(Amtrak) Conductor is suspended for anti-Kerry remarks

JEFFERSON CITY (AP)

An Amtrak conductor who is a Republican congressional candidate has been suspended without pay for suggesting his train passengers should vote against Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry.

Conductor Leslie Farr was on a Kansas City-to-St. Louis train that was delayed last Thursday while waiting for Kerry's locomotive to leave St. Louis and head to a Jefferson City rally.

In an interview Tuesday with The Associated Press, Farr said he used the train's public address system to inform passengers they would be delayed because of Kerry's train and quipped that they should vote accordingly in November. ..

Farr is the Republican challenger to Rep. William Lacy Clay Jr., D-St. Louis. He also is a delegate to the Republican National Convention. ..

Farr was working as a substitute conductor on the train...

Ride Don’t Drive * * It’s Global Cool

http://www.osc.gov/hatchact.htm

These federal and D.C. employees may not-

-use official authority or influence to interfere with an election
-solicit or discourage political activity of anyone with business before their agency
-solicit or receive political contributions (may be done in certain limited situations by federal labor or other employee organizations)
-be candidates for public office in partisan elections
-engage in political activity while:
--on duty
--in a government office
--wearing an official uniform
--using a government vehicle
-wear partisan political buttons on duty

Underpants you come through one more time buddy.

But nope. He's got no business espousing his political views while on the job. Any government employee knows that, as they are repeatedly warned about the matter.

MORAN - serves him right.

...that politics has no place on trains' public address systems, I think we should all be a little less uptight. So who cares if the guy said this? I would have engaged him in a discussion afterwards. Big fucking deal.

Let the rummy boys interogate him.

who tried to tell me last week that bikes had to be boxed to go on the Missouri Mule and Ann Rutledge, the only bike roll-on trains in the mid-west.
$10 extra from KC to Chicago per bike, 4 bikes per train.

Farr is a Cheneying joke.

In the League of Women Voters Voting Guide I picked up in St. Louis County, Farr (who has a snowball's chance in...you get the idea...of winning) lists his only issue as the Federal Marriage Amendment.

here's hoping the good folks in Missouri won't let him get too Farr out! (LOL)

Well, this tells me what kind of guy he is--not a serious candidiate. He's clearly some schmoe the pathetic St. Louis repubs shanghaied off a sidewalk and asked to run in a hopeless race against a guy who's as popular as Barak Obama.

If the tables were turned we'd be screaming about his rights and applauding him for standing up against Bush.

can't prothlytize their political agenda over the PA system. I sappose you would not mind paying for a ticket and sitting on the train listening to David Duke (the conductor) saying his points of view either huh?

That's inappropriate, no matter which way the speaker leans.

Rules are Rules. If the "tables were turned" I'd be saying "Dumb-ass, didn't know the work rules...."

The screaming would start if he had NOT been punished.

Yes, the man should be fired (ok, I don't know all the facts, but it seems like he was doing wrong). "Free speech" does not mean your employer has to PAY you and provide a PLATFORM (no pun intended) for your views.


However, there is a little hypocrisy here. Just remember some of the "censorship" and "free speech" shouting that went on here when some theater chains chose not to show F9/11?

There are clearly-laid-out rules concerning politcal conduct on the job by Federal Employees, which is what an Amtrak Conductor is.
There are no such rules regarding what theatres may or may not show.

Seems to be a bit of a stretch from breaking an employment rule to a theatre owner saying "I'm not showing this flick because it's disrespectful of God in Flesh".

And I think firing him is a little strong, don't you?

why is it that the tables never do seem to turn? Why is it that 9 out of 10 stories like this always end up with a GOP cretin using his/her job to stump for *?

It's because we have better sense than to impose our politics on a captive audience, especially if we're on the clock.

When are Americans going to wake up and build modern, separate tracks for commuter trains nationwide? Let's just wait until the whole country is paved and traffic still doesn't move.

Roll on bicylces are welcome in Ore and Wash. When I get the right agent, she doesn't charge me.

waiting in line for take off BECAUSE AF1 was going to either land or take off, and no other planes are permitted to fly within 20 minutes of it's arrival or departure! You don't want to hear the things I said in frustration!

Now, I guess it doesn't matter because I don't have a Gov't job. I do know eov't employees have to keep their mouth shut!

if he wants to keep his job, he might want to reconsider voting for bush and having a republican majority in congress.

bush, and especially, McCain, want to see Amtrack gone.

SO vote accordingly, you stupid Cheney-head, and you may lose your job.

Hope you do, either way...

RL

who used his position to proselytize the passengers aboard the plane he was flying, insisting that Christians identify themselves and then turn to the non-Christian passengers to teach them about the bible.

Whether the conductor was Republican or Democratic, I would be annoyed to have him use my situation as a captive audience against me that way!

Had a flight attendant on the commuter flight that diverted to pick up the Bush twins said something similar? What's the book on him being fired rather than just a suspension.

:headbang:
rocknation

This is a mild offence. People make jokes about voting against candidates who inconvenience them all of the time. Yes it was unprofessional but hardly a firing (or even suspending) offence.

on the airlines, we may actually get somewhere in this country.

Well, if you catch it at the point of origin, it's usually on time.

And I would think the same if it was a Democrat against Bush, although not be quite as smug about it LOL. I don't wear my t-shirt comparing Bush faces to chimp faces at work, it is unprofessional and I don't use my staff meeting to tell people who to vote for, although I have registered 2 staff on cigarette breaks LOL.
Kathy

Leslie Farr .....Free speech rules!

... but this guy can?

Call them on their hypocrisy.