Heckler Calls on Obama to Say Pledge
File this one under, “Why wasn’t he doing the job for which he was being paid?”
John Quinn, a freelance photographer covering an Obama town hall meeting at Baldwin-Wallace college in Berea, Ohio started yelling at Obama toward the beginning of the meeting for not starting off with the pledge. He then started to recite it himself.
Obama, keeping his cool, questioned if Quinn was a member of the press, and then led the audience in the pledge. Then…well, then life went on.
Now, I’m all for free speech, and I like reciting the pledge. Yet, from everything I’m reading, this guy was supposedly on a job. I find it highly unprofessional to do something like this. You’re only making your client look bad by doing something that’s not in your job description to do. You want to call out someone for not saying the pledge? Do it on your own time. That’s the real world. When you’re doing a job, you do it with professionalism, not disrespect. Unprofessional behavior makes you and your employer look bad. Everybody knows that; it’s the first lesson in Working World 101
On a side note, never having been to a town hall meeting, I don’t know the proper protocols. Is saying the pledge a customary thing to do?
nobody thinks this is a plant by the obama camp do you? just like the women in the kitchen skit that happened at a clinton event awhile back?
Why would the Obama campaign plant someone to make them look bad? That makes little sense.
How does it make them look bad? You have Obama reciting the pledge of allegiance …
Again, I am not saying they did…
it doesn’t state if he was on assignment or not. As a freelance, he could be there to take pics to attempt to sell at a later time.
Otherwise, he’s a private tax-paying citizen.
The reports about his employer have been changing all night. I’ve seen freelance, but I’ve also seen Bloomberg and a couple others (i.e the usual suspects like to target him as a Fox News man).
If he is just taking pics to sell, then fine, I have no issue. But not if he’s actually working for someone at the time.
Whatever, though. Doesn’t make a difference to me one way or another in the end. Pledge was said. Life goes on.
Suddenly, someone demanding a US senator do the pledge of allegiance is unprofessional?
Some people fought for this country, so that you can say the pledge of allegiance. Some people died for this country too.
Considering Barack Obama has a record of not funding the troops, undermining John McCain’s service record using surrogates, and voting against the war, as well as adding fuel to the fire by requesting to invade Pakistan… It should surprise you that more interruptions like this don’t come up.
Oh you mean he voted against the last GI bill, which was endorsed by every major veterans group out there? Oh sorry, that was McCain that did that, on the grounds that it was "too generous" with our troops. Which hilariously didn’t stop Bush from thanking McCain for the passage of a bill he opposed.
As for the pledge, it’s a false issue and everyone with an IQ above 70 knows it. McCain does not start every speech and event with a pledge and I’ve yet to see him called on it. Likewise with military service, Republicans didn’t seem to think it was so important when Bush (who, let’s face it, didn’t "fight" for his country) went up against veteran Kerry, and also had no issue with denigrating his service in ways not even the most extreme Obama surrogate has (Obama himself has consistently honored McCain’s service, something very conveniently ignored by his detractors).
No, the real issue is that people simply WANT to believe that Obama isn’t really patriotic, that he’s barely American in fact, and will try to fit ANY data into that assumption. "He wasn’t wearing a flag pin today!" "The other day he started lunch without saying the pledge!" "At breakfast he asked for French toast instead of Freedom toast". All these emty symbols are used against him because there is no TRUE EVIDENCE that he is in any way anti-American or non-patriotic.
Did you raise this same issue for Clinton who instead bashed his Country while dodging the draft?
Jonathan, I said causing a scene like this while doing your paid job is unprofessional. I guess, unless it is your job to do it, but I’m guessing not in this case if he’s working for someone.
I am in agreement with Ronnie that if he’s taking pictures himself and selling later then he’s good to go.
But making your employer look bad while you’re on the job is grade school knowledge of the things not to do while working.