The story about the woman fired for the Kerry/Edwards sticker worrys me.

[Waverley_Hills_Hiker]

Im a bit spooked by it.

Not becuase I am under threat, but Im wondering if this is the start of a trend of bosess and managment giving their workers a hard time if they express themselves politically via lawn signs and bumper stickers.

Is this the only case of this happening?

Im pretty cold and cynical about politics, but this, for some reason, really hit me wrong, got my blood to boil, and got me worried.

Im hoping this is just an isolated case.

[mrbassman03]

1. I have a DU sticker, haven't had any problems yet...

And I work with some blue-collar Bush guys.

[Norquist Nemesis]

2. ??? Link?

Still catching up from over the weekend. :)

[Waverley_Hills_Hiker]

4. Heres the thread

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=798988&mesg_id=798988

...with a link to the actual news story.

Just something that got me going, to say the least.

[amazona]

3. i doubt it's an isolated case

A poster on bartcop said he was turned down for a job because they saw his car with Kerry stickers on it. The nation is truly polarized. If I were in a position to hire someone, I wouldn't hire someone with a Bush/Cheney bumpersticker.

[Waverley_Hills_Hiker]

5. Well, im in no position to hire...

..but being committed to the concept of meritocracy, affiliation shouldnt matter when it comes to the job.

But, yeah, politics is becoming more risky than I remember it being back in the old days.

[wildeyed]

6. ooh, that is a hard question.

I do hire people. I don't ask about their political affiliation before I hire them, but if I knew they were a Bush/Cheney supporter, that would definitely bias me against them.

I don't tell my employees who to vote for, and I would never fire someone for having a sticker on their car. I do try to influence their political choices, but I try to influence everyone's political choices these days.

[coalition_unwilling]

7. We're in a state of low-grade civil war already

I wear two buttons every day to work, one a peace sign and the other a 'Stop the War' button. Nothing has happened yet and I really doubt it will (altho I'd love to turn it into a first amendment case, as I work for a mass media conglomerate).

I have a bad feeling that, if BushCo is elected in Nov, it's going to come down to being willing to go to jail\concentration camps or self-imposed exile.

[Dyedinthewoolliberal]

8. You know,

that polarization thing is right on. I find myself looking with bewilderment at people with W/Cheney on their cars. It's as if they are from another planet to me.
I know they are as rock solid in their belief as we are in ours. But still, how can they think * is the best man for the job? Maybe they are afraid voting democratic will chenge their way of life?

[Waverley_Hills_Hiker]

11. I hate to say this but I am getting that way, too.

I work with all right winger...and I mean really hard right fundy types in some cases...who listen to Rush on the radio and all....

So, for me, I have to compartmentize their politics and put that knowlege "on the shelf"...I make a point of avoiding political discussion with them, but now w. my Kerry bumpersticker it may come up....

I mean, these are OK people more or less, its just their politics that I disagree with.

But I do find it sort of coloring my opinion of them, and I never really personalized politics that way before.

Maybe its becuase Im online alot, and the online political mentality, which is more extreme (both left and right) sort of is poisoning and polarizing my real-world attitudes, too.

[tandot]

9. Whenever I apply for jobs, I park as far away as possible

so employers wont see my anti-Bush bumper stickers.

I live in N Texas - Bush/Cheney country. The support for Kerry is growing here, but most employers support Bush.

[liberal N proud]

12. Should not be a consideration either way!

It is discrimination although there are no laws, it is discrimination just the same. This is not what Democrats should do.

[RoyalWickedness]

10. Damn, no wonder I can't get a job

[hexola]

13. Coorporations continue to usurp our rights....

the government couldn't do this - but corporations can...

government guarenteed rights are becoming worthless...

[noamnety]

14. I got called in by my boss today

My (republican) coworker (with a giant flag mural in his classroom) is angry because I run a forum for our high school, and in the one thread where they are debating politics, someone has been aggressively supporting Kerry.

Today I got a call from the principal saying she wants to talk to me. The official word is that I have to kill the entire forum.

[PittLib]

15. How dare you let those kids express themselves?

The students should be encouraged to stand up for themselves.

