Here’s hoping he was having some sort of treatable medical event and isn’t stuck this crazy.
Got a non-paywall link, or even a general summary?
Doesn’t have a paywall for me (and I don’t know why Discourse sometimes puts a preview box and sometimes doesn’t.)
Kansas state Rep. Mark Samsel was arrested on charges of misdemeanor battery on Thursday after getting into a physical altercation with a student while substitute teaching in Wellsville.
Samsel, 36, was booked into the Franklin County Adult Detention Center after 3:30 p.m. Thursday. He has since been released on $1,000 bond, Sheriff Jeff Richards said.
Superintendent Ryan Bradbury said that Samsel will no longer be allowed to work for the district.
On Wednesday, Samsel, R-Wellsville, was substitute teaching at the Wellsville school district’s secondary school. Throughout the day, high school students began recording videos of the lawmaker talking about suicide, sex, masturbation, God and the Bible.
In one video shared with The Star, Samsel tells students about “a sophomore who’s tried killing himself three times,” adding that it was because “he has two parents and they’re both females.”
Also
In another video, Samsel is recorded telling students, “make babies. Who likes making babies? That feels good, doesn’t it? Procreate. … You haven’t masturbated? Don’t answer that question…God already knows.”
And
In a Snapchat post shared with The Star, Samsel wrote that “it was all planned.”
“Every little bit of it. That’s right. The kids and I planned ALL this to SEND A MESSAGE about art, mental health, teenage suicide, how we treat our educators and one another. To who? Parents. And grandparents. And all of Wellsville,” he posted.
He wrote that he gave one particular student “hope.”
“I went to jail for battery. Does that really make me a criminal? Time will tell.”
He said that the incident happened during fifth period, and that the classes before that hour went as planned, and he shared the same lesson in each one. He said what happened was “exactly what God planned. The kids were in on it. Not all of them. But most.”
What in the ever living fuck? While all that’s crazy, let me summarize the battery part: he gave the class permission to kick a student in the nuts (which I don’t believe they did), but he himself, allegedly, kneed the kid in the crotch, then told him “go to the nurse; she could check it out.” And then asked another student if he wanted to check his nuts for him.
What in the ever-living fuck?
This is some high grade midwest religious zealot insanity. This guy did not suddenly take leave of his senses, and this guy was no stranger to the school either.
Technically not until he gets convicted, but going to jail for battery is a strong indicator it is possible.
Is there some sort of competition out there for most insane Republican? Will it be a reality show some day? There sure are lots of contestants.
Yes. It is called “The Republican Primaries.”
Holy fuck; that guy ain’t right in the head.
It has to do with the website itself. There are certain tags they have to include that will summarize either the page or the website, as well as provide an image and an icon. I’m surprised a modern website like this doesn’t have them, but I notice it with older websites I try to link.
And I agree that I hope this guy had some sort of mental break. But I worry he was like this the entire time and still got elected.
Edit: The site can also be set up to deny crawlers it doesn’t recognize. If it doesn’t recognize Discourse, it might block it from reading the page.
While I’m sure he’s usually more restrained in how he expresses them, these opinion and behaviors didn’t come out of nowhere. And he’s won both his races for the state house by 50 points. I wouldn’t hold out a lot of expectation that this incident is going to end that streak.
Well, yes, actually, that’s sort of the definition of “criminal”.
Sounds like things are not all well in that town.
One of the things that we were reminded of by Trump’s acolytes is at play here: if you’re going to be/go crazy, then go fucking bat-shit crazy.
In for a penny, in for a pound. A thing worth doing is a thing worth doing well.
For that, I commend this guy.
@Darren_Garrison: Please don’t post links without a summary. Your later summary was good. And, for the record, the site was not paywalled for me. This is not even a mod note, just a request for the future.
I’m used to Discourse providing a summary/preview to a link. It didn’t on this occasion. Don’t blame me when the board’s software doesn’t perform consistently. I think most people realise that bug.
To me, the main sign of a differing mental landscape is that he afterwards claimed that it was all a morality play skit cobbled together with the cooperation of the students.
Hilarious! You don’t look at your posts to see whether they’re displayed correctly?
I figure that when I post consistently but the board software screws up, it is the board software’s fault, not mine. I made what would have otherwise normal, properly-informationed post if the software had performed if it does with 99.9% of posts.
Sure, but does kneeing a child in the crotch make him a criminal? Let’s not rush to judgement here. I mean, time will tell.