User Panel
Posted: 8/21/2004 9:10:36 PM EDT
This was on AOHELL
MARTINSBURG, W.Va. (Aug. 21) - A man who heckled President Bush at a political rally was fired from his job at an advertising and design company. The graphic designer said he was told he'd embarrassed and offended a client who provided tickets to the event. "I was told that my actions reflected badly on the company and that a client was upset," Glen Hiller of Berkeley Springs said. Hiller was escorted from Hedgesville High School on Tuesday after shouting comments about the Iraq war and the failure to find weapons of mass destruction there. The crowd had easily drowned out Hiller with its chant: "Four more years." Arriving at his job with Octavo Designs in Frederick, Md., the next morning, Hiller said he was "shocked" to learn he was fired. A woman at the company who declined to give her name confirmed Hiller was axed because of his conduct at the rally. "They see my actions as negative," Hiller said, adding he'd do the same thing again. "There is no venue for the regular guy to ask a question. We don't have access to people in power. And those events are completely scripted and controlled." Last month, Charleston City Council apologized to two protesters arrested for wearing anti-Bush T-shirts to the president's July 4 rally. The pair were taken from the event in restraints after revealing T-shirts with Bush's name crossed out on the front and the words "Love America, Hate Bush" on the back. Trespassing charges were ultimately dismissed. |
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That sounds absolutely reasonable to me. If a client provided me with tickets to a John Kerry event...I wouldnt go...But, if I did go, I would not act like an ass, and embarrass the people who invited me to go. (But, I WOULD come back here...and tell you guys what ASSHATS all the Kerry supporters were) |
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My 1ST AMmENTDMENT RiGHSTS OMFG!!11 |
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My first amendment right to hate someone has about as much force as someone elses first amendment right to hate me.
As long as I don't go and spout off shit that can't be proven as untrue... I can spout off that shit all day long. The fiddlers are the only place where we can feel safe. Please let them save me. |
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For every action thers an equal and opposite reaction , stupid SOB got what he deserved/ Good riddance to bad rubbish
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This guy learned when it's a good idea to shut up. Fortunately, I learned that lesson at a very young age.
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He got fired for being an ass, not for being anti-Bush. Big difference.
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didnt get to go to see the pres as I had to go to NC all last week for work,did have a friend go that got to meet him and shake his hand.A girl that my wife works with told her that her mom did get to moon a secret service helo flying around hedgesville
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Not a damn thing wrong with what happened to this jerk.
If it had been the other way around, and the guy was fired for heckling John F***ing Kerry, I would say the very same thing. Although I wouldn't be as happy and gleeful about it as I am now! Eric The(FairAndImpartial)Hun |
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Sounds reasonable to me. Guy exercised his rights. Company exercised their rights. Sounds like everyone was righteous. I need to go exercise my 2nd Amendment rights today, as a matter of fact. Only 1.5 hours till the range opens.
Woody |
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If the tickets were supplied by clients of his company, then the funciton, for that individual, was a work related event. No different than a company picnic or Christmas party. He should have behaved himself. He can sue, but he hasn't got a case.
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Oops, I'm sorry to say but you will have a lawsuit over that reply! If there's anything that the current sorry state of affairs in civil litigation has shown us, you can get sued for any unreasonable cause under the Sun. That's how unscrupulous lawyers and their ne'er do well clients make a living. Eric The(SueMe?SueYou!)Hun |
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Fuck him!
I am one of the few right wing radical Christian graphic designers in the world. Others I have had to work with or have gone to school with are either fags, or new age crystal worshiping tree-hugging premadonas PETA members. I hate them. I am glad the little freak got fired. Keep your fucking mouth shut at work about your beliefs and politicle views. Thats just my .02 |
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NOTICE
Please send all of your firearms to the nearest Homeland Defense center for Collection of Weapons of Mass Destruction. It has been determined that since the First Amendment is no longer a relevant concept in our New World Order, the Second Amendment is no longer necessary. All legal private ownership of bullethoses will cease to exist. Thank you for your cooperation in this matter. |
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Your friends mom sounds like a really classy dame. |
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Theres a difference between exercising your !st Right, and exercising it while "on company time". From the article it sounds like the company provided tickets to him, therefore he was "on the companys time" as it were. He was a direct representation of his company, who paid for him to go.
I occasionally badmouth the company i work for when I think they do something stupid or out of line, but I for DAMNED sure dont do it while their paying me, or while I'm somewhere they've paid for me to attend...... |
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He worked for the government? Oh.....no he didn't but you feel I should be able to tell my boss to "Fuck off?"....1st Amendment and all. Let's get real. |
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Man, at an event representing his employer, provides poor company image through his actions, get's fired is more like it.
