After a half nights sleep, I dragged my ass into work today-mental anguish don't you know. In fact I'm taking a mental health day tomorrow. I need it.
I appreciate all the advice given, Kevin, have you ever considered law as a profession? I'm sure someone could utilize that energy and passion you have if the situation was to your liking. Maybe a a Voltaireesque approach to lawyering.
I've thought hard about how I should handle this, and tried to consider all the angles. I think it's important to choose your battles very carefully. I do like my job and intend to keep it. However, at the end of any given day, career, and life, a person is left with only one thing, their reputation. Without elaborating, I will take appropriate action to protect my reputation and family. Thanks for comments and support all.

Wow...that's unreal.

I remember hearing Limbaugh on the radio in the early 90's and almost driving off the road because of what I was hearing. Surely he can't get away with this....he just said that all liberals want to destroy the country..I'm a liberal...how can he get away with that??????

well, he did and then they made a "news" channel and others joined in on radio and the liberals created their own shows.......... and now it's ok to say defamatory things casually?

good for you for bringing it to the principal. I'm in education as well I can't believe this would be allowed.

Inquiet,

1) You should be very, EXCEEDINGLY careful about posting about this here. You do not have anonymity on the internet, and you operate on the web in the midst of people who do not believe you should have the privilege of being anonymous and actually strive to make it so you cannot do so.

2) Since you put "radical extremist liberal" in quotes, I assume they actually used those words. That is, as your thread's title suggests, a clear case of slander, libel and defamation of character, and I suggest you hire an attorney. In any case, if you plan to do something substantive about this, the first thing to consider is to delete your post. See point #1. If you do not plan to do something substantive, and it is discovered you are speaking about the St. Louis public school system in a negative light, you may still need the services of an attorney.

3) People in the public school system don't care about what you think. They only care that you perform well according to your designated function, and that you adhere to the curricula of the school. What you personally bring to the school and/or the student's learning experience is peripheral. They certainly don't care to know you support one presidential candidate over another, especially considering the tenuous grasp the majority has of history, the Constitution, our political system and form of government. They are quite content with their opinions, which are obviously passionate and absolute, but devoid of any empathy or tolerance for the opinions of others. In other words, it's a dead-on reflection of our two party system of government here in the US.

4) If you do not choose to fight what they have done to your character, you are giving their actions your tacit approval. In that case, it is disingenuous to complain and the entire affair is of no consequence at all.

5) If you are a liberal, that means you most likely voted for Obama, who has expanded the unconstitutional surveillance of US citizens, expanded the wars in the Middle East, expanded the use of robotic aircraft to violate the sovereignty of foreign nations for the purpose of conducting assassinations, violated his promise to dismantle Guantanamo Bay, and who has done nothing to address this country's cyclopean debt, which threatens to destroy our currency, our economy, and our way of life. This is no different than what Mitt Romney wished to do in his first term, and is demonstrably the same as GW Bush did during his stint as POTUS.

6) I am very sorry for what you must be going through. If it is any consolation, I know how you feel. Believe me, it isn't any different to be harrassed when you're a conservative or a libertarian or an anarchist. The US is supposed to be a place where we are all represented, and it just isn't that way. Instead, I have to live with either the shitty candidate that liberals voted for or the shitty candidate that the Republicans voted for. And, as I said, there is essentially no difference between the two.

My mother was a teacher in the public school system for 20 years. She wanted to make a difference, and retired knowing she just couldn't. She was a good teacher, one of the best and brightest. My daughter entered the teaching profession with the same ideals, in spite of my counsel. While I'm sure you love your job, it's obvious that children are learning about their environment through first-hand experience, not from the ideals of an ideologically-entrenched public school teacher. Mom thought, as a conservative, she could have a political effect on faculty and kids... much the same as you.

It's a trap, dude. Look at this site, and all my posts, and all my points. How many people have I convinced in my hundreds of posts?

Zero. Zilch. Nobody, not one.

Good luck to you.

Kev

Brett,

While I'm not the hugest Limbaugh fan in the world, I would urge you to read the 1st Amendment to the US Constitution. What he says is certainly inflammatory to those who don't agree, but is absolutely no different from Rachel Maddow scolding me for thinking the 10th Amendment is a good idea, and saying I should be deported for believing in a state's right to secede from the union.

The answer to your question is that people can say whatever the hell they damned well please, and if you don't like it, you can turn the radio off.

The difference here is that Inquiet's superiors were speaking about an individual, while Limbaugh speaks about the ideology of a group of people.

veryveryveryveryvery different. Hope you'll agree.

It's funny, because I always thought liberals were very tolerant of other people's opinions... even if they were outrageous.

Oh, well. You live... you learn.

K

I believe that the left "can" be polarizing as well. I even mentioned it.

However if some one says that "what liberals think is.." or something along those lines I take it personally. I consider it slander. I hear it from the radio right all the time. I haven't listened to much left wing tv so I can't say if they do the same.

just my opinion
Brett

I listen to the left wing far more than the right. More entertaining... Sort of like a freakshow...
Yesterday Mike Malloy said he would like it if "tea baggers were beheaded". You can't get more entertaining than that. Imagine what backlash Limbaugh would face if he recommended death to liberals.

Why does such stupidity not offend me? Because that dork has a right to be stupid, and say whatever the hell he wants. It isn't slander, just stupidity.

What inquiet has described is libel.

Kev

Personally I think the left is way more ass-backwards than the right. Wait, we're talking about Stick technique, right?

Please do not hijack Inquiet thread (open a thread in the Lounge section).

@Inquiet. What you told us is really disturbing, a remark like that has nothing to do in a school publication; you start pointing out people's political views and what's next? Their religious views, sexual orientation, race? I believe that a public apology is in order.

@Kev. Although I don't share your political views, I appreciate the fact that you defend the freedom of speech and rights of people that do not think like you as strongly as you defend yours. Respect


Cheers, Daniel.

As long as you believe everyone has the right to say what they feel, you are far more in agreement with me than many others. This doesn't mean you besmirch someone's name publicly to do so, portraying him as a dangerous ideologue in a public school's newsletter.

Daniel, the respect is mutual.

I actually feel that folks have the right to DO what they want to do as well, as long as no harm whatsoever comes to someone else's person or property. That makes me very unpopular, and that's where I part ways with the majority.

Still haven't heard from Inquiet on this, probably for the best. Is there a way he can delete his post from this thread?

Kev

See Above.