Is this an example of Ken Mettler's problem solving skills?

HE was the adult in the situation.  He could and should have handled it differently.

 "He was the adult in the situation" is supposed to be an excuse?  He was a 55 year old man being confronted by a full sized 20 year old male.  He did exactly what should have been done.  Look at his Mettler's face in this video moments before he was physically confronted and you will see he was smiling and friendly.  You can see his "attacker" race to catch up with him and get in Mettler's face.  That was a potential hostile situation and Mettler did the right thing.  The 20 year old should be repremanded for agressive and hostile appearing behavior.

the little tewaker kid got EXACTLY what he needed. I dont get involved in politics whatsoever but I tip my hat to metler for punching that little bastard in his eye. I dont kow what either side was supporting or what yes on 8 or no on 8 even means....BUT, I hear some mornon saying somthing to the effect that metler is going to get his "ass whooped"  and some dope head run over and confront him and metler puched him in the eye. im only 24 and im happy he got his ass kicked. and then playthe "oooooooooooo you're goin to jail" card. hopefully that kid will get is worthless ass ran over one of these days. one less EMO, poor me, im misunderstood stupid ass in this world.

 CheshireCat and Goblue, you two are RIGHT on!

This argument has been on for a day or so and you both said it right on the mark.

:0)

I have protested before~ never been in an altercation ever. Simple rule: stay on your side of the street. Cross it and you are pleading for trouble.

BTW~ one sucker punch and the act of kicking your opponent when he is on the ground are the acts of a coward.

I have been in one physical fight my entire life. I am proud to say I fight fair~even when my opponent did not. Yes~ I won.

I weep for our future if this kid (in the video) are any indication what's in store. The foul mouthed juvenile taping the incident isn't any better... 

"He was the adult in the situation".  Last time I checked the age of adulthood was 18.  Seems to me, there were two adults and a bunch of foul mouthed onlookers in this situation. 

I weep for our future if this kid (in the video) are any indication what's in store. The foul mouthed juvenile taping the incident isn't any better... 

Although both are better than Mettler's behavior.  Maybe things are getting better overall, not worse?   I'd vote for either of the youths against Metter next time out.

I have know elder statesmen~ you Sir are no elder statesman. To borrow a phrase. He was the oldest person in that crowd~ I weep for our retirement homes.

I think Mettler purposely started this confrontation.  I can't prove it, but then he can't prove he didn't.   The facts are, he's the out of control adult who's hitting people half his size.

55 is hardly "over the hill".  All the men in my family are stronger at 55 then most 20 year olds are.   Mettler's a bully.

I wish I had been there. I woulda taken the signs back by force and made a citizens arrest. If he tried to escape I would use any and all force necessary until the cops came. Too bad those kids didnt know how to deal with that redneck imbecile.

Metter ought to resign his position--we can take the top three finishers in the current election instead of the top two.

The posts you guys put up are unthinkable in my mind. Those young punks that killed that old man probably were raised in homes with adults that sound like you. With adults like you around youngsters, it's no wonder what is happening to our society. You are both pathetic!

proam~ while my second son could not sit much less fight,I am proud to say my eldest got into one fight his whole life . He lost and was kicked mercilessly ~even in his head~

by a gang of neighborhood kids. I raised my child to become a man,not a bully.

The posts you guys put up are unthinkable in my mind.

Not surpising.  I imagine there are many, many subjects you are unable to think clearly about.  

Mettler's family background obviously didn't stop *HIM* from using violence in furtherance of a political aim.  Or using politics in furtherance of a bigoted one.

Tridge, you are laughable. At least the 20 year old was there and was a man of action and tried to take the signs back by force. You just talk a tough game here on the Internet.

Mettler is a man of action too. He stopped the 20 year old from taking the signs by force with a little force of his own.

I don't agree with Ken on Prop 8, but I am impressed he put the 20 year old in his place. Anyone attempting to make Mettler into some tough guy who was picking on this 20 year old obviously has a personal agenda in this matter. Mettler was leaving the area and was acosted. He responded by defending himself. The youngster learned an important lesson about over playing your hand.