When you go someplace on your employer's dime, you are representing your employer. |
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Yep. You're right. You're representing your employer. And employers say the same thing, even when you aren't on their clock.
Here in my local community, there is a guy who was just given an ultimatum to stop posting his views on a local political discussion website. He never once posted on company time, and he never posted anything about his employer (US Bank). The local bank corp, even though owned by US Bank, is still partly owned by the shareholders of the previous company. These people are bigwigs in the local community, who hate the existence of the political website. They found out about this guy's participation in the site, and they put leverage on the bank to dismiss him or they would pull out their money. The guy chose to leave the bank rather than stop exercising his civil rights. I know all of this because I run the local political website. Once again, gestapo tactics of the old guard GOP.... |
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+1 peckerlips, We don't want you here! |
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Yeah, BenDover, that sort of crap NEVER happens at DEMO controlled institutions, does it?
What is the price of patriotism nowadays? Surely it's no longer, 'our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor.' The vast majority on this Board would say that supporting the President would be a worthy cause for getting canned at work. Are you saying that supporting 'John F***ing Kerry' would be the same? The American Revolution wasn't a revolt in which both sides were right, with one side being just a wee bit more right than the other. It was a clash of very different political philosophies. Same with this election. If you can't recognize that, then you should resign your post with the local GOP. Eric The(RepublicanismIsAWayOfLife)Hun |
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I do not, nor will I ever believe that supporting any one man or even the party itself should usurp another person's right to express their own political views, whatever they may be.
It makes no difference whether the opposing side is one degree removed from my own, or if it is diametrically in opposition. The concept of winning at all costs, including getting people fired from their jobs for simply expressing an alternative or even ridiculous political viewpoint is not one to which I subscribe. What happens when it's YOUR views that are in question and YOUR job at stake? |
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I try not to mix my employment with my political views. Actually, I often bow out of conversations at work that revolve around election year politics. My livelihood is much more important than trying to budge hard-headed supporters of either party. In the end, it's a lose-lose situation. In the end they will not likely change positions and the debate, while entertaining, might have been at a greater cost than a few raised voices. |
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This isnt so much about expressing views as it is expressing views while your on your companies time. In a proffesional office, you dont go in wearing shorts and a T-shirt, you wear business casual. On YOUR time hell run around in pink panties for all anyone cares. When you go to outside events on the companies dime, you represent them. If you cant say something nice, dont say it at all. On YOUR time at those events, scream and yell all you want. This person was at the event due to the generosity of his employer. They had every right to fire him. Had he purchased his own ticket and not gotten one from his company, it would be a completely different case. |
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I suppose that I can accept the fact that it was a ticket from the employer. I don't know about WV but Ohio is a at-will employment state, and you can be released for any reason the employer deems fit. That's a fact of life that everyone has to consider.
I just wonder what the response of the employer had been if it had been a John Kerry rally. Say that Republican employer got tickets to see Kerry from a client. Not giving much of a crap about it, they still hand out the tickets to an employee who behaves in a disruptive fashion. Would GOP employer still fire the employee if the Dem client was upset over their actions? No ETH... I am not going to resign my precinct seat from the GOP. I am working to change the party from within (to a great degree of success I might add...) |
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Yes, so long as those expressions are made where political expressions are welcomed, expected, or at least not forbidden! Work-related events can be one of those areas where they may be forbidden! Sorry, but that's just the way it is in free countries. Freedom of contract, etc.
Who cares to what views you subscribe, personally? Only you, I would imagine. If you are working at the Hun's Hamburger Joint, I WILL tell you what political buttons you may or may NOT wear. The door is over that way, Buddy, if you don't like it!
I'll flip hamburgers elsewhere, thank you! It occurred to me shortly after I finished law school and was employed at a medium sized law firm in Shreveport. The year was 1980, and Ronald Reagan was running in the Republican Primaries. I asked the gathered partners at lunch one day whether there would be any objections to a 'Reagan for President' bumper sticker on my vehicle. At first everyone said, 'No, go right ahead', but then after a few minutes, one of the senior partners, said, 'You know, Eric, that might not be such a good idea....' And I took the hint and DIDN'T put the bumper sticker on my car. That day, however, I realized that working for a group of fine men, and they were very fine men, was not that great IF it cost me my political voice in any manner. I left that firm within six months thereafter to go out on my own and never missed a meal! Call it whatever you wish, but my 'bosses' made a decision, and then so did I. And I didn't have to worry about my life, my fortunes, or my sacred honor in doing so. Eric The(Republican,First,LastAndAlways)Hun |
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Yeah, I can bet how well you are doing when you call two of those fellow Committeemen the names that you used in that thread the other day! Real savvy in politics, you are, m'boy! Eric The(WiseBeyondHisEars)Hun |
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Oh those weren't just ANY committeemen... Bob Bennett is the head of the Ohio GOP...
