Fired for Flipping Off Bush

[LoungeMachine]

Thursday, November 2, 2006 · Last updated 11:03 a.m. PT

School bus driver fired after obscene gesture at President Bush

By GENE JOHNSON
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER

SEATTLE -- A middle-school bus driver fired after she reportedly made an obscene gesture at President Bush has filed a union grievance in an attempt to get her job back.

The 43-year-old driver, whose name has not been released by the Issaquah School District, was shepherding a busload of middle-school children back from the Seattle zoo on June 16 when the president and Rep. Dave Reichert, R-Wash., drove slowly by in a motorcade along Interstate 5. From the bus, stopped on an onramp, the children waved; with the windows down in their car, Bush and Reichert waved back.

That's when the driver extended the old one-finger salute, according to Reichert and Issaquah Superintendent Janet Barry.

"The congressman hadn't seen it, but the president turned to him and said, 'That one's not a fan,'" said Reichert spokeswoman Kimberly Cadena. "There were many comments and gestures made that day that many people would consider to be offensive. This individual did so around children."

Reichert later called Barry to tell her about the incident, but by the time he got her on the phone, the bus driver had already been fired. District officials had already learned about it because the driver bragged to her colleagues about what she had done, Cadena said.

District spokeswoman Sara Niegowski said the firing was not politically motivated.



"The bus driver was not terminated for making an obscene gesture at the president. The bus driver was terminated for making an obscene gesture in view of the students," Niegowski said. "That's not the role modeling we need for our students."

Niegowski said the driver, who had been reprimanded before, has filed a wrongful termination grievance through the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees. The union did not return calls seeking comment.

Cadena said the gesture was in poor taste.

"You respect the office, even if you can't respect the man," she said.

[FORD]

Originally posted by LoungeMachine


Cadena said the gesture was in poor taste.

"You respect the office, even if you can't respect the man," she said.

Well, if he was actually elected to the office, that would be different.

And I'd fucking flip him off anyway :cool:

Seriously this shit pisses me off. Like the kids even fucking saw it? Any school bus I ever rode on when I was in school had a partition between the driver's seat and the kids, so there's not much chance the kids could see the driver making any "obscene gestures" at the true obscenity who squats in the White House or his lackey who took 20 years to arrest a serial killer when he knew damn well the fucker was guilty.

Hey Bush & Reichert. This is for you, motherfuckers.....

:heyfu: :mad2: :fucku2: :fucku: :fu: :upyours:

[LoungeMachine]

Originally posted by FORD
\


Any school bus I ever rode on when I was in school had a partition between the driver's seat and the kids, \



Did you really want to set yourself up for the AssPipes of the boards making their typical "short bus" jokes?

:cool:

[FORD]

Originally posted by LoungeMachine
Did you really want to set yourself up for the AssPipes of the boards making their typical "short bus" jokes?

:cool:

Doesn't matter. AssVibe will post 12 different threads with YouTube videos from "Short Bus drivers for Truth" by the time I get here in the morning anyway.

Besides, we all know that he's the one driving the short bus over the cliff.

[LoungeMachine]

True.

Knowing Issaquah, it was probably a BMW bus.....

[BITEYOASS]

Originally posted by FORD
Well, if he was actually elected to the office, that would be different.

And I'd fucking flip him off anyway :cool:

Seriously this shit pisses me off. Like the kids even fucking saw it? Any school bus I ever rode on when I was in school had a partition between the driver's seat and the kids, so there's not much chance the kids could see the driver making any "obscene gestures" at the true obscenity who squats in the White House or his lackey who took 20 years to arrest a serial killer when he knew damn well the fucker was guilty.

Hey Bush & Reichert. This is for you, motherfuckers.....

:heyfu: :mad2: :fucku2: :fucku: :fu: :upyours:

LOL Where I went to school, it was the kids making the obscene gestures. Of course the place where I lived is near dead last on the best places to live in the USA.

