A Taser Gun to Morganna The Kissing Bandit? No way!

In 1969, on a dare, Morganna Roberts jumped over a fence and went out to plant a kiss on the mouth of then-Cincinnati Reds Third Baseman Pete Rose.

Morganna, then dubbed "Morganna The Kissing Bandit," continued to jump onto Major League Baseball fields and kiss unsuspecting baseball players.

Morganna The Kissing Bandit was never tasered or tackled and went on to fame, starring in shows like To Tell The Truth in 1978:



In that contest, I can't see the logic in law enforcement officials tasering a 17-year-old boy. I listened to the really ridiculous argument offered by ESPN's Skip Bayless this morning and howled. Bayless went on a rant about how "this 17-year-old boy" could have been a dangerous person and about how there are rules that must be followed. Bayless bellowed that he was happy the boy was hit with a taser; I'd love to see Bayless support that idea if it happened to him.

This is the scene at the Phillies game:



Bayless would not have supported the tasing of Morganna The Kissing Bandit, and if he did there would have to be something wrong with him. The horrible bottom line is law enforcement all too often saves its most violent reactions for men. It's as if because the person's 17 and a boy it's OK to harm him. It's not OK. It's wrong.

Using the "Morganna The Kissing Bandit" test, I argue the action was excessive force done by a member of a society, ours, that's become neurotic at a level that can only be called psychotic.

Suppose that kid has a heart condition? The taser could have triggered a heart attack leading to an on-the-field death. The action was a pure example of aggression and stupidity. What to do? Well, catch him. It's not his fault the security people are out of shape. A little running around's good for them.

But a taser was not the answer. They wouldn't do it to Morganna The Kissing Bandit so they should not do it to him.

Stay tuned.