# Who is sending Bombs? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [October 24, 2018, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-sending-bombs/823454 "2018-10-24T19:31:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 23
**Author:** ![Blalron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/35a633/32.png) [@Blalron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blalron)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2018, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-sending-bombs/823454/441 "2018-10-29T17:25:44Z")
> [@Wolf333](#): > > Wait, are we talking about the"peaceful, polite white separatist" who mailed bombs to people, or some hypothetical “peaceful, polite white separatist” who really doesn’t belong in this conversation? My point may have been a bit of a hijack. I’m may end up starting a new thread on “at will” employment laws and whether political beliefs should be a protected category. ---
**Author:** ![Blalron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/35a633/32.png) [@Blalron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blalron)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2018, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-sending-bombs/823454/442 "2018-10-29T17:37:03Z")
> [@monstro](#): > > A coworker sexually harassed me at work several years ago. He was given another chance to redeem himself, but he did it again and he was fired. > > He didn’t lose his home, but I still felt bad. Becauses we had been friends at one time and I am not a completely heartless bastard. Several years ago, a coworker stole my paycheck from the register. He was caught on camera. He obviously deserved to be fired for this, and he was fired. Even then, I felt just the tiniest bit sorry for him. I’m not sure what happened to him after that. ---
**Author:** ![JB99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/439d5e/32.png) [@JB99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JB99)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2018, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-sending-bombs/823454/443 "2018-10-29T18:59:49Z")
> [@Maastricht](#): > > if the pizzaplace owner had fired Cezar, what is more likely; > > 1. that he would have seen the error of his ways, and gotten another job; > 2. or that he would have snapped earlier, and probably at his former boss, who’s also a lesbian and therefore a worthy target? > > My money’s on door number 2. A leader cannot be held hostage by his employees. “What if he becomes enraged and tries to get revenge?” Is the kind of question we could ask for almost any disciplinary decision. It’s also irrelevant. The employee does not dictate terms. It’s the leader’s job to set and enforce the standards. If the employee fails to meet those standards, the employee gets fired. Whatever the employee does with his life after that point is not the leader’s responsibility. All available evidence and experience reinforces the point that it is the leader’s obligation to preserve the organization’s values. And yes, I have fired employees for issues ranging from ethics violations to simple incompetence. It is sad and unfortunate, but keeping a toxic employee in your organization is even worse. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Economist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c89c15/32.png) [@Evil\_Economist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Economist)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2018, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-sending-bombs/823454/444 "2018-10-29T19:31:28Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > If he was my employee, in a right to work state? YES. “I’m sorry, but this isn’t going to work out.” I think you may mean “at-will employment state”. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Economist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c89c15/32.png) [@Evil\_Economist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Economist)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2018, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-sending-bombs/823454/445 "2018-10-29T19:32:31Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > If he was my employee, in a right to work state? I think you may mean “at-will employment state”. ---
**Author:** ![Great\_Antibob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Great\_Antibob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Antibob)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2018, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-sending-bombs/823454/446 "2018-10-29T19:33:16Z")
> [@JB99](#): > > A leader cannot be held hostage by his employees. > > “What if he becomes enraged and tries to get revenge?” Is the kind of question we could ask for almost any disciplinary decision. It’s also irrelevant. Irrelevant in terms of the employment, but if the owner(s) believes there is a serious and credible threat to their own safety, the safety of other employees, or the safety of customers, it is incredibly relevant and there is an ethical and moral duty as a human being (much less as a business owner) to inform the appropriate authorities about the threat. That’s true of any serious, credible threat of physical violence, not just from a former employee. If I think my neighbor or my co-worker or some random person on the street poses an actual physical threat to innocent people, it may not be my responsibility but it’s still my duty to do more than wash my hands of it and proclaim it’s somebody else’s problem. ---
**Author:** ![you\_with\_the\_face](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/ecccb3/32.png) [@you\_with\_the\_face](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/you_with_the_face)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2018, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-sending-bombs/823454/447 "2018-10-29T19:37:41Z")
> [@Blalron](#): > > My point may have been a bit of a hijack. I’m may end up starting a new thread on “at will” employment laws and whether political beliefs should be a protected category. In order for “political beliefs” to come anywhere close to being a protected category, they would need to defined such that calls for genocide and other heinous acts that would make a reasonable person feel threatened would not count. Good luck coming up with such a definition. ---
