How would you like to wake up one morning to find that the New York Times, Washington Post, MSNBC, all your local TV stations and media outlets coast to coast are dissecting you and your posts on Facebook?
In a case of unbridled bullying and harassment, the Human Rights Campaign and a New Jersey "gay" advocacy group are jumping all over a Union High School teacher. If she loses her job – and she teaches in liberal New Jersey, so it's outrageous but possible – these reprehensible actions might qualify as libel.
What could Viki Knox possibly have done to deserve such attention? Is she a felon? Has she embezzled school funds? Did she steal cookies at a bake sale?
No, she posted – imagine this – opinions about homosexuality on her Facebook page! Yes, the New York Times is cutting staff, but somehow they find time to pile on a New Jersey special education teacher because she expressed her dismay over a school bulletin board praising famous "lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender" people. I applaud her for having enough real heart and caring about kids that she found this misleading and harmful propaganda disturbing.
What's the next breaking news story at the Times: Laura's and Jenna's text messages to each other in biology class?
Viki's Facebook posts were originally confined to a dialogue among her actual friends, but then others whom she did not know began to jump in with the usual accusations – that she was hateful, prejudiced, blah, blah, blah.
She posted several quizzical comments wondering who these new people were. She also commented that "homosexuality is a perverted spirit that has existed from the beginning of creation." This wise insight, which may serve to educate many people during her 15 minutes of fame, has demanded nothing less than full-on retribution, as only the charming homosexual lobby and their lock-step media co-dependents can deliver it. And I include in that group the partisan Times, MSNBC, Huffington Post, the Daily Kos and others.
One very strange twist in the whole story is the role of an attorney named John Paragano. He claims to be the one who alerted Garden State [In]Equality to the Facebook posting (slow day at court, apparently), and is even quoted as saying, "Hateful public comments from a teacher cannot be tolerated. She has a right to say it. But she does not have a right to keep her job after saying it." John might want to get himself an attorney for that future libel case Viki may have.
Yet Paragano surely already has an attorney, or possibly several. This is the same John Paragano, former Union Township, N.J., municipal court judge, who recently divorced a New York radio personality, Diane Prior, and received probation after a 2009 assault charge. It seems he attacked his wife, then posted unflattering material about her on the Internet. His probation agreement includes refraining from such Internet activities again, as well as – wait for it – undergoing mental-health/anger management counseling. You can't make this stuff up.
Paragano resigned from the bench after a DWI and an earlier assault charge in 2004 involving then-girlfriend Diane. Classy guy.
I applaud Vikki for making a public statement like like, even though it was on her FB page.
ReplyDeleteHopefully she will hold strong against the these evil people.
But this Paragano guy needs to be taken behind the woodshed.