As Twitchy reported, Drew Johnson was the opinion page editor for the Chattanooga Times Free Press until he published an article titled “Take your jobs plan and shove it, Mr. President: Your policies have harmed Chattanooga enough.” The paper insists Johnson “violated the normal editing process” by changing his headline to an “inappropriate” one. But Johnson isn’t backing down on the claim that his firing was politically motivated and today he is making the media rounds to tell his side.
Apparently Johnson’s former employer had no problem promoting the extremely popular column.
@Drews_Views someone running their twitter feed tweeted the exact headline on 7/30… was it u? @instapundit
— ReneeHart ?♀️?? (@eeners) August 2, 2013
@eeners @instapundit No. So that means they were promoting the headline they found offensive enough to fire me over
— Drew Johnson (@Drews_Views) August 2, 2013
That tweet remains on the Times Free Press Twitter account.
Editorial: "Take your jobs plan and shove it, Mr. President." http://t.co/PBOiNsdU99
— Times Free Press (@TimesFreePress) July 30, 2013
Any time the paper wanted to change the headline online (which is how most people read the editorial), they could've.
— Drew Johnson (@Drews_Views) August 1, 2013
But for Johnson, the cries of “raaaaacist!” are the most disappointing part of all this.
The most disappointing part is being called a racist for criticizing Obama. I'm on the TN state civil rights commission, for goodness sake.
— Drew Johnson (@Drews_Views) August 2, 2013
Sadly predictable.
https://twitter.com/AdamBaldwin/status/363154774494949376
https://twitter.com/CalkinsMark/status/363315187979264002
@Drews_Views Being called a racist is the ultimate compliment. It means you drew blood.
— C. Irwin (@Bookwormdearlor) August 2, 2013
@Drews_Views @Justin_Awe That is the left's only recourse! If you disagree with the Pres, ur racist! Hence a scared GOP!
— Victor Warden (@lightning7876) August 2, 2013
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And, of course, whiners lobbing the “racist” bomb can’t explain how criticizing Obama’s policies is related to racism.
https://twitter.com/Drews_Views/status/362348197999411200
https://twitter.com/scottpressman/status/362352076115816448
Johnson maintains that the paper’s lame excuse for terminating his employment is “bogus.”
Thoughtful piece about my firing by @AuntB in the @NashvilleScene: http://t.co/7XcoKRIUgy
— Drew Johnson (@Drews_Views) August 2, 2013
The paper's assertion that I was told to run changes by editors is bogus: no one even edited or proofed my page most of the time I was there
— Drew Johnson (@Drews_Views) August 2, 2013
As the paper continues it’s pitiful CYA campaign, Johnson offers this:
I was fired for writing an offensive headline by a paper that is featuring a headline about a dog eating a guy's testicle — Not kidding.
— Drew Johnson (@Drews_Views) August 2, 2013
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