State employee fired after Ted Nugent letter of recommendation

[white cloud]

Friday, August 29, 2014


FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) --
A state employee with a spotless record lost his job after writing a letter of recommendation for the Motor City Madman.

"Ted Nugent is definitely a polarizing figure," said defense attorney and legal analyst Jeff Hammerschmidt. "It seems most people are on one side or the other with him and the Dept. of Fish and Wildlife seems to be very much against him."

A captain with the department lost his job last year and lost an appeal a few months ago. Now, he's fighting to get it back.

Ted Nugent's music made him famous, but his politics have sometimes made him a target.

Nugent turned his passion for hunting and gun rights into a cable TV show. In 2010, the show got him in trouble when it showed him illegally hunting deer in California.

Nugent pleaded no contest to a couple minor crimes, lost his hunting privileges, and bashed the Department of Fish and Wildlife when he explained his plea.

more
http://abc30.com/news/state-employee-fired-after-ted-nugent-letter-of-recommendation/287532/

[Octafish]

1. While Ted Nugent is a zero, the California captain has a right to express his views.

Who's next to get canned? People who support the Beach Boys?

ETA: He doesn't have a right to use department stationery, however.

[white cloud]

4. Guess the FWS

did not appreciate the comments Ped Nugent made about their FWS Dept. Can't say I blame them. Ped has No respect for our game laws and Offical was supporting a serial poacher while employed to stop poaching

[Octafish]

17. Thanks. That's why I edited my post.

I did not know he had used department stationery. That is different than expressing his own views on his own paper.

[BillZBubb]

7. Wow, you used the right wing talking point!

The guy can express any views he wants, but he can't pretend to express the views of his employer using department letterheads. This isn't a free speech issue, so don't try to make it one.

[Octafish]

14. Yeah. I realized after my post he used department stationery.

"ETA" stands for Edited To Add. Sorry I didn't spell it out for you.

By the way: I don't give a damn what the guy thinks or writes. He has a right to say it and write it.

[Gman]

11. The Bill of Rights has NEVER extended to the workplace.

Spare us the right wing tactic of last resort of being a victim. There are few exceptions and they must be expressed exceptions such as in a union contract. Why is this truth only valid for the right wing when it's convenient? He opened his mouth, put his job in jeopardy because of his own effing stupidity and his blinding allegiance to right wing idiocy. He got canned because he couldn't shut up. Good grief! Can anyone be more effing stupid? He works for Fish and Wildlife and he writes a letter of recommendation for a convicted poacher and general asshole? That strictly implies this guy is also an asshole and I wouldn't want to work with him either. I suspect he was an huge pain in the ass for everyone that worked with him and not one tear was shed when his ass got fired. It's also highly likely drinks were hoisted high at Happy Hour that they were finally rid of him. The guy is just plain beyond effing stupid. He's astronomically stupid. Quantum stupid. He was fired for good cause. Save the bullshit tears and crying victim that the right wing knee jerk resorts to when they've been called out on their bullshit. It's disgusting to witness.

I'm still trying to understand why it became cool to be a right wing idiot. The fact he's crying about losing his job for being an idiot an asshole testifies to just what humongous pile of stupid this guy really is. Sure, give him a job back cleaning toilets in state parks where he can be closest to the essence of his political ideology.

[Octafish]

15. Now I'm a right winger for stating the guy has a right to express himself without getting fired.

I seem to remember that was part of being a citizen of the United States, free speech. Sorry if it offended you, Gman.

[Gman]

20. China has free speech too if you want to suffer the consequences.

it's the same here because there is no right to free speech in the work place here in the U.S. What you say and do off the job has a bearing as a representative of the organization you work for and they obviously don't want to be represented this way which is F&W's right. His actions bring F&W into disrepute. They fired him.

And of course you know that no where did I say you were a right winger. You apparently aren't well versed on labor law. Coincidently, neither are idiot right wingers who love to be the victim when they get called out on their bullshit.

Sorry to be this harsh. But this guy doesn't deserve to be defended.

