Utah business owner fires two who backed Obama

[Not_Done_Living]

i am Canadian, but i know how about half my 94 US based staff voted -- because they all either celebrated or mourned the results the morning after the election. I could tell over the phone -- i am sure if you are working in an office with a smaller group of people -- political alligecenes would be pretty clear.

[Sue]

Originally Posted by Not_Done_Living

I could tell over the phone -- i am sure if you are working in an office with a smaller group of people -- political alligecenes would be pretty clear.

On the other hand if you are working for a boss who makes it clear that how you vote will affect how you get treated, even if not as drastically as firing you, I think you'd either lie or keep your mouth shut.

[Ramblin' Dave]

Depending on the part of the US you live in, it's usually pretty easy to tell how free you can be with your politics without any negative consequences. I don't know where Morganton is, but in most parts of North Carolina I've been in, well, I always kept my mouth shut!

[wanderwoman]

Originally Posted by Sue

On the other hand if you are working for a boss who makes it clear that how you vote will affect how you get treated, even if not as drastically as firing you, I think you'd either lie or keep your mouth shut.

...and start looking for another job. A business owner who is making decisions based on politics rather than good business practice is probably making lots of other bad decisions, IMO, and will eventually run the business into the ground.

[Ali Infree]

Bob Murray whose coal miners may have served as a free back drop for a Romney campaign appearance in Ohio and who laid off miners close to the election, blaming Obama energy policy is back in the news. Mr. Murray is apparently re-hiring at this mine. I guess the need for money trumps the desire to make political hay, using average working people as your chips.



Ali

I cannot find the thread about the campaign appearance or I would have posted this there.

[Mickey Blue]

Yea it wouldn't be difficult to fake who you are politically aligned with if you really wanted to. You shouldn't have to of course, but it's better than being fired, I agree I'd be on the job hunt once I learned that was how they did business and I'd document as best I could the events so I could 'out' them when I was free and clear (though depending on the location this may actually help them).

This is another way that I (possibly inaccurately I'll admit since there is so little data to back it up) believe that conservatives at large are different than liberals at large; I have not seen significant evidence that were a company to fire somebody who voted for Romney or Bush there would be a notable liberal presence that said "Good for them!". I mean some would of course, but I don't personally believe it would be as large nor would so many members be in such powerful positions.

And of course, it goes without saying that were such a thing to happen conservatives would (rightly, if hypocritically, so) be livid and Fox would make it their mission to destroy said business.

Much like there are a million and one attempts to boycott businesses that allegedly support gay rights or abortion rights but the moment there is a boycott against a business that is anti-gay rights they start coming out saying that such things are inappropriate.

[snopes]

[Thebobo]

Originally Posted by Sister Ray

How does he know a customer is a liberal, anyway? Does he ask them? Not to mention a "no" doesn't mean the person's a conservative.

Sister "socialists!" Ray

The scent of pachouli is usually a dead giveaway.

[Auburn Red]

Head meet desk at not only his general jNFBSKssness, but the fact that he used a term that only the most racist, idiotic, moronic Yahoo commentator would use in describing Obama, and the fact that he has a cheering section of comments over the issue! So apparently, his jerkiness cannot be contained and its spreading.


For me, I keep politically quiet, but I wonder if this guy is so blatant to use those terms, how quiet could they possibly have been about their politics. Did they just casually say that they voted for Obama or did their cars have "Obama bumper stickers." I imagine for him that would have been enough.

[Thebobo]

I fail to see where his play on Obama's name is racist. I do admit the man is an asshat but altering Obama's name to make him sound stupid is hardly racist.

[BringTheNoise]

I would explain the racist connotations of "Obongo" but I'm sure that would make the REAL racist for noticing them...

[Blatherskite]

Originally Posted by Thebobo

I fail to see where his play on Obama's name is racist. I do admit the man is an asshat but altering Obama's name to make him sound stupid is hardly racist.

It's not just stupid, it's a stupid attempt to make his name more tribal and 'African'.

Bongo is also a fairly common name for a chimpanzee.

[DaGuyWitBluGlasses]

Originally Posted by Thebobo

I fail to see where his play on Obama's name is racist. I do admit the man is an asshat but altering Obama's name to make him sound stupid is hardly racist.

-'Obongo/Abongo/Babongo' a guinean/gabonese tribe.
-Pongo the genus name of orang-outangs.
-Bongo -- a word often mistakenly used to describe tribal drums.

[Mickey Blue]

Yea in general I try not to jump onto the "He said hateful things about Obama! Obama is black! That means he's a racist!" deal that sometimes happens but in this case, deliberate or otherwise, I think it sounds pretty racist in that it clearly altered the last name to appear more tribal and 'African' sounding.

I doubt he really thought about it to the point of what kinds of tribal names it sounds like/is.. I'm sure he just thought (consciously or otherwise) that it sounded 'stupider'.

[Thebobo]

Originally Posted by Mickey Blue

I doubt he really thought about it to the point of what kinds of tribal names it sounds like/is.. I'm sure he just thought (consciously or otherwise) that it sounded 'stupider'.

I agree. He doesn't sound like the guy that would know what those terms (as pointed out by DaGuyWitBluGlasses) would mean.

[gopher]

Originally Posted by Thebobo

The scent of pachouli is usually a dead giveaway.

Also most right-wingers/conservatives seem to be eternally angry. Hard way to live if you ask me.

[Mickey Blue]

Well I mean historically the world and society always move forward and forward is most often (but not always) in a liberal direction.

I imagine it's pretty frustrating to see the way of life you believe is best being chipped away at constantly. Of course they could examine their own views as well as history (such as the parallels between gay rights and other civil rights issues in the past) to see if they can understand 'why' but examining one's own beliefs in that kind of way is pretty hard for anybody to do.. It's the reason most of us are sure we are the ones who are right about social issues of the day and other people are either just too ignorant or too hateful to 'get it'.

[Richard W]

Originally Posted by Thebobo

I agree. He doesn't sound like the guy that would know what those terms (as pointed out by DaGuyWitBluGlasses) would mean.

He just randomly picked a Gabonese tribal name which is often use to stereotype all Africans without knowing what it meant? That seems a bit unlikely. If he was simply trying to make him sound stupid, why not "O-durbrain" or something? "Obongo" doesn't sound stupid, it sounds tribal and African (and not from the same part of Africa as Obama's recent ancestry, either, so it doesn't even work as a Kenyan reference).

There was a President Bongo of Gabon who he may have been trying to reference somehow:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omar_Bongo

[Lainie]

Even if he didn't know specifically what it meant, I find it hard to believe he didn't know that it sounded "African," and even harder to believe that he just coincidentally chose an African-sounding variation of Obama's name.

[Mad Jay]

Originally Posted by Thebobo

I agree. He doesn't sound like the guy that would know what those terms (as pointed out by DaGuyWitBluGlasses) would mean.

I think anyone who makes a circular argument like this one is obviously too stupid to make a circular argument like this one.