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Republicans: slavery is when you own me. freedom is when I own you.

The GOP is a fucking disgrace.

That’s my take and I am available for criticism at this time.

A sufficient plurality of insane, greedy people can tank any democratic system ever devised, apparently.

Today’s GOP: why go just far enough when too far is right there?

The poor and middle-class pay taxes, the rich pay accountants, the wealthy pay politicians.

Republicans do not pay their debts.

Putin must be throwing ketchup at the walls.

Teach a man to fish, and he’ll sit in a boat all day drinking beer.

When do we start airlifting the women and children out of Texas?

Let there be snark.

But frankly mr. cole, I’ll be happier when you get back to telling us to go fuck ourselves.

Seems like a complicated subject, have you tried yelling at it?

Yeah, with this crowd one never knows.

A thin legal pretext to veneer over their personal religious and political desires

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The GOP couldn’t organize an orgy in a whorehouse with a fist full of 50s.

Fuck these fucking interesting times.

No one could have predicted…

Following reporting rules is only for the little people, apparently.

“I never thought they’d lock HIM up,” sobbed a distraught member of the Lock Her Up Party.

You are here: Home / Such a Missed Opportunity

Such a Missed Opportunity

by | 68 Comments

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This is a shame:

Kaleb Eulls is used to hearing cheers for his heroics on the football field, but the Yazoo County, Miss., high school senior’s quick thinking Tuesday morning on a school bus has earned him a different kind of acclaim.

Eulls, 18, tackled and disarmed a 14-year-old girl who had pulled a .380 semiautomatic handgun from her bag and was threatening students and demanding the driver pull over, County Sheriff Tommy Vaughn said.

I think I speak for all gun owners and libertarians that if only the bus driver and more of the kids had been armed, this would have never happened this way. Think how much better off we would have been if there had been more concerned citizens packing heat.

Reader Interactions

68Comments

  1. 1.

    Mark

    I’m glad to hear that everyone’s okay, and Kaleb deserves all the kudos he’s getting.

    But I can’t help but feel sorry for the 14-year-old. It sounds like she’s been picked on and bullied for a while. She finally strikes back at her tormentors – and it turns into a big humiliating failure, further emphasizing her powerlessness. It’s going to be pretty tough for someone like that to ever turn her life around.

    She should never have pulled the gun, of course, but it’s a shame that it ever got to that point.

  2. 2.

    Flugelhorn

    I don’t know what you are trying to say here.

    Clearly this 14 year old girl did not come by this gun in a legal way.

  4. 4.

    Flugelhorn

    @Mark: The little girl never once mentioned to anyone she was being bullied. It is possible that this is a convenient story drummed up to excuse her actions. 14 year olds have been known to stretch truth and reason time to time. If I look hard, I might be able to obtain a few documented cases.

  5. 5.

    Calouste

    Because having lots of guns in a really confined and crowded space like a bus is such a good idea and is surely going to prevent people from getting hurt.

  6. 6.

    Flugelhorn

    @Zifnab: So lets ban alcohol as well. Kids get ahold of that stuff all the time.

    How about kitchen knives while we are at it? OR perhaps ice picks, sling shots, cars, boats, planes, trains… Anything that could possibly be used as a weapon we should wrap up and destroy right away.

  7. 7.

    John Cole

    @Flugelhorn: Which is precisely why the bus driver should be armed! And we should allow teenagers to legally carry! And you need guns at presidential rallies, because guns don’t kill people, criminals kill people!

  10. 10.

    Mark

    @Flugelhorn

    You’re right – the only evidence I’ve seen so far that she’s been bullied is what she’s told the cops. But if she hadn’t been bullied, what’s the motive here? Taking a bus full of kids hostage just for kicks?

  11. 11.

    John Cole

    @Flugelhorn: I’m pretty clearly making fun of the people who every time there is gun violence or an incident with a gun loudly claim that what the situation really needed was more guns.

    This is not hard to figure out.

  13. 13.

    Eric U.

    there was a shooter on the Penn State main campus a decade ago. She told the police that when she left home in the morning, she hadn’t decided if she should kill herself or other people. This sort of incident never makes any sense.

  14. 14.

    Flugelhorn

    @Mark: I long ago came to the conclusion that the things that motivate people (EVEN 14 years olds) to do things do not alway correlate with logic.

    Specific to this particular issue… What motivated the Columbine attacks? Pretty much every thing the media aserted has since been refuted.

    Thsi is not to say that she was not actually bullied, but I think its a little too soon to be feeling sorry for a 14 year old, potential wack job, weilding a pistol in a school bus full of kids.

  15. 15.

    Flugelhorn

    @John Cole: Ahh… I do not think they were specifically including a bus full of kids who are not legally able to obtain a firearm in their hypothesis. I could be wrong, but I think it would be DISINGENUOUS to assume this is the kind of thing they had in mind.

    I also believe it is a cheap shot at pandering to your point of view by using a ridiculous example.

    Again… I could be wrong.

  17. 17.

