It’s bad enough that the Bush campaign will go to extraordinary lengths to keep critics away from the president, but it’s worse when those who do get to share criticism get punished for it.
A man who heckled President Bush at a political rally was fired from his job at an advertising and design company for offending a client who provided tickets to the event.
The fired graphic designer said Saturday he won’t try to get his job back.
“I’m mad less about losing the job — I’m more mad about the reasons,” said Glen Hiller, 35, of Berkeley Springs (W.Va.). “All I did was show up and voice my opinion.”
Hiller was ushered out of Hedgesville High School on Tuesday after shouting his disagreement with Bush’s comments about the war in Iraq war and the search for weapons of mass destruction. The crowd had easily drowned out Hiller with its chant: “Four more years.”
Sadly, this was the second Bush critic in West Virginia to join the ranks of the unemployed for taking a stand against the administration.
Nicole Rank arrived in Charleston soon after the Memorial Day floods. She was working as deputy environmental liaison officer for the Federal Emergency Management Agency, making sure cities and counties obeyed federal environmental laws as they repaired roads and bridges.
After police arrested the Ranks, fingerprinted them and took their mug shots, FEMA told Nicole Rank she was no longer needed in West Virginia.
“I have not been fired per se,” she said. “But I was released from this job. And when they release you from a job, you no longer get paid.”
Bush’s America — Helping people lose their jobs, one critic at a time.