[Hardrock69]

Originally posted by FORD
Besides, we all know that he's the one driving the short bus over the cliff.

http://www.rotharmy.com/forums/attachment.php?s=&postid=754324

[DrMaddVibe]

What happened to the leaves?

[Nickdfresh]

Originally posted by BITEYOASS
LOL Where I went to school, it was the kids making the obscene gestures. Of course the place where I lived is near dead last on the best places to live in the USA.

Very true!!

Nothing like the First Amendment...:rolleyes:

[knuckleboner]

fire her.

what she does on her own time is up to her. while she's driving a school bus, she doesn't need to be doing things like that. whether it's to the president or to some jackass driver who cut her off, you don't get to make obscene gestures.

she's a public employee, a representative of the school district.

i'd grudgingly accept a harsh reprimand. but that behavior should not be acceptable.

[Northern Girl]

Sure, I'd like to cut his tongue out with a dull knife so I never have to listen to his BS again, but good sense tells me not to do it. Some people don't have good sense. Is flipping him off going to help anything? If you don't like him, get your ass out there and do something about it.

[DrMaddVibe]

Looks like she's got all the time in the world to do something now!

So, its ok to flip people off and use obscenities in front of little school kids now?

Wrong is wrong.

Don't act like its not wrong.

[Northern Girl]

Are you talking to me? I think I was clear that I think it was wrong and pointless.

[Hardrock69]

Originally posted by DrMaddVibe

So, its ok to flip people off and use obscenities in front of little school kids now?

If you say so, goober

But what I have to say is:

Wrong is wrong.

Don't act like its not wrong.

:D

[sadaist]

Originally posted by FORD
Well, if he was actually elected to the office, that would be different.



Is it still 2002? I'm pretty sure he was elected to the office by a clear majority in 2004.

But then again, a lot of strange things happened in 2004. Some crappy, drunk, greedy, angry band toured under the name of Van Halen. Maybe we were actually in a parallel universe for that year. "Bizarro World"

[FORD]

Originally posted by knuckleboner
fire her.

what she does on her own time is up to her. while she's driving a school bus, she doesn't need to be doing things like that. whether it's to the president or to some jackass driver who cut her off, you don't get to make obscene gestures.

she's a public employee, a representative of the school district.

i'd grudgingly accept a harsh reprimand. but that behavior should not be acceptable.

And what about the unacceptable behavior of the public employees whom she flipped off?

[FORD]

Originally posted by sadaist
Is it still 2002? I'm pretty sure he was elected to the office by a clear majority in 2004.

But then again, a lot of strange things happened in 2004. Some crappy, drunk, greedy, angry band toured under the name of Van Halen. Maybe we were actually in a parallel universe for that year. "Bizarro World"

No, we've been in Bizarro World (or possibly Hell) since December 12, 2000. And hopefully will begin the slow escape from there on Wednesday.

[Nickdfresh]

Originally posted by DrMaddVibe
Looks like she's got all the time in the world to do something now!

So, its ok to flip people off and use obscenities in front of little school kids now?

Wrong is wrong.

Don't act like its not wrong.

So you're saying the entire Republican leadership should be fired for playing hide the sex-predator?

[FORD]

WA-08: Reichert Caught In Lie About Driver Who Flipped Bird To Bush
By Greg Sargent | bio

A few days ago, a story broke out of Washington state saying that a school bus driver got fired by a local school board last June for giving the finger to President Bush. The story's set off a lot of buzz in Washington political circles, because of an unanswered question at the center of the tale: Did Rep. Dave Reichert (R-WA), who was with Bush during the incident, engineer the driver's firing behind the scenes as retribution for insulting the President? His spokesman has been saying that he didn't. But now Reichert -- who's fending off a tougher-than-expected challenge from Dem Darcy Burner -- has been caught on tape boasting to an audience of Republicans that, yes, he did engineer the driver's firing as retribution for the insult to Bush.

