Central Valley High School students walked out of class on Friday. Yawn, another school walkout protest over guns.

I need to ask this generation what they're doing wrong because when I was a kid, there were probably more guns in kids' hands and we never had school shootings. If you had a fight, you took to fists after school. You'd never think of something as serious as killing with a gun.

So I am compelled to ask, what is different about this generation? What are we (or they) doing wrong? I do know we didn't have video games to kill everyone, steal cars and pick up hookers. Why is their focus on guns rather than the heart of the person who is evil enough to kill? If every kid who walked out of class made it all about treating others with respect and never ridiculing based on looks or clothing and hair styles, there would be no bullying and less people wanting to take it out by killing, I am convinced. Healthy and happy people don't go around killing others. Only hurting people hurt people.

You won't see kids walking out to protest bullying, but then the leftist organizations could care less about that. They just want to ban guns.

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Today's ideology is that if something unfortunate happens then all should be prevented from doing that activity which resulted in a death. When I was a junior we had a classmate, Terry Smith, who shot himself to death in a shotgun accident. We all mourned Terry's death but we realized that the world was a dangerous place and that accidents happen. But none of us ever would've thought that banning shotguns would be a way to prevent future deaths. We knew it wasn't right to prevent others who were responsible with guns from enjoying that privilege. But in today's nanny state world whenever anything goes wrong somebody thinks something should be banned whether it be riding in the back of a pickup or a school shooting.

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I just knew it was going to happen - and it did.

Some angry radical somewhere was going to rejoice in the death of Barbara Bush.

I just didn't think it was going to happen so close to home.

Randa Jarrar, an English professor at Cal State University, Fresno, tweeted: "Barbara Bush was a generous and smart and amazing racist who, along with her husband raised a war criminal. F--- out of here with your nice words." Another post from this looney read: ""PSA: either you are against these pieces of s--- and their genocidal ways or you're part of the problem. That's actually how simple this is. I'm happy the witch is dead. Can't wait for the rest of her family to fall to their demise the way 1.5 million Iraqis have." When she faced a backlash, she followed up with: "All the hate I'm getting ALMOST made me forget how happy I am that George W. Bush is probably really sad right now."

Jarrar's arrogance continued when she stated: "I work as a tenured professor. I make 100K a year doing that. I will never be fired. I will always have people wanting to hear what I have to say."

I understand that she has since gone on a two-year leave and that her messages were taken down.

No wonder our kids are growing up with such wacked-out ideology. They're being spoonfed it by nut jobs like Jarrar.

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This is not a rare case in so-called academia, of course. Many parents are afraid to send their kids to college, which hey say is about expanding one's horizons and thoughts - except if you believe in Jesus and then there is no tolerance for you. If you are conservative you are not tolerated; you are put down as a backward hillbilly. My oldest son went to one class at UC Davis where the professor announced "if you're a Christian you probably don't belong in this class."

By the time he graduated that college Bret was so far left in his political views that the transformation was hard to comprehend. He is among those who think a ban on guns would work. When I explain the logic of why it won't ever work, he defaults to the talking points of Robert Reich types.

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And that brings me to the experiences of our mayor's son. Last week I wrote a story about how Ryan Vierra was swept up in claims of racism. His fraternity was holding a weekend party where another member of the group painted his face black. Ryan was only standing next to him. Their photo went out and later so did their names. They were scorned and lambasted as racist when that wasn't the case.

To me, the shame is how the left responded. It was shoot-first-and-ask-questions-later. It was scream-and-throw-a-fit, hoping someone put their heads on a stick. The truth is that the left wanted the fraternity to be "racist" so there could be a new protest, and if so, link it to the Trump era.

The most disgusting reaction was the one professor who publicly blistered all frat members in his class. When his behavior was noted by others, he went to attack them.

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I wonder if Californians realize that the rest of the country looks at ur state and shakes its head. Off-the-rail nuts.

So let me get this straight. Two illegal aliens flee ICE agents in Delano and in their haste to avoid authorities, they crash their car and die. A tragic incident, to be sure only compounded by the fact that they left six orphans behind. But all this could have been avoided if they simply didn't run and were escorted out of the country they weren't supposed to be in. The bad guys, in the eyes of United Farm Workers Foundation Executive Director Diana Tellefson Torres, were the "federales."

Kern County District Attorney was asked to file charges against the ICE agents involved in the chase but refused. Delano Police referred to the district attorney "evidence" that two ICE deportation agents gave false information to the police about using red lights and siren or not during the March 13 pursuit. Kern County DA Lisa Green said there "is no credible evidence that either agent lied. And second, I do not believe legally ... we can pursue charges of giving false information to a peace officer."

Torres issued this statement: "They were farm workers who worked hard to provide for their family. They and their six orphaned children are just the latest casualties of the federal government's recent targeting of hardworking immigrant farm workers who feed all of us."

Two things I take from this. First, just because someone picks fruit doesn't mean they can break the law. They were, after all, trespassing in our country and fleeing because they knew they would be deported. Secondly, blaming the government for the deaths of Santos Hilario Garcia and Marcelina Garcia Profecto would be the same as someone blaming you if you chase the guy who broke into your house and the thief ends up dead because he runs into traffic.

