In the United States of America we have this wonderful document that we call The Bill of Rights. I’m sure you’ve heard of it. It guarantees all of us in this country certain freedoms.
For example, we have freedom of speech, guaranteed to us by the very First Amendment to the Constitution.
Fun with the First Amendment: understanding what it does and doesn't do http://t.co/DhqtRgVK0r #FirstAmendment #FreeSpeech #Religion
— The First Amendment (@USConst_Amend_I) July 3, 2015
The Huffington Post is reporting, though, that one American family has had that freedom of speech snatched right away from them in a truly scary way.
Amy and Brad Herzog and their two young sons had kind of a dream job. They worked for the Recreational Vehicle Industry Association (RVIA) for 17 years, driving around the country and giving interviews about living the camping life.
Sweet gig if you ask me!
Unfortunately for the Herzog family, the RVIA doesn’t believe in the First Amendment.
What happened was that the Herzog’s wrote a book called “D is for Dump Trump: An Anti-hate Alphabet.” The adult picture book contained 26 short, funny poems written by Brad. The illustrations were by Amy.
The couple decided to use the power of the internet to launch their project. On June 28 they launched a Kickstarter campaign to get the book published.
Now none of this impacted their responsibilities to the RV people. They were on the road, touring the western U.S., giving non-political interviews on TV and radio. In their own private time, however, they wanted to use their creativity to oppose the hateful narrative of the Trump campaign.
Good for them.
Except that the RVIA apparently has a policy of political neutrality. They fired the Herzogs.
The group also took to the internet to explain itself. Greg Gerber, an editor of the RV Daily Report, wrote:
“For an organization that routinely walks the tightrope of political correctness, it seems rather odd that RVIA would turn a blind eye to such a divisive book in this politically-charged environment. When they are advocating a political agenda in an election year, if the entrepreneurial Herzogs can make money bashing a billionaire entrepreneur, hey, more power to them. They should just do it on their time and not in conjunction with an RVIA road trip.”
To be clear, the Herzogs own a small publishing company called “Why Not Books.” They have written and published more than 30 other books about travel, sports figures and American presidents. All of those books were completed while the Herzogs were also working for the RVIA.
One of the books sold on the internet site is a critique of Congressional gridlock.
Interesting that the couple wasn’t fired until they decided to dump on Trump.
