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» Hatrack River Forum » Active Forums » Books, Films, Food and Culture » Postal Worker denied First Amendment Rights (Page 1)

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Author Topic: Postal Worker denied First Amendment Rights
TheQuestioner
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So my last question didn’t go so well and I thought I’d try again. Have you heard about this one? It seems to be getting out there. Strange….

Postal Worker denied First Amendment Rights

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ketchupqueen
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"Question?" This isn't a "question."

It's a link, with no real assessment or comment from you.

Would you like to share what you think about it, and maybe post it from another source?

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Mucus
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The answer to the question in my case is, "no."
And from a quick search, it doesn't actually appear to be hitting any reputable news outlets which would partly explain that.

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TheQuestioner
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So until it hits the main stream media it doesn't matter?
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AchillesHeel
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It sounds as if The Patriot is simply creating liberal conspiracy fodder, we cant prove the story right or wrong without the mysterous John going on record, someone will always give them the benefit of the doubt. I would ask you if you are a regular visitor of the website, this seems to be an ad.

BTW, gotta appreciate the ominous picture of Pres. Obama in the place of an ad on the website itself.

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aspectre
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TheQuestioner is a Soviet mole assigned the task of undermining America so that it is forced to beg to be allowed to join the USSR.
And it must be true cuz it's on the Internet. (Admittedly only in the above sentence, but that's still on the Internet.)

Now for the real question. How the heck do ya get spellcheck to stop underlining words it don' know???
Just installed Firefox on a not-my-usual computer.

[ August 07, 2009, 02:57 PM: Message edited by: aspectre ]

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Destineer
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Supposing everything in that article were true, we have no information about what the offending bumper stickers say. For all we know, they may have struck John's supervisor as racist or profane.
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Rakeesh
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quote:
So until it hits the main stream media it doesn't matter?
Why are so many of your posts - to my recollection, anyway - one-liners like this?
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Mucus
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Until it hits the mainstream media, you have to take the statements and accusations with a grain of salt. Heck, even even when it does hit the mainstream media you need a grain of salt, but this doubly so.

No actual names, no locations, and no verifiable statements should make you suspicious.

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Darth_Mauve
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quote:
So until it hits the main stream media it doesn't matter?
No, until it hits the mainstream its most likely a lie.

A falsehood.

I don't know who the liar is, the unhappy USPS employee, the reporter or the web-site are possibilities.

However, with no way to fact-check the report--ignore it as Right Wing Propaganda.

There are good Christian Conservatives out there, and there are a few conservatives who have forgotten that bit in the bible about "Thou Shall Not Bare False Witness".

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King of Men
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quote:
"Thou Shall Not Bare False Witness".
A most interesting mis-spelling.
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Sterling
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I'll try to take this seriously for the moment. What it sounds like is this: People in the parking lot had anti-Bush bumper stickers. John fumed, but didn't complain.

quote:
For years he has tolerated the frequent and rampant bashing of President Bush and conservative values
Now he has his own bumper stickers; someone complained, and the supervisor chose to step in. Again, as has been noted, we aren't given the faintest clue what these "Bush Bashing" stickers actually said, nor what "John's" bumper stickers said. For all I know, we could be comparing stickers that criticize the war in Iraq to ones that call for Obama's assassination.

But the more important point is that the most likely cause is not some sort of liberal bias, but simply a case of "the squeaky wheel gets the grease." If he had complained earlier, rather than "tolerating" the "liberal" bumper stickers, it's entirely possible that the supervisor would have intervened in the same way on his behalf. This is a tempest in a teapot; based on what is actually reported, there is no way to acertain that what has occurred is actually any form of bias or "denial of First Amendment Rights". It's entirely likely that there wasn't a policy that was implemented unilaterally against one political viewpoint, but a policy of "particular behaviors will be tolerated until someone announces that they are causing offense", which is pretty common in many workplaces. The likely outcome is either a banning of all political materials on USPS vehicles, or allowance of all of same. Quite possibly this should have been the policy in the first place... But that's not the angle which is being taken by the blogspot.

"A conservative being denied First Amendment Rights because of his political views"? Probably not.

And I'd love to be able to suggest some of the bumper stickers "John" might have had on his vehicle that might have caused offense, but the P.U.'s "store" link doesn't work.

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scifibum
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In the last thread started by TheQuestioner, I tried to allow some benefit of the doubt.

But now that TheQuestioner has participated in exactly two threads, both of which linked without commentary to an article on the same website, and (apparently) refuses to engage or discuss anything...

Just a spammer trying to dredge up some hits on that silly site, I think.

You can still prove otherwise, TheQuestioner, but so far you don't seem to want to contribute anything to this forum, you just seem to want to advertise that other site.

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Strider
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guys, don't feed the animals.
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James Tiberius Kirk
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quote:
Originally posted by Mucus:
Until it hits the mainstream media, you have to take the statements and accusations with a grain of salt. Heck, even even when it does hit the mainstream media you need a grain of salt, but this doubly so.