**Author:** ![JB99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/439d5e/32.png) [@JB99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JB99)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2018, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-sending-bombs/823454/448 "2018-10-29T19:55:10Z")
> [@Great\_Antibob](#): > > Irrelevant in terms of the employment, but if the owner(s) believes there is a serious and credible threat to their own safety, the safety of other employees, or the safety of customers, it is incredibly relevant and there is an ethical and moral duty as a human being (much less as a business owner) to inform the appropriate authorities about the threat. > > That’s true of any serious, credible threat of physical violence, not just from a former employee. If I think my neighbor or my co-worker or some random person on the street poses an actual physical threat to innocent people, it may not be my responsibility but it’s still my duty to do more than wash my hands of it and proclaim it’s somebody else’s problem. Yes, I agree with all of this. Definitely relevant to the authorities and the employer should warn people of the danger. But my point was that the employee cannot be allowed to coerce the employer with threats of violence. ---
**Author:** ![Locrian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/locrian/32/14146_2.png) [@Locrian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Locrian)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2018, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-sending-bombs/823454/449 "2018-10-29T20:14:34Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > [Another bomb today in Atlanta](https://apnews.com/16bc3c712c8e495c9f62fc4c015d52b5)?Is there another person sending bombs in the mail? [From CBS News:](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/cnn-atlanta-mailed-suspicious-package-today-live-updates/) > [@](#): > > Authorities did not immediately say who might be responsible for sending the most recent package sent to CNN, but law enforcement officials have said they believe the packages were staggered and more could be discovered. > > The network said that the “package looks similar in appearance to the wave of pipe bombs that were mailed last week to prominent Democrats around the country, including two that were addressed to CNN’s New York bureau.” I can imagine these being delivered staggered too, but does this nut job have help? ---
**Author:** ![3trew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/3/13edae/32.png) [@3trew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/3trew)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2018, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-sending-bombs/823454/450 "2018-10-29T21:22:07Z")
> [@you\_with\_the\_face](#): > > In order for “political beliefs” to come anywhere close to being a protected category, they would need to defined such that calls for genocide and other heinous acts that would make a reasonable person feel threatened would not count. Good luck coming up with such a definition. IOKIYAR, same as in town. Next! ---
**Author:** ![you\_with\_the\_face](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/ecccb3/32.png) [@you\_with\_the\_face](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/you_with_the_face)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2018, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-sending-bombs/823454/451 "2018-10-29T21:26:36Z")
> [@Blalron](#): > > If you found out that this peaceful, polite white separatist lost his home after you fired him, and he and his children are now living on the street, would you feel the least bit bad? I would feel sorry for them, but that wouldn’t mean I wouldn’t fire him. Here’s a hypothetical for you. You manage a pizzeria. Two people interview for a deliverer position and you can only hire one. You do a google search on both before making a selection. Candidate number one turns out to be a self identified Nazi who creates and disseminates racists memes via Facebook. There are pictures online of him attending Nazi marches. He moderates an alt-right message board and uses an avatar with his face on it. Candidate number two doesn’t have much of an internet presence. The only thing that turns up when you google him is a innocuous MySpace profile. Beyond these differences, both candidates have the same qualifications. They both are fathers to two little kids and are in bad need of a job. Who will you hire? Someone’s kids are going to suffer regardless of whom you select; does this matter? If you think the obvious pick is the second candidate, then what is the practical difference between firing the known Nazi and replacing him a non-Nazi vs choosing not to hire the Nazi in the first place? ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2018, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-sending-bombs/823454/452 "2018-10-29T21:42:50Z")
> [@you\_with\_the\_face](#): > > I would feel sorry for them, but that wouldn’t mean I wouldn’t fire him. > > Here’s a hypothetical for you. You manage a pizzeria. Two people interview for a deliverer position and you can only hire one. You do a google search on both before making a selection. Candidate number one turns out to be a self identified Nazi who creates and disseminates racists memes via Facebook. There are pictures online of him attending Nazi marches. He moderates an alt-right message board and uses an avatar with his face on it. > > Candidate number two doesn’t have much of an internet presence. The only thing that turns up when you google him is a innocuous MySpace profile. > > Beyond these differences, both candidates have the same qualifications. They both are fathers to two little kids and are in bad need of a job. > > Who will you hire? Someone’s kids are going to suffer regardless of whom you select; does this matter? > > If you think the obvious pick is the second candidate, then what is the practical difference between firing the known Nazi and replacing him a non-Nazi vs choosing not to hire the Nazi in the first place? While I’m in total agreement with your position, **you with the face** , try this one and see if the answer is still a slam dunk: Same pizzeria, but you have TWO jobs that need filling. Candidate #1 from your hypothetical is your ONLY applicant. Do you put a hire through? ---