A sucker punch and kicking him while he is down is an act of cowardice? No it is called self defence. Using self defense should never be a "fair fight". Self defense should always result in the attacker being stopped by the minimum amount of force necessary to stop the attacker's actions. It worked in this case.

You guys always crack me up with this jumping to conclusions bit. This was an individualized situation where an agressor over stepped his bounds and was put into check by the defender. Mettler did not attack this 20 year old and Mettler is not randomly attacking no on Prop 8ers as Whitney seems to be expressing a fear of in the paper.

If someone wants to take back their signs, let them. No on Prop 8 people do not need to have Yes on Prop 8 signs and vice versa.

All this protesting and squabbling serves is to sensationalize what should be a simple civil rights issue. The no side looks bad for antagonizing Mettler. Mettler might look bad to some for hitting a 20 year old. I am a no voter and I think Mettler did what was required.

 "The facts are, he's the out of control adult who's hitting people half his size."

Still totally amazes me that some still **CLAIM** they would never use aggression.

Right! Laughable. Give it a rest. You would if you had to.

As far as the 20 year old being 1/2 Mettlers size? Watch the video again. If the 20 yr old was big man in the crowd enough to grab  (or whatever he really did) at Mettler, than he deserved to be stood up to.

This wasn't a street fight beat down! It was a defensive measure to get the guy to back off!

I thought the signs belonged to Mettlers side and the others had defaced them? If so it was the dingalings on the foul mouthed side that should be arrested.

Mettler should have stayed on his own side no doubt  but to defend yourself is the RIGHT thing to do.

 Too bad those kids didnt know how to deal with that redneck imbecile.

No, Tridge, they knew *EXACTLY* how to deal with that redneck imbecile.  Document his crime on videotape and use lawful means against him.  John McBush was the GOP's  chosen sacrificial lamb this year instead of George Allen was the Macaca Moment caught on videotape.  That videotape changed the course of US history.  Maybe this one will affect local history.

 Ahhhh... now I can see that it all boils down to if you hate Mettler you are never going to admit what really happened here.

You can't possibly look at this situation with a objective viewpoint.

I get it now...

Sad really.

The signs were obviously stolen.  Why isn't the stealing and altering of opposing signs, then using them to further your position an issue.  It's clear that the no on 8 side were flaunting their illegal activities.  Great way to promote a cause. 

Vote Yes On Prop 8

The signs were obviously stolen

By Mettler.  It's on the tape.

Or if he wasn't stealing them, neither were the people who removed the illegally-placed (in violation of the city sign ordinance) signs in the first place.  Unless you have video of them being stolen, maybe?

Guaranteed if Mettler did anything other than defend himself the cops would be all over it.  No arrests were made.  I'm guessing Mettler (he looks like he played golf in high school, not football) didn't want to press charges and was a gentleman when the dust cleared.

All those laying blame on Mettler get off your high horse, it is laughable trying to make this smiling 55 year old out to be some sort of rabble rouser.

I stick with my assertion, RF.  Altering stolen campaign signs then flaunting them on a street corner is a classless way of promoting ones cause.  Twist my words  if you like.  Conservatives are accustom to liberals twisting their words. 

So is lying, as the Yes-on-8 side is doing. 

Mettler stole the signs, and attacked the guy who tried to get them back.  Conservatives should get used to us telling the truth about them.  Your side is going to have a very rough time in November.

Should Obama get elected, we will all have a rough time come January.  I guess it's difficult for those who believe the election is over to remember the President doesn't take office for more than two months after the election.

Got news for you.  Shrub has so screwed up the nation that we're in for a rough time no matter *WHO* gets in.  And I'm chillingly aware of the fact that Shrub has two more months to invade yet *ANOTHER* country (we did Syria yesterday, and he's itching to cross Iran off his list.)  Shrub's daddy did it to Clinton, remember. 

Clinton was statesman enough not to sabotage Shrub--and it was one of his worst mistakes.  He might possibly have prevented 9/11--but I guess I have to concede that his judgement of Shrub as a total incompetent (if that's what held him back) was spot-on.

The country has never seen and Zeus willing will never see a president as monumentally incompentent as George W. Bush.