No actual names, no locations, and no verifiable statements should make you suspicious.

And no details. I'd love to see what the "conservative bumper stickers" actually said, though I doubt we'll ever see them.

--j_k

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Kwea
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Sounds like bull.
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Samprimary
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That site is the kind that makes conservatives sound like petulant, hypersensitive whiners.

Their ultra-charming cartoon, "Lefty Loonz," actually has an honest to god one starring Obama with a bone in his nose.

TheQuestioner, y'all got a retarded site there buddy.

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Orincoro
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quote:
Originally posted by TheQuestioner:
So until it hits the main stream media it doesn't matter?

Until you are an actual poster here, rather than someone using this board as a place to advertise your conservative website, you don't get the time of day.


Please, everyone, what is your favorite cracker, and why?

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King of Men
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This site only feeds trolls with more than 2000 posts. We've got our standards!

[Big Grin]

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aspectre
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Oh sure. Try to divert the topic while spellcheck attacks me with angry red underlines for refusing to be assimilated.
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Scott R
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TQ:

The site you linked to is obviously biased. Nothing wrong with that as long as it demonstrates intellectual honesty-- in this case, that would at least mean an attempt to contact the post office for their side of the story.

That isn't demonstrated in the article. The article's sole reference is an email from an individual. Do you understand why that's a problem?

With the mainstream media outlets, or even local news channels, there a semblance of some journalistic integrity. There's no such semblance here-- it's a dude on the internet whining to a dude with a biased website.

I'm sure that if you want to point out a double standard in the media/culture, you can find more acceptable sites to do so.

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Sean Monahan
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quote:
Originally posted by Orincoro:
Please, everyone, what is your favorite cracker, and why?

Cheddar goldfish crackers...

...though I don't want to reignite the recent debate on goldfish vs. cheez-its.

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Orincoro
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Cheez-its are clearly superior both in overall taste, as well as the adherence of the salt to the cracker, and further in the grain of said salt, which is larger and more pleasing to the mouth. Adding to this the superior mouthfeel of the cheez-it, which becomes a pleasant and digestible mush upon chewing, in comparison with the loathsome goldfish which shatters into a million tiny shards and cuts the inside of the mouth, congealing into a soggy, chalky paste of cheeziness, the cheez-it can clearly be seen to remain superior in all respects.
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Synesthesia
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quote:
Originally posted by Sean Monahan:
quote:
Originally posted by Orincoro:
Please, everyone, what is your favorite cracker, and why?

Cheddar goldfish crackers...

...though I don't want to reignite the recent debate on goldfish vs. cheez-its.

Dude, it's all about Annie's Cheddar Bunnies.

Especially the white cheddar ones. mmmmmmm. So good! Especially with that white stuff that is just delicious.

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Orincoro
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quote:
Originally posted by Synesthesia:
Especially with that white stuff that is just delicious.

:pause:


:snicker:

:casual whistle:


I never said anything.

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lem
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Come on everybody, cut TQ some slack. I also found his article on this high quality site.
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DDDaysh
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This is pretty much a non-story. I looked up the Hatch act on a government site and it says very clearly that bumper stickers of a political nature expressing personal opinions are allowed on personal vehicles parked in governmentally owned employee parking lots AND on personal vehicles parked elsewhere when the employee gets a parking stipend or reimbursement.

Thus we can conclude that John's stickers are either of a non-political nature (meaning they convey actual hate or threats) or he hasn't tried very hard at all to plead his case through the correct channels. It seems to me that a simple print out of the Hatch Act (which the article says he knows about) would silence any official persecution from his superiors.

If the persecution is not official, and people are merely treating him coldly at work or arguing with him "around the water cooler", he really has no case.

Of course, for all we know, "John" is a fictional character designed to discredit the post office.

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Synesthesia
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quote:
Originally posted by Orincoro:
quote:
Originally posted by Synesthesia:
Especially with that white stuff that is just delicious.

:pause:


:snicker:

:casual whistle:


I never said anything.

I knew folks would make something dirty of that... but really it's some kind of cheese.
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Raymond Arnold
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Yesterday I bought a brick of fudge for $10. It turned out to be a terrible idea.
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Raymond Arnold
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quote:
Originally posted by lem:
Come on everybody, cut TQ some slack. I also found his article on this high quality site.

As amusing as it is, I think that site just gave me a virus or trojan or something. I'm suddenly getting the Vimax Enlargement ads again, and I haven't been anywhere else particularly questionable that I can recall.
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Sterling
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quote:
Originally posted by Orincoro:
Please, everyone, what is your favorite cracker, and why?

Ooh! Triscuits. Or their generic knock-offs, don't care. Salty crispy whole-wheat goodness, goes well with cheese, breaks in just the right places.

