Tuesday, October 24, 2017
Cop Loses Pay After Her Personal Facebook Post Calls NFL Kneelers ‘Anti-American Degenerates”!
Yet another case of free speech for me, but not for thee.
Despite apologizing, even though it was a posting on her PERSONAL Facebook account, Col. Kriste Kibbey Etue will lose 5 days of pay (but will still work those days) as punishment for an “inappropriate” Facebook post.
Despite the fact that the whole NFL kneeling controversy is directed at police, and she has every right to defend her profession, Etue is apparently not allowed to exercise free speech, even on her personal page. Etue posted the following meme on her page in September:
“The director of the Michigan State Police will lose five days of pay for sharing a post on her personal Facebook page that called NFL players who kneel during the national anthem “anti-American degenerates,” the state’s governor said Thursday.
Etue apologized after the backlash that followed. But she has not publicly explained why she shared the meme.
Michigan Gov. Rich Snyder had already said he was not going to fire Etue, who is white and earns $165,000 a year. Etue must still work during the five days she will not be paid.
For a controversy that centers around the argument of free speech, it’s amazing to see how people can use the exact same reasoning for the NFL kneelers AND against another. As usual, liberals tend to apply one set of rules to themselves and another for the rest of us.
Col. Etue didn’t post this meme in her workplace. She wasn’t speaking for her department. She used her personal account and own time to voice her opinion. This is more than we can say for the NFL players who are protesting at work and causing their employers to lose untold amounts of money. But somehow she is the bad guy here.
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12 comments:
Some group of leftists has submitted a petition calling for Gov. Snyder to fire her for daring to express her opinion. It seems that public officials are not allowed to express their opinions.
There are still people here in Michigan saying her punishment didn't go far enough and that she should have been fired. She did nothing wrong!!
Leftists: "What's ours is ours. What's yours is ours, too!"
Sorry, but this was a just outcome.
First, the fact that the account was her own personnel account doesn't matter. The account shows her in uniform and lists her job. A reasonable person can surmise the she is speaking as a government official. I would be surprised if her contract or employee handbook was not specific in how to properly handle social media.
Secondly, her position as a law enforcement official is in part to make sure that people are treated the same. Her comment of "we will not support millionaire ingrates who hate America...." shows an unacceptable bias.
Does she deserve to be fired? Probably not. But someone in her position can't act like an idiot and not expect consequences.
The only thing she has going for her is that this was a meme she was posting. It does not appear to be her original thought. If it were her original thought, I would support her being relieved of duty just as I would support a LEO that made a comment about conservatives, religious people, etc.
She screwed up.
To Anonymous 11:38:
Bullshit.
Anon 11:38,
Thank you for your well reasoned and well thought out response.
(sarcasm off)
I see your point but applied equally such logic would mean that the kneeling players should be sacked as they are in their teams uniform and a reasonable person would believe they are representing the team when they disrespect the nation
I think you are right Hinchley - if their employers chose to do so they would be within their rights to insist that their employees observe a code of conduct while in uniform and at their place of employment (depending on their individual contracts).
That code could require them to stand for the anthem.
If those employees failed to do so then they could be fired.
Similarly this Police Chief may well be subject to rules about use of social media - lots of people are nowadays.
It is worth pointing out that the players seem to have MORE freedom to speak than this Police Chief.
Where the issue arises is over how much control an employer should be allowed to exercise over non-work communications. If you have a job, does that give them the right to control what you say on your personal Facebook page?
Anon 7:25,
Where the issue arises is over how much control an employer should be allowed to exercise over non-work communications. If you have a job, does that give them the right to control what you say on your personal Facebook page?
As I said earlier, the line is not what is said so much as it is who is saying it and under what guise they are saying it. In this case, the woman's personnel account had her avatar as her picture in uniform as well as listing her profession as "Director of the Michigan State Police."
If she had an avatar where she was not in uniform and did not list working for the MSP, she'd be fine.
From the MSP policy:
Department members are reminded that their conduct while engaging in either professional or personal use of social media or social networking sites is subject to all other department rules and regulations as required by Of
ficial Order No. 1, including but not limited to, the Law Enforcement Code of Ethics, the department’s Harassment Policy, the department’s Code of Conduct, and the department’s Information Technology Security Policyset forth in
Section 21.3 below. As a result, members are prohibited from the following:
(6) Posting statements, speeches, appearances, endorsements, or materials that could reasonably be considered to represent the views or positions of the department without express authorization.
And....
21.24 PERSONAL USE
A.Members are free to express themselves as private citizens on social media sites to the degree that their postings do not impair working relationships, impede the performance of duties, impair discipline and harmony among co-workers, or negatively affect the public perception of the department. In order to prevent bringing the department into disrepute or negatively affecting the efficiency of the department, members shall use appropriate
discretion in the use of references to the Michigan State Police so as not to discredit the department or its employees and ensure that information concerning official business is not released, either directly or indirectly, by a member.
source: http://www.michigan.gov/documents/msp/OO_21__Telephone_Web_Social_Media_Use_and_Information_Technology_Security_Policy_551052_7.pdf
There are Supreme Court cases upon which this policy is constructed.
The woman's account gave the impression that she was speaking as a member of the police and not as a private citizen. She was therefore legally subject to discipline by her supervisors.
There is no Free Speech and Free Press under socialism/Communism and the Hollywood left made the crappy movie REDS starring Warrren Beatty just more of what Joe McCarthy was warning us about
After seeing the posting on MSP policy, I suppose she should have been disciplined. But I have had the honor of getting to know the Colonel over the past few years, and she is a smart, dedicated, principled officer. It is hard to imagine she could stay quiet after the disrespect given to the brave men and women in her command. These officers risk their life every day they go to work, and they do it to protect the rest of us. I suspect the Colonel knew she would take some heat, but felt obligated to speak out on behalf of all those brave troopers she leads.
Liberals all need to just move away far far away go live on saturn or jupiter with Cher
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