Today's Lesson For Kids: Don't Flash Around Your Loaded Gun

New Orleans Hornets Rasual Butler was arrested Monday morning and charged for carrying a concealed weapon and wrongful display of a firearm.

Rasual Butler is an idiot. Really, it's as simple as that.

Here is the summarized version of the incident according to South Beach police and witnesses. As Butler was leaving Club Mansion, he started pointing his gun at and threatening several people. The police arrived shortly thereafter to find Butler sitting in the back of his Navigator. He told the officers the gun was on the floorboard. They found a gun that was "loaded, with a round in the chamber, ready to fire."

He was taken in to the shop, though he maintained, "I'm a professional athlete, I didn't do anything wrong."

I love how the go-to defense for any South Beach arrest has to do with "athlete" and "didn't do anything wrong." I mean, they screwed Gilbert Arenas over with a disobeying the police arrest. Still, I don't see how that compares. Rasual, you told the cops you were carrying a gun that you legally couldn't carry in Florida! Maybe if you hadn't threatened other club-goers with it, your civil rights wouldn't have been violated by those pesky police officers.

Again, Rasual Butler is an idiot. Don't let your kids be idiots.

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Cedric Benson Released by Bears Following Second DUI

Cedric Benson was drafted in 2005 to be a franchise-changing running back. He had me, ignoring his draft-day tears, believing in the hype. He had me defending him after his lackluster play and his first DUI charge. Of course, he had head coach Lovie Smith and general manager Jerry Angelo doing the same--and I'm guessing here--on a larger scale. All of these issues came to a head Monday following Benson's second DUI arrest in a month.

How would Smith and Angelo handle the situation? They stopped defending him. On Monday, the Bears placed Cedric Benson on waivers, effectively cutting ties with their distractions.

In a statement to the media, Angelo announced the move.

"Cedric displayed a pattern of behavior we will not tolerate. As I said this past weekend, you have to protect your job. Everyone in this organization is held accountable for their actions. When individual priorities overshadow team goals, we suffer the consequences as a team. Those who fail to understand the importance of 'team' will not play for the Chicago Bears."

Maybe things would have been different if Benson had produced on the field. Instead, Benson rushed for only 1,593 yards in three seasons. When the Bears organization gift-wrapped the starting job for Benson by trading Thomas Jones, Benson responded with a season which only confirmed suspicions: he was a bust.

Now, the Bears are left with rookie running back Matt Forte, drafted in the second round out of Tulane, and longtime backup "Chicago-Adrian" Peterson battling it out for the starting position. Hey, Minnesota, that sounds like some yards, doesn't it?

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James Harrison (Allegedly) Beats Girlfriend

Steelers rush linebacker and Pro Bowler James Harrison ripped through a door, broke a phone, and slapped his girlfriend before being arrested by police. Harrison was arraigned on charges of simple assault and criminal mischief.

According to police, he broke down a bedroom door at the woman's home after she locked herself in the room. While she was calling 911, Harrison broke the phone in half, according to an affidavit she filed with police.

The police also said Harrison struck the woman in the face with an open hand leaving "red marks" according to the affidavit.

Harrison made his first Pro Bowl in 2007. He finished the year with 98 tackles and 8½ sacks. It is still unclear whether he led the NFL in "broken phones in half."

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