The fact that people are even trying to defend his actions is silly. I don't know how you do your job without going crazy. It's like being heckled all day by the same people who scream at the television during the news.

Your article was on point and accurate, don't let them stress you out too much.

*why I never call* ~ hang in there Lois. I appreciate your opinion pieces~ even the ones I disagree with. This time your spot on,IMHO

You're getting unfairly hammered for your column (apparently most people in Bakersfield think it's acceptable for an adult and a representative of the county to behave in an uncivil manner).

I'm glad to see you're keeping your sense of humor about the whole thing.  You're showing a lot more class than those who are berating you.

Hooray for Ken Mettler! He should have kicked all their butts! The time is past for us Christian Conservative’s (read-the majority) to continue simply turn our check while the leftist secular progressives minority out there continue to try and ram their lifestyles down our throats! Enough is enough. Mr. Mettler should be congratulated on his stance. It takes guts to stand up for what we know is right. If you do not agree with their position your are called all kinds of names to dumb, outdated thinking, sexist, homophobia and more because we believe differently.

Whether it is homosexuality, gay marriage, immigration rights, PETA, eco terrorists, feminine Nazism or right to abortion pro choice freaks, enough is enough! These people are in the minority! It is one thing to have your own values. Its quite another to continue to call us names, destroy our property and interfere with me and my family because only you have the real answer.

Lets take immigration for example. We all know that California is being overrun with illegal aliens. For years the left progressive movement said "so what." The employer said "so what."

If you dared speak out you were call all kinds of names by the left from racist, bigot and hater. Many of us turned the other cheek and look what has happened! The State of California is basically bankrupt because we have spent so much money on illegal alien health care and education we have no money left. To add insult to injury the mayor of Los Angeles still wants to provide housing to the poor (read-illegal alien) even after the recent housing debacle!

When you quiz the politicians on how the new Arizona immigration laws are working they will tell you it will not work in California. Huh! It is sure working in Arizona.

Hooray for Ken Mettler. We owe him a debt of gratitude to standing up for which we all know was the right thing to do. We have to start someplace. Hopefully other will follow suit and not turn the other cheek

Neo, if "Christian Conservatives" are in the majority, why is a liberal Democratic dominated legislature elected cycle after cycle?

Why is this state bluer than blue?

And what ever happened to "turn the other cheek"?

PS Everyone, take a look at the Chad Vegas Milking College Kids Blog.  Some very interesting info there.

yeah, Spartan.  GOD FORBID anybody have a different opinion on the events that unfolded.

Ohhh the coming liberal thugocracy.

I agree Neo, we should all start punching people who we disagree with. Then, we can put them in camps!

"For if they disagree, brand them liberals and demand they submit to your will. While my father gave you the freedom to think and the free will of a man, condemn thee who would use such a thing. Woman are stupid, gays are evil and all that ails your country shall be blamed on the Mexicans. My father was in jest  when he spoke of loving all your neighbors, he really meant kill everyone who was not Christian. Praise be my followers with no will of their own. For surely, god loves most the sheep, for they are the stupidest of his flock. Now lets go to Wal Mart, screw the poor." - Jesus

"Turn the other cheek"

You are basically saying Christian men and women shouldn't be able to defend themselves.

--Should that apply to our Christian men and women in the military too?

Self defense IS self defense. Whether you are Christian, Muslim, Jewish, etc.

common sense is hard for liberals.

Political, my sugary little sausage. I was there, were you?

Remember kids, words like "Liberal" and 'Conservative" are terms for those ill equipped to handle the vast differences of opinion in the world. Someone with an American flag as a cliche, sorry avatar, should be more than intelligent enough to handle a discussion without using such simple words.

 Also thugocracy is not a word. Hugs?

Well PoliticalJunkie, I don't recall anything about getting to pick or choose what parts of the New Testament you are going to follow.  That is one of the things I find most hypocritical about the Religious Right. 

Well Gopher.... to play Devils Advocate. Its not their fault their religion is so hard to follow and they are prone to violent acts because of it. The book itself is riddled with inconsistencies and logical fallacy. Half the time it says you cant kill, then later tells you that you should and gives a list of reasons that are acceptable. Jesus tells his followers to always turn the other cheek, then God sends them to war. It states owning a person is an immoral act, then it goes into detail about why God wants you to own slaves. You are not supposed to eat shrimp or pork, but you can sell your daughter to your neighbors. Its like a bad episode of Sex in the City, everything is getting screwed.

No wonder they are confused. I think the guy who wrote the thing was drunk. The Bible is one of the most violent books ever written in history, so its only natural its followers look for reasons to hurt those who are not Christians. You have to imagine how scary it is for them. God is saying this and that about one subject and yet he never does anything on their behalf. They pray and pray and in the end, they have to solve their own problems. It has to be infuriating to consistently see that God is not there, forcing people into a self righteous rage.

At least the Buddhists are consistent with their teachings.

The Bible is one of the most violent books ever written in history

It would be classified as a snuff film if it were made into a movie and would be given a XXX rating.