Now that McBush is going down to defeat, that is.

Andrew, is that you? I wondered why the staff blogs had been so, um, uninteresting the past couple of weeks. No offense to your fellow staff members, of course ..............

This whole issue is very telling pertaining to peoples personality. I have seen by far more hate spewed by the No on 8 folks, than those in favor of. I have been reserving my thoughts on this issue. Trying to stay open minded. Well I'm thinking I don't care to vote for a group of people that are so hateful to those that don't share in their opinions. I'm waiting to vote on election day, just so that if something comes from out of the blue about these candidates, I won't wish I'd had waited.

For some reason I had always heard about how sweet, and loving gay people were. Can only go on the few I've known, and what they've told me. I am seeing something very different on here. Their not even funny, as I had been led to believe.

I have seen by far more hate spewed by the No on 8 folks, than those in favor of.

Self-selection on your part.  The Hate in 8 is mainly in the proposition itself--and, as Mettler showed us all Friday night, barely concealed under a thin veneer of "Christianity."

You should come to a no-on-8 rally sometime.  Peaceful, friendly, laughing.  We've got an extra sign for you.

Here's some more Yes-on-8 hatred, from Oakland.

http://www.vimeo.com/205348...

(poor picture quality, apparently cellphone, and more than a little mental imbalance from the "good Christians")

This makes what, the fourth blog on this subject? Give it a rest people. Sure, you shouldn't go around hitting people, but you also shouldn't go around hurling insults at people, particularly if you don't want to get hit. It's human nature to react to volatile situations by lashing out. The No on 8 side created the volatile situation by hurling insults and waving around defaced signs. Mettler should have stayed on his corner or not reacted with punches, but it's not like he walked up to a random No on 8 person and punched them in the face for no apparent reason. Maybe if BOTH sides started acting more like civil adults who agree to disagree, such things wouldn't happen.

randomfactor you are definetly biased and way off base. To equate Mettler's defending himself to an attack is clearly a subjective stance. Mettler was walking away. Mettler was smiling and being timid until 20 year old ran up on him.

If it wasn't so sad, it would be funny how hypocritical you are for suggesting that the guy who thinks all No on 8 people must be rude for the acts of a few is wrong, but the same venom you spew isn't.

I understand why the No on 8 people are so emotional about this subject. The title of the proposition says it all. "ELIMINATES RIGHT OF SAME–SEX COUPLES TO MARRY. " Clearly you can't eliminate a right of the people as it is their right that the government cannot infringe. Drum up scare tactics all you want about how the Godless, liberal, homosexual teachers are going to be shoving their sin down my precsious child's throat, this proposition will not ban talking about homosexuals. It eliminates their rights which is clearly unConstitutional.

Still, if you allow your emotions to override you and you step to someone in an unlawful manner and get punched over it, it is a life lesson. The 20 year old learned not to get so crazy. I seriously doubt Ken Mettler wandered over to the side of dozens of people to pick a fight on his own. That is not condusive to longevity.

It is interesting how people who seem to be on the fence about this are responding negatively to the No on 8 crowd over the skirmish.

I am still voting no on it, but as I stated before, I respect Ken Mettler for defending himself and I lost respect for all of the hecklers who seemed to be so frenzied up and even the big mouths on  here that seem to be getting such an excitement over it. Why you would want this drama to take away from your clear cut civil rights issue is beyond me.

rf, What took place Friday night was anything but PEACEFUL, or FRIENDLY. I did hear a lot of laughing and foul language. The things that were screamed by the No on 8 folks were inciteful. Had the shoe been on the other foot, as to stolen signs that were painted over, how would the No on 8 folks, have thought about that? How might they have handled it? Would they have peacefully gone over and asked, Can we have our signs back please? Like I said this blog has literally guided my thoughts on the very people that are affected by this. From all the hateful stuff I have read, I can't help but wonder why I should care about a group of people that appear to hate others that don't share their opinions. Will they impose their beliefs on my Grandchildren?   I have family members, and friends that I often don't agree with, but we listen and take into account the views of each other. We don't go our seperate ways hating one another.

