Cancel Culture

Free Speech?

A man attended protests around the Tampa area. He is alleged to have been using racial and anti-gay language at these protests. The leftists do what they always do- they post pictures of people on the opposing side in the hopes that someone will identify them. That’s what happened here: someone recognized and identified him. At no time is he alleged to have identified his employer during the protests, nor is he alleged to have ever worn uniform items while protesting. Still, he was fired from his job at the Largo Fire Department as a result of his behavior at the protests.

Stoffel’s actions were not consistent with the standards and trust the community expects and deserves. ~Largo Fire Department officials in a statement to the press

A private employer would be in a good position to fire Mr. Stoffel. However, his employer is the government.

The government cannot prohibit the free exercise of speech. Government employees who are not at work do not lose their Constitutional rights simply because the government signs their paychecks. Government employees can speak as private citizens on matters of public concern without fear of retaliation, but their speech can be restricted if it disrupts government operations or is part of their official job duties. Since Mr. Stoffel was protesting on his own time and did not at any time indicate that he was a government employee, he is free to speak his mind. This is a well established legal principle.

The governing constitutional standard, known as the Pickering test, is a flexible balancing inquiry pitting the interests of the government as an employer against the free speech interests of their employees.

  • speech spoken as an employee gets no constitutional protections. So the speech cannot be made as a part of an employee’s duties. Garcetti v. Ceballos (2006)
  • The speech must be one of concern to the general public. For example, speech complaining about your boss’ management style is not protected. Connick v. Myers (1983)
  • In Pickering v. Board of Education, a public school teacher was fired for publishing a “Letter to the Editor” that criticized the local school board’s allocation of school funds. The Court noted that teachers were “the members of a community most likely to have informed and definite opinions” about public school expenditures. This establishes that sometimes citizens who happen to be government employees can have an educated opinion.

Speaking as a citizen and speaking as an employee appear to be mutually exclusive: a speaker can speak either as one or the other. An employee speaks as a citizen whenever the speech is neither an employment grievance nor speech that a part of their professional duties. And while speech spoken as an employee is unprotected, when an employee speaks as a citizen, any reactive adverse employment action would be subjected to a constitutional scrutiny whenever that speech is about matters of public concern. Simple, right?

One other caveat: The speech can’t be detrimental to the mission of the employer. In City of San Diego v. Roe (2004), a police officer was fired for selling sexually explicit videos of himself stripping off a police uniform and masturbating. When the case eventually made it to SCOTUS, the court ruled that the officer had damaged the mission of his employer because he appeared in uniform in the video.

So let’s now take a look at Stoffel’s actions- he was engaged in various protests in the Tampa area. At no time did he announce that he was a firefighter, never appeared in any sort of clothing that identified that he was part of that fraternity, and the speech was not a part of his duties. Some speech, like a public employee’s social media posts considered racist, sexist, or homophobic, could be seen as matters of public concern.

In deciding if the speech is disruptive to the workplace, the court will consider the content of the speech, as well as its manner, time, and place. In this case, it was at a protest where people of both sides of the argument were present.

There was a similar case a few years ago in Lake county, where a teacher that had expressed his disagreement with the concept of gay marriage was terminated after a parent recognized him and started a public cancelling campaign. He sued, and they settled out of court, paying him an undisclosed sum. I posted about it here.

In my opinion, Mr. Stoffel has a good case. He should retain a lawyer and file a lawsuit.

By Divemedic, ago

I Guess the Climate Isn’t That Important

According to Canadian climate warriors, beating people who don’t follow their communist belief system is more important than saving the environment. Canada has decided that preventing Tesla from installing battery systems, solar panels, charging stations, and inverters in order to punish and attack Elon Musk is more important than saving the environment. They have removed Tesla from the list of products that are eligible for clean energy rebates, and are even talking about revoking Musk’s citizenship.

Leftism is a religion, and Musk has been excommunicated.

By Divemedic, ago

Mostly Peaceful Trespassing

The Kootenai County Republican Central Committee in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho was having a town hall meeting, and that meeting was being interrupted and interfered with by Democrat protesters. Security for the even asked those who were being disruptive to leave, and they refused. Security attempted to walk them out, and the protesters became violent. At least two of those protesters were arrested. In particular, one woman had already interrupted the meeting at least seven times, had been warned three times, then refused to leave when asked to do so. When security tried to forcibly remove her, she bit one of the officers. She was then arrested for battery.

The town dropped all charges and then suspended the business licenses of the security company. The license wasn’t suspended because the guards had used inappropriate force. No, they were suspended because their uniforms hadn’t been inspected and approved by the police chief within the past three years. No surprise there, as the current Mayor is a fruitcake Democrat from Southern California.