**Author:** ![E-DUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/e-dub/32/403_2.png) [@E-DUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-DUB)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2018, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-sending-bombs/823454/453 "2018-10-29T21:55:25Z")
Treating fascism/white supremacism as just another political ideology is comparable to treating cannibalism as just another culinary preference. ---
**Author:** ![Blalron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/35a633/32.png) [@Blalron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blalron)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2018, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-sending-bombs/823454/454 "2018-10-29T21:58:33Z")
> [@you\_with\_the\_face](#): > > If you think the obvious pick is the second candidate, then what is the practical difference between firing the known Nazi and replacing him a non-Nazi vs choosing not to hire the Nazi in the first place? I see your point. If there were two equally qualified candidates, I’d pick the non-Nazi. But my intuition is telling me that the bar for not hiring is lower than for firing them. I’d also weigh seniority into the decision. For example, if they’ve spent 10 years being an exemplary employee with no complaints and something suddenly turns up, I might let it slide for him. But then again, if I’m subjected to boycotts that threaten my business, I may cave into pressure despite my principled stance not to discriminate against people due to their beliefs. ---
**Author:** ![Measure\_for\_Measure](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/measure_for_measure/32/557_2.png) [@Measure\_for\_Measure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Measure_for_Measure)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2018, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-sending-bombs/823454/455 "2018-10-29T22:04:55Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > She did more than expose her employees to him. She exposed him to her employees. What if all that time being forced to be coworkers with people who he believed ought rightfully to be removed from existence finally made him SNAP, and go on a bomb-building-and-mailing rampage? Unlikely, as he left the pizza parlor in Jan 2018. > [@Maastricht](#): > > if the pizzaplace owner had fired Cezar, what is more likely; > > 1. that he would have seen the error of his ways, and gotten another job; > 2. or that he would have snapped earlier, and probably at his former boss, who’s also a lesbian and therefore a worthy target? > > My money’s on door number 2. Not my money. Imagine she said that her business had certain standards, and among them was not using or advocating violence. Another involved the sorts of things you can paste on your delivery vans. Also hygiene. Basically she would set reasonable business boundaries. It gets more dicey if she tells him not to post on Gab. But if he keeps his mouth shut, she wouldn’t know about it. It’s true that she had a reasonable basis to fear for her safety: she said in an interview that she had problems with folks she had fired. Also true that firing him because she didn’t like his politics would be dangerous. But restraining orders exist for a reason. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2018, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-sending-bombs/823454/456 "2018-10-29T22:06:41Z")
> [@Blalron](#): > > I see your point. If there were two equally qualified candidates, I’d pick the non-Nazi. > > But my intuition is telling me that the bar for not hiring is lower than for firing them. I’d also weigh seniority into the decision. For example, if they’ve spent 10 years being an exemplary employee with no complaints and something suddenly turns up, I might let it slide for him. But then again, if I’m subjected to boycotts that threaten my business, I may cave into pressure despite my principled stance not to discriminate against people due to their beliefs. After you’ve hired the Nazi, one of your employees says she feels threatened because she knows his stance includes wanting people that belong to groups she belongs to be murdered; what do you do? ---
**Author:** ![Blalron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/35a633/32.png) [@Blalron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blalron)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2018, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-sending-bombs/823454/457 "2018-10-29T22:27:19Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > After you’ve hired the Nazi, one of your employees says she feels threatened because she knows his stance includes wanting people that belong to groups she belongs to be murdered; what do you do? Schedule them to work different shifts, so they don’t have to see one another. ---
**Author:** ![you\_with\_the\_face](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/ecccb3/32.png) [@you\_with\_the\_face](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/you_with_the_face)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2018, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-sending-bombs/823454/458 "2018-10-29T22:32:02Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > While I’m in total agreement with your position, **you with the face** , try this one and see if the answer is still a slam dunk: Same pizzeria, but you have TWO jobs that need filling. Candidate #1 from your hypothetical is your ONLY applicant. Do you put a hire through? If I’m desperate, I would be willing to consider it, believe it or not. But he’d know he could be let go the minute he failed to keep a lid on his Nazism and I caught wind of it. ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2018, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-sending-bombs/823454/459 "2018-10-29T22:52:30Z")
> [@Blalron](#): > > Schedule them to work different shifts, so they don’t have to see one another. Which tells the person feeling threatened that you don’t take it seriously and s/he should just suck it up and not be so damned sensitive. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2018, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-sending-bombs/823454/460 "2018-10-29T22:57:28Z")
> [@Blalron](#): > > Schedule them to work different shifts, so they don’t have to see one another. That’s dodging the question. What if you can’t do that? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-sending-bombs/823454.md?page=22) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-sending-bombs/823454.md?page=24)