In Defense of Tolerance Nazi, Adam Smith…

… Yes. You read that right. I am defending the epic display of douche-baggery exhibited by Adam Smith in this video, that’s now gone viral and led to his firing.

Let’s examine this video briefly. Everything about his smug manner and feeling of “purposefulness” is typical of the Tolerance Nazi. All the classic, and blatantly ironic, characteristics are present; use of bully tactics to promote anti-bullying and being aggressively hateful while protesting hate.

While his arrogance is astounding, I do take into consideration his passion. Whether he’s a douche bag 24/7 or this particular area of activism just sets him off, I know not. He may be a perfectly normal behaving individual any other time of the year. Or he may be an incurable asshole. Either way, he’s perfectly entitled to his opinion and even more perfectly entitled to express it. Granted he expressed it on a totally innocent individual who has no control over the situation and most assuredly has never met Dan Cathy, president of Chick-Fil-A, in her entire life. But yes, under protection of the law, he has the right to be as douche-baggery as he likes. Amen. Praise the Lord. God Bless America.

But then he got fired by his employer, Vante, when his video went viral and outraged the people.

TUCSON, AZ–(Marketwire – Aug 2, 2012) – The following is a statement from Vante:
Vante regrets the unfortunate events that transpired yesterday in Tucson between our former CFO/Treasurer Adam Smith and an employee at Chick-fil-A. Effective immediately, Mr. Smith is no longer an employee of our company.

The actions of Mr. Smith do not reflect our corporate values in any manner. Vante is an equal opportunity company with a diverse workforce, which holds diverse opinions. We respect the right of our employees and all Americans to hold and express their personal opinions, however, we also expect our company officers to behave in a manner commensurate with their position and in a respectful fashion that conveys these values of civility with others.

We hope that the general population does not hold Mr. Smith’s actions against Vante and its employees.

A little part me, that petty part [which actually isn’t so little], thinks “justice served”. The other part of me says, “uh oh, you better make sure you’re careful of what you say and write while off the clock”. Which is wrong. I shouldn’t be afraid to express my opinions outside of my work environment. I mean really… look at the stuff I write on here and the outrageous, if not themselves douche-baggery, opinions I profess publicly on a daily basis. I respect Vante’s decision, as a private company, to determine termination of employment as an appropriate response; however, I don’t have to agree with it. Mr. Smith wasn’t representing his company when he had his moment of lapsed sanity. Perhaps if the video was uploaded on Youtube from an office computer while he was supposed to be working or if he was out picking up lunch for himself and co-workers during his lunch break, or even if he was wearing a shirt that said Vante in big letters across his chest, then I might change my position.

Don’t mistake me. I’m not saying Vante is the bad guy. Clearly the bad guy is Mr. Smith and bad guys should deservedly have repercussions for their actions. But the loss of job is a hard thing to recover from, and in this economy recovery is seldom quick. I think internet shaming would have sufficed because chances are that firing Mr. Smith will not change his behavior. He will probably continue to drive around town smugly harassing minimum wage earners or stop mid-meal and wonder aloud in mock horror if the opinions of the employees and manager of the establishment he’s dining at align with his social and politics views.

Now, he’s going to sit at home and blog about the injustice of it all while collecting tax payer funded unemployment benefits imagining himself some sort of martyr activist. In which, nobody wins. And in case you are curious, Mr. Smith has yet to issue an apology to the young woman he verbally abused so maybe that petty little part is rejoicing at his firing after all.