Fireable Offense?

So Jemele Hill, an ESPN Black female sports anchor, tweeted that Donald Trump is a white supremacist. Then Sarah Huckabee, the White House spokesperson, calls Hill’s behavior a fireable offense.  I find this interesting, amusing and scary on so many levels.

So, are those the rules by which we play?  If you say good things about the President you remain in his good graces.  If you say bad things about the President you should be punished.  That is absolutely absurd and contrary to any sense of the right to have one’s own opinion and share it.  What sort of freedom does that promote?  Trump freedom from verbal attack and ridicule?  Please.  If we followed the same rules for everyone, then Trump should be fired for labels he placed on Hillary Clinton, Barak Obama, Glenn Beck, Joy Behar, Ruth Ginsburg, and on and on.  (Check out the 365 people, places and things Trump has insulted since becoming President:  https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2016/01/28/upshot/donald-trump-twitter-insults.html?mcubz=1.)  The truly ridiculous part of all of this is that Trump’s insults are not backed up by facts.  Hill’s are.  And, Sarah Huckabee should be fired for her comments about Hill.  This kind of circular logic only works in a state where the leader is immune to questioning and second-guessing.  Such a state is not free.  Such a state is not a democracy.  Such a state does not have the Bill of Rights. 

The problem is bigger than that.  We appear as a nation to have devolved to a position that simply states think like me or get out of here.  I find that horrifying.  Why isn’t Colin Kaepernick an NFL quarterback this year?  He thinks differently than the owners.  He protested during the playing of the National Anthem.  Imagine:  A professional football player legally protesting and he becomes a pariah in his profession.  Yes, he upset a lot of people, people who think differently than Kaepernick.  So?  The majority perspective rarely needs to protest, that is why protest is protected in the Constitution.  But because Kaepernick does not think like he is supposed to think he is unhireable, which is tantamount to fireable.

Brooke Baldwin, a CNN commentator, ordered the microphone turned off and ended an interview with a panelist who said he believes in the First Amendment and Boobs.  Brooke was horrified.  How dare he say such a thing on her show and in 2017?  She totally disagrees with his attitude toward women, so she kicks him off the show.  Brooke entirely missed the point.  She violated the First Amendment by removing a person with an alternative view.  Even more interesting to me is when I did a search on Brooke and found an entire series of pictures of her clearly flaunting cleavage.  That’s fine.  But to take offense when a man says “boobs" while displaying your own is pretty hypocritical to me.

Fans at Fenway displayed a banner that read, “Racism is as American as Baseball.”  They were kicked out of the park.  Should people have the right to express what they think?  I think so.

I do not agree with Colin Kaepernick.  I do not agree with the panelist on CNN.  I do not agree with the insults Trump has thrown around at almost everyone.  I do not agree with the fans at Fenway.  I do happen to agree with Jemele Hill.  Does not matter.  Is it safe for me to have an opinion different from the opinion of those I work for or wish to work for?  If it is not safe, then I am not truly free.  Is it as safe for me to stand on a street corner and say I am a Christian as it is to say I am an atheist?  Is it as safe for me to stand on a street corner and say “Impeach Trump” as it is safe for me to say “Support Trump”?  Is it as safe for me to stand on a street corner and say that I think women are inferior to men, should obey men and exist as sex objects for men as it is for me to stand on a street corner and say I believe women are equal to men and in some ways superior? 

In a free society freedom of speech and freedom to protest are hallmarks of freedom. 

I remember a school board member telling me that the superintendent of schools should reflect the community values.  That sounds reasonable, but it isn’t.  Suppose a professional educator is in a community that does not value academics?  Suppose a professional educator is in a community that wants to punish kids for looking different?  Suppose a professional educator is in a community where there is no vision for students after high school?  Suppose a professional educator is in a Republican community that supports charter schools, vouchers, increases accountability, decreased funding, etc.  Should a real professional educator reflect those values or should he or she serve as a catalyst to question those values. 

When “right think” rules the day, liberty and freedom get fired.  I disapprove of what you say, I disagree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.  (Probably Voltaire)