Testing the Upper Limits of "There Is No Such Thing as Bad Publicity"

Above, a photo of the 2010 Philadelphia Flower Show (courtesy Flickr Creative Commons user Berrihol), which apparently isn't thrilling enough for newspaperman Steve Young.

In a Philadelphia Inquirer editorial published earlier this month, Steve Young made an impassioned (albeit tongue-in-cheek) argument for holding the upcoming Khalid Sheikh Mohammed "terror trial" at — get this — the City of Brotherly Love's Pennsylvania Convention Center. Young writes:

All [Philadelphia Mayor Michael] Nutter has to do is invite the trial to the Convention Center, home of the (yawn) Home Show, Auto Show, and Flower Show. The Mohammed Show would top them all for family entertainment.

I can't help but feel for the planners of the Home, Auto, and Flower shows. How could they hope to compete — excitement-wise, at least — with the trial of a terror mastermind?

But at least Young is thinking outside of the box — or maybe he's thought himself right off the reservation. For instance, get this suggestion:

During weekends and nights, meanwhile, there would be plenty of room for Mohammed at the abandoned 53,000-square-foot Levitz furniture showroom just off Route 95 in Levittown — a quick commute from the Convention Center. This temporary Bucks County Gitmo would be the perfect complement to Sesame Place.

A room night is a room night is a room night, after all. Young even closes out his smart-aleck editorial with a tip for the Philadelphia Convention & Visitors Bureau marketing team:

I can see the marketing campaign now: "Have your next terrorist trial here. With love, Philadelphia XOXO."