In my house, right or wrong doesn't matter anywhere near as much as respect does. I spend lots of time refusing to debate because of the tone of voice. "If you can't speak respectfully, don't speak at all." If he continues I send him to his room for not following direction. As far as the bat goes, I would have taken it away...period. I would have told him that he has shown by his actions that he is not old enough or responsible enough to use a bat for it's intended purpose. Put it in a closet somewhere and forgot about it for a month. Repeated as needed.
I allow all of my kids to have an opinion and debate anything they don't agree with but it must be done in a respectful manner and with a valid point. In the case of the little lord, I would just tell him he needs to be respectful and refuse to speak to him until he is. If this causes him to be disruptive, I'd send him to his room to get a handle on himself.
