Heckle the president - get fired - get threatened...

So much for the "free society" where everyone can speak their mind ...

Here is what happened to one person who did....

www.washingtonpost.com...

Glenn Hiller wasn't surprised by the scattered screams and cuss words he heard after he heckled President Bush at a rally in West Virginia on Tuesday.

But the Berkeley Springs, W.Va., resident never expected what happened the next morning, when he was fired from his $35,000-a-year job as a graphic designer.

Isn't that nuts? This isn't the first time I've heard of someone being mistreated like that. If I'm gonna get fired for heckling the president I'll go down for more than words. The thing people will remember seeing is my big white back side

The guy went courtesy of tickets supplied by his employer's client.

I might think my bosses wife is a fat pig, but to call her one at the company Christmas party and expect to have my right to free speech be accepted is asking too much.

Its something very saintly and Godlike about this president. I understand he's up for canonization. I hope its sooner rather than later.

Right up until Clinton (some of it deserved) the bashing of the president has been a bit of Americana. Talk show hosts, Saturday Night Live, Radio, TV, live shows, YOU NAME IT have all indulged in ripping apart our leaders.
Enter George W. Bush and his not-ready-for-this world primetime players, a truly laughable bunch, i might add, and now its a SIN, unamerican, unpatriotic, etc, etc, etc and its becoming less and less tolerated.
We've now seen stars lose their job over some "unsavory" comments.

What happened America?
Did you lose your sense of humor?
Is this what we've come to?
Somebody shoot me please.
Remember how it used to be?

there's a reason the label "heckler" isn't viewed upon in good light. i feel bad the guy lost his job but he shouldn't have been heckling the president. and deevee brings up an excellent point that goes to justifying why the guy was fired.

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It is about political free speech. It's called the first amendment. Many people who support Bush have no regard for the bill of rights. Some of them want to nullify the Supreme court. America was built on the Constitution and the bill of rights. The sooner these sicko anti-american types are put out of power the sooner the better.
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slank, what are you talking about. if the gov't had taken action against this guy then you would have a reason to post that arguement. mainly because the gov't doesn't have the right to impede political free speech. but a private corporation...that's a different story. plus, there's a difference between free speech and heckling. heckling is a little too much like verbal harassment as far as i'm concerned, and harassment is not protected by the first amendment.

Sorry thats no excuse for the action.

If you are given tickets to a baseball match and you go along supporting the other side, supporting your team and booing the "opposition" should you be fired?

The guy was NOT representing the employer either but was going in a peraonal capacity, therefore he is entitled to act in a manner that expressed his beliefs.

Just face it the "freedoms" trumpeted by Bush are an illusion, as are the "freedoms" outlined in the constitution.

Even as a private organization, are they able to fire a person because of their private political beliefs? How does this balance with the "freedom of expression" rule? Tough if you happen to be a law abiding muslim in America....

Originally posted by deevee
The guy went courtesy of tickets supplied by his employer's client.

I might think my bosses wife is a fat pig, but to call her one at the company Christmas party and expect to have my right to free speech be accepted is asking too much.

[edit on 23-8-2004 by Netchicken]

Originally posted by Netchicken
Even as a private organization, are they able to fire a person because of their private political beliefs? How does this balance with the "freedom of expression" rule? Tough if you happen to be a law abiding muslim in America....

No but you can terminate any employee at your convience as a right of an employer unless there is collective bargaining agreement that specifies certain steps in the process. Even then its a formality. You also can be terminated for bad conduct etc.

When it comes to your job you can be fired at any time for any reason as long as it isn't based on race, religion, sex, etc. Just like you can quit your job at any time for any reason. Of course unless there is a contract in place.

I agree with DeeVee, if the person went on tickets that he received from his employer�s client, then he is both representing his company and his companies client through his behavior. If he did anything to hurt the image or reputation of either of these parties, or the relationship between them through his actions, then he has crossed the line of professional behavior and deserves to be punished for it.

When you are out with clients, or representing your company, you have an obligation to behave in a certain manner. I don�t think that making a scene at a rally, where everyone around you is going to take the opposing view, was particularly intelligent or professional. It would have been smarter to just disagree and keep his mouth shut.

As far as what FredT said, I believe that many of the labor laws very from state to state. Florida is a Right to Work state, and an At Will state. Many people here believe that this means that there are no rules and that the company can hire and fire at will for no reason, but this is not always the case. If they decide to fire you and the grounds are not sufficient you can retain a lawyer and sue them for it. So even though most companies here try and make it seem like you have no recourse against them, they sure make sure to write you up 3 times before firing you.

Originally posted by astroblade
slank, what are you talking about. if the gov't had taken action against this guy then you would have a reason to post that arguement. mainly because the gov't doesn't have the right to impede political free speech. but a private corporation...that's a different story. plus, there's a difference between free speech and heckling. heckling is a little too much like verbal harassment as far as i'm concerned, and harassment is not protected by the first amendment.

