Joining The One-Sided Debate

The NY Times presents a "debate" on whether the firing of an off-duty NJ Transit worker for burning a Koran was legal.  The debate is a bit one-sided, since all the legal eagles agree that the fired employee is protected by the First Amendment.  However, the Times did find one person to take the other side, however unconvincingly:

Salam Al-Marayati is executive director of the Muslim Public Affairs Council, a public policy organization that focuses on U.S.-Muslim world relations, Middle East peacemaking, counter-terrorism and faith-based initiatives.

...Burning the American flag is also protected by the First Amendment. But I certainly would fire any of my employees who would consider flag-burning as an act of defiance. It's not. It's childish and immature behavior, and those who would do such a thing would be unworthy of public employment.

"Unworthy"?  Is that the new requirement?  I will agree that if I ran a public relations firm I would probably fire an employee who made it to the evening news by burning a flag, or a Koran - that is not the kind of public relations in which I would choose to engage.  However, we are talking about a state employee here.

My original question about whether the employee is covered by a union contract and grievance procedures remains unanswered.  And let me toss in two cents - dare we analogize to the ban on cross-burning which was upheld by the Supreme Court?  It is not a good analogy, since the history is very different, as is the intended meaning (cross-burners aren't expressing disdain for Christianity, although they do lack certain Christian principles.)

And secondly, let's boo Gov. Christie, who apparently supports the firing.

Comments

[rse]

On Park 51 and special treatment for Islam under the 1st Am, I think Andy McCarthy's term of "preemptive capitulation" is accurate.

I also saw the NYT update on the Senate vote, they were emphasizing DADT, didn't mention the DREAM Act, and pointed out that it was unprecedented not to approve the annual Pentagon funding bill.

My favorite was that finding would be brought back up after the election when things were calmer.

Almost like a parody.

[Ann]

I am so tired of this carp. There are no laws that Democrats can break period. They are lawless:

Democrats Release Allen West's Social Security Number and His Wife’s Federal Employee Number.

[hit and run]

Clarice:
Lord Lindsey.He's yours, jmh

No,no,no. Lindsey's from Alvin Greene's state.

We don't have nuts like that running around here.

Instead,we've got fruits like John Edwards.

But we were smart enough to export him onto the national stage as quickly as possible in an effort to render him a laughingstock of fail. We're givers like that. You're welcome.

[Jane]

Put them all in jail Ann, starting with Eric Holder.

[JM Hanes]

For a Senate candidate in Alaska, I'd bet that getting booted as ranking member of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee would wreak a lot more havoc on Murky's prospects than losing sway on an Appropriations subcommittee.

[Sue]

Ann,

But West won't apologize so what they did is not important. ::eyeroll::

[centralcal]

oh, dear, Sylvia has turned up on the other thread. Things had been going so well today at JOM.

[Pofarmer]

"I'm sure pofarmer can expand on the threat the EPA represents to American farmers"

There's not much to expand on. From dust regulations to carbon sequestrate to ridiculous engine emissions schemes, it all means one thing-your food costs are going up.

[JM Hanes]

Cheer up, ccal, it could be worse, IYKWIMAIKYD

Love those ::eyerolls:: Sue. I've missed 'em.

[Pagar]

Thanks Pofarmer, I would remind every one that food costs are going up for 1 reason. That reason is: The left is running the largest scam ever. No good will come of it.

[JM Hanes]

This is a little something for anbody who decides they'd rather kick back over here for the duration.

Via Instapundit: What will the October surprise be? The offerings strike me as a little ponderous for what our Prez has dubbed the Silly Season. how about y'all?

[MayBee]

Porch- the comment you made at 9:54 last night was so genius. I've been thinking about it since then.
(it was about The Bigs like Sally Quinn knowing that Obama was putting on a show by going to church, and being angry at us for daring to think he's putting on a show).

[PD]

That unfunny idiot Margaret Cho

She didn't do half bad sitting in front of a keyboard smoking a cigarette in The Lost Room. Though I suppose that's not a very high bar.

[PD]

Hey it was within a week....

Actually, the update to indicate that O'Donnell was the candidate occurred the day after the primary, or maybe the day after. Anyway, last week.

[cathyf]

Here's the Vatican Bank story along with something I vaguely remembered from thirty years ago

From the article:

The late Archbishop Paul Marcinkus, an American prelate who headed the Vatican bank at the time, was charged as an accessory to fraudulent bankruptcy in the scandal.

He left a villa in Rome two hours before police arrived for the safety of the Vatican, an independent city-state. Italy's Constitutional Court eventually backed the Vatican in ruling that under Vatican-Italian treaties Marcinkus enjoyed immunity from Italian prosecution. Marcinkus long asserted his innocence and died in 2006.

I know that you will all be shocked shocked to learn that Marcinkus was from Chicago...

[prada handbags]

Oh wow! I gotta look into this!