Leave Martha Alone!

Britain's Home Office has denied a visa to one of America's most notorious white collar criminals: Martha Stewart.

"We continue to oppose the entry to the UK of individuals where we believe their presence in the United Kingdom is not conducive to the public good or where they have been found guilty of serious criminal offenses abroad," he said.

Theodore Dalrymple's essay from the winter 2001 issue of City Journal offers some context for understanding the Home Office's decision:

The British attitude to immigration and immigrants has always been grudging, a mixture of xenophobia and socialist zero-sum economics. Britons have traditionally regarded the desire of foreigners to come to their shores as more of a threat than a compliment...

Despite the xenophobic, socialist snub, Martha responded as she always does to these little inconveniences—in good form:

"She has engagements with English companies and business leaders and hopes this can be resolved so that she will be able to visit soon," Charles Koppelman, chairman of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, said in a statement.

If standard efforts at negotiations fail, she should send the Home Office some treats.

To read about how other government entities have tried to hurt sweet Martha, check out reason's "Why Martha Stewart should go to heaven and the SEC should go to hell."

Comments

tim | June 20, 2008, 5:07pm | #

Hold it. She is American right? Americans visiting the UK for work or pleasure do not need visa's so why was she even applying for one? Was she planning on spending the next year there? This story seems fishy.

Pro Libertate | June 20, 2008, 5:17pm | #

I hope the United Kingdom realizes that Martha "The Shiv" Stewart is capable of buying their quaint little nation state. I wouldn't mess with her myself. She's an ex-con, like James Rockford.

Art-P.O.G. | June 20, 2008, 5:25pm | #

The title is a Chris Crocker reference, right?

Syd | June 20, 2008, 5:32pm | #

I hope the United Kingdom realizes that Martha "The Shiv" Stewart is capable of buying their quaint little nation state.

J. K. Rowlings can buy her any day of the week.

The British are afraid Martha will redecorate them.

Episiarch | June 20, 2008, 5:34pm | #

She's an ex-con, like James Rockford

"Everybody should spend a little time in the can."

WalterBoswell | June 20, 2008, 5:41pm | #

Serious criminal offense - it's a bad thing.

isildur | June 20, 2008, 5:50pm | #

Hating the successful is fun for everyone!

Micha Ghertner | June 20, 2008, 5:56pm | #

The British are afraid Martha will redecorate them.

Or teach them how to cook.

Dagny T. | June 20, 2008, 5:57pm | #

The title is a Chris Crocker reference, right?

The androgynous & weepy kid whose YouTube defense of Britney went viral? Ah. I was wondering why my brain was reading that headline in an obnoxiously whiny tone. Stupid brain.

Pro Libertate | June 20, 2008, 6:00pm | #

J. K. Rowlings ain't an ex-con.

WalterBoswell | June 20, 2008, 6:01pm | #

Sebastian Horsley has a big posse.

Dagny T. | June 20, 2008, 6:03pm | #

...their presence in the United Kingdom is not conducive to the public good...

Blech. Easy, stomach.

Martha Stewart | June 20, 2008, 6:06pm | #

Liz, you bitch, I'll cut your ass if you don't let me in. Here, gimme that fuckin' crown. Yeah, Queen Martha. Shut the fuck up.

SuperMike | June 20, 2008, 6:06pm | #

Maybe they're worried that her unveiled head and pork recipes are going to upset people.

TallDave | June 20, 2008, 6:15pm | #

Uh, I think you guys missed the obvious reason: Martha promotes the use of kitchen knives, which are a deadly weapon that must be banned.

Mr Cranky | June 20, 2008, 6:16pm | #

tim: No, and "visas" doesn't need an apostrophe.

TallDave | June 20, 2008, 6:16pm | #

I can't resist excerpting:

A team from West Middlesex University Hospital said violent crime is on the increase - and kitchen knives are used in as many as half of all stabbings.

They argued many assaults are committed impulsively, prompted by alcohol and drugs, and a kitchen knife often makes an all too available weapon.

The research is published in the British Medical Journal.

The researchers said there was no reason for long pointed knives to be publicly available at all.

