health at all.

He acted out in a way which, while dramatic and totally crazy, brought harm to no one except some people who were about to get on the plane to go somewhere else, all of whom probably got to where they were going by the end of the day, one hopes.

In case you missed the MeFi thread and resulting Ballad of Steven Slater, here it is! Lyrics here.

When I heard the blurb about this last night on the local news commercial, they made it sound like some sort of terrorist trying to take over a plane while it was in the air. Of course I didn't actually stick around to watch the actual newscast to find out what happened. I'm glad to find out today that he's not a terrorist and is a hero to all us clock-punching-schmucks. Go Slater!