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You'd think the President of the United States could handle a one-fingered criticism, and you'd think a Congressman would have better things to do than get a bus driver fired, but apparently not, according to the King County Journal:
[Congressman Dave] Reichert rode with Bush in his motorcade when the president came to the Eastside in June to raise money for Reichert and the state Republican Party.Stopped on an entrance to the freeway from I-90, students in several Issaquah School District buses crammed their faces against the windows and waved to the president's motorcade. Bush waved back.
Bush was having a great time, Reichert told a group of veterans in Orting recently. At least until he came even with one of the bus drivers.
The president turned to Reichert and said the bus driver had flipped him off.
Later, Reichert called the school district. After an investigation, the 43-year-old bus driver was fired in early September.
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While my knee-jerk reaction is to go off on some free-speech tangent, I have to say, employees of a county agency should be expected to show some professionalism, and be held accountable when they don't.
That said, I probably would have been fired too. An oppertunity like that doesn't just motorcade along every day.
I have to agree with Jack (I wouldn't have flipped off the President, regardless of which President it might be. You can disagree, but disagreement with respect seems to be a lost art form these days) when he says a public employee should act professional. Professionalism for public employees shouldn't include making partisan political commentary while on the public dime.
Here's a link to a YouTube video of President Bush flipping someone off and stating it was a "one fingered victory salute".
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YVynnbx1Xsc
I agree that the firing was justified...but the tattling? Not cool.
It is not against the law to flip off the president. (I know I would not have been able to control myself and would consider losing my job well worth it.) Professional behavior aside, I think it should be very well established that she had been seen by a student before she could be legally fired, however. If the children didn't see her, she should get her job back.
"If the children didn't see her, she should get her job back."
So if you don't get caught, it doesn't count? I'm sure criminials would love that line of thought.
Who cares if it was the Pres. if I knew the driver (who has already had multiple behavioral issues) was flipping the bird while driving my children around, I'd want her fired too.