Brian Courts | June 20, 2008, 6:18pm | #

Americans visiting the UK for work or pleasure do not need visa's

The NY Times article just says she was denied entry, not denied a visa. I don't know whether that means she made it as far as Heathrow or if, knowing what might happen, she decided to check with the UK consulate first.

SuperMike | June 20, 2008, 6:32pm | #

TallDave wins! Hilarious. She's an international arms dealer by British standards. Some of the pots in her cooking line are heavy enough to be used as clubs, too.

Brandybuck | June 20, 2008, 6:42pm | #

Serious criminal offense? WTF? Granted I'm a nitwit because I still don't quite understand the crime to which she served time, but "serious criminal offense"? The UK lets violent Imams threatening imminent jihad onto their shores, so what's the problem with Martha?

Is this another one of those things that will never make sense if you know how to spell "libertarian"?

ed | June 20, 2008, 7:00pm | #

Martha is still hot, in a saggy, maternal sort of way.



Did I say that out loud?

Douglas Fletcher | June 20, 2008, 7:07pm | #

I christen the Martha Stewart rule: don't talk to the feds without a lawyer present. Ever.

Reason's Hit'n'Run Blog: Shorter version | June 20, 2008, 7:08pm | #

I worship people with money.

SugarFree | June 20, 2008, 7:09pm | #

Did I say that out loud?

No. You typed it.

We can't actually hear your voice on the board.

Paul | June 20, 2008, 7:11pm | #

The British attitude to immigration and immigrants has always been grudging, a mixture of xenophobia and socialist zero-sum economics.

Funny, one need only mention zero-sum economics. Because once you hold that belief, xenophobia and all the other odious beliefs are soon to follow.

Brittanicus | June 20, 2008, 8:31pm | #

My dear sister lives in England, and much of the raw facts about the conflicts there are suppressed by the press here. England since the influx of legal and illegal foreign nationals, has torn the British heritage and identity apart.

The globalist open border free market, has dictated to the British people under the guise of the so-called European Union. When I was a child there, women could walk the darkest corners of the Albert Embankment and stay safe. Constables could also keep law and order. Not any more. My sister who lives near Crystal Palace on the edge of London, locks her doors during the day. My sister was raped and still bares the scars.

Cops walk their beat generally in two’s. Since the immigrant rush to drive the London buses, London England has become a dangerous place. Prior to Decimal coinage England was a great place to live. Now British/English people live in fear of being mugged or worse. Like our own politicians pandering to special interest groups the British people are being ignored, while foreign immigrants get priority council housing, money from the government and drive expensive cars.

Like American citizens the English are seething with anger and frustration and I see turmoil and revolution on the streets. Poor Englishman and women are joining the once British National Front, renamed The British National party, because at one time it was a Neo-Nazi organization. Only twice have foreigners invaded British soil. Once by Julius Caesar and lastly William the Conqueror. Trouble is brewing because once the British Empire was a proud land along with its protectorates.

Today like England and Europe the country is run by a shadow government in Brussels, Belgium.
America is getting dangerously close to a silent, free trade marriage called the North American Union. It is slowly eroding our sovereignty and the proud word citizenship, as we are overrun with 12 to 20 million illegal immigrants. We had better fight for our sovereignty or will end up in a mess like Europe and lose our identity.

Rhywun | June 20, 2008, 8:32pm | #

The British attitude to immigration and immigrants has always been grudging, a mixture of xenophobia and socialist zero-sum economics. Britons have traditionally regarded the desire of foreigners to come to their shores as more of a threat than a compliment...

I think this attitude adequately describes virtually every country on Earth, including the USA of late.

John C Jackson | June 20, 2008, 9:56pm | #

All the immigrant bashing can't explain and is no excuse for the millions of wankers among the NATIVE English.

Brinny Spears Guy | June 20, 2008, 10:10pm | #

Leave Martha Alone!

You owe me a royalty payment.

John C Jackson | June 20, 2008, 10:10pm | #

I'm sorry. I would say our image of the British douchebagery is just a result of our biased media. Well, except that I consume a lot of British media. Blame them as well.

Mad Max | June 20, 2008, 10:12pm | #

The quote from the Dalrymple article doesn't do justice to all the nuances - Dalrymple was arguing that the British immigration system was too harsh on hard-working, productive immigrants, but that if you want to file a fake asylum claim, you can hang around and be on the dole, on condition you not work. In other words, the British system has it exactly backwards - discouraging the right kind of immigrants and encouraging the wrong kind.

