Nothing. You were right to ignore the records in the first place. Vandalizing signs and Ecstasy has nothing to do with what happened.

 There. Of all this, what do you find relevant?

What I find relevant is this: Since when does a dropped charge involving covering a sign with while paper fall under the category of a "criminal record"?

Putting "criminal record" in the heading as applied to Mettler could be considered slander. 

Junior is a violent druggie. Mettler is a vandal.

Sure, nothing relevant to a a violent struggle over vandalized signs............

When Neaderthals meet.

this is hilarious. typical. very very typical. i think that if you punch someone, be prepared to get punched back. this kid deserved it. and most do over there.

A "violent druggie" on Ecstacy?  That's like a naked beekeeper--you generally don't see those together, ever.

I'm certainly no supporter of prop 8 or Mettler for that matter... but

On the issue of assult, a recent drug conviction, a restraining order (which I assume came from being a really nice guy) and possible other incidents that the Californian has chosen not to investigate further sound very relevant, especially when it comes to understanding the state of mind of the supposed defendant.  I'm gonna go out on a limb here and suggest that if he was convicted of taking X in '07, that he's probably still using that and many more.  Call me crazy!  That certainly goes a long way towards affecting his credibility in court, so I would assume that in the court of public news, it is also relevant.

That said, Mettler should have been smart enough just to avoid the crowd in the first place.  If they were being obnoxious, just leave them be.

Who here hasn't done a drug?Are we 6? Some of the smartest, kindest and most compassionate people I know are drug addicts. Please remember that nicotine and alcohol are drugs, both far more dangerous to you than pot.

Most the Americans you know are on some sort of drug or another. We have become a nation of over medicated people unable to deal with any pain. The idea that ecstasy had anything to do with this is laughable. People are not violent on X, you might be thinking of booze.

The only thing this shows is that both people are human and have made past mistakes, it doesn't affect what happened that night in the slightest. While its funny that Mettler was found violating signs, it doesn't change what the video tape shows. The only thing that actually shows is that Inga or enga, (whatever her name is) done made some crap up.

People often try to demonize the victim of assault, we see it in court everyday.

"That woman wanted to get raped, she had tight clothes on. She also has had sex for money before, so how can this rape really be anything but her fault?" People usually do this when they realize they over stepped their bounds and are looking for ways to support their actions.

What all this tells me is:

the young man from SD is a punk who was up here to cause trouble;

Mettler took the bait and showed he lacks the sense to take the high road.

So Mettler has a history of attempting to suppress First Amendment rights of speech and free assembly, to add to the religious violations. Great....and this guy is on a school board?

Mark Twain was right: "First God made idiots. That was for practice. Then He made school boards."

OMG...everyone needs to get over this...move on...this is whats wrong with the world...If your different , you dont have a hell of a chance to servive..................

I'd say that if Mettler has a history of vandalizing signs himself, it may not be relevant to this particular case, but it does shine some light on a bit of hypocrisy. I believe if it ever comes in front of a Judge, he'll laugh it out of court. It's like two kids in the playground shoving over who gets the tether ball.

Odd that you failed to mention Mettler having a restraining order on him a few years back. It's irrelevant too though. 

This is typical small town news. (Small as in hicksville, not size). The DA will not file charges on either the young druggie or on Mettler. Anyone want to bet on that?

PP.. What was it for?

Life, I actually agree with you.  This is ridiculous and all blown out of proportion.  If this wasn't an electon year nothing would have come of it.  That corner has been a protest corner for many many years.

Give em a pair of boxin gloves ..let em finish it at Rabobank on Nov 4...thats the way "real men" would handle it..Stop all the drama..mama..

10 bucks on Mettler..

I posted this on another blog; I think it is relevant.

"It doesn't matter what kind of person Badewitz was. It doesn't matter what kind of person Mettler was. This situation is a moment in time, and needs to be viewed as such. As a trustee for the school board, and a non-partisan elected official he should never have been there, never have gone across the street, and never should have hit another person no matter if he was attacking, or being attacked. You can call him a coward if you are so macho, but he has an obligation to send a positive message to his students: violence is not the answer. If the situation were different and he was being bludgeoned with tire irons, then okay he should defend himself. But, to be grabbed, shoved, swung at, or cursed to is no excuse for a man in his position to fight. He is a special case in that he is in a public office. Any of you on this blog who are not in public office are free to do whatever you want when someone violates your personal space, but not Mettler."

Mettler had a restraining order against him, Pete?

Man I bet he's sorry he walked across that street. However, I'm sure he'll get reelected. Beating gays was probably a sport here in B town 80 years ago.Personally, I think both sides are culpable. It was obvious that the protesters were looking for a fight, and it is almost as obvious to me that Mettler was gonna show them what's up with his signs.