He is as crooked as a dog's hind leg. His secret bank accounts to hide the new soft money have been found in a bunch of counties, and there are some people now under endictment for following his orders. Give Beekeep1 a call. He'll fill you in on some of the drama I've told him about here in Ohio. They aren't calling it a battleground state for nothing... the party is split split split.... |
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Indeed. I might actually learn something from the Beekeeper about Ohio politics.
Without all the infantile BS we keep getting from you! Eric The(TellingItLikeItIs)Hun |
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Nice... a Staff Member behaving in such a fashion. Would calling my refusal to follow along with your political views 'infantile' constitute a personal attack?
ETH... I can take it or else I wouldn't be on here dishing it out. By the same token, I don't know if you have the same ability... otherwise, you wouldn't respond to my very docile, but very disagreeing post with such vitriol of your own. Ben(TellingItLikeItREALLYIsFor3YearsNow)Dover |
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I'm not responding to the drivel that you posted in this thread, Ben, but that nonsensical drivel that you posted here a few days ago. Remember? If you have a problem with me, just contact Senior Staff....I think you know the drill quite well! Eric The(MemoryLikeAGOPElephant)Hun |
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The meathead wasn't fired for his views, he was fired for making a scene and disrupting an event, even after being asked to stop. |
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Oh... that drivel response where a Senior Staff member - AND Mods - also jumped in and started attacking as well.... for me not having broken any COC guidelines.... (verified by anothe Senior Staff Member) Don't worry, I did contact a member of Senior Staff. It must have been one of those 'drinking moments' on your part. I can let it go. How about you? You are indeed a poster boy for the current GOP and their tactics... and the current GOP is far from anything similar to Ronald Reagan's GOP. |
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You are not well informed on reality let alone the Constitution. |
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We are moving to Berkeley springs W VA in about two weeks. I REALLY hope I run into this clown.
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I find this to be much more bothersome.....being escorted out of a convention & later fired for making comments is very different from being arrested for wearing a T-Shirt..... |
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Post from BenDover -
Tsk, tsk, tsk! You live by the shiite-eating grin, you die by the shiite-eating grin! And you were really on a shiite-eating roll in that thread!
Now, why doesn't that surprise me in the very least? You must have been a real hoot in Grammar School, as well! Did the big boys stuff you in your locker? Did they run your pants up the flagpole after school?
Oh, yeah, that must be it! And every other Member who chimed in and excoriated you in that thread was drinking as well? That's some little fairy world that you live in, Ben!
Well that's mighty big of you, since you were the one doing all the shiite-grinning antics! Meds need time to work, Sir. So take them PRIOR to coming on Board!
I'm as fine as wine, myself. And I have a memory like a pachyderm. A Republican pachyderm!
Nonsense! To what 'tactics' are you referring to, Ben? What horrible tactics are the Republicans displaying that would so offend President Reagan's GOP? Let's see that lengthy and ignoble list of those present-day horrible GOP tactics. If you have one! Eric The(NotNearDoneWithThis)Hun |
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I love it.... now you've got the typical... "you had to go run and tell on me" attitude of typical GOP bullies. You'd only feel that way if you knew you were on the wrong side. Nope... no bullies fucked with me in grammar school. In fact, I fought to protect other kids from bullies back then too.
How about these tactics for starters. Funnelling illegal money into secret bank accounts at the state level that have been discovered and resulted in endictments of people who were following the State GOP head's orders.... for starters. Montgomery County, Ohio... Dayton... look it up. Fairfield County, Ohio GOP corruption throughout... resulted in endictments of over 300 offenses of multiple parties. Shall I keep going? There's a long list here in Ohio -- the split state. Oh... and the guys who were arrested for wearing T-Shirts. |
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So you are talking OHIO, fercryingoutloud? OHIO? The rest of the Country be damned, it's what's happening in OHIO that's so thoroughly gotten your goat? Pardon us, if the rest of the Country doesn't share in your pique and your little temper tantrum! Sheeesh! Eric The(ThinkNationally,ActLocally)Hun |
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TAKE IT TO IM |
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If I say or do something that hacks off an important customer, I'd expect to get the axe from my employer regardless of whether it was over a political topic or anything else. Now, if you want to discuss the McCain-Feingold |
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Post from jblachly:
Sorry that we are blocking your view here, jblachly, but this is interesting in a 'trainwreck' sorta way. Anyway, I am finished. It appears that OHIO is in turmoil at least in Ben's brain. Eric The(Thankfully,TexasIsASafeState)Hun |
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