Answer this: If somebody broke into your house tonight to steal things because they were hungry and needed money, would that offer enough mitigation of their crimes? Most wouldn't say, "Oh well, it's okay that they broke in. They needed the money."

Isn't this really about a bloodlust for Trump and removing him from office? Arturo Rodriguez, president of the UFW said the Delano tragedy "has shown this country that the inhumane politics of this administration destroy families."

"Inhuman politics of this administration"? Hold your horses there, Artie. Why were you dead silent about the "inhuman politics" of Obama? Under his presidency, 5.2 million illegals were deported. Under Clinton, 10.3 million. Did that outrage you? Or are you only outraged because of who occupies 1300 Pennsylvania Avenue?

I think that most people understand the law and why we have it. After all, there are laws against people trespassing on our property or not respecting our property. Countries must limit the numbers of immigrants because otherwise your country is overrun with people we cannot support. It would be hypocritical in saying we don't need borders and ways to protect it while keeping others out of our backyard or our house. There are places we belong in this world and places we do not.

For those who say we need to be compassionate and let everyone in, why aren't you taking in all the homeless and letting them sleep on your couch or on your floor or garage? You'd say, "I can't do that ... I can't trust them ... I can't afford to support them ... they would change my life ... they might steal from me." You just articulated the immigration debate. But you might let some in, if you were ever so trusting, to fulfill your quest to be compassionate. You see, our country does let some into the country on an orderly basis. But immigration advocates are only talking about letting in people from one particular nation to the south - Mexico.

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Looks like the unions are in a panic.
There is a Supreme Court case (Janus v. American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, Council 31) that could spell disaster for unions by defunding them.

Mark Janus, an Illinois state employee, wants the court to strike down a law that permits the union to deduct a recurring fee from his paycheck for collective bargaining efforts. He said he's not anti-union but he doesn't think he should be forced to fund the union if "I don't think it does a good job representing my interests."

According to the U.S. News & World Report, if the court agrees with Janus, "fair-share fees would vanish, draining union coffers and driving membership through the floor. That would not only starve organized labor of its ground troops, it would also choke off a key resource for the Democratic Party, which depends on unions as troops for an election ‘ground game': Knocking on doors, registering voters and getting them to the polls."

I think most people know that unions are too powerful, especially in California where public pensions are bankrupting taxpayers for the fact that labor unions have bought and paid for Democrat Party lawmakers.

I see the Janus case as a good thing.

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The polarization in the country has reached apoplectic proportions.

From my email account from a Josh Morin: "F--- you. You hate mongering selfish deep state ‘Republican' idiot."

Oh the irony.

His vile message came days after I received a sweet voicemail from a woman who told me: "So many of us feel exactly the way you express it ... as far as Stephon Clark in Sacramento case and as far as so many other things that you write. You're so spot on. Most people are afraid to speak up because they're afraid they'll be viewed as being racist, which we're not. But it's so enlightening to read a viewpoint that so many of us feel that can't be expressed so thank you for your honesty and great editorials. You're the one reason I'm continuing to take the Ceres Courier."

Two views, one offensive and one drenched in hate, the other very articulate.

I often have people tell me privately they agree. But again, they're too afraid to speak up. That's part of our problem in this country.

Another new supporter, the leader of a club here in Ceres emailed me: "One of my brothers shamed me into subscribing to your paper and by golly, I'm glad I did. GREAT editorial in the 3-21 issue. I appreciate your writing. Dang, isn't this stuff just common sense?"

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Isn't a given that if you want to use a bathroom or hang out at a business that you need to buy product? Businesses aren't in the business of providing lounge space for people who ren't customers. So whenever I use a restroom at a fast-food place, I feel obligated to buy something, even a Diet Coke.

So why was it a big deal that two men were asked to leave a Starbucks in Philadelphia for taking up couch space without even buying a coffee? They refused to leave and the manager called police. Was their color the reason this became a hot story? Or was it because the media, in this post-Obama era, loves creating racial stories out of nothing?

Let's be real, folks - not everything is racially motivated. My daughter works at a Starbucks (in Ceres) and she has had to ask people (mostly drugged-out homeless) to leave because they are only there to do their drugs or make a mess in the bathroom without buying so much as a bottle of water. Makes no difference that they're white. Could the Starbucks in Philadelphia have been given the two men a break? Absolutely. But for these two men to become poster children of victimization because of color is absurd. The Black and Brown Workers Collective staged a protest of that Starbucks with its leader saying, "We don't want this Starbucks to make any money today. That's our goal."

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Has Jerry Brown and company pushed California too far left for residents to handle? Maybe. A new poll UC Berkeley's Haas Institute for a Fair and Inclusive Society suggests that 49 percent of Californians support increased deportations of illegal aliens. That's huge.

Do you have any feedback about this column? Let Jeff know by emailing him at jeffb@cerescourier.com. He will read it, promise.