Of course, voting one way or another based on what happened in this incident oughta be enough to take their voting rights away. Okay maybe not, I'm not one for keeping stupid people from voting, they're Americans too. LOL

All of the above just goes to prove what I am slowly realizing: Kern County  really is the Wild West, where so called pillars of the community not only engage in violence, but  rather righteously proclaim that there is nothing wrong with engaging in occasional fisticuffs. as long as it is for the right cause. Of course they get to define what the right cause is. Or sometimes  God or the Bible tells them who to smite and they rather generously share this information with the rest of us who have the misfortune not to communicate  daily with God and believe that the Bible was written by men and ( horror of horrors) maybe also by women and is not really the word of God.

Carlos comment is a typical knee jerk response.  Why is it people are so quick to condemn a whole town for one mans action?  Wild West?  Engage in violence?

Geeeezzzzz, you make if sound like the gunfight at OK Corral.  It was a SCUFFLE and not a fight.  And you don't even know exactly what kind of fight since the camera was blocked and the video edited.  Kern County is the wild west...  If you believe that you need to travel the country a little more.

Besides, a restraining order against Mettler for defacing a sign equates a restraining order for domestic violence?  Where DO you people come from?

Anyone who frequents the blogs on a regular notice how many new people have signed on to comment just before the election?  Anyone want to get up a pool as to how many will be here after it's over?

I'm guessing about 5. Only by then they'll realize if they keep up the incessant yapping, the regulars check in, but won't comment until they go away. There are a lot of pseudo-intellectual tools here lately. Only 4 more days...Peace and buh-bye!

I got your five and go for three.  :-)

spam code TVAXL.  travel axle?  lol..sounds like our johnny come latelys.

Mettler's unwarranted and avoidable physical attack against another is inexcusably inappropriate, particularly for a school board trustee.

Even worse is his lack of contrition.

"Sorry it happened, but...." is just plain lame.

The example he sets for the youth of the community as a public figure is nothing less than shameful.

If he fails to resign and chooses to seek re-election, he hopefully will be ousted from office. 

There are certainly wiser candidates for community leaders and school policy makers from which to choose in this county.

Perhaps the pugilistic Mettler might better serve on a boxing commission, but his pugnacious approach to community relations is wholly unsuited for an educational post or any other community leadership position requiring wisdom and even-tempered common sense.

First the Chad stupidity; now the Ken stupidity. Meanwhile, kids in school can't read, write  or do simple math.

We really do need a sober, practical, focused, sane school board. Unfortunately, the best and brightest apparently don't want the job.

FYI: Some people have objected to our earlier headline "The criminal records of Badewitz, Mettler (Prop 8 duelers) because Mettler has not been convicted of a crime. So we've changed it to "Do Badewitz, Mettler have criminal histories? (Prop 8 duelers)

Scarier than the incident is Inga or the Californian relating facts and taken seriously.

Welcome to the newbies! Please stick around continue to comment and you'll find we all have common ground~ signed a former newbie who stuck around.

Nancyii,

     Let me clarify what I meant by "the wild West".

      History tells us that as the West was settled,folks did not respect the law and took the law into their own hands. People felt they were responsible for settling injustices themselved by any methods they chose, including violence.This was part of the culture around 140 years ago and it was the norm for society at that time. Citizens saw nothing wrong with taking the law into their own hands and if that included violence, so what. In those days this was the accepted thing to do.

   Fast forward to the present.We are a nation of laws now and taking the law into your own hands is no longer the norm.In fact you can get in serious trouble for dispensing your own form of rough justice.If you feel that something illegal is going on, you call the cops.That is what the police are for. To enforce the law.

   If Mr. Mettler felt somone was breaking the law in some way he should have brought this to the attention of the police and let them handle it.That is their job , to enforce the law. We are not allowed to take the law into our own hands.But Mr Mettler did not call the police.He took it upon himself to dispense justice and wound up kicking and punching someone in the process.This was captured on video.Evidently it never occured to him to refer the matter to the police. Mr. Mettler seems to be stuck in the past, when it was normal to take the law into your own hands.Ladies and gentlemen, you can't do that in 2008.So that, NancyII is what I mean when I say that Kern County is stuck in the culture of the wild West. A lot of people here see absolutely nothing wrong with going in with fists flying to be your own policeman.Read the various posts about this matter and you will se what I mean.

   Now Mr mettler holds a postion of public trust as an elected trustee of the BHSD. He has been chosen by the electorate for a very important office and part of his duty is to set a good example to the students,the youth of Bakersfield. This means not taking the law into his own hands. But of course that is exactly what he did. And he sees nothing wrong with that.And neither do a lot of other people.This is the sensibility of wild West.

It was a scuffle, not cage fighting.

If this is about setting an example for the highschool students, how come Hampton gets a pass for what you all consider assault? 

mettler should have got scott cox to steal the signs, then everything would have been ok