Oh my God!! Don't go there Mr. President. No!! No!! Stop! Oh! Crap. Too late.
President Obama made a huge, Grand Canyon-sized mistake at his Press Conference on Wednesday night, alienating the entire Law Enforcement Community of this nation (not to mention one Officer Crowley of the Cambridge PD), common sense, and good, God-fearin', law-abiding Americans like myself in stating that the Cambridge (Mass.) Police Department acted "stupidly" in its handling of the arrest of Harvard academic hoo-ha Henry Louis Gates. Did I mention common sense?
Gates, a renowned African-American scholar, was arrested over the weekend while attempting to enter his own home. Per most media accounts, Gates arrived at his home in Cambridge from the Boston airport via taxi after returning from a lengthy trip abroad. He had trouble opening the the front door of his home which had become stuck. The taxi-driver, also a black man, tried to help Gates pry the door open. A neighbor, also a big-time Harvard academic hoo-ha, and apparently not too familiar with her neighbors, called the cops who arrested Gates after he became belligerent with them.
What is being missed by so many on the the left is that the charges against Gates had nothing to do with burglary or being black, but disorderly conduct. From accounts I've read, Gates was lucky that he was not charged with assault of a police officer. The arrest had nothing to do with "entering one's own home while black," but with "screaming at the police while being an entitled acamdemic completely out of touch with reality." Nobody screams at the cops. I don't care who you are.
Despite Gates' blatant misbehavior during the incident, the liberal media and a few Open Salon Blogistas herein are rushing-in to cry "Racism!" in the direction of the Cambridge cops when they should have been yelling, "Stupidity!" and "Take a chill pill, you spoiled Ivy League Ivory Tower acolyte of identity politics!" toward Mr. Gates. According to officers at the scene of the incident, in addition to a short diatribe on racism in America, Gates also offered them a few rather family unfriendly terms meant to demean the officers and their mothers. If I had done that, I'd expect to be arrested. Who wouldn't? Oh, yeah- a spoiled Ivy League prof.
If Gates had just kept his cool and explained the situation to the police rather than turning the incident into some sort of symbol of American injustice and institutionalized racism, he would have been sent on his way, never been arrested, and the nation would have been spared this little psychodrama.
Unfortunately, in defending Gates last night, the President appears to support disorderly conduct, hurling insults at police officers, and generalized infantile asshole behavior if you are a Harvard academic, or an African-American in general. The premise the President is adopting is the very basis of the white liberal political correctness that keeps minorities from accepting responsibility for their own actions and moving ahead. It excuses bad behavior based upon the perceived suffering of skin color, economic background, and ancestry. The most pernicious brand of racism is accepting lower standards of behavior for social, racial, and economic minorities. It is this brand of "non-racist" racism that the left has taken to the bank. Mr. Gates seems to have taken it to the bank, too.
The President's comments on this incident will not sit well with a majority of Americans who live within the coasts of this nation. I hope the President clarifies himself soon. I find it out of character for the President to make such an offhand comment, especially during a press conference. He is prone to rational thought and analysis just as a fine President should be. I hope he takes some time, kicks back with one of his over-priced bottled herbal teas and rethinks his statements, and he needs to do this soon.
This could come back to kick him hard in the pants come 2012. Really hard.
See, comments from the arresting officer.
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ConnieMack
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Comments
Maybe the cop was right and maybe he was wrong. But none of us have all the facts yet and neither does Obama, and so it was stupid for him to wade into this - from a PR point of view.
As for Mr. Gates- - I can understand him being pissed off. I'd be pissed off too, but I'd cooperate with the cops because even though I'm white I'm pretty sure that if there's a misunderstanding and i start yelling at a cop, that I'm going to get the worst of it.
Also, in other comments today the officer mentioned that Gates' Harvard ID didn't have his address on it, and so it wasn't sufficient documentation to prove that he lived there. And so, he asked to see his driver's license and that's when Gates started yelling.
Again, I can understand Gates getting pissed off, but I can also see it from the cops point of view. You can't just leave without seeing valid proof that the guy lives there - even if he does have a Harvard ID card.
you had to be there to form a good opinion. but i never get starry-eyed about professors of any color, or school. most are useless outside their specialty, many are in a useless specialty as well. almost all imagine they are founts of wisdom when at best they are just one page of a manual.
Rated
There was no gun drawn, no pepper spray, no batons, no tasing, and how you know he really didn't totally lose it, no Mag Lites.
Nothing works better for beating people than a Mag Lite, although phone books don't leave marks.
Seems to me, Crowley was Fonzi cool,and still has been, even with Obama "stupidly" bashing him, before a full investigation of the facts.
Curious as to the conventional wisdom of this affair.
Officer Crowley mainly seems puzzled as to all the fuss in the police report, because he has eleven years on the force in Cambridge, so he knows what to expect, especially from Harvard folks, who he deals with constantly.
I think you all are being way too hard on academics by the way, especially Mr. Loomis. :) Glad you're back.
Not all of us are worthless in our specialties though. :)
And we are not effete wimps: Lots of us like ultimate fighting contests :).
Perhaps that is the biggest stereotype playing out here of all, of what a Harvard Professor is supposed to be like?
In one sense, Mr. Gates played against academic type by f'n with Johnny Law.
Of course, one could wonder....
Why did the circulation manager and chief fund raiser of Harvard Magazine, Lucia Whalen, happen by, how did she not recognize someone who has appeared in her magazine so many times, check their website, why she didn't notice the driver service car, in front of the house, I presume, before she called Five O, that is where two black males come from in the call, but that means the car was there when she called, and who robs houses in driver service cars?
I would really like to hear her whole story.
You would be surprised about academia.
Don't think professors are spoiled; they are savages in their own nutty way.
Especially English Professors, no offense Britomart; see Lisey's Story for good insight though, but in the Social Sciences... Med School professors are way different, they are cool, Dr. Blevins, but in the Social Sciences and Humanities, you would be surprised at the people you run into.
So watch the stereotypes about professors, and certainly, don't talk back to The Man, Five O, Johnny Law, the Fuzz, or my personal favorite, Po-Po. but rated for the reality of civilian-"Pig" interactions, although Mishima knows, alas, the chance of this being on the cover is about as good as a snowball's chance in Texas right now, at least, right now. :)
THANK GOD......
The asking for ID was legit. Following the man into his house (before the ID was shown) was legit. Then, Crowley knew the score and made to leave, also very good.
Then, though, he turned at the doorway and arrested the man, and that was a genuine all-American overland fuckup. He had no more reason to do that than the man in the moon.
Then, he acted stupidly. He discovered it was stupid when his superiors dropped the bogus charge, when the media hung him out to flap in the wind. Something that brings that onto you, mister, is stupid.
Meanwhile, Gates jumped at conclusions. Oh, yes, he acted stupidly. That's why he's soft-pedaling the whole thing today. Plenty of stupid to go around. Beginning, in my view, with the damn nosey neighbor turning the man in.
What the left forgets is that when you have a burglary call out, you do not get a sergeant. The left jumped at conclusions just as much, because that little fact didn't mean a thing to them.
Indeed.