CNN OPERATOR FIRED AFTER SUGGESTING 'X' OVER CHENEY WAS 'FREE SPEECH'

CNN OPERATOR FIRED AFTER SUGGESTING 'X' OVER CHENEY WAS 'FREE SPEECH'

A CNN switchboard operator was fired over the holiday -- after the operator claimed the 'X' placed over Vice President's Dick Cheney's face was "free speech!"

"We did it just to make a point. Tell them to stop lying, Bush and Cheney," the CNN operator said to a caller. "Bring our soldiers home."

The caller initially phoned the network to complain about the all-news channel flashing an "X' over Cheney as he gave an address live from Washington.

"Was it not freedom of speech? Yes or No?" the CNN operator explained.

"If you don't like it, don't watch."

Laurie Goldberg, Senior Vice President for Public Relations with CNN, said in a release:

"A Turner switchboard operator was fired today after we were alerted to a conversation the operator had with a caller in which the operator lost his temper and expressed his personal views -- behavior that was totally inappropriate. His comments did not reflect the views of CNN. We are reaching out to the caller and expressing our deep regret to her and apologizing that she did not get the courtesy entitled to her. "

--from The Drudge Report

I'll wait until somebody sane says something about this.

I wish they would express deep regret for being enablers for this sorry, murdering administration.

Drudge...

but if this ends up being true, my initial observation is that this CNN Operator knows nothing about the concept of Freedom of Speech as its defined Constitutionally, and he or she deserved to be fired.

but does deserve some sort of punishment

this does not pass the smell test and I suspect the caller set-up someone at CNN to lost their job then garner headlines promoting the CNN 'liberal bias' myth.

...and I think if someone from a blue company can get this operators name, give that man a job. Hell, CNN should be apologizing for carrying water for this Administration and issuing White House press releases as "news".

it DOES have a believability factor. Unfortunately enough to get said employee fired.

been full of praise for the VP instead. Meaning to say, it would have been fine had the operator held the opposite opinion. Would have been fine if the operator had been on "their" side.

But CNN does not want that opinion to represent them.

CNN wants to remain impartial...so it must support the admin and only allow positive messages about the admin? Sure.

Not as if mainstream media hasn't been accused of being affected by the admin, feed stories, cases of paying reporters for purposely slanted "stories". Not as if we don't think they're all a bunch of shills ANYWAY. wtf?

Yeah, they can't have that kind of unpatriotic talk on their station. Free speech, it doesn't pay.

People, you should be aware already that Drudge gets paid to disseminate GOP propaganda and disinfo.

They act at the whip of their pro-GOP corporate masters.

Do you have a link to one? As far as I've been able to ascertain, this story is bullshit made up by the wingnuts in order to continue their wailing and gnashing of teeth after finally being forced to accept that the X was a technical glitch.

jeez it was an accident, just like the crash of flight 587, or Sen Wellstone airplane. Why would an incident involving a flunky at cnn (crooks nudgewink news) be anything that would entail public disclosure? Fact, it wouldn't! it would give the nazipoohs a basis for claims the media is liberal (anti bush) and the drudge/pigmedia can hammer this home...if anyone thinks these thieves are too dense to go to all this trouble over what looks to be an honest citizen expressing hisself, rather ineffectively unfortunately, then they've already forgotten the 'w' removed from wordprocessors by the clintonians, or the 18181 bush vote wins in multiple '02 congressional districts (oh, someone goofed up that time hahaha)
the frothing at the mouth, the reddened eyes and the grisly snarls suggest we treat these monsters like rabid dogs, and not try to train them to 'roll over' and 'stay!'

especially with the quote from the CNN PR veep.

BTW, I don't disagree with CNN for firing the operator--I just thought it was great that somebody had the balls to risk their job by just lambasting that caller with some anti-Bush rhetoric.

if he appears with a big X on his nefarious (and unpopular) face???

to express his/her personal opinion.

I agree...that the operator probably shouldn't have said that...but I can only imagine how frustrated he/she must have been after taking call after call from moronic Republicans.
But....it doesn't have anything to do with the mistake made on air...but just watch the radicals claim a conspiracy against Darth Cheney. rme:puke:

So, I figured it was probably true. I understand the operator's frustration, but their job wasn't to express their opinions, it was to take phone calls and placate viewers. That's the job. Since they did the exact opposite of that, they deserve to be fired. Whether we agree with them or not.

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

The frantic eyed Drudge/Hannity-sucking wingnuts have probably been flooding CNN's switchboard for days. Listening to the same hysterical, irrational nonsense parroted word-for-word over and over again would be enough to drive any sensible person over the edge.