Lots of sex, mutilations and gory murders.

Why I am not surprised that you would receive so much praise from the Spartan?  You are about as unbiased in your writing as the Spartan is in his blog posts.  I don't hold him to the same level of objectivity as you, since you are supposed to be a professional writer.  I'm not saying anybody should necessarily automatically defend Mettler's actions, but it is curious that so many loving liberals are so quick to condemn those actions. 

I'm biased too, but I'm trying to be neutral.  I wasn't there.  Some of you that weren't there act like you were.  You, noholdsbarred could afford a little more objectivity.  We all have our biases, but must your biases be so blatant?  Many of you liberals almost seem happy that this happened.  Now you can say (or think you can say) AHA!  I told you so!  You see, the YES on 8 folks are all a bunch of bigots and haters!  It's what you call "GOTCHA POLITICS."   

Talibangelist, He should have every right to cross the street to fetch their yes on 8 signs. He shouldn't have even had to consider it would get physical. Then again I obviously misjudged the No crowd. Didn't realize they were so quick to escalate to a mob mentality. Cemented my vote!

I guess I'm no wiser than, because I can see myself having done the same thing. You shouldn't have to fear anyone when your on a very heavily traveled road, and many, many people. Especially considering all this love they are professing. I think not! That mob had themselves all riled up over a sign they know didn't belong to them, screaming, kick his ***!  Rotten Behavior

The opinion piece was about Mr.Mettlers judgment~ not all the red herring strewn across the...Issue.

Now we are not to call the Yes on 8 folks bigots or haters~but proam uses that very logic to decided her vote? Because the No on 8 folks( okay maybe 5 of them) are "violent" that settles it.....sounds fair I guess.But I hope you don't mind if I split the cookies up for sharing,do ya? :-P

Tali..The point is, a wiser man wouldn't have.

a wise man with balls is even better

Blognroll,

I'm a columnist. I'm supposed to have an opinion, which I believe I stated.

noholdsbarred,

You are also a blatant moron.  Why anybody would care for your opinion is beyond me.

Politicaljunkie..I think you are supposed to call those in..*snicker*

I suspect a great *MANY* things are "beyond" you, PoliticalJunkie.  We'll try to speak slowly around you.

sage, "okay maybe 5 of them", ya!  plus the how many more that have shown up on here that are flat out hateful to those that have shared a differing opinion.  I share all my cookies. Just ask my neighbors!

Blognroll,

I'm a columnist. I'm supposed to have an opinion, which I believe I stated.

And I admire your passion (just a little), but, that being said, even as a columnist, isn't there some sort of an expectation, as a paid, professional writer, to at least show some modicum of objectivity, in terms of how you examine a given event or phenomena? 

You know, guys: it is OK to be a YES on 8, and also think that Ken Mettler did the wrong thing. You don't have to feel that you must defend or support his actions just because you support YES on 8 too. In fact, thinking that may cause you to use convoluted logic and end up sounding daft.

No, you shouldn't feel you must defend him just because you are a YES on 8 person, but, on the other hand, you should not feel that just because you're a No on 8 person, you must immediately condemn him.  Let the powers that be sort it out.  Judge not, especially if you weren't there. 

Well lets see if I can keep this "Civil"  1. remember we have the right to defend ourselves if attacked  ( witness's say Mr .Badewitz swung first!!!  2. What is someone from San Diego doing protesting in our city and on our street corners??? OR could it be that some radical groups (shades of the '60s') PAID this person to protest!!!!  Please ,read between the lines as to my opinion about this person and the group he represents!   Maybe there should be an article written exposing these groups!!!! JMosier

Proam~ LOL ,thanks for taking that in the spirit it was intended!

proam..ill take mine sugar free

 griffon64 You know, guys: it is OK to be a YES on 8, and also think that Ken Mettler did the wrong thing.

it also OK if your voting No on 8 and realize Mettler just went to get back their signs and defended himself when a young adult (he was 21  not a kid) from out of town that just had assault charges brought on him earlier and felt he was a tuff guy and wanted to show off for his friends...he got cloked in the process and now hes not man enough to walk away..

Had it been a yes on 8 person that grabbed a No on 8 sign and things were reversed you guys would be screaming even louder than you are now..defending your heros position of having punched the Yes on 8 aggressor....gimmie a break!!!!

I'm still scratching my head over the no on 8 lefties choosing Badewitz as their "Poster Boy". (pun intended) 

That first caller could have been my grandma. I love her, but I wish she'd realize that it's the 21st century. People pick and chose what they want out of the Bible to justify their opinions.

Can someone please explain how homosexuals are cramming their lifestyle down people's throat?  Aren't they just a group of citizens gathering to voice their opinion on what they perceive as a civil rights violation?  Just because it's an issue that some people disagree with, doesn't mean they are forcing their lifestyle on you. 

The place I see the most talk about it is on these blogs.  If you don't like it, then don't read them.