Friendly?  Ask Marylee Shrider how warm a welcome she got at the debate.  I don't totally blame homosexuals though, there has been a lot of bad history between Christians and gays, and I don't think that as a group in the past it has been handled well by the Christian community.  It is so deep rooted, it's too bad we can't sit down and have respectfull conversations. 

RF, two things, I am intrigued at your creativeness with the puns, are they all yours?  Second, it is intersting how you can defend one side like you do, are you really telling me that the republicans are really that evil, and the democrats are really that good.  I really think there is only a fine line separating the two with regard to how they go about their business, ideas might be quite different, but underneath they are the same sorts of people. 

What would you have done if you were attacked like Mettler was?  Turned the other cheek? 

Just like the fringe gay movement, there are fringe group of Christians that will act this way.  I don't judge all GLT... people based on the wackos that make the news.  I base it on the ones who I know and interact with who do not act like the militant ones in the news.  Don't base your view of all Christians on the actions of a "few".

You do seem a little bitter, I hope Obama is all you wish hime to be (although, he too is against gay marriage).

dadofour, You say " although he too is against gay marriage". I'm not so sure! It depends on the crowd he's talking to as to what he says he believes. For this very reason, I  don' put an ounce of weight into anything the man says. What is worrisome is that to be sure, the world is watching. How can foreign Presidents put any trust into what this man says, if he will lie to his own countrymen repeatedly? The support he is getting from foreign leaders is because they either know his evil ways, and lean that direction with him, or , they want him to be the POTUS because they know he is weak, and it will be very easy to manipulate the new puppet. JMO

Hope you don't mind my combining answers to both of you into one post

rf, What took place Friday night was anything but PEACEFUL, or FRIENDLY. 

I was there, you weren't.   See below.  And "turn the other cheek" has never been a particularly organized-Christian meme.

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Friendly?  Ask Marylee Shrider how warm a welcome she got at the debate.

I wasn't there, but honestly I don't trust Marylee Shrider to accurately characterize the color of the sky. 

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are you really telling me that the republicans are really that evil, and the democrats are really that good.

I am telling you that Republican politics have been uniformly bad for the country for many years (as have their economics, and foreign policy.)  That Democratic politics as espoused by Barack Obama are far better for the country. 

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What would you have done if you were attacked like Mettler was?  Turned the other cheek? 

Honestly I wouldn't have been in the position to be attacked--unlike Mettler, I would *NOT* have crossed the street to steal the signs.  It negated everything he claimed to have stood for.  His violent reaction further seals the "definition of character" he perpetrated on himself.  Was it worth it, for a few flimsy Chinese-made signs? 

You know why the demonstrators altered the "yes" signs in that fashion?  Because they most certainly were not part of the organized no-on-8 campaign which hands out signs, bumper stickers and teeshirts of their own.

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Will they impose their beliefs on my Grandchildren? 

Lord, I hope so.  Their beliefs are that everyone deserves equal rights under the law.  Apparently *SOMEONE* has to tell them.  Someone had to tell the grandchildren in the South that blacks would be going to the same schools, working the same jobs, and yes, marrying just like white children.

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Had the shoe been on the other foot, as to stolen signs that were painted over, how would the No on 8 folks, have thought about that? How might they have handled it? Would they have peacefully gone over and asked, Can we have our signs back please?

First of all, no evidence whatsoever that the signs were "stolen." 

Secondly, I've been privy to some of the strategy on the no-on-8 side, and the basis of it is nonconfrontational.  That's why the no-on-8 demonstration was nearly a mile away from the yes-on-8 one Friday night.  To *AVOID* this kind of thing.  (I could add that, given the makeup of the yes side, it was a safe bet they'd do something this stupid.  It was more than we could've hoped that Mettler himself would be the idiot to do it.)  The no-on-8 response would have been, at most, to laugh.  Laughter is a truly underrated political technique.  I'm laughing at Ken Mettler right now.

The yes-on-8 guys were deliberately provacative in setting up at *THAT* time on *THAT* corner, which is regularly used for anti-war demonstrations and such on Friday nights.  Had they been anywhere else they wouldn't have provoked the incident.

