Via Newsbusters:
O`DONNELL: Hey, that is a really good voice.
Mr. Baxter writing about the message on his blog, “Yeah, I know — stupid! And certainly not constructive. Unfortunately, in my haste, I used the phrase `mentally retarded,` which ultimately drags me down to their level.”
Mr. Baxter also gave his phone number on the voicemail, which got posted on the conservative Web site BigGovernment.com. FreedomWorks president Matt Kibbe elevating the rhetoric by writing an accompanying post: “Feel free to contact Lance. He was so kind to provide his number in the voicemail. Call his employer, too. Let them know that you, in fact, are not a mentally retarded killer.”
In a press release, Mr. Baxter says he made the phone call because he was upset about tea partiers using gay and racial slurs against members of Congress. He also believes that his connection to GEICO is the primary reason he was targeted. GEICO pulled its ads from Glenn Beck`s show after Mr. Beck made racially-charged comments about President Obama.Mr. Baxter says he was calling as a private citizen but doesn`t blame GEICO for, quote, “protecting themselves, they have a business to run and can`t waste time getting caught up in the FreedomWorks circus.”
Hey, GEICO, why are you guys firing this guy? He exercised his First Amendment right of free speech, then had the class to instantly apologize for the bad choice of words. What`s wrong with that?
Now, I understand why Marilyn Chambers could not continue being the face of Ivory Snow laundry detergent after she did a five-way behind the green door. But this guy isn`t the face of anything. He`s just a voice. Firing him is like firing a ghost. No one will know you changed the voice- over guy in your commercials.
Of the people who do know, surely some of them might prefer doing business with a company that respects the First Amendment.
An odd statement coming from MSDNC, which seems to have a company policy limiting the First Amendment rights of its employees. So, Laurence, when are we going to hear your passionate defense of David Shuster or Donny Deutsch?