For those of you who missed it, watch the video for yourself.

http://www.youtube.com/watc...

Be sure to notice that Ken Mettler is smiling and calmly asking for his signs back. Pay attention that Ken Mettler is not ripping signs out of people's hands. Listen to the two audible threats of violence towards Ken Mettler before Badewitz runs up behind him. Realize this gives Ken Mettler a reason to suspect that his welfare might be in jeopardy. Do you see how Ken Mettler has his back turned to the crowd when suddenly someone runs up behind him. Should he assume that this person is simply trying to take back signs that I am sure he does not have a receipt for or that he is attacking him? 

After Metter uses appropriate force to defend himself, he de-escalates the situation and attempts to leave the scene. With this the crowd becomes even more agitated and a man in a gray sweatshirt pushes him and a woman in a black top screams in his face. Despite this Ken Mettler does not punch anyone else even though these acts of intimindation and violations of his personal space. Note that Ken Mettler does not leave with the signs, but lets them have them.

Also realize that this is America and if a campaign manager of a campaign wants to walk down the public sidewalk in this country, there is a problem with anyone who says, "He should have known better". Are the No on Prop 8 people like rival gang members? I know some of my gang related students have to actually recognize this fact of life, but have the No on Prop 8 people resorted to this level of thuggish behavior? Are they so out of control they had no choice but to acost Mettler and it was actually his fault for walking down the street and trying to recover his vandalized signs?

Anyone else find the excuses being given by the No on 8 Supporters as being extremely weak and faulty? 

As I have stated before, I am voting no on 8. I won't call myself a no on 8 supporter as I don't say the F word enough to get jumped into their clique. Plus I am one of those academically challenged types that use the words conservative and liberal to label people. Oh and I also look to logic and reasoning based on the video evidence to explain this event and the king of debate doesn't approve of logic and reasoning as a basis for understanding life as we know it.

Sorry, I keep opening my mouth, I forgot I just need to accept the liberal's explination for all of this that Mettler stormed over there angry, screaming, and all violent to steal his own signs back. Nevermind the video that seems to show otherwise. It was doctored by the foul mouthed guy who filmed it to make it look that way.

Hey TheSpartanofAuburn you were there. Was that camera man you? Point youself out in the video. Which one is you?

Nevermind, I found you. There you are holding up your sign.

Elrojo, just a small factual correction on what happened.

Easy to confuse this because there are two people in black shirts (the other is a girl who has white lettering on the back of her shirt) following Mettler as he moves through the crowd.

Badewitz does not come up behind Mettler, and he does not surprise Mettler.

You can see Badewitz running after Mettler (following a person in white) along the right side of the frame. If you take the time to slow the video down, you see Mettler turn his head to look directly at Badewitz and track his movement as he approaches. Then Mettler turns his head forward and keeps walking. Then the two of them pass behind a woman.

What happened in the moment when the two people met cannot be seen on the video.

Nine18kk:

Well you can look at it a couple of ways. This lifestyle has not been acceptable nor traditional and as heated a topic as it is now.

I do not agree with it nor do i agree that traditional benefits and other values of marriage apply. Having to accept it as the norm and now traditional when I don't agree with it could be in your words Cramming it down peoples throats. Because you are now requiring that I agree and accept something that I do not agree with as normal and traditional. There are obviously various arguments out there that i care not delve into.

Its partly my tax payer dollars paying to have the populous vote to decide the issues that has already been decided and ignored by the courts in the past. So the taxpayer dollars keep flowing to fight the issue on both sides. So it was already decided at one time and found unconstitutional by a liberal judge so the issue continues to be waved in front of my non-agreeing face paid for by some of my tax dollars.

That's the view I look at it. However I do respect my friends with their way of life, but it doesn't mean I agree with it. There is a difference between tolerance and being told this is now something you have to agree with and consider as law and traditional now. So again in your words it is a form of cramming it down my throat.

I think it's sick how some people like Mettler can be so friggin' obsessed with the lives of homosexuals.  For all the fear mongering homophobes, when do I get to vote on your marriage?

To swright2, thank you so much for anwering my question.  Many people are so histrionic with their comments and then ignore someone who seriously asks them to expand on it.  All I wanted was a reasonable, intelligent response.

El Rojo, your Microsoft Paint skills are amazing.

I simply must know your secret.

"El Rojo, your Microsoft Paint skills are amazing.

I simply must know your secret."

haha....pretty pathetic attempt......just as pathetic as Mettler.   Because as you know, when you can't defend the idiotic actions of some shameful official.....crudely crop and paste your opponents picture.  I'm not sure if it was suppose to be funny but; um, no.  El rojo much be rojo in the face from embarassment.  Que lastima.

"noholdsbarred,

You are also a blatant moron.  Why anybody would care for your opinion is beyond me."

Calling a lady a moron? That's real classy.  Like it or not, she's an opinion writer, and you are basically trying to supress HER right to freedom of speech and freedom of the press.  God, Don't you just hate it when the Constitution and Bible get in the way?