The protesters and their supporters are claiming that they have a constitutional right to speech and to redress their elected representatives for their grievances. The howls from the lefty press are becoming louder:

In the past week, with Congress in recess, Republican lawmakers across the country have faced hostile town halls, where constituents dissatisfied with the Trump/Musk chaos in the federal government boo, chant, and interrupt. Some Democrats have been facing pressure from their own. “Tyranny is rising in the White House, and a man has declared himself our king,” one audience voter challenged his representative at a town hall in Georgia days before. “So, I would like to know rather, the people would like to know, what you, congressman, and your fellow congressmen are going to do to rein in the megalomaniac in the White House?” Like the rolling pickets outside Tesla showrooms in recent weeks, these actions have at times been intentionally disruptive, meant not merely as protest but to interrupt business as usual. What was done to Borrenpohl in Coeur d’Alene for speaking out at a town hall is a terrifying escalation. In Idaho, the lines between Republican politics and political violence are thinner than they are in some places, but there’s no reason to believe this escalation won’t be repeated.

Let’s start by pointing out that a meeting of the Kootenai County Republican Central Committee is not a government function. That committee is a private club and can set whatever rules that it wants for its meetings. So this is not a “redress of grievances,” but is instead an attempt to disrupt the lives of those with whom the left disagrees. Just like the picketing of a business in which Musk has an interest (Tesla dealerships), the left is attempting to annoy and disrupt people’s lives.

This isn’t an escalation, it’s a response to the weaponization of the FBI investigating and intimidating parents who dared show up at school board meetings to speak against trannies having access to their children.

The left hasn’t stopped their endless attack on our nation. This is just another battle. They are still coming for you. There is so much news coming out of this area of Idaho over the past three years, it is obvious that this is where the main battles between the communists and the rest of America are happening. There are stories of the FBI front group “Patriot Front,” as well as Proud Boys, Ammon Bundy, and plenty of arrests and violence.

By Divemedic, ago

Social Credit and Lynch Mobs

If you are on social media, you have likely seen the video of the Philadelphia Eagles fan confronting a woman wearing Packers gear. He called a woman a cunt on video, seemingly because she was a fan of the opposing team.

Taken at face value, what the guy did and said was crass and deserved punishment. having been to sporting events with Philly fans, I can tell you that no matter what the sport, the fans from that city are just like this guy. The woman’s husband, had he done something, would have gotten his ass kicked by the rest of the nearby Philly fans.

Still, Internet lynch mobs are a thing, and this guy was soon identified by Social Media busybodies. The league banned him from all future NFL events, and I really feel that justice was served at that point. The punishment fit the crime, so to speak.

Still, that isn’t enough to satisfy the Internet busybodies. They don’t stop until a person has been destroyed. They also identified his employer and went after his career, successfully, I might add.

It also turns out that there is likely much more to this story. It seems that the woman and her soon to be husband who were the target of this verbal abuse are so-called “influencers.” The pair specialize in starting conflict and then filming the resulting chaos.

Fans have discovered that the fiance of the woman abused by Caldwell, Alexander Basara, is actually a content creator with close to 60,000 subscribers on YouTube.

And to add to the suspicion, Basara and his other half only attended Sunday’s game after he created a GoFundMe page asking for donations to help get him there – despite claiming to live an hour away from Lincoln Financial Field.

Knowing this, it is entirely possible that the guy and his woman provoked Caldwell so they could get his reaction on film.

That’s the issue with cancel culture- the Internet lynch mobs gather and destroy people’s lives without a thought as to whether or not they should. This very blog was targeted by a Cancel Culture warrior who wanted to get me fired and deplatformed. It was my readers who shot back and got her fired.

It shouldn’t be like that. It sucks that making a comment completely unrelated to work can result in the Internet gang looking to dox you so they can have you fired. Those are the rules we are being forced to live under, even if they do suck.

By Divemedic, ago

Felon

A personal story of how things happen. This will tie in to a later post.

In 2016, I was attacked in my classroom by a student. In fact, it was a black student. He jumped me in my classroom, and in the ensuing struggle, I pinned him to the floor and called for help. The vice-principal suspended the student for ten days. The school resource officer (also black) came in to ask me what happened, and read me my Miranda rights. I told him that I didn’t want to answer questions, and demanded a lawyer. In an egregious display of a disregard for my Constitutional rights, he immediately went to the Principal and told him that I was obviously guilty, because innocent people don’t have anything to hide. The cop then went to the student’s home and told them he was cleared of all discipline and would be permitted to return to school. I was placed on suspension pending investigation.

During the “investigation” my students were given writing assignments like “write about the time that Mr. Medic was a bad teacher.” As a result, a couple of females said that I “looked at them funny” which made them think I was a sexual predator. Other students complained that my class was too hard, and my grades were too low, which wrecked their GPA. Those assignments would be used against me later.

As a result of the “investigation,” the school I was working for pushed me out the door. The school told me that I would have to attend anger management courses and see a psychiatrist about my “violent tendencies.” So I quit.

After I left, the school filed an official complaint with the state of Florida, using those student writing assignments as “evidence” that I was somehow breaking the law. The school insinuated that I was a sexual predator. If my teaching license would have been removed, so would my medical licenses. I hired a lawyer who specializes in this sort of thing, and $4,000 later, it was over and I had won. After it was done, my attorney wrote a letter to the state saying that he has been a lawyer for more than 20 years, and that this was the worst example of an attempt at railroading a teacher through the manufacturing of evidence that he had ever seen.