A recap: The 43-year-old driver was bussing a load of middle-school kids from the Issaquah school district back from the Seattle zoo when Bush and Reichert, who was sitting next to the President, passed slowly by in the Presidential motorcade. As this Associated Press story puts it, that's when the driver "extended the old one-finger salute." The driver was subsequently fired by the school district's board, and her union has filed a grievance for wrongful termination.

Now that the story has just come out and gone national, Reichert spokesperson Kimberly Cadena -- and the school district rep -- have both been insisting that Reichert didn't engineer the firing, and that it wasn't political. From the AP:


Reichert later called [the school superintendant] to tell her about the incident, but by the time he got her on the phone, the bus driver had already been fired. District officials had already learned about it because the driver bragged to her colleagues about what she had done, Cadena said.

District spokeswoman Sara Niegowski said the firing was not politically motivated.

"The bus driver was not terminated for making an obscene gesture at the president. The bus driver was terminated for making an obscene gesture in view of the students," Niegowski said. "That's not the role modeling we need for our students."

The Reichert campaign further denied responsibility for the firing by telling local KIRO TV that Reichert called the school superintendendant "one week after it happened." The news channel also claimed the decision to fire the driver had already been made.

But uh-oh -- it turns out that Reichert told a rather different story on August 12 to a group of Republicans, who'd be more likely to cheer Reichert for getting the woman axed. A tracker for the Washington Democratic Party recorded the talk, and the party has now sent TPM a copy, which you can listen to right here. Here's what Reichert said:


As the motorcade went by the President and I drove by on I-5. The President was having a great time. He was waving at everybody. And waving at the kids he got the biggest kick out of the kids leaning out the window to say hello to the President of the United States. The sad part of it is, though, we got to the last bus...the bus driver flipped the President off. [Loud boos.] So the very next day, you know what I did? I called the superintendent of that school district. And that bus driver no longer works for that school. [Loud cheers.] That's the old sherriff part of me still around.

One day after? One week after? Which is it? Taking Reichert at his own word, it looks as if Reichert did get the woman fired for giving the Prez the finger. We've checked in with the Reichert campaign to see if they can account for this, shall we say, inconsistency.

Link (http://electioncentral.tpmcafe.com/blog/electioncentral/2006/nov/03/wa_08_reichert_caught_in_lie_about_driver_who_fipp ed_bird_to_bush)

[DEMON CUNT]

Originally posted by DrMaddVibe
Wrong is wrong.

Don't act like its not wrong.

Stupid is stupid.

Quit pretending that it's such a big deal.

http://colorado.indymedia.org/usermedia/image/11/bush_finger.jpg

[knuckleboner]

Originally posted by FORD
And what about the unacceptable behavior of the public employees whom she flipped off?

immaterial. otherwise, it's a license for vigilantism.

but this has nothing to do with who she flipped off.

any school bus driver making any obscene gesture while on the job to ANYBODY should be reprimanded.

[DEMON CUNT]

http://images.bimedia.net/images/061103_dave_reichert.jpg

How could Rep. Reichert have seen the bus driver's finger when his head was obviously bobbing in Bush's lap?

[4moreyears]

Originally posted by FORD
And what about the unacceptable behavior of the public employees whom she flipped off?

That is a matter of opinion. Even if your opinion is correct it does not excuse her actions and she deserves to be fired. I can not believe people defend her actions. I have three kids andI would be pissed if my kids were on that bus.

[DEMON CUNT]

Originally posted by 4moreyears
I have three kids andI would be pissed if my kids were on that bus.

Sure, but would you let them be Congressional Pages?

http://img116.imageshack.us/img116/374/marktl1.jpg
"Hey kids, how big are your pee pees?"

[LoungeMachine]

Originally posted by 4moreyears
That is a matter of opinion. Even if your opinion is correct it does not excuse her actions and she deserves to be fired. I can not believe people defend her actions. I have three kids andI would be pissed if my kids were on that bus.


How would you have felt if your kids saw The President flip the bird to the TV cameras?

Or if they heard Darth Cheney tell a US SENATOR to "go fuck yourself"?