Though the sundried tomato Wheat Thins are pretty darn good too, albeit in that "what is this residue on my fingertips, and what percentage of it is MSG by weight" way.

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Parkour
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I wanted to talk about how bogus that site was but apparently we are talking about crackers.

My favorite crackers are the triscits with huge amounts of MSG.

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lem
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quote:
As amusing as it is, I think that site just gave me a virus or trojan or something.
Sorry. [Frown] I am using firefox with ad block plus. I've had no pop ups nor virus alerts. Seemed like a harmless two-bit conspiracy site to me.

I think we should petition another link from TQ so that we can start a wine tangent. Cheese, crackers, and wine. Yum.

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Synesthesia
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quote:
Originally posted by Raymond Arnold:
quote:
Originally posted by lem:
Come on everybody, cut TQ some slack. I also found his article on this high quality site.

As amusing as it is, I think that site just gave me a virus or trojan or something. I'm suddenly getting the Vimax Enlargement ads again, and I haven't been anywhere else particularly questionable that I can recall.
Oh no! I hate those ads! They're so stupid! Malwarebytes may help.
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Raymond Arnold
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Last year I changed a setting that got rid of them, then my settings all reseted at some point but I had gotten rid of the trojan so I was okay as long as I didn't go back to wherever I got them in the first place.

I actually am not sure what I think of adblock. I know there's some ads out there that are completely ridiculous, but I also know that if everyone used adblock the internet as we know it would grind to a halt.

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Orincoro
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quote:
Originally posted by Raymond Arnold:
Yesterday I bought a brick of fudge for $10. It turned out to be a terrible idea.

[ROFL]
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Strider
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I emailed the city of Grove City through their website and alerted them to the existence of the article.
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Orincoro
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quote:
Originally posted by Strider:
I emailed the city of Grove City through their website and alerted them to the existence of the article.

Why? The post office is federal. Am I missing something they'd be able to do?
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aspectre
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Yep, ya forgot about the postal ninjas.
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ricree101
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quote:
Originally posted by Raymond Arnold:

I actually am not sure what I think of adblock. I know there's some ads out there that are completely ridiculous, but I also know that if everyone used adblock the internet as we know it would grind to a halt.

It depends how you use it.

I think the biggest problem is that it comes with a filter list by default. Personally, I start off with a blank list, then block the entire domain of any ad I don't like. Since most of the worst ads seem to be served from the same domains, I can avoid most of the garbage with a fairly small list.

As long as people used software like this to only block these bad ads, it would force advertisers to stay civil while still allowing ad supported content.

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Flaming Toad on a Stick
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quote:
Originally posted by aspectre:
Now for the real question. How the heck do ya get spellcheck to stop underlining words it don' know???
Just installed Firefox on a not-my-usual computer.

Words like don'?

Haven't a clue, although maybe there's a different widget that creates an 'Ignore' list.

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MrSquicky
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I realize I'm derailing the thread, but I'd just like to say that when Americans use the word patriot primarily as a way to exclude other people, it makes me sad.
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Orincoro
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A patriot would never say that...
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Mucus
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Or a Real American for that matter...
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Selran
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This so called article is just an ad for the "Patriot Depot." They pull this BS all the time, hoping people will get riled up up and buy some bumper stickers or something to show support. The last one I saw was about some guy who was arrested for being a suspected extremist because he was displaying a Gadsden flag.
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Kwea
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Yeah, we figured that out, or at least suspected....which is why this thread isn't discussing the original topic.


I love Hatrack. [Big Grin]

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vonk
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I was gonna start a new thread, but this seems like a good place to ask a random question. Are corn and potatoes vegetables? I'm getting mixed answers from google. MyPyramid.gov says they both are, but they also say tomatoes are vegetables, and I'm pretty sure that's not true. If you can't trust the US Dept of Agriculture, who can you trust?
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scholarette
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I think one of my college biology teachers once told us that while corn is not actually a vegetable, congress once voted to officially classify it as such. That might be an urgent legend though. Potatoes are tubars I think. Tomatoes are fruits. However, perhaps the FDA is looking at some other definition, like which vitamins come from it.
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Nick
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quote:
Originally posted by Orincoro:
quote:
Originally posted by TheQuestioner:
So until it hits the main stream media it doesn't matter?

Until you are an actual poster here, rather than someone using this board as a place to advertise your conservative website, you don't get the time of day.


Please, everyone, what is your favorite cracker, and why?

Milton's . . . mmmm. Guiltless.
[ROFL] KoM, "bare" witness, I missed that.

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fugu13
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"Fruit" is a biological designation, but "vegetable" isn't, and fruit is also a term that's applied outside of a biological context (in a way that's not entirely consistent with the biological definition). When they're used in laws, they're referring to the more common way of classifying them (especially as there isn't a scientific way of distinguishing "vegetables"), not the scientific definition of what a fruit is.
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