Steve Clevenger Suspended For Tweeting

Therion · Sep 24, 2016

The Mariners have suspended Steve Clevenger for Tweeting about the riots involving Black Lives Matter.

I'm torn on how I feel about this. While I agree that the Mariners have the right to punish a member of their ballclub for representing an opinion they feel will impact their business negatively, it also seems to be impeding his right to voice his opinion about the situation. His Twitter is his private Twitter account and not an account that is officially associated with the Mariners. He was not wearing their uniform while ranting about anything.

But I also go back to something I tell my students all the time. You do have a right to free speech. But you do not have protection from the consequences of what you say.

What do you guys think? Justified or bull#*$%?

CatdaddysCards · Sep 24, 2016

I think it was BS and cowardly, of the Mariners, and I have lost some respect for that organization.

We are promised free speech, and we are not promised zero repercussions of that speech. That said, with all the other protesting going in, in other sports, I feel that a negative precedent is being set. Protest the flag, all you want. Disrespect good LEO's, all you want. Trash your country, all you want. Better not say a single thing about BLM, though. You'll have to be punished from fear of hurting someone's feelings.

I'm drinking, so I'll apologize for the run on.

Sent from my iPhone using Freedom Card Board

hive17 · Sep 24, 2016

If athletes don't know by now that their opinions are directly tied to their wallets/jobs, I have no suggestions for them.

No one was ever fined or released for something they didn't say.

DeliciousBacon · Sep 24, 2016

Completely justified, and he's a complete moron. Too many people think the 1st Amendment means you can say whatever the hell you want, and people can't do a damn thing about it. Doesn't matter if it was a "private" Twitter feed, he is an employee of the Mariners, and they have the right to expect their employees to behave in a fitting manner in public. Don't try and play the "oh you can't say anything bad about BLM" nonsense, he crossed that line and stopped looking back as he headed right into racism territory.

CatdaddysCards · Sep 24, 2016

It's not nonsense. He said black people beating up white people after a black thug (with a gun) was shot by a black cop. Where's the racism there?

Are you speaking of the one in which he said they "the animals they are?" If so, those ********* were acting like animals. That's not racism, that's a true depiction of their current actions.

Want to see how **** is done right, visit the Midwest and Tulsa. Hope the stupid **** stays on the coast. We don't need it here.

Sent from my iPhone using Freedom Card Board

AnthonyCorona · Sep 24, 2016

Everyone has freedom of speech, no one has freedom of consequences from their speech

Austin · Sep 24, 2016

Therion said:
You do have a right to free speech. But you do not have protection from the consequences of what you say.

Exactly.
And every athlete and public figure, and most professional/executive employees of every occupation have a clause in their contract stating they can be suspended or fired for saying or doing something that looks bad on the company, at the company's discretion.

I don't understand why people don't understand what free speech means. You can say whatever you want. Just be prepared to face a major backlash for it.

r2d2 · Sep 25, 2016

Completely justified. He has a right to free speech, Mariners have the right to suspend this punk.

Mighty Bombjack · Sep 25, 2016

Therion said:
What do you guys think? Justified or bull#*$%?

I think it can be both. I wouldn't do what the Mariners did if I owned the team - I would send out a press release distancing the franchise from any and all opinions of its employees - and from that point of view I think this is bullplop. However, I don't own the Mariners, and if those owners feel that strongly about the behavior and want to discourage same from other players, they are justified in taking the steps they took. The other Mariners players are going to think harder about what they tweet, no doubt.

Therion said:
But I also go back to something I tell my students all the time. You do have a right to free speech. But you do not have protection from the consequences of what you say.

That's the sum of it, and you are correct to tell this to your learners. You have another example to back you up in those assertions.

dano7 · Sep 25, 2016

Justified. Unfortunately, some jobs/ situations have different standards than others.

bongo870 · Sep 25, 2016

It depends on what he said. Did he use the Marlins team name in his rants? if so then yes they can. I don't like how places of business can tell you what you can do or say when you are not at work.

Super Mario · Sep 25, 2016

The suspension exemplifies the hypocricy of this country.

Austin · Sep 25, 2016

Super Mario said:
The suspension exemplifies the hypocricy of this country.

Explain.

r2d2 · Sep 25, 2016

bongo870 said:
It depends on what he said. Did he use the Marlins team name in his rants? if so then yes they can. I don't like how places of business can tell you what you can do or say when you are not at work.

And places of business don't link their employees given them a bad rep

Super Mario · Sep 25, 2016

Austin said:
Explain.

Freedom of Speech.

But when you exercise that right, you're persecuted against.

He shouldn't have been suspended.

He didn't say anything worthy of being suspended.

hive17 · Sep 25, 2016

Super Mario said:
Freedom of Speech.

But when you exercise that right, you're persecuted against.

He shouldn't have been suspended.

He didn't say anything worthy of being suspended.

The team disagrees, and they can use whatever justification they want. I wouldn't have suspended him, but I'll just have to stick to running my team only

Super Mario · Sep 25, 2016

hive17 said:
The team disagrees, and they can use whatever justification they want. I wouldn't have suspended him, but I'll just have to stick to running my team only

The team is wrong.

DeliciousBacon · Sep 25, 2016

Super Mario said:
Freedom of Speech.

But when you exercise that right, you're persecuted against.

He shouldn't have been suspended.

He didn't say anything worthy of being suspended.

That's not how freedom of speech works.

AnthonyCorona · Sep 25, 2016

DeliciousBacon said:
That's not how freedom of speech works.

Most people have no clue what that means

hive17 · Sep 25, 2016

Super Mario said:
The team is wrong.

And the 1st Amendment protects your right to say and think that. However, if you worked for Seattle, they could fire you for saying so.

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