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Just like the fringe gay movement, there are fringe group of Christians that will act this way. 

How many constitutes a fringe?  Ten percent?  Half?  Christ's teaching has been so perverted over the years I have little hope for the survival of his true message.  Christ would vote no on 8.  Christ would not cross the street to steal the signs "back."

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RF, two things, I am intrigued at your creativeness with the puns, are they all yours?

Largely, yes.  I have an exceptionally good memory for them and the creativity to reshape them for a given situation.  If you steal from one source it's plagiarism, from many sources, it's research.  I read that somewhere.  But I'm constantly punning in real life as well. 

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I hope Obama is all you wish hime to be (although, he too is against gay marriage).

On this, and on many issues I care about, he'll come around.  He's got a long time to serve his country, I hope, in a variety of ways.  I don't think he's as opposed to same-sex marriage as his campaign forces him to be.   Contrary to the lies spread about him, he's a political moderate and not any kind of liberal.  He'll grow.

"For some reason I had always heard about how sweet, and loving gay people were. Can only go on the few I've known, and what they've told me. I am seeing something very different on here."

Proam, when gay people are being subjected to the extreme indignity of having their affections subjected to the mercy of the popular vote, I am sure you can understand why some of them might get a little testy, even angry.

You wouldn't hold it against a crime victim for getting angry at the perpetrator, would you?

This is rather the same thing.  They are being needlessly victimized and degraded, and have every right to be angry.

Edit:  I am not excusing, much less justifying, any violence, but since your seem to be questioning their anger, I hope to put it into perspective by writing this.

rf, All one has to do is listen, not even look at the video. It speaks for itself quite well. The proof is in the pudding! I can tell you I'd not like a bunch of young punks up in my face. Neither would you! If your a decent, honest person, you'd have to admit that the crowds behavior was flat wrong. I keep my cool pretty well, but I would say my response to them young punks would have probably been the same.

I can tell you that a high school district trustee who settles a political dispute with violence has no business remaining on the board.  I'd like to think he has the integrity to realize that himself--but his self-serving rationalizations after the fact show that Mettler doesn't have that degree of introspective ability.

So it will have to be done for him.

You're quite positive that Mettler instigated the "fight?"  If someone slapped at you would you not react?  According to many callers today, the no on 8 people have been going to the other side and starting trouble. 

Some of the callers today were plants by the no on 8 folks...not hard to see at all.  Mettler did nothing wrong and some snot nosed punk from San Diego is only one of those who just want to cause trouble.  No one cares about those demonstrations on that corner....they've been going on for one cause or another for years and they remind me of the old man with the long beard and robe walking around with his doomsday sign. 

Neither side is goung to agree on this one..like you didn't know that, and it's just becoming a big brou haha that will fade out as soon as the next incident comes up.  Save your typing fingers.  Mettler ain't going anywhere..nor should he.

RF, how do you know he would vote "no".  I question that, although I would love to hear your reasons.  I don't think Christ's teaching has been perverted, it is the same text it was 2000 years ago.  Sometimes people misread and mislead, but what anyone who reads the red letters in the bible gets what he said, and it is not mushy, it is pretty hard hitting, but it is loving.  Only a mix that God could give.  We are only followers, some closer to Him than others.  What is the thing you added above your meatballs?

Nancy, I have to agree with you.  Never underestimate Kern County's Conservative values. 

Jesus said some very cool stuff about "loving thy neighbor" and not one word against homosexuality.  In fact, he went out of his way to praise the one gay man we have records of his meeting.

(Of course, those records come to us from two generations afterwards, written by men--presumably--who never met him.  And organized Christianity has been trying to bury the truth for a long time.)

In sum, Christ's message boils down to this:  you are in charge of yourself and your salvation, nobody else's. Christianity is a mirror, not a telescope.

People you don't care for (those dirty wetback Samaritans, for example) are in charge of their own spiritual development too and may in fact be better at it than you are.  It doesn't matter that you don't have the number of people needed for a minyan; it doesn't matter if the government is persecuting you.  What matters is how well *YOU* live up to the standards *YOU* have set for yourself.    He said so in the "render unto Caesar" passage.  Your spirituality does not depend on what the government does or does not do.  If you think so, in the words of the LOLcats, "yer doin it rong."

