School bus driver quits his job. Why? Because he has principles. They wouldn't let him wear his Maga hat. That's how you show your dedication to the kids. Put it up for mass. Yeah. [00:00:17] Dave Vonhoff. Dave, a Pennsylvania school bus driver, claims that his freedom of speech has been violated after being told not to wear his Maga hat while driving kids to school. [00:00:34] Keep his picture up. You know, they successfully banned a slogan. Sir. Dave, I feel your pain. I remember when they were doing this to those of us who wore the slogan Black Lives Matter. They told us it was a political thing. [00:00:51] And political speech is not allowed in school settings. I feel your pain, Dave. Did you stand with us? Okay. Maga is clearly a political statement. Okay. It's an actual political campaign slogan. [00:01:09] Quote. If that wasn't a condition of my employment. I'll be back to work tomorrow. I miss the kids, he says. Those kids and I have a great relationship. [00:01:29] Sir. It can't be that great if you threw it away over a dusty ass Maga cap. It's not even one of the new ones that they have on Amazon. He continues. That is until one of those kids complained about his Maga hat, [00:01:47] prompting a call from his boss. The morning of February 18th. Quote. She contacts me and says, hey, listen, I'm going to buy you a hat and American flag hat because the school district has deemed that they don't want you to wear that Make [00:02:03] America Great Again hat, he said. I mean, this this is a really great boss. Offered by the man. Another hat. So, quote, there's nothing in the hat that says anything about Partizanship, he said. I think that saying that this is political is absurd. [00:02:22] It's patriotic. I with CBS 21, Maxine Ross Rose, excuse me, asked him what he would say to people who argue that the hat is synonymous with a political figure. President Donald Trump, the bus driver, said that they would be wrong. [00:02:39] Quote, I would say that making America great is what we should all strive to be. End quote. He said, quote, anybody who doesn't want America to prosper, I take issue with them, end quote. Quote, I want to be able to express myself. [00:02:54] I don't want somebody to tell me, well, my feelings are hurt. You gotta take the hat off. Said the bus driver. State Senator Doug Mastriano defended him, saying it is a God given. [00:03:10] Right. He says, I stand firmly with Dave and with every Pennsylvania who refuses to be bullied into silence. Free speech does not exist only for views that are popular or politically fashionable. It exists precisely to protect the right of Americans to speak their minds [00:03:26] without fear of retaliation. Freedom of expression is not granted by bureaucrats and administrators or activists. It is a God given right protected by the Constitution, and it must be defended without apology. Von Hoff was effectively forced out of his job because he wore a hat that read [00:03:43] Make America Great Again. I am so thankful you stand with every American and you refuse to allow these Americans to be bullied into silence. Sir, do you believe in a woman's right to choose? [00:03:59] Do you believe it's okay for Trump and his cronies to penalize freedom of speech from broadcasters on CBS, CNN, MSNBC and others? [00:04:14] You. You just stand firmly with Dave. Okay, I got you. All right, I understand. Okay. Thoughts here. Yeah. There is an idea in, psychoanalysis of this notion of a self object, which can be an object can also be a person. But it's basically, you know, the person's ego isn't fully formed. [00:04:31] And so they kind of outsourced parts of it to certain things. The metaphor that people use to describe it is oftentimes Linus with his blanket from, peanuts or whatever. And Linus would always have his dirty, nasty blanket because it was something [00:04:48] he needed to cope with the world. And I think for a lot of folks like this guy, these hats are self objects. They represent a tether to, what some might say is a cult, that gives them a sense of orientation in the world. So to take that away from them is basically to take away a part [00:05:05] of like in their minds, take away a part of their soul, basically. So I think this just speaks to how entrenched these folks are in Maga. I think it is a full blown religion at this point. And what he's talking about is not freedom of speech. It's a religious totem that he's wearing around schoolchildren. [00:05:23] This is fascinating. So you're saying that the Maga hat, basically represents, when I was five years old and I had a favorite blanket. - Yeah. - Got it. - Exactly. - Got it. - Okay. - Yes, exactly. I understand now. I was serious about my blanket.