    Makewi

    If we were actually serious about guns in this country, we would explain the situation to our children in a clear and unambiguous way by requiring gun safety classes in our schools – which would in part show in graphic detail the horror of their use as an instrument of violence. Think along the lines of “blood on the highway” in driver ed classes, but with more guns.

  21. 21.

    over_educated

    @Flugelhorn: “I also believe it is a cheap shot at pandering to your point of view by using a ridiculous example.”

    Imagine this: Terrorist have your family hostage and will kill them and blow up the chrysler building in one hour unless you torture one of them you have in captivity….

  23. 23.

    Colin R.

    I think that it turned out exactly right. If more people had been packing heat, there would have been a firefight, and a much better possibility of someone getting killed.

  25. 25.

    over_educated

    @Flugelhorn: Obviously bus drivers are highly trained professionals who have regular and mandatory gun-safety and crisis response training. Oh. Wait.

  26. 26.

    nffcnnr

    I’m sure the senior kid will get suspended or expelled or otherwise punished by the school for his “assault” on the gun-waving, outraged 14-year old citizen. And as for the other passengers on the bus – cowards!!

  27. 27.

    shelley matheis

    Yes, God knows that having bullets flying wildly in a confined space is such a good idea. That’ why airline passengers should have a carry license.

  28. 28.

    The Grand Panjandrum

    I am in favor of airline pilots who take a correspondence course and send in a $100 registration fee being allowed to carry a firearm onto an airplane. Why leave it to the Air Marshalls? These pilots fly planes worth tens of millions of dollars and far more sophisticated then a handgun. What could possibly be wrong with THAT argument?

  29. 29.

    Shawn in ShowMe

    Maybe the Minutemen can start a Bus Marshall force.

    Marshalls? Just clone Chuck Norris and be done with it.

  30. 30.

    Flugelhorn

    @freelancer: I never said the bus driver should carry a weapon. tT is a school bus. The driver has to drive.

    I simply turned the point and ratcheted it up a notch and wanted to see how they felt about air marshalls since they were clearly against bus drivers having guns.

    I personally do not feel that a SCHOOL BUS driver should be carrying a gun, but perhaps in this day and age it might be appropriate to have a police officer on board as a chaperone.

  31. 31.

    Zifnab

    @nffcnnr: Depends. He is black. Was the girl white?

    Either way, you can expect an NRA rally demanding the school not infringe on gun owner rights some time in the next month to be sure.

  32. 32.

    Crashman06

    @Flugelhorn: Why’d you bother to escalate it, then? We both know it’s not an equivalent comparison.

    I doubt having a police officer on every bus would be a good use of taxpayer money; unless we raise taxes I suppose.

    Crazy stuff like this happens every once and a while. Luckily it’s rare enough, but I don’t think we need to arm bus drivers, or station cops on every bus to handle it.

  33. 33.

    KG

    @Rey: well, at least until the gunman starts shooting. Which, I think, is the point of the more guns make us safer argument (being a libertarian who grew up in the suburbs, I’m not entirely sure I buy this argument). The argument goes (and, again, really kind of playing devil’s advocate here), that once someone starts shooting, you’re not going to be able to physically take them down, until they’ve had a chance to reload, at which point there could be several dead or mortally wounded victims.

    I really don’t have much problem with concealed carry (open carry I think is rather stupid), so long as there have been background checks and training. I’m even willing to consider psych checks on potential gun owners.

    If you’re using a gun for self-defense purposes, then the chances are you’re never going to have to use it outside of a firing range. It’s when people (usually mentally unbalanced people) start using them that they become a problem.

  34. 34.

    Paul L.

    Think how much better off we would have been if there had been more concerned citizens packing heat.

    A “good” shooting

    The family of one of the men who was shot by a retired United States Marine while they attempted to rob a Subway sandwich shop said the customer shouldn’t have pulled the trigger.
    […]
    “He should not have taken the law in his hands,” said Rosa Jones, Gadson’s grandmother.

  35. 35.

    Ugh

    How do you feel about air marshalls?

    Bad idea, an accident waiting to happen with potential deadly consequences for everyone on board the plane, and a waste of money to boot. They should be removed from airlines now. And no guns for the pilots either.

  36. 36.

    KG

    @Crashman06:

    Crazy stuff like this happens every once and a while. Luckily it’s rare enough, but I don’t think we need to arm bus drivers, or station cops on every bus to handle it.

    But we’re suppose to over react to stuff like this. That’s why I now have to take my shoes off before I get on a plane, because one crazy guy said he had a bomb in his shoes. Or why I have to do the same when I go into a federal court house (even though I’m a friggin’ attorney). If we don’t overreact and put more cops in more places with more security, the terrorists will win.

  37. 37.

    Augustine

    @srv:

    Maybe the Minutemen Bad Brains can start a Bus Marshall force.

    fixed.

    the Minutemen would only be good for bus rides less than 120 seconds.

  38. 38.

    Da Bomb

    HA-HA!! That link to T-Bogg was hilarious!!

    Man, people have gone mad. I didn’t know that a black man in power could cause all of this ruckus.