Or are you only offended when it's a Lib?

[4moreyears]

Originally posted by LoungeMachine
How would you have felt if your kids saw The President flip the bird to the TV cameras?

Or if they heard Darth Cheney tell a US SENATOR to "go fuck yourself"?

Or are you only offended when it's a Lib?

If they did it while driving my kids to school I would be just as pissed. I have told people to fuck off before. I told Nicole the other day. But I did not do it while driving 45kids home from school. It is not what you say but it is who you do it in front of that makes the behavior questionable.

[Nickdfresh]

If she had flipped-off Clinton, would you be as pissed?

[Spc. Graner]

Originally posted by Nickdfresh
If she had flipped-off Clinton, would you be as pissed?

Hey, isn't that the President with the ahem, blowjob problem?

8===D - - O`:~

You liberal poontangs just can't get enough of that dirty Clinton stuff!

Hell, I bet ya'll get 'rections just thinking about him!

Speaking on Clintons, have you seen her lately? DAMN!

http://blog.reidreport.com/uploaded_images/chelsea-clinton-764697.png

[BigBadBrian]

Originally posted by Nickdfresh
If she had flipped-off Clinton, would you be as pissed?

It wouldn't have matted if she flipped off Clinton, Kerry, or Joe Schmoe standing on the corner.

A bus driver, a school district employee with direct contact with children, shouldn't be flipping off ANYONE while at work.

:)

[Nickdfresh]

Originally posted by Spc. Graner
Hey, isn't that the President with the ahem, blowjob problem?

8===D - - O`:~

You liberal poontangs just can't get enough of that dirty Clinton stuff!

Hell, I bet ya'll get 'rections just thinking about him!

Speaking on Clintons, have you seen her lately? DAMN!

http://blog.reidreport.com/uploaded_images/chelsea-clinton-764697.png

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y285/ChrisGrunwald/Jans%20Junk/hititiwouldgoklingononthatass8.gif

[Nickdfresh]

Originally posted by BigBadBrian
It wouldn't have matted if she flipped off Clinton, Kerry, or Joe Schmoe standing on the corner.

A bus driver, a school district employee with direct contact with children, shouldn't be flipping off ANYONE while at work.

:)

Great! Now why don't you apply some of your new-found logic to your corrupt Republican politicians? Perhaps hold them accountable for their sloth, grandstanding, corruption, and betrayal of every principle they claim to hold dear?

[BigBadBrian]

Originally posted by Nickdfresh
Great! Now why don't you apply some of your new-found logic to your corrupt Republican politicians? Perhaps hold them accountable for their sloth, grandstanding, corruption, and betrayal of every principle they claim to hold dear?

Hmm...where do I start?

I think I have, and so has about every other conservative in this forum.

We've usually been among the first to declare any corruption despicable, and have usually been pleased when any conservative resigns for any wrong-doing. I wish the liberals would do the same for their people, but they don't. Some, and I repeat the word SOME, just make excuses for their behavior: Cynthia McKinney, William Jefferson, et al.

However, there are usually so many threads on these topics, I need to "pick and choose" which threads to post in. I don't have the time for all of them.

Good day. :)

[Nickdfresh]

Originally posted by BigBadBrian
Hmm...where do I start?

I think I have, and so has about every other conservative in this forum.

We've usually been among the first to declare any corruption despicable, and have usually been pleased when any conservative resigns for any wrong-doing. I wish the liberals would do the same for their people, but they don't. Some, and I repeat the word SOME, just make excuses for their behavior: Cynthia McKinney, William Jefferson, et al.

However, there are usually so many threads on these topics, I need to "pick and choose" which threads to post in. I don't have the time for all of them.

Good day. :)

Look at the liar go!! Ha ha, that's rich! Which 'conservatives' have you "denounced" troll?

You've never criticized ONE (pseudo)conservative politician wading through the sewer that is the culture of corruption, and have certainly never started the same sort of thread! And you've been in complete denial over the absolute hypocrisy of your authoritarian Neoconservative douche bags.