Wow it's so simple, if you want to kill the free speech we have protected by Federal Law, just start punishing people who exercise their rights by killing their jobs. Perfectly justifiable!

Taibunsuu
I think that you have missed the point again, so let me clarify it for you.

If you walked into a restaurant and the waiter lectured you for 20 minutes on religion and his political viewpoints, then took your order, you would probably be ticked off. Most likely you would complain to the manager, and no longer be a client of that restaurant as long as that waiter continued to work there.


Same thing here, free speech is fine, but there is a time and a place for it. It is not proper etiquette to be shooting your mouth off if you are in certain situations, work or when attending a function through work being two of them. Joining a group like ATS and voicing his opinion after the rally would have been both acceptable and smarter.


If his employer had no problem with what he did, but fired him at the behest of a personal call from the government I would agree with you. It looks more like they fired him over causing them embarrassment, due to his unprofessional behavior.




[edit on 8/23/2004 by defcon5]

Originally posted by defcon5


Taibunsuu
I think that you have missed the point again, so let me clarify it for you.

If you walked into a restaurant and the waiter lectured you for 20 minutes on religion and his political viewpoints, then took your order, you would probably be ticked off. Most likely you would complain to the manager, and no longer be a client of that restaurant as long as that waiter continued to work there.


Same thing here, free speech is fine, but there is a time and a place for it. It is not proper etiquette to be shooting your mouth off if you are in certain situations, work or when attending a function through work being two of them. Joining a group like ATS and voicing his opinion after the rally would have been both acceptable and smarter.


If his employer had no problem with what he did, but fired him at the behest of a personal call from the government I would agree with you. It looks more like they fired him over causing them embarrassment, due to his unprofessional behavior.




[edit on 8/23/2004 by defcon5]

The thing is the whole thing we don't know the facts here. Maybe the guy was a poor employee and just happened to be fired soon after they went to a political speech, and now he's crying 'political persecution!' Since we don't know the truth of the situation, we have a hypothetical situation here:

Can you rightly be fired by publicly insulting a political figure in front of your boss?

Depends if it causes damages to his company or its image or not.

Ross Perot�s old company USED to be renowned for this. If you where seen by a client or a superior in a bar, drinking, swearing or doing anything that they considered unseemly, even if you where on your own personal time you could be fired. A friend of mine works for them now and they are more laid back, but I still must say that it is the only company that I have ever heard of firing an employee for too much flatulence while in his personal cube on a client site.

You; however, are correct in the fact there may be more to this story then we have heard so far.


[edit on 8/23/2004 by defcon5]

[edit on 8/23/2004 by defcon5]

It appears so....
Political freedom, and freedom of speach are entirely dependant upon who is abusing whom. Bush is owned by big busines, so they protect their own...

(BTW your nick seems to be awefully like "talibansuu" its a worry )

Originally posted by taibunsuu
Can you rightly be fired by publicly insulting a political figure in front of your boss?

Originally posted by Netchicken
It appears so....
Political freedom, and freedom of speach are entirely dependant upon who is abusing whom. Bush is owned by big busines, so they protect their own...

(BTW your nick seems to be awefully like "talibansuu" its a worry

)

Originally posted by taibunsuu
Can you rightly be fired by publicly insulting a political figure in front of your boss?

And Kerry is not owned by big business? Both Kerry and Bush are from the same cloth, Old Money, Both are Bonemen and both have the same agenda. Dont buy the lie.

With all due respect, WHO CARES about Kerry this second?

We are talking about our rights to free speach. These rights are being removed and to think that some of YOU condone this is beyond me.

Just wait till you cant post here anymore or anyplace else. We USED to be able to talk about all other presidents, why not THIS one, who truly is deserving of it?

Pleeease...im going to throw up-
This attitude will continue until the day Kerry gets the precidency and THEN they'll all be calling him horseface, Mr. Botox, He didnt BLEED enough when he collected purple hearts....you name it, we'll all have to put up with it.
Like it or not.

If this guy wants to go to a political event and heckle the current pResident I'm all for it, and the more people do this at publicized events the better!

BUT!

He should have bought his own ticket. This would have guaranteed his free speach.

A company buying tickets to a political rally is obviously financially supporting the event and making sure some of its employees are present thanks to "free" tickets.

Is it "right" he was fired for not acting like a good little proletariat? Well, it is within the "rights" of the corporate person and its narrow-minded bosses, but that does not make it ethical.

This employee should have thought about the political motivations behind his employer's "gift". Remember the old sayings about people bearing gifts?

I sure would not �call the boss�s wife a big fat pig at a christmas party� without expecting some consequences. Maybe this guy was tired of working for them?

My boss nearly qualifies as a Bush-stalker. He has pictures of him, stickers, and even named his dog after the president. I have never voiced my political opinions for fear of losing my job.

I'd love to put more stickers on my car as a tool of expression, but this dingaling I call boss wouldn't approve of them.