That simple message has been perverted into:  you must make everyone else live up to your standards.  You must write those standards into law.   Jesus knew that would be attempted, and he suggested that those people trying that tack should remove the beam from their own eyes before attending to their neighbors.

Even Paul got it right--in Romans 1:33--which is why that passage could not be allowed to stand in the modern Bible.  Blind squirrel/acorn time.  I don't care much for Paul.  Great salesman, lousy theologian.

As to whether it's a mix that only a god could have given--it's a mixture of things that many men, at many different times, have figured out.  Ask Hillel about the sum of the Torah, for example.  Or Buddha.  The shame of religion is that it mankind doesn't *NEED* a god to know what is the right thing to do.  And yet we continue, time and again, to invent gods out of whole cloth to back up what should be common sense with fairytales of cloud cities and eternal lakes of fire.  Guess good behavior alone doesn't fill the collection plate.

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It's a domino mask in honor of Hallowe'en.  You're not supposed to recognize that it's me.  Hey, it worked for the Lone Ranger...

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According to many callers today, the no on 8 people have been going to the other side and starting trouble. 

Nancy, the entire yes-on-8 campaign has been built entirely on lies from Day One.  I have no doubt that people are calling in to lie in support of their champion.    He himself lied after the fact with his pathetic rationalization.

Ken Mettler is truly a man who cannot see past his own beam.  His first public statement after throwing the punch should have begun with "I'm sorry." 

I will heartily accept as a true Christian anyone who argues as such:  It must be, for society to advance, that same-sex marriages be prohibited.  I believe this so strongly that, according to the Golden Rule, *NOBODY* will be allowed to marry in order to prevent the marriage of same-sex couples.  I willingly accept this burden on the population at large because I feel so strongly.

I don't see many "Christians" taking this tack (at least not intentionally--I still think a side-effect of Prop 8 could ban *ALL* marriages in California).  Bunch of hypocrites.   Christ would turn their petition-tables over in the churches--if he hadn't died tragically about two thousand years ago.

Apollo, I understand anger, hurt, resentment, etc, but to stoop to the point of commiting crimes against peoples property, beating the daylights out of someone who disagrees. Nope, I don't get that, and nothing makes that right. Not in my eyes. It surely hasn't made me want to vote in their favor. You can't convince people that it is out of a deep abiding love that you want this, then get physical with people that disagree. It don't work for me.

So it's ok for the punk to "instigate" the incident Mettler but it's not all right for him to react to that approach?  The fact that he was half Mettlers age gives him a pass to start the incident?

While Mettler might have shown restraint, they now have a witness who says Mettler did NOT attack the trouble maker, he defended himself.  Show us the entire video and not the edited one and let us make an informed decision.

Do you KNOW Christ?  I KNOW Christ, I was saved by His blood.  If you don't KNOW HIM, He doesn't KNOW you.  How dare you deny Him then presume to know what He'd do.   

So it's ok for the punk to "instigate" the incident Mettler but it's not all right for him to react to that approach? 

I believe the phrase is "turn the other cheek."    Christ did not say "coldcock the b*stard."

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dg, with all due kindness and respect, that borders on the delusional.  You know what you've read and been told about someone who lived and died 2000 years ago, by people who have translated, interpreted, edited and "explained" all the meaning out of his works, knitting together mythologies from many different religions it supplanted.  Sure, it's helped to perpetuate the church, in the same way that evolving to resist antibiotics helps germs to survive.  But good for mankind as a whole?  Not so much.

You turn a nice phrase RF, but we all know it's crap.  You have no respect for Christians, as for kindness, you reserve that for those who share your ideals.  I stand by my comment.  Anyone who denies Christ should not presume to know what He would or wouldn't do. 

I have no respect for those Christians who don't  follow his intentions, true.  Those who want to impose church doctrine on the rest of us.

Those who presume to speak for others through direct contact with Christ have as much validity as those who know what the UFO aliens want because they've been onboard the saucers.  They have drugs for that now.