Sometimes, when I take a stand on an issue, I incur the wrath of people who disagree. Some of the emails I’ve received are not fit for publication on a family blog like this and some of the voice mails have been saved for posterity (and possible court proceedings).
But never have I had someone think they could intimidate me by writing to my boss and demanding to know if I was speaking for my employer 24 hours a day. And never have I had someone write to my boss challenging my right to support or oppose any piece of legislation or government policy. And never have I had a high government official try to get my employer to silence my voice in the public square just because what I say challenges that official’s policy. Until ...
Rhode Island Governor Donald Carcieri sent this letter.
The governor of the state went after him for something he wrote on a blog. I've had that happen to me as well, a few conservative students took some blog posts I put up that they disagreed with and went to the provost of the college I was teaching at. Luckily for me (and Patrick in the above story), my boss believed in free speech. I didn't get in any trouble and was, in fact, offered tenure a year early while doing that job, but what if I didn't have such an understanding boss? What if Patrick didn't? And we already know that here in Florida, the Lt. Governor has no problem going after bloggers.
This is why some bloggers are anonymous and why I fully support that decision and respect that privacy, and you should to.
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