Also, we all know that ALL speech isn’t free, especially in the work place. You can be an absolutist all you want in the public square, but this situation is clearly different.

And lets be clear here…this was speech that was directed only at one or two co-workers and not for public consumption. By that standard (if we are going to make moral judgements here) than the people marching in demonstrations with “Bush=Hitler” are *more* wrong since they are attempting to spread their hate to the widest audience possible.

I’m not saying you have to like it. As a matter of fact, I’d pretty committed to your right to complain about it as well.

You want to fire somone…then point to a single thing they did wrong in the performace of their duties.

No hysteria here, just a point you may have overlooked: of all the hyperbolic “X is Hitler!” comments you referenced, none of them came from election officials.

The choice you offer is a false one: speech we consider tolerable from some, when spoken by others, may be intolerable.

As for free speech, I’m a bit of an absolutist. Yes, I believe the KKK has a Constitutional right to march and spout their incredibly stupid and hateful idiocies. That is why I believe a line is crossed when calling for the state to impose penalties upon people based upon some people not liking someone’s speech political or otherwise.

And we can put this post amongst the long list of Donklephant blog posts condeming the Bush=Hitler speech.

I believe I’ve condemned all kinds of hateful things from the left. Not sure about specifically mentioning the stupid Hitler remarks, but I clearly remember bashing Keith Olbermann and I’ve taken it to MoveOn and DailyKos and their ilk for stirring up anger and hate.

Point taken, though. It has been irritating to watch Obama supporters get all bent out of shape over hateful speech when, for the last 8 years, people on the left have been saying all manner of horrible things about Bush. If it’s wrong to stir up hate, it’s wrong to stir up hate, regardless of who’s being hated. I’m sure I’ll get accused of false equivilancy for that remark, but hate is hate and it shouldn’t be tolerated just because it’s coming from “your” side.

Shouldn’t this be an example of how both the left and the right should work together to try to diminish the powers of the government, no matter WHO is in office at the moment? Republican or Democrat, the government is never, ever your friend.

What? No one was ever fired for such things? Musta just been an oversight.

And we can put this post amongst the long list of Donklephant blog posts condeming the Bush=Hitler speech.

hmmm….. none of those either.

I guess its only offensive when its done to a Democrat.

You have two options: Either such speech is always beyond the pale, or you’ve got to put up with it. The idea that someone should be fired because they have a different sense of humor from Justin, or me, or even the majority of Americans is an idea that cannot be squared with any liberal idea of free speech. That so many go along with the idea of punishing people for speech they disagree with is truly disturbing, and does little to disprove the charges of totalitarian tendencies.

(I’m waiting for the apolplectic responses to my measured comments. Should be fun!)

http://www.rushlimbaugh.com/home/daily/site_102308/content/01125106.guest.html

What a way to go out.

We have SO many challenges as a nation right now, many of them external. Yet we pick at each other over tired, idiotic issues like race. Until we come to the joint conclusion that NONE OF THIS OLD-SCHOOL SHIT MATTERS, we’ll continue to split our energy and be less effective than we could be at fixing our problems.