Posted on 06/16/2006 9:58:51 AM PDT by khnyny
Ehrlich appointee fired over remark Transit official equates gay lifestyle with deviancy By Jennifer Skalka Sun reporter Originally published June 16, 2006
WASHINGTON -- Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. fired one of his appointees to the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority yesterday after the board member asserted on a local cable talk show that homosexuals lived a life of "sexual deviancy."
The termination came a few hours after Metro board member Robert J. Smith, an architect and unsuccessful Republican candidate for the General Assembly from Montgomery County, was publicly confronted by a transit board colleague. Board member Jim Graham, a District of Columbia councilman who is openly gay, called on Smith to disavow his remarks or resign during yesterday's regular meeting of the panel, which oversees Metro business.
Graham said he was gratified that Ehrlich decided to replace Smith. Earlier in the day, Smith said that he stood by his beliefs, which he said stemmed from his Roman Catholic faith, and insisted that he would not resign unless ordered by the governor.
(Excerpt) Read more at baltimoresun.com ...
I used to work for Bob Ehrlich. He is fiscally conservative but socially kinda liberal. He's a great guy personally, I really liked working with him. I also think he's done a good job as governor, I guess as good as can be expected in MD.
That it is a deviance is undebatable. What is being debated is the attitude towards that deviance.
Any word from Michael Steele, the still current Lt. Gov. of MD, who happens to be a faithful Catholic himself?
If I was still in MD, I would have to think twice about voting to re-elect Ehrlich. I think Ehrlich just sealed his defeat with this action.
The gay agenda is the wedge the left will use to try to end free speech and free exercise of religion for conservatives.
[Does he appear as a representative of the Transit Department or just as a Republican op-ed person?]
Republican op-ed person only. This is in no way connected to his position on the board.
Exactly. What do his views on gays have to do with his job at the Metro, and why would the subject even come up and then why did he answer it?
According to the various Courts and our elected Representatives, the 1st Amendment doesn't cover "hate speech". And THEY get to determine what "hate speech" is.
Of course it's all a sham, and we don't really have a Constitution protecting us anymore. The Constitution has been misinterpreted and butchered by the Supreme Court to the point where it's been completely re-invented into a pseudo constitution that REMOVES rights and protections that it's supposed to be giving.
Exactly. How many people here would be upset if the guy was fired for coming out on a cable show? If the governor doesn't like the face being put out by one of his appointees it is his right, as governor, to fire the guy. Case closed. Don't vote for the guy next time, but we can't go complaining about "free speech" on this one, guys.
You are correct. I keep looking in the Constitution and have yet to see a right to not be offended.
Any reason why you felt the need to change the actual headline of the Sun's article?
some folks may have missed it (based on some of the comments), but it was Republican governor Bob Ehrlich doing the firing.
This is true speaking truth to power.
[I used to work for Bob Ehrlich. He is fiscally conservative but socially kinda liberal. He's a great guy personally, I really liked working with him. I also think he's done a good job as governor, I guess as good as can be expected in MD.]
Actually, I agree with you, I think Ehrlich is a "nice guy", but he buckled under pressure and made the wrong decision on this one. I agree with another poster that it will probably cost him the election.
Pop quiz. What are the first five words of the first amendment?
Think of it this way... What if the guy started posing for smutty magazines on his own time? Could the governor fire him for that?
Clearly he could... and you'd be glad he was, I'd wager.
It's not a first amendment issue. There's simply no standing for a lawsuit... no matter whose time he was on.
I agree with you 100% and will be voting for Erlich in the next election.
[Any reason why you felt the need to change the actual headline of the Sun's article?
some folks may have missed it (based on some of the comments), but it was Republican governor Bob Ehrlich doing the firing.]
Oh no, you caught me - it's a conspiracy. You're too smart for me, my Dim friend.
Seriously, who cares if Ehrlich is a Republican or Democrat, that really isn't the issue here (although the Baltimore Sun seems to think so, lol).
Leviticus 18:22 -
"Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination."
On occasion, we may be called upon to LOSE OUR LIVES.
I doubt it> If he's identified by his appointed position then it's assumed he's speaking in that role.
I dunno, three?
I think you're referring to PRIVATE organizations who are entitled to structure their own rules and regulations as they see fit. There is absolutely nothing unfair about that, since the members are there by choice, to live their lives as they wish. This story is about a government employee who spoke his mind on a radio talk show, and a homosexual deviant who took offense to his words and seeks reprisal and revenge. You are trying to compare apples and oranges and it just doesn't work.
Homosexuals are a twisted, angry group of people whose sexual debauchery keeps them in a constant state of spiritual unrest and rage.
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