Fortunately, no other country has this problem.

keshmeshi | June 20, 2008, 10:39pm | #

Since the immigrant rush to drive the London buses, London England has become a dangerous place.

Are foreigners really that bad at driving?

Harpua | June 21, 2008, 12:22am | #

Time for retaliation. Send David Beckham back! But his wife can stay here. She's still kinda hot.

LarryA | June 21, 2008, 12:41am | #

They argued many assaults are committed impulsively, prompted by alcohol and drugs, and a kitchen knife often makes an all too available weapon.

Why don’t they just regulate alcohol and drugs?

Oh, wait...

Like American citizens the English are seething with anger and frustration and I see turmoil and revolution on the streets.

Sorry. The “turmoil and revolution” folks left England when Parliament banned guns. They’re all living in firearm-friendly states in the U.S.

WalterBoswell | June 21, 2008, 7:51am | #

keshmeshi - Are foreigners really that bad at driving?

Only when they're being stabbed with unregistered kitchen tools. Otherwise they're so so.

Art-P.O.G. | June 21, 2008, 9:02am | #

You owe me a royalty payment.

Look upthread.

Martha is still hot, in a saggy, maternal sort of way.

True.

Jim Dean | June 21, 2008, 9:05am | #

LOL, Like the UK doesnt have enough of its own criminals. Gimme a break. What a joke.

JT
http://www.FireMe.to/udi

Pirate Guy | June 21, 2008, 11:22am | #

Read the doctor's "A Confusion of Tongues" - "I feel vastly more at ease with cultivated foreigners than with many of the natives of the land of my birth." He lives behind the protective wall of the privileged, and associates with the upper echelon immigrants who are seemingly always "forced" from their third world homelands, yet he trashes the commoners who must contend with the lower echelon types on a daily basis. Sound familiar? Get out in the street doc - see what it's really like. And, as for Martha - we should all protest! Queenie - PLEASE take her!

Mo | June 21, 2008, 1:47pm | #

I bet you it's merely a tit for tat response to American policies. In fact, we're more obnoxious about keeping out people who have committed crimes, any crimes, than the Brits.

BG | June 21, 2008, 4:03pm | #

Martha should make a disguise and a fake British ID out of things she finds around the house.

Ken Shultz | June 21, 2008, 8:43pm | #

I'd be surprised if they'd buy into Martha over there...

...She sells herself as the Queen of Taste to barely middle brow America. They have a real, live queen over there who already does that.

Werner Patels | June 22, 2008, 3:26am | #

Wholeheartedly agree with Brittanicus. Couldn't have said it better myself.

As for Americans not requiring any work visas (comment #1), that's not true at all. Unless you're a British citizen or, alas, an EU citizen, you'll have to apply for a work permit like everyone else. Besides, if anyone should have an automatic right to work in the UK, it's Canadians, and they don't enjoy such a privilege either.

Martha has always been as arrogant as hell (her East-European roots were showing), and when she was sent away, I rejoiced, for she's had finally got her comeuppance. The Brits are fully within their rights to deny entry to any ex-con. That's the law, and it can be enforced. Nothing wrong with that.

J Golden Rockwell | June 22, 2008, 2:13pm | #

Brinny Spears Guy wrote: "You owe me a royalty payment."

So, are you telling me to put up my Dukes . . ?

J Golden Rockwell | June 22, 2008, 2:14pm | #

Ken Shultz wrote:

"...She sells herself as the Queen of Taste to barely middle brow America. They have a real, live queen over there who already does that."

Elton John . . ?

Amy Alkon | June 23, 2008, 1:42am | #

You never know when the woman's going to whip out the hot glue gun and adhere rickrack to something.

Anonymouse | June 23, 2008, 1:07pm | #

"Funny, one need only mention zero-sum economics. Because once you hold that belief, xenophobia and all the other odious beliefs are soon to follow."
Jonah Goldberg? Is that you?

"The “turmoil and revolution” folks left England when Parliament banned guns"
yeah, this didn't happen.

Just found these comments hilarious. I wonder where the guy who wrote the WSJ editorial was when Cat Stevens was on the no fly list.