"sipping chamomile"

Classy. (And that wasn't meant as snark at all.)

The Tea Partiers are taking the high road. Just because Oregon middle school teacher Jason Levin has publicly denounced them as a bunch of "racists, homophobes and morons," they say that's no reason for him to lose his job.

All Levin really needs, they say, is some sensitivity training and some anger management therapy.

Levin, who declared his mission to "dismantle and demolish" the Tea Party on his "Crash the Tea Party" website, was placed on administrative leave last week while a state education board and his school district investigate whether the technology teacher promoted identity theft against Tea Party activists and misused school property.

But the Oregon Tea Party seems to be sipping chamomile. It doesn't want his neck -- just an apology from Levin and the Beaverton School District.

"We don't want to see Jason Levin fired, we want to see him helped," said Oregon Tea Party founder Geoff Ludt. "We want to reach out to him and we want to use his actions to create a teachable moment."

Added: I wish we'd stop demanding for an apology every time we disagree with someone. Mr. Levin should not have to apologize for who he is. We can ignore him, we can engage him, but we should let him continue to embarrass himself to the entertainment of the rest of the world. I'd rather he do this out in the open than have him skulking in the dark where we can't see what he's up to. The same thing goes for everyone else.