[The_Commonist]

21. Yeah, Mr. Know Your BFEE is a now a right-winger!

I thought THAT was particularly amusing...

[jmowreader]

30. You can't "express yourself" on official stationery

[Initech]

2. He'll at least have a new job waiting for him as a Fox News correspondent.

[BillZBubb]

8. I doubt that. He's not a big enough "name".

[samsingh]

3. he wrote an imbecile, fool and antiAmerican asswipe like nugent a letter of recommendation -

his judgement is definitely a question and I think he should have been fired

[BillZBubb]

5. Can't wait for the right wing "freedom of speech" cries.

They had grounds for termination and used them. He broke the rules and he paid for it. I hope it was worth it to him--throwing a career away for a bum like Nugent.

[Populist_Prole]

24. The right wing then paints itself into a corner on that one then

They always wag their fingers at those on the left whenever the latter invokes 1st amendment protection from their employers. Right wing wonks are/have been all too eager to point out that the "freedom of speech" only applies to speech against the government, not one's employer. Technically true: So now they have to run with it in this particular case.

[BillZBubb]

28. There next tactic is to cry "political correctness!"

[randys1]

6. Ted Nugent is lower than the scum at the bottom of a garbage can behind a greasy restaurant

[samsingh]

25. agreed

[abakan]

9. Ted Nugent is two life forms lower than pond scum.

My apologies to pond scum...

[Cerridwen]

10. "A month earlier...he used state letterhead in a letter requesting help re: his son's court martial"

A "notice of adverse action" shows Simpson knew he wasn't allowed to write the letter and also used department letterhead in a letter to U.S. Rep. Jeff Denham, R-Merced, asking for help with a court martial his son was facing. That was a month before the Nugent letter. But Simpson worked for the state for almost 20 years and had never before been disciplined.

From the link in the OP.

After 20 years this guy knows damned, good, and well you don't use departmental letterhead for personal use; especially when asking favors of a politician.

The nugent thing may have brought attention to previous.

[white cloud]

12. What kind of " Christian Family Values" do these Republicans preach.

&feature=player_embedded

[Historic NY]

19. Exactly.

[white cloud]

22. The old

Apple does not fall far from the tree.

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

13. So Nugent thinks the rules don't apply to him?

He can hunt anywhere or anything he damned well pleases. Another RW with an entitled attitude.

[pinboy3niner]

16. Depends

[kiva]

18. This is one of the most poorly-written

articles I've ever read. As far as I can tell from this word salad, Simpson had written a letter concerning his son's courts martial on government letterhead a month before, and that looks like the real reason he was fired; the letter about Nugent just seems to strengthen the case. Or maybe it's Nugent's behavior that strengthens the case, it's honestly hard to tell.

[lpbk2713]

23. Does The Quitter still have her subscription TV show?

Sounds like the captain would be welcomed with open arms as a contributor on her grifter gig.

[samsingh]

26. nugent the coward who likes to shoot defenceless animals avoided viet nam

from wikeapedia:

"In a 1977 High Times article, Nugent stated that he took crystal meth and defecated in his pants in order to avoid being drafted into the Vietnam War.[28] Nugent reaffirmed this in a 1990 interview with Detroit Free Press, stating that "...a week before his physical, he stopped using the bathroom altogether, virtually living inside his pants caked with excrement and urine." [29] In other interviews, Nugent has denied this claim, stating that he dodged the draft by enrolling at Oakland Community College to get a student deferment. However, his Selective Service classification record shows ratings of 1-Y and 4-F for 1969 and 1972 respectively, indicating ineligibility for military service under established physical, mental, or moral standards, rather than student deferment"

[BillZBubb]

27. Its easy to be brave when the target can't shoot back.

Nugent is an ignorant immoral clown, with apologies to clowns everywhere.

[3catwoman3]

29. Well, I totally misinterpreted the opening line og this thread.

I thought someone got fired for getting a letter of recommendation FROM Ted Nugent, and was thinking, "Ted knows how to write?