Who's your yddad?

By now most of the country is probably familiar with the 9-year old kid who ran away from home and lied his way from Washington to Texas via Southwest Airlines. (I've included below an opinion column that gives a very good recap.) Despite a complete lack of evidence I have an inkling that the kid's father—apparently not a regular part of the kid's life—shares my first name.

Maternal instinct flew off to La-La Land

Robert L. Jamieson Jr., Seattle Post-Intelligencer

It's not every day that people get played by a sweet-faced 9-year-old.

One who has the bravado to steal a car in Tacoma and lead authorities on a dangerous high-speed chase.

One who showed smarts to get past security at Sea-Tac Airport.

One who duped Southwest Airlines to fly away to Texas because he needed to get away -- just like the airline ad says.

For his adventures last week, 4-foot-9 Semaj Booker was charged with two felonies and a misdemeanor.

I wrote that Pierce County prosecutors should take into consideration his tender age before coming down too hard.

They say they have never charged a 9-year-old. Consideration for the age of the thin fourth-grader ought to soften the blow of justice, right? I was on the fence, leaning toward leniency.

Now I'm beginning to be swayed by those hardened law-and-order types, especially after a national TV tabloid picked up the story, then aired an interview Wednesday featuring Semaj and his mother.

Some of the comments aired. Others were released earlier in the day by "Inside Edition."

Semaj came off remorseless. Even stranger, his mom, Sakinah Booker, exuded maternal pride over his exploits. The whole thing leaves you shaking your head.

The interview could have been a lens onto a lesson learned between a mother and child.

But what happened left a thought: When should you be able to revoke someone's parental license?

I figured the mother and son would spend the bulk of their airtime apologizing to the person whose car got stolen; to authorities who pursued Semaj in the chase; to airport security and airline officials who already have their hands full with terror fears.

But, instead we got an "attaboy" topped with a tepid mother-and-son hug, and his mother saying with a smile, "Don't ever do it again!"

Rather than holding her son accountable for actions that could have harmed others, we hear her admiration for his precocity.

In a quote released earlier Wednesday, the mother said her son showed her that "'I'm going to achieve anything I want to do; I'm going to just do it.'"

Family values have just left the building, folks.

"I planned it all out in advance," Semaj said during the interview, although that comment also did not air. But the statement will no doubt interest prosecutors, who want to know if Semaj had the mental capacity to understand what he is accused of doing.

On the air, Semaj said he went to Texas because "it's always sunny."

The day after the car chase ended -- he was found behind the wheel of a stolen Acura that knocked into a tree -- he thoughtfully hopped a bus to the airport.

He said on the air that he scanned the airport monitors and briefly contemplated catching a flight to Tokyo -- where the street-racing movie, "The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift" is set. Thanks to "Inside Edition," we know he's a fan of the film's high-speed car maneuvers.

"You can drift there," he told the program. "And the cops don't care."

The television show described how Semaj noticed Southwest had the most flights to Texas, then got lucky when he heard the airline page a passenger who had lost his ticket.

He told "Inside Edition" that he walked up to the counter, identified himself as the passenger, Frank, then got a boarding pass, and breezed by a security checkpoint.

(A Southwest Airlines spokeswoman told me Wednesday night the report of the page "is news to us.")

Semaj eventually got caught and was detained in a Texas center for runaways until his mom came and got him a few days ago.

That the pair chose a tabloid television program for their public soapbox speaks volumes.

"Inside Edition" said it paid for Semaj's mother to go to Texas for the blissful reunion.

I put it this way because mother and son seem to be blissfully ignorant of the peeved and aggrieved people -- a car-theft victim, airport officials and prosecutors -- Semaj left behind.

The whole episode sends Semaj the wrong message -- if you do wrong, you land on national TV basking in the glow of mommy love.

The kid needs to be grounded. If his mom won't do it, prosecutors should.

Prosecutors last night said they are going forward with the criminal charges -- including theft and eluding -- against Semaj, who has returned to the area.

"I believe minds are going to differ on this," Prosecutor Fred Wist said of the decision.

Yes. But this bright youth needs to learn that life is neither a video game, nor a movie, nor a tabloid TV show.

There are real consequences for reckless actions. It's not child's play. Better learn it now, not later.

(As a high school student I would have my American Mathematics Competition public score posting attributed to Iksokopeh Semaj.)