I feel for him; but if I were his boss, I'd fire him too.

I'd be interested to hear why. He never refused to do his job. He never did anything to help drug dealers or smugglers or anything. He simply expressed an opinion, which is his right.

Soldiers don't get kicked out of the military for bitching about their mission.
Public servants don't lose their jobs for disagreeing with government policies.
Plumbers don't get fired for grumbling about unclogging toilets.

And if the above people do lose their jobs for those things, they sue for wrongful dismissal.

This guy innocently suggested an alternative to the war on drugs (an alternative that is likely to be better for everyone except drug cartels and the people with a financial stake in fighting them) and he gets fired and you think that was the right thing to do?
>> ^longde:

I feel for him; but if I were his boss, I'd fire him too.

>> ^longde:

I feel for him; but if I were his boss, I'd fire him too.


Leaving aside for the moment whether he should have been fired.
Why the hell would he want to bust people and throw them in jail for something he doesn't believe in?

1. People have jobs for all sorts of reasons and most people will put up with a few crappy things if they like the rest of the job enough. If there were 1000 reasons he liked his job, but there were two or three he disagreed with (but not enough to cause him to renege on his duty) then why should he leave the job?

2. Lots of law enforcement types don't agree with all of the laws they are enforcing but, until those laws are no longer laws, they will continue to enforce them. Just as someone may disagree with drug laws but still abide by them out of principle (or even civic duty). This guy was a border patrol agent; likely he agreed with, and was proud of, the majority of what he was doing. He just expressed an opinion that it might not be the best way to do it.>> ^Boise_Lib:

>> ^longde:
I feel for him; but if I were his boss, I'd fire him too.

Leaving aside for the moment whether he should have been fired.
Why the hell would he want to bust people and throw them in jail for something he doesn't believe in?

If he has that much against his job, he should quit.

>> ^Boise_Lib:

>> ^longde:
I feel for him; but if I were his boss, I'd fire him too.

Leaving aside for the moment whether he should have been fired.
Why the hell would he want to bust people and throw them in jail for something he doesn't believe in?

That too, but I was thinking about all the people sitting in jail--because he was, "only following orders."

I am politically against the war on drugs. Personnally, I applaud the agent and wish there were more people on the border with his sensitivities.

When I say I would have fired the guy, I am speaking from the point of view of his employer. As such, my concerns would include this man pulling down the morale of his team by proselytizing for a group whose mission counters that of the agency, and espousing a point of view that does the same. I would believe he was entitled to his opinions, and even the entitled to express them outside of work. But on the job is too far.>> ^Skeeve:

I'd be interested to hear why. He never refused to do his job. He never did anything to help drug dealers or smugglers or anything. He simply expressed an opinion, which is his right.
Soldiers don't get kicked out of the military for bitching about their mission.
Public servants don't lose their jobs for disagreeing with government policies.
Plumbers don't get fired for grumbling about unclogging toilets.
And if the above people do lose their jobs for those things, they sue for wrongful dismissal.
This guy innocently suggested an alternative to the war on drugs (an alternative that is likely to be better for everyone except drug cartels and the people with a financial stake in fighting them) and he gets fired and you think that was the right thing to do?
>> ^longde:
I feel for him; but if I were his boss, I'd fire him too.

The idea that making drugs legal will stop the associated crime is ridiculous. There are plenty of things now that are legal and are still rife with crime (like the Tobacco trade for example - http://www.publicintegrity.org/investigations/tobacco/articles/entry/1230/).

Also, what the guy who got fired said is hearsay. It's not known what he actually said. It's easy to put a spin on what someone said to make them look like a victim. Ultimately though, if you disagree with the/a role/purpose of your job, you shouldn't be working it.