Worker Suspended for Anti-Bush Message

[Katie]

Worker Suspended for Anti-Bush Message
Fri Mar 12,11:42 AM ET Add U.S. National - AP to My Yahoo!



CLEVELAND - A state maintenance worker was suspended after he displayed a sign with the word "traitor" on a snowplow while helping provide security for President Bush (news - web sites)'s motorcade, the Ohio Department of Transportation said.



Michael Gerstenslager was asked to park a snowplow on an entrance ramp to block access to a highway that the president's motorcade used to go from Cleveland Hopkins International Airport into downtown Cleveland on Wednesday.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=519&e=7&u=/ap/bush_protest_suspension

[DS1]

1. NICE! nt

[aquart]

2. Good man.

[uhhuh]

3. A little defensive, eh?

The sign says "traitor", and they come to the immediate conclusion that it was thrown the chimp's way. Are they feeling guilty about something?

[I AM SPARTACUS]

4. "sign says "traitor"...conclusion that it was thrown the chimp's way"

deserves an echo...

[cprise]

7. Guilty conscience =

...is the opposite of Projection?

[CO Liberal]

8. Kinda The Same Way That Kerry Says "Crooks and Liars"....

...and every Republican assumes Kerry is talking about him or her personally.

:-)

[KDLarsen]

5. My thought too..

.. perhaps *'s consciousness is catching up..

.. oh wait, what am I thinking, that man have NO conscience whatsoever.

[no_hypocrisy]

6. It's unconstitutional to penalize a public servant (employed by any level

of government) for exercising First Amendment free speech rights. Mr. Gerstenslager has the potential for filing suit against his employer if he is disciplined in any way and/or fired as a result of his actions.

On the other hand, were Mr. Gerstenslager employed by a private business owner, he COULD get fired, etc.

The protection comes into play because the government cannot impede free speech but private citizens can.

[louis-t]

9. Unfortunately, Mr. Gerstenslager doesn't have a snowballs...

chance in hell of winning a suit like that against his employer with B*sh still at the helm. The pressure to dismiss the case would be tremendous on the federal court that heard it. It would be a federal case wouldn't it?

[no_hypocrisy]

10. Yes, the suit would be instituted in a federal district court ordinarily,

but Mr. Gerstenslager has the option of going to the state court if his attorney believes he'll get a better outcome.

And don't be discouraged. If there is a jury seated that hates * and loves the constitution, it's a slam-dunk. * can't influence legal precedent of cases already establishing this right to freely speak at a government job. (I know this because I studied the original case in employment law. A woman was fired for saying on her government job, "Reagan is such an asshole." She won the suit after it went to the U.S. Supreme Court.

[sybylla]

11. They can when it comes to using government property and money for

that political speech. Parking a sign on the side of a government-owned snow plow would be illegal in my state and grounds for dismissal for violation of campaigning on the taxpayers dollar.

[Moderator]

12. Locking - Dupe

continue here:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=418186