[noamnety]

19. so much for encouraging critical thinking

I feel incredibly sad about this; they've had the forum for 4 years now. And today it is gone, because of one freeper.

I hope one of them figures out how to set up a new forum and gets the word out to the other students.

[ArkDem]

16. Well, I know this, murder is definately against the law.

[wildeyed]

20. That is crazy.

There is nothing better for kids than learning to think creatively and then write about it. Prepares them for all sorts of high level jobs in the real world. Besides, being young is about being passionate and trying different attitudes on for size. Shame on your co-worker and shame on the principal for folding to the pressure,

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

21. On what basis did they say they want you to shut it down?

Also is the forum closed, where the student/users establish their accounts and passwords at school? Sounds cool to me. But why shut it down? What is the "official" reason?

[noamnety]

23. The official reason

The website is supposed to promote the school, and anything that could cause a community relations problem is inappropriate on the website. If it's not a school related issue, there is no need for it. Staff members will decide if something is school related; not students.

The explanation given to me by my coworker:
There was a post last night where a student called someone a bad name (in a discussion about lunch room rules). I caught it this morning, 6am-ish, before going to work, and I edited it out. He said he never saw the post before the edit, but he forwarded it after the edit to the principal, saying maybe the forum needed to be looked at.

I'm a bit suspicious of that explanation because last night he emailed me several times complaining that the Kerry supporters were too well researched - and he wanted to counter it but didn't have time. He was concerned that people's minds were being changed based on the forum discussions.

I knew when I went to bed he was going to do something about it, I felt it strongly enough that even though a number of us (students and teachers) got vote! teeshirts Friday, I didn't wear mine, because I didn't want to look like an activist.

So I highly doubt the forum was killed because a student used a bad word which I caught within a few hours. But anyway, the forum was run with my own volunteer time, the server is paid for out of my own pocket, and it's open to the public, and we had/have some great things going on there. The government class in particular was a gem, they ran simulations with different students being assigned the role of various political figures. I even went out to another forum to specifically recruit democrats AND republicans to role play as investigative reporters or concerned citizens and ask good questions to get the discussion rolling along.

[RevCheesehead]

26. Do you have a teacher's union?

They could take up the argument for free speech

[noamnety]

27. no union here

not yet, anyway. We're in the process, we've talked to reps from a few different unions, to see which is the best match for us.

But since the complaint originated with one of the teachers - it isn't really a teacher vs. administrator stand-off, so I'm not sure a union would help with this one.

We'll fight back through subversion instead of head-to-head conflict, I guess. Won't be the first time.

[liberal N proud]

22. Fight back with a low tech idea!

Create a bulletin board in your class room. Create it equally, one side for bush and one side for Kerry.
Place a stack of post-it notes on a table in front of the board.
Allow the students to post on the board.
Pro Kerry on one side, pro bush on the other (if there are any).

I visited the new Constitution Center in Philadelphia this summer and they had board all around the museum and post-it notes on table. I found myself more interested in what was being written on the post-its than the museum displays. The boards were cleared each night.
What could they say if it is non-biased.

[noamnety]

24. my daughter is a student there

she is working to set up a forum (possibly something like "studentswhodontgotoanyparticularschool") and will message the other kids to tell them where to go. I left the messaging functional, since community relations will be unaffected by private messages.

[cheshire]

17. She needs a lawyer and there are a lot that would do it for free. .

[paulk]

18. the company I used to work for

(Union Pacific Railroad), came out with a written policy in 1999 that vehicles with bumper stickers that were found offensive (through a process of other workers complaining about them), that vehicle would not be allowed on company property. Parking the car on company property could lead to job termination. The Union said they were within their legal right to implement this policy.

If the fired women violated a written company policy, she probably doesn't have a leg to stand on. If she was fired on a whim because her boss didn't like her bumper sticker - then she should hire a lawyer.

[Generator]

25. All I can say is I hope this shit backfires

And the American people have some cojones. Because when you have the Vice President threatening you with a terror attack if you don't vote for him, it's scary.

But for people like me (hot headed and angry as hell) this make us angrier and more certain than ever that these fascists can't have our country. I hope some "on the fence" types feel the same way.