Huckleberries Online

Parting Shot — 2.9.12

Posted by DFO

Feb. 9, 2012 5:34 p.m. • 13 comments

Standing in front of the federal courthouse Thursday in Medford, Ore., Ken Webber shows off the Confederate battle flag emblazoned with the word “Redneck'' that got him fired as a school bus driver. The father of four young children, Webber hopes to get the job back with a lawsuit arguing his First Amendment rights were violated. Story here. (AP Photo/Jeff Barnard)

Question: Was Ken Webber's 1st Amendment rights violated? Or did he deserve to be fired?

13 comments on this post so far. Add yours!

BigMac on February 09 at 5:49 p.m.
Has he been thrown in jail? Did he imagine that he had a First Amendment right to a job?
Phaedrus on February 09 at 6:06 p.m.
Agree with Big Mac. Somebody should have told this guy about Dean Wormer’s advice.
hhuseland on February 09 at 6:13 p.m.
Hard to say. The term redneck originated from farmers toiling out in the Southern sun. Sunburned necks were the rule. Later it was somehow equated with racism.

If this guy didn’t spout off while on duty at the school or on the bus, it probably wasnt any of the school’s business. If he did, then he deserved it.
hhuseland on February 09 at 6:30 p.m.
I might fire him for lowering fuel mileage due to his substantial girth, though.
Sisyphus on February 09 at 6:40 p.m.
Yet another example of a conservative feeling entitled.
Diana on February 09 at 6:46 p.m.
I don’t believe his First Amendment rights were violated.

If he wants to fly the flag on his truck, let him, since it’s the symbol of the biggest losers in American history.
greenlibertarian on February 09 at 7:05 p.m.
Unless they HAD to give a reason, which I doubt, his employer should simply have said “As of (today +14 days), your services are no longer needed. Thank you for service and have a nice day.”
hhuseland on February 09 at 7:53 p.m.
Well, Sis, if you want to label me I guess that’s alright, but did you have a comment other than to attempt to discredit my philosophy or are you just more comfortable being contrary? It helps if you address the subject rather than the person commenting. It’s also less classless.
Eman on February 09 at 8:22 p.m.
Actually the term redneck started in the 30’s with miners in west Virginia, something to do with unions and strikes and some of them marched to protest wearing red bandannas, that’s when it gained modern prominence, prior to that it did mean burnt neck sharecroppers and hard workers.
But, in the 17th century the Protestant Scott sign some documents in blood and wore the blood stained cloths on their necks.
Today it simply means dumb arse :) and this guys photo should be in the dictionary next to the word.
greenlibertarian on February 09 at 8:29 p.m.
Jeeze Herb, hold your fire for gawds-sakes. Sisyphus wasn’t talking about YOU!

Speaking of class…
hhuseland on February 09 at 9:59 p.m.
Pow! Sorry SL. I’ve just got a belly full of personal remarks from the aforementioned person.
hhuseland on February 09 at 10:01 p.m.
Hey, GL, when you coming up to Bayview again, We need to split a few beers again.
hhuseland on February 09 at 10:43 p.m.
Further news. He flew the flag on the school grounds and refused to remove it. End of story.

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About this blog

D.F. Oliveria is a columnist and blogger for The Spokesman-Review. Huckleberries Online was judged the best 2008 Idaho newspaper blog by the Idaho Press Club. And the best 2007 news blog in the Pacific Northwest by the Society for Professional Journalist. Print Huckleberries is a past winner of the Herb Caen Memorial Column contest by the National Association of Newspaper Columnists. The Readership Institute of Northwestern University cited this blog as a good example of online community journalism.