-Submitted by David Drumm (Nal), Guest Blogger
Lindsey Stone, a 30-year-old Massachusetts native, has been terminated because of the photo (shown left) she posted on her Facebook page. Lindsey worked for LIFE (Living Independent Forever), a Cape Cod-based nonprofit organization that assists adults with learning disabilities. Jamie Schuh, who took the photo, and Lindsey’s supervisor at LIFE, was also terminated.
The two were on a company-paid trip to Washington D.C. when the photo was taken. The photo shows Lindsey mocking a sign at Arlington National Cemetery. The photo went viral and over 30,000 people liked a Facebook page set up to demand her firing. The two have apologized for the gag:
We never meant any disrespect to any of the people nationwide who have served this country and defended our freedom so valiantly.
While the photo obviously mocks the sign, many apparently thought it mocked those buried at Arlington National Cemetery. A sign demanding “Silence and Respect” deserves to be mocked. The wording of the sign projects a sense of arrogance and entitlement common to institutions that view themselves as sacred cows.
Adding the word “Please” to the sign would change the command to a request, a more sensible sentiment.
H/T: Mano Singham, Gawker, Boston Herald.
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. . . or was it “maimed” by lawyers?
She was high on sugar. Out of her mind. I claim the ‘twinkie’ defense.
So…this blog is “aimed at lawyers”?
Uh oh…
Raff,
Good to see you around….
It does all seem rather sad. Getting wrapped up in the legal ‘who shot john’s’ and legal niceties. Perhaps we see that something potentially vital has be sacrificed for the vaunted ‘law and order’. Perhaps it’s too much to ask of a blog aimed at lawyers — to go with the heart at times rather than the code. We are at other times quite selectively cavalier, at least some of us, in dismissing the calcified legal texts as out of step with our instincts that exceed the specific case.
Mespo,
New Zealand would be too close for Lindsey Stone to pull that stunt.
You are probably right Mespo.
Mespo,
I’m learning maturity knows no age….. Some of the most immature here are some to my senior…..
Gene,
You say what I said….. and you expect people to listen…..lol….
The wagons are circled. Is there nowhere to run? We all agree. Off with her head. Conformity wins the day.
Maybe she’s just a stupid kid.
I don;t think it has to do with conformity, as so many of us have said, it has to do with maturity and the fact that she was representing her company,
I have not looked at the pic in a while but did when this page opened. I agree with those here who say anywhere else, absent say a hospital zone, there would probably not be a brouhaha. It is a matter of respect as well. Take it out of context and the responses I am sure would be different.
… or Fight on?
rafflaw:
“Mespo,
This lady should walk in a procession at Arlington and see the families and then think a second time about her stupid picture.”
*********************
That would take a level of maturity, sympathy, and love of country well above what this picture so completely exposes.
What mespo and Blouise said.
Just because there is no 1st Amendment issue at hand doesn’t mean that what you say won’t have consequences no matter how free you are to say it.
In general, you fight for what you get. That is the street diagnosis of Stockholm Syndrome.
Fight on.
What Mespo said.
http://www.cmohs.org/recipient-detail/3459/mcginnis-ross-a.php
Here’s a story I got from a friend of mine in PA. It’s about one of America’s heroes who is now interred at the cemetery where Lindsey Stone DID NOT insult the fallen dead by giving a gesture to “f–k off” and yelling at the top of her lungs:
Army Pfc Ross McGinnis, an amateur mechanic from Knox, Pa, was attached to Co. C, 1st Battalion, 26th Infantry regiment stationed in Baghdad, Iraq. On Dec, 4, 2006, Ross was manning the M2 .50 caliber machine gun at the gunner’s hatch on a humvee with four other soldiers on board. An insurgent threw a grenade through the hatch from a window above the street. The explosive flew past McGinnis and into the cramped passenger compartment. Sgt. Cedric Thomas commanding the humvee picks up the story:
“Pfc. McGinnis yelled ‘Grenade! … It’s in the truck,’” Thomas said. “I looked out of the corner of my eye as I was crouching down and I saw him pin it down.” McGinnis did so even though he could have escaped. “He had time to jump out of the truck,” Thomas said. “He chose not to.”
In a selfless act of bravery, McGinnis pinned the grenade against his back and the radio mount. He was killed instantly but his fellow soldiers survived with only minor injuries. The Congressional Medal of Honor has been awarded posthumously to Spec. Ross Andrew McGinnis and accepted by his father, Tom, a clerk at an auto parts store near Pittsburgh.
Ross’ grave is located in section 60, site 8544 at ANC — or about 150 yards from where Ms. Stone had her picture taken. She was, in my estimation, too close.
New Jersey would have been too close.
“I don’t think the First Amendment requires us common folk to suffer ingrates passively or fools gladly. The government — maybe? But those of us who still accept the notions of fitting honors and earned respect — not so much.” (mespo)
Well said … well said.
http://jonathanturley.org/corrections/#comment-430746
Which is a comment made directly to you, id707, and reads in relevant part:
“To recap, the rules here are (to the best of my knowledge and as they were explained to me):
Rule #1 – JT makes the rules.
Rule #2 – Should you have a question about the rules, see Rule #1.
Rule #3 – Posters may post anonymously and their identities (should they be or become known to the host, guest bloggers or third party posters) will not be revealed here by the host or the guest bloggers under any circumstances. Should a poster’s real identity be discovered and publicly revealed here (without permission of the party identified) by a third party poster or guest blogger, such revelations will result in said third party or guest blogger being banned (possibly permanently).
Rule #4 – Hijacking another user’s identity – real or pseudonymous – will result in the hijacker being banned (possibly permanently).
Rule #5 – Civility is highly encouraged.
Those are the only hard and fast rules here that I know of other than the four words that trigger automatic moderation (*sshole, f*ck, b*tch and b*stard).”
_________________
In short, you cannot plead ignorance as a defense even if it were a permissible defense (and it isn’t).
You are now doubly informed of the rules around here, id707.
Do you know how Aikido works? It’s all redirection of your opponent’s energy. The harder they attack, the worse they get hurt.
That is how this will work.
We try to allow as much latitude around here as possible. Only a few people have ever been banned from here. You, however, are simply pushing your luck. The more you try to simply start brawls simply for the sake of brawling, the worse this is going to work out for you. Agreement is not required around here. Debate and argument are encouraged as well as discussion. Going around trying to poke someone in the eye just to start trouble? Not so much.
Threat? Warning? I don’t care how you perceive it. What it is is an accurate description of what will happen if you don’t get your act together.
What shano said about transferring the war budget to the alternative energy research.
Mespo,
This lady should walk in a procession at Arlington and see the families and then think a second time about her stupid picture.
I never have a falling out with anyone on the intertubes.
My strategy: I ignore ignorant comments.