In the six years since he turned 18, that student has become a one man crime wave. He started a “business” that never really existed except on paper, then applied for a 6 figure PPP loan under that business name, a loan which he never paid back.

He has been arrested no fewer than 4 times, and this last time was for a felony. He attacked a cop after fleeing from him at speeds of over 170 miles per hour on the highway, before switching to surface streets where he was fleeing at over 140 miles per hour. His case is pending, but my bet is that he won’t do any jail time.

The girl who was the ringleader of the girls who said I “looked at them” in a creepy manner? She now works as a Democrat staffer as a “community organizer.”

That’s what our “justice” system is- the violent felons commit crime after crime, never facing any consequences, the left women toss around accusations of sexual violence and harassment, while the honest hardworking folks are told that they have anger management issues and are accused of being predators.

The gaslighting is over the top. This is why mere accusations can’t be permitted to affect someone’s life. People have learned that they can win by merely accusing someone of something, with no proof required.

By Divemedic, ago

Broken Record

It’s almost cliche at this point- any time a Republican is successful, a woman (or two) come forward with accusations of some sort of sexual peccadillo, making accusations about events that occurred years or even decades in the past, but are supported by no evidence other than the woman’s say-so. Trump, Hegseth, and Gaetz are just the latest in a long list of Republicans who are being accused of sexual impropriety.

I have gotten to the point where I just don’t believe any of them any more. If they are willing to rig an election, fake an insurrection, or assassinate people, what is lying about someone’s character?

By Divemedic, ago

Only One Book Is Banned

Libraries decide which books to carry, and which books to pass on. School libraries do the same. That doesn’t mean that the book is banned. If a person wants a book that the library doesn’t carry, all they have to do is go buy it. I am a voracious reader, and even I don’t think that we need public libraries any longer. The Internet has effectively replaced them. School libraries need only carry books that directly reflect what is being taught, and a small fiction section that contains books appropriate for the age group that will be checking them out. That means no sexual content. None.

You are free to read and write whatever books you wish- but the taxpayer isn’t obligated to pay for them or to provide them.

If you, as a parent, want your child to read a book of instructions on how to suck dicks, all you have to do is buy it and give it to your child. Just because a book isn’t carried in the school library doesn’t mean that the book is banned. The left has done this with Bibles for my entire life- try to find a copy of a Bible in a school library. That doesn’t mean that the Bible is banned.

As far as I know, there is only one book that is banned in the United States– Cody Wilson’s “The Liberator Code Book: An Exercise in Freedom of Speech.” That book is banned for sale. Not available anywhere.

So why is a book on how to build your own guns banned, but books telling children how to suck dicks aren’t? I will leave that discussion to my readers.

By Divemedic, ago

Fallout

Newly-elected President Obama was meeting with Republican leaders just after his 2009 inauguration. The Republicans were meeting with the President and attempting to find some common ground. The Democrats had majorities in both houses of Congress. Mr. Obama smugly told GOP leaders that “elections have consequences, and, in case there is any doubt, I won.” Then he proceeded to use his power to bend the entire nation over the Resolute desk. You know, the same desk that Clinton was sitting behind when he got a Lewinski from, well, Lewinski.

For the 15 years that followed, the left used their power like a large hammer, beating down everyone simply because they could. Cancel culture became a weapon. How many of us were silenced on social media? How many times did we smugly hear “learn to code?” I have been attacked on this blog, to the point where people have tried to get my website taken away, tried to locate my employer to get me fired, and even threatened me with physical violence. That’s why I moved this blog from the free space it had on Blogspot to the version that you see here.

The threats and attacks have been escalating for a decade and a half, mostly because the left was emboldened by the fact that they weren’t getting much pushback. Not remaining content with just taking away people’s livelihoods, in 2020 the soft attacks of cancel culture expanded to become physical violence. People died. Now someone has taken a shot at President Trump and the left is crowing online and in person about how the assassin should have been successful, and the right seems to finally be responding in kind.

They are calling the right “divisive” because they no longer want to deal with those who have been calling them “deplorable NAZI’s” while threatening to put them in camps and kill them for the past 15 years. The Twitter account called “Libs of TikTok” has been contacting the employers of people who have been saying ugly things and getting them fired, deplatformed, and putting them out of business. The left has been crying about it. I would love to respond, but Larry Correia beat me to it, and has said it much more effectively than I could.

The left crushed tens of thousands of people’s lives for things that they said for more than a decade and a half. They hounded CHILDREN for perceived transgressions. They gleefully ruined lives. They have been SWATTING people.

My sense of civility and kindness has been worn away. I don’t give a fuck about the left, and I will have no mercy. I am going to fight this fight, taking the battle as far as is strategically and tactically feasible.

By Divemedic, ago