MPBN reports that Michael Pajak lost a job at the Department of Conservation because of his AMG postings under the name The Distributist.
Some AMGers doubt that one of their most beloved posters of yesteryear is actually the poor, innocent Michael Pajak.
Says mediadog:
Do we know for sure that Pajak wrote what Sharon accuses him of writing in AMG posts? The MPBN hierarchy appears sensitive now — after its parents’ recent problems — about treating all listeners fairly. I’m not sure that’s in Sharon’s DNA. See the semi-mea culpa currently offered offered by the MPBN top dogs on their home page.
Oh come on.
They don’t un-hire a guy for something he DIDN’T say. Please. That wouldn’t happen.
The guy got thrown under the bus because bigots should be thrown under buses.
Not to mention, if you want to work in politics and you happen to be a bigot you should at least be smart enough to pretend you are not.
And then there is Spinmaker, who makes a good point in some of the muddle:
4.) Does anyone on AMG have a problem with the DOC offering a job to the executive director of Friends of Maine’s Mountains? What if former commissioner McGowan hired Brownie Carson during the Plum Creek hearings? Or is this just more…well…hypocrisy?
Of course no one on AMG has a problem with that sort of thing as long as it is done by a Republican administration. Duh. It turns out ethics is a very moldable principle.
But then he continues:
I know Mike Pajak. I know Tipping. Pajak is a good guy, who may have made some stupid, ill-advised comments. I hope Mr. Tipping never goes for a government job or seeks office… because the internet never forgets, nor does it forgive.
I, for one, hope the internet does not forget how Mike Tipping confronted a homophobic bigot and saved the taxpayers of Maine the embarrassment of having employed him.
First amendment guys. Wait until someone outts you. shoe—foot
The first amendment has nothing to do with this situation.
if you don’t agree with what someone says, they still have the rght to say it. that’s why I think this is 1st amend. R we going to punish every one for what they say and write?
Have you complained to Scott Fish about AMG banning liberals for what they say?
Look, I understand what you’re trying to say. Michael Pajak has a right to say what he wants. But he doesn’t have the right to say it on any particular privately owned website.
This is the distinction: The first amendment doesn’t allow the government to tell Michael Pajak he can’t use AMG. The government could not tell Scott Fish to ban Pajak.
But Scott Fish, citizen, owns the website and can restrict anyone’s speech on that website for any reason. And he has, frequently, but not with The Distributist.
People are punished and judged for what they say all the time. We just don’t let the government do it.
From Bob Emrich:
I know Mike Pajak very well. I have yet to speak with him (or Bill Beardsley) about this issue, but I think this is unfortunate. Mike is very intelligent and compassionate. His writing style is not for the lazy or weak.
The more I think about this, the less I like it. Mike Pajak deserves better treatment than this. I suspect there is more to the story than we are hearing.
(not a word from the esteemed Reverend about the content of the Distributist’s posts. In f-ing credible, don’t you think?)
Why should he comment when he agrees with every hate-filled word the Disturbist prints?
I agree completely. I have seen no one on the conservative side of AMG say anything about how inappropriate Pajak’s statements were.
There were many thousands of intelligent and compassionate people insulted by Pajak on a near daily basis for years. Why should a Reverend care about that (rolls eyes)?
Blacklisting people because of what they think, believe, or say is an old American tradition.
Just as the right cheered when careers were ruined for the Hollywood Ten so the left now cheers when a right wing Christian is blacklisted in his chosen career.
Both were shameful and mean spirited.
You’re right: the 1st amendment is not what is the issue here. The issue is the other American tradition: free exchange of ideas.
Having been discriminated against myself I make it a life policy not to discriminate against others. I would think that the left, after having been targeted, would take pains not to do the same to the right.
I guess my expectations of both sides were too high.
Blacklisting has a negative connotation but I think it is very different to ask that the state not hire employees who express hateful things towards broad groups of Maine citizens.
There are surely lots of conservative Christians serving in this administration and I have no problem with them doing so. The religion isn’t the issue. Neither is the political view. I wouldn’t oppose a social christian being hired as an assistant if they hadn’t tried so hard to insult and hurt. Pajak is uniquely insulting and I don’t think it is akin to blacklisting movie makers. Most of those allegations were untrue.
People like Emmaline and Joe Mama just don’t get it, do they? Pajak didn’t lose his job because he’s a Christian, he lost his job because he’s an a-hole.
Is Bob Emrich a public worker? I thought he was a rev. Why are you going after him?
So much hate on here, any way. AMG posters sometimes talk beheind the scenes, not so much on the front page. You don’t know if any had a problem with what P. wrote.
That is laughable. AMGers were talking behind the scenes for the five years of Pajak’s horrible posts?
AMGers will criticize anything and everything on the forum, and Scott is not adverse to banning people. But with Pajak they were just too shy all of a sudden to publicly say, hey, you’re being dumb, please stop?
Don’t be silly. They had no problem with what he was saying. Obviously.
And Emrich is about as close to a politician as one can be without running for office. He did the marriage equality veto. He was once a state worker working in the legislative office, until he was fired. He is very public in his views. I won’t apologize for presenting the other side.
Youre showing yourself to be very hateful. You rag on P. for doing the same. When does it end?
It is not hate to call someone else out as a bigot when they made bigoted remarks consistently for many years. Nor is it hate to ask that a Reverend not show support for the bigot.
I left AMG for reasons similar to these: The members of that forum kept trying to utilize the “politics of personal destruction” based on nothing more than the principles people espoused.
So all liberals were targetted for personal attack.
I see it’s the same thing only the flip side here.
I’m sorry for that. I really had higher hopes for this place. My bad.
Joe Mama, what parts of satire, parody, and lolz don’t you get?
I’ve known Mike for almost 30 yrs. He’s a great guy. Any newpaper or politician should be happy to have him on their staff. I’m an extremely liberal democrat and I don’t always agree with him, to say the least (unless we talk music), but he is bright, and savvy and a good writer, and a nice guy all around. I don’t know if what you are saying is the truth, after all “Captian Honest”, “Mr. Reality”… if you are too scared to use your own name why would anybody believe your blog…?. If you don’t like reading As Maine Goes, read something else. Mad magazine is still being published.
If you don’t like reading about how your good friend is a homophobic zealot who dismisses entire groups of people as less than human based on their religious choices, don’t read my blog.
And for crying out loud, if you don’t believe me why don’t you ask him.
I have friends, who I think would also call me friend, who have beliefs so wild and outrageous as to embarass Rush Limbaugh. We remain friends. We just don’t discuss religion or politics.
The beloved Distributist is obviously a very intelligent person with a sharp, though sadistic sense of humor. But I wouldn’t invite him to join us for dinner and I doubt he would accept any invitation.
Maybe it was the way he condemned my daughter, her partner and granddaughter to the eternal flames of Hell for the crime of creating life in vitro and then choosing a homosexual lifestyle for themselves. The horror.
I do know Mike, have known him for about 5 years. 4 of those he was a normal guy. Then he got extremely violent and verbally abusive to an almost criminal extent because I was working for another candidate, not Bill Beardsley or Dean Scontras. Then came the Kevin Scott emails. Mike needs to be in a hospital, it is not normal for a grown man to act this way.