    OT: But I love how the wingnuts are going crazy and claiming that Obama is going to indoctrinate their kids into a socialist agenda by watching his speech, as if attending public school doesn’t reek of socialism. And isn’t it Reagan who also gave a speech to kids and talk about the benefits of lowering taxes and his crappy economic plan. Shitty, slippy, trickle down my leg economics.

  41. 41.

    The Moar You Know

    I am in favor of airline pilots who take a correspondence course and send in a $100 registration fee being allowed to carry a firearm onto an airplane. Why leave it to the Air Marshalls? These pilots fly planes worth tens of millions of dollars and far more sophisticated then a handgun. What could possibly be wrong with THAT argument?

    @The Grand Panjandrum: It would sure put a stop to all the whining when you’ve been sitting on the tarmac for six hours in 110 degree heat!

  45. 45.

    Shawn in ShowMe

    I personally do not feel that a SCHOOL BUS driver should be carrying a gun, but perhaps in this day and age it might be appropriate to have a police officer on board as a chaperone.

    “Police guns down troubled teen”. This is a lawsuit waiting to happen.

  48. 48.

    jibeaux

    @Calouste:

    I resent that remark, I use my Glock to make souffles all the time.

    @Flugelhorn:

    It sounds like we’d be better off cloning Kaleb Eulls and putting him on the buses.

    And finally, @KG:

    It was the s/ h/ o /e /s. I don’t know why it’s on there. I don’t know why soshulism isn’t on the list but still goes to moderation, either. I guess there are lots of spammers trying to sell raunchy products and/or footwear and/or means of production.

  51. 51.

    tripletee

    @The Moar You Know:

    This is at least the tenth time you’ve posted this story. Get some new material, for chrissakes.

    Agreed. I heard there was some scandal involving the Duke lacrosse team? Maybe you could look into that.

  54. 54.

    Deborah

    @Mark:
    I was bullied at that age, and I have 0 sympathy for resolving it with a gun. Resolving it with a gun on a crowded bus that was not, I would guess, occupied only by the people who had bullied her (including the bus driver as a bully, and anyone driving or riding along the road as a culpable bully)…No.

  55. 55.

    KG

    @dlw32: less of an intimidation factor, mainly. People tend to get freaked out when the see guns, but if it’s tucked away under my coat or my pant leg, less of an issue. There’s also some evidence suggesting that when concealed carry laws pass, assaults go down because would be attackers don’t know if granny is packing. Granted, it’s been a long time since I’ve looked at the data (probably close to 10 years, since the last time I dealt with the issue was while in college).

    Again, if using it for self-defense purposes, you’re likely never going to need it anyway.

  56. 56.

    Sentient Puddle

    @jibeaux: I noticed that a lot of words on that list pertain to various games of chance one might play in Vegas, including games involving cards. Maybe the word in question does not have to do with footwear, but rather the device that holds cards in said games of chance.

    (I think I got around the filter, but let’s see…)

  60. 60.

    Anne

    Re: that second link, why carry around an unloaded gun anyway? This isn’t some FPS game where you happen across spare ammo from time to time. What’s the point of a) carrying a gun as you go about your daily business, and b) the gun being unloaded?

  61. 61.

    PartyLikeIts1990

    It’s unfortunate that this brave student wasn’t on the scene back in 1990, when Glenn Beck possibly may or may not have raped and murdered a young girl.

  62. 62.

    Brachiator

    @MobiusKlein:

    Teacher reacted quickly, tackled student with explosives, a chainsaw, and a sword.

    What’s with all this “tackling” stuff? The NRA is obviously not doing their job, convincing citizens that the only way to deal with these kinds of threats is to arm teachers and bus drivers.

    More seriously, this teacher is all kinds of heroic.

  63. 63.

    Cris

    @Rey: Good old fashioned tackling. Works every time…

    I wish the USA Today article had more detail about Eulls’ tackling technique. He must have executed perfectly. I envision him hitting her from behind, wrapping his arms around her and bringing them down against her forearms, like you would try to strip the ball from a running back.

  65. 65.

    ricky

    @Zifnab:

    Zinfab, the incident was on a bus to a public school in Yazoo
    Mississippi. What sensible white parent would let their 14 year old daughter go to anything but a private segregated academy in Yazoo much less let her ride public transport? Even Willie Morris’s dog Skip would have gone to the Christian school.

  67. 67.

    bago

    So some fucktard was invited to a party at my friends house because he looked a bit like a loner, like many of us in our social group were. The guy who went range shooting and lived at the house, who invited the killer to the after-party, he himself knows that even while armed he would have killed more innocent bystanders than the perp had he been armed. Only when the psycho saw a cop who ran in from one block away did he turn the gun on himself and cause the seventh fatality.

    That’s kind of the animating force behind the idea of social welfare. Who is the most dangerous man on the planet? One with nothing to lose.

    Kyle Huff understood that and when faced with a policeman ate his own shotgun rather than face the consequences.

    I think that the point I’m trying to make is that people who think guns are the answer are usually the problem. These romantic notions of noble power are in fact the antithesis of peace and prosperity.

    Fuckers.

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