Yet when one "DemocRAT" fucks up, you attach far greater meanings and importance to it, then obsess with post after post. Then conveniently lie and ignore facts like that both Jefferson and Mckinney were denounced quickly by Democratic leaders, and that it was Republicans that crowed the loudest about FBI seizures of Jefferson's documents (seizures that were admittedly questionable) basically because they had the most to hide.

[BigBadBrian]

Originally posted by Nickdfresh
Look at the liar go!! Ha ha, that's rich! Which 'conservatives' have you "denounced" troll?

You've never criticized ONE (pseudo)conservative politician wading through the sewer that is the culture of corruption, and have certainly never started the same sort of thread! And you've been in complete denial over the absolute hypocrisy of your authoritarian Neoconservative douche bags.

Yet when one "DemocRAT" fucks up, you attach far greater meanings and importance to it, then obsess with post after post. Then conveniently lie and ignore facts like that both Jefferson and Mckinney were denounced quickly by Democratic leaders, and that it was Republicans that crowed the loudest about FBI seizures of Jefferson's documents (seizures that were admittedly questionable) basically because they had the most to hide.

You're wrong, el Nicko. :D

I've criticized Delay and just about every other Republican who has had their hand caught in the cookie jar. You've just been too busy with your mindless name-calling campaign.

ANY Congressman or Senator that fucks up has the duty to the American public to resign. That goes for D's, R's, and I's.

As for Jefferson and Mckinney, I've seen a hell of a lot more defense for their actions from the Secular Progressive Socialists in this forum rather than outcry for their disgraceful actions.

Yes, myself and others of my political persuasion HAVE been more vocal when the RATS fuck up. We have to be....no one on "your side" will criticize them.

:)

[Nickdfresh]

Originally posted by BigBadBrian
You're wrong, el Nicko. :D

Really dummycon?


I've criticized Delay and just about every other Republican who has had their hand caught in the cookie jar. You've just been too busy with your mindless name-calling campaign.

Oh you have huh? How about providing those links?

You defended DeLay up until the evidence against him was outrageous and so obvious. You loved the way the TexASS Bug Killer was a total douche bag to everyone he didn't agree with. You loved his "Marxist-Leninist" style zeal and revolutionary mentality, one of lawlessness born of hubris and self-righteousness...

BTW, how many posts did you make if the Foley thread as opposed to the Cynthia McKinney thread??


ANY Congressman or Senator that fucks up has the duty to the American public to resign. That goes for D's, R's, and I's.

But you only attack the "DemocRATs." A big reason why congress is filled with lazy, lying douche bags that rush to blow the cocks of special corporate interests.


As for Jefferson and Mckinney, I've seen a hell of a lot more defense for their actions from the Secular Progressive Socialists in this forum rather than outcry for their disgraceful actions.

LMFAO!! Again, Brie throws out terms he has no clue of. I'm a "Socialist" you monkey with a keyboard? Go ahead, prove that one!

"Secular?" Damn right, just like the founding fathers were.

"Progressive?" Guilty as charged. God forbid anyone wants to progress forward.

And again, you're a liar. Show one post of people defending her actions of striking a cop. Pelosi attacked her, and so did most Democrats. What was attacked was your obsessing over it while clearly ignoring far more destructive crimes to the American people.


Yes, myself and others of my political persuasion HAVE been more vocal when the RATS fuck up. We have to be....no one on "your side" will criticize them.

:)

Go ahead, kick the thread up where anybody defended Jefferson, cumrag. BTW, I've criticized both...

[FORD]

I don't remember anyone defending Jefferson.

[Warham]

Originally posted by FORD
And what about the unacceptable behavior of the public employees whom she flipped off?

Bush was re-elected two years ago. Apparently his behavior is still acceptable. :D

[FORD]

Well, Bush is getting flipped off nationally today. Hopefully Reichert will get the finger from his district as well. With most of it underwater at the moment, it will probably come down to who can swim faster.