Teacher Faces Student with Gun

The Star Tribune of Minneapolis reports on a teacher who successfully dealt with a gun-wielding eigth-grader.

A teacher who calmly asked a 14-year-old boy who twice burst into his classroom brandishing a .22-caliber revolver "What can I do, and how can I help you?" is credited with averting potential bloodshed at Hastings Middle School on Monday morning.

At 10:30 a.m. Monday he had just begun his fourth-hour Earth Science lesson when the terror began.

"I had just finished taking attendance and just introducing the lesson and activities that we were going to be doing for the day. ... My classroom door was open," Rapatz said. A student who was supposed to be in Rapatz's class at that hour entered -- with a drawn pistol.

"It didn't seem like he was pointing it at any particular student, he was kind of moving it around," Rapatz said. "My response -- first of all, I was shocked and surprised -- but within a second or two of seeing the pistol, it was 'Hey, let's stay calm here. What can I do, and how can I help you?' is what I remember saying. And his response was, he wanted everyone to get on the ground."

Rapatz said he held steady and didn't respond to the demand. "He was pretty much in control and anything could have happened. I was just trying to calm the situation. I was trying to defuse it."

The boy again demanded, more forcefully, that the students lay on the floor. Rapatz told the boy: "No. I can help you; what do you need?" The boy turned and left without saying a word, Rapatz said.

This is the way it's done in a sensible world. Teachers aren't carrying concealed weapons waiting for a situation like this. The intention is to defuse not to escalate and certainly not to shoot eigth-graders. Of course, no one system works all the time, but this is a perfect example of how it should work.

What's your opinion? Please leave a comment.

Confederates, Republicans and Racists

The Huffington Post reported on the wonderful celebration going on in Virginia this month. That new governor is really great for state pride, don't you think?

Virginia's Republican Governor Bob McDonnell has declared April to be "Confederate History Month," the first time in 8 years that such a proclamation has been issued in the state.

In the statement, McDonnell says that the Confederate history "should not be forgotten, but instead should be studied, understood and remembered," and that its leaders "fought for their homes and communities and Commonwealth in a time very different than ours today."

Over at Driftglass, where I found this wonderful news, here's what they had to say.

No. its leaders did not fight for "their homes and communities and Commonwealth."

Its leaders fought for the right to keep other human being as slaves: to work them like animals and kill them at will.

Its leaders fought for the right to enforce the institution of slavery with state-sanctioned terror and murder.

Its leaders were known as "Confederates".

To preserve and defend their monstrous institution, Confederates spent centuries constructing massive social, economic, religious and cultural fortifications around it.

Like hemophilia, Confederates passed that comprehensive social, economic, religious and cultural worldview down generation after generation.

Like syphilis, to this day Confederates continue to spread that social, economic, religious and cultural worldview everywhere they go.

About 40 years ago, the Confederates changed their name.

Now they are known as "Republicans".

Yes, indeed, racism is alive and well in America, especially among our conserviative friends. I don't particularly go for those comparisons to hemophilia and syphilis, I think of it more as a poison, a mental poison, but the point is valid. It's been passed down through generaltions, especially virulent and vibrant in the South.

What's your opinion? Please leave a comment.

George Carlin on Hygiene

From Patterico's Pontifications, one of my favorite righty blogs.

Prof. Goodwin Liu

Liberal Viewer points out the incredible manipulation used by Fox News.



Prof. Liu says some interesting things about the "concept of responsibility" and the "moral duty to make things right."

What's your opinion? Please leave a comment.

More on the Hutaree

Media Matters for America has an interesting article about the Hutaree and other militia groups and Glenn Beck's role.

On TV and the radio, Beck rarely bothers to mention the militia movement by name. Instead, he's simply co-opted their rhetoric as his own. He's acted as a crucial transmitter, warning about Obama fronting his own private "army," and urging followers to "start food storage."

Not to mention these previous militia moments:

• Beck asserts: "The second American revolution is being playing out right now"

• Beck says "what is ahead may loosen the bonds of society," may end with "a French Revolution"

• Beck: "There is a coup going on ... it has been done through the guise of an election"

• Beck: "You can't convince me that the founding fathers wouldn't allow you to secede"

• Beck: "[I]f we don't have some common sense, we're facing the destruction of our country... it's coming"

The truth is that the daylight separating the radical, anti-government militia movement from self-styled mainstream conservatives is growing dimmer by the day. Like the fact-free Obama birthers, the militia remains a radical subset that today's right wing refuses to part ways with. That sad fact was highlighted when scores of far-right media voices initially downplayed the Hutaree arrests last week, or even defended the militia members and -- disturbingly reminiscent of Waco -- cast the FBI and the federal government as the over-reaching bad guys.

What's your opinion? Do you think Beck is an innocuous and harmless presence in America? Are the individuals who act out the only ones responsible for their actions? Does that count even for those who are captivated and practically hypnotized by personalities like Back?

What's your opinion? Please leave a comment.

The Balance of the Supreme Court

I say he should put Cass Sunstein on there right now. And then we can hope for the opportunity to replace one or two conservative Justices, which will straighten out the balance.

What do you think?

Easter Sunday Riddled with Gun Shots

WIBW.com reported on the several gun incidents in Topeka, Kansas during Easter Sunday.

Topeka, KAN. (WIBW)--Topeka police are investigating a drive-by shooting that occurred in the Highland Park area Sunday night.

They responded around 8:40 after multiple calls from neighbors claiming they heard gun shots in the area. Once on scene, were told police found a lot of bullet holes in a town home in the 2300 block of S.E. Bellview.

Crime scene investigators were on scene searching for clues as there appears to be no victims from the incident.

Gunfire was also reported in the Chesney Park area around 8:20 Sunday night. Officers found a few shell casings at the intersection of S.W. 19th and Clay. A fight reportedly occurred there a short time earlier that resulted in a man suffering head injuries.

Police also responded to 21st and California where more gunshots were heard. Police said no injuries occurred.

I think one would have to live in Europe to realize what a particularly American headline that is. Where else in the modern world can you see such a thing? Gun owners and gun rights supporters should be proud of themselves for making the United States the laughing stock of the 1st World.

What's your opinion? No, wait, I know. These are criminals acting out with guns and they have nothing to do with legitimate gun owners and gun rights supporters. Isn't that the story?

Please leave a comment.