I recently witnessed the following exchange outside of a fire station.
Three firefighters, including an officer, were standing on the front ramp at the station when a woman who was walking by paused and approached them. "Why is the flag at half-mast?" she asked them.
The officer responded in a sarcastic tone, "Because I guess the president finally decided it was time to lower it for the guys who were killed in Chattanooga last week." The woman walked on. I could not see her reaction. But I was clear in what my reaction was.
Bad form, guys. Unprofessional. Wrong. Did this fire officer have a right to express his personal opinion about the president during this brief exchange with a member of his service community? Is such speech covered under the First Amendment? Are personal Facebook posts that relate to a fire department issue or event covered under the First Amendment? Does a firefighter have the right to fly a Confederate flag from an official fire vehicle during a parade?