NASA Employee Suspended For Blogging At Work

BobJacobsen writes "FCW has an article about a NASA employee that was suspended for blogging on government time. Seems the unnamed employee's 'politically partisan' blog entries were a violation of the Hatch Act. The article ends with a chilling quote from the government's Special Counsel in the case: 'Today, modern office technology multiplies the opportunities for employees to abuse their positions and — as in this serious case — to be penalized, even removed from their job, with just a few clicks of a mouse.'" Thing is, he was soliciting campaign donations and writing partisan stuff.

Comments

Re:why a lower standard for government workers?

[jedidiah]

> It's not just "personal use" we're talking about here. It's partisan politics.

Engaging in "partisan politics" is your "God given" right as an American.
This sort of thing should not be viewed as any more or less sinister than
ordering flowers for your mother, checking the latest headlines or seeing
what's playing at the local GooglePlex.

absolutely:fair (or maybe not)

[frovingslosh]

Thing is, he was soliciting campaign donations and writing partisan stuff.

Even if he wasn't doing the above, firing would be quite justified for doing personal things while on the clock and accepting a paycheck. I sure don't want to spend my tax dollars to finance someone else's Internet hobby. And I sure don't want to do it for someone soliciting campaign donations and writing partisan stuff. Heck, maybe this isn't fair enough, can't he be charged with some kind of crime over this?

Censorship is not funny.

[westbake]

Chances are, this guy just chose the wrong party to blog for. The Bush administration has been "for us or against" us for a long time. There's good reason the phrases "war on science" and "war on integrity" are common. It's easy to make fun when it's not you that has to go 180 days without pay. Think about it for a while and you might come to more reasonable options, like a warning.