I had not heard about this -- what a horrorshow. Hopefully citizens of Niagara on the Lake will be up in arms about this? Fired "effective immediately" is obviously punitive and retaliatory -- this throws the competence of the board chair, Daryl Novak, into question.
Setting aside the argument of whether defense of viewpoint diversity is a "right wing" talking point, it doesn't seem fair (forgive the pun) to fire someone over "right wing" talking points if "left wing" talking points don't receive similar scrutiny (that is, librarians would have to be fired for espousing any ideological viewpoints at all under this idea).
I am not familiar with FAIR, but I suspect that the SPLC's assessment of it is flawed. Nevertheless, even if SPLC is right about FAIR, the librarian was fired not b/c of what she actually wrote, but b/c of hidden motives attributed to a organization that she joined. If she were a nefarious character with a secret ideological agenda, it seems like it would have become evident to the community during her 10 years of employment before writing that op-ed.
I had not heard about this -- what a horrorshow. Hopefully citizens of Niagara on the Lake will be up in arms about this? Fired "effective immediately" is obviously punitive and retaliatory -- this throws the competence of the board chair, Daryl Novak, into question.
I thought the editorial was very reasonable. But she went against the sentiment of people who don't believe in free speech.
Setting aside the argument of whether defense of viewpoint diversity is a "right wing" talking point, it doesn't seem fair (forgive the pun) to fire someone over "right wing" talking points if "left wing" talking points don't receive similar scrutiny (that is, librarians would have to be fired for espousing any ideological viewpoints at all under this idea).
Firing employees for espousing political viewpoints would be draconian but probably better than what we have now.
I am not familiar with FAIR, but I suspect that the SPLC's assessment of it is flawed. Nevertheless, even if SPLC is right about FAIR, the librarian was fired not b/c of what she actually wrote, but b/c of hidden motives attributed to a organization that she joined. If she were a nefarious character with a secret ideological agenda, it seems like it would have become evident to the community during her 10 years of employment before writing that op-ed.
Thanks for keeping track of all this. Comparisons to Salem witch trials are apt..