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Teachable Moment My Ass!!

By Larry Johnson on July 25, 2009 at 12:12 PM in Current Affairs

[Due to comment overload, this thread is now closed for comments. Please post additional comments at "Teachable Moments My Ass (Repost)"]

The audacity of ignorance and hubris on display by Barack Obama is jaw dropping. His lame attempt Friday afternoon to quell the controversy sparked by his Wednesday night bloviation at the White House press conference, where he declared that the Cambridge police “acted stupidly,” flopped. Pay close attention to what this clown of a politician said:

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Read again his words:

“I want to make clear that in my choice of words I think I unfortunately gave an impression that I was maligning the Cambridge Police Department or Sergeant Crowley specifically — and I could have calibrated those words differently,” Obama said. “And I told this to Sergeant Crowley.”

Gave an impression? Is he crazy?

You did not “give an impression” you fool. You did malign Sergeant Crowley. You just assumed that because he was a white cop he was in the wrong. Without getting any facts and without any caveat you said the Crowley acted stupidly. As Forest Gump said, “stupid is as stupid does” and you, Mr. Obama, have taken stupidity to a new level.

Barack Obama could have put the matter to rest by admitting that he had overreacted by assuming that the confrontation between Harvard professor Gates and Cambridge police officer Jim Crowley was race based. But as we now know the only person who injected race in that incident was the Professor Gates. Gates could have defused the entire incident if he had simply provided his ID to Sergeant Crowley and expressed appreciation for the police checking out the report that his home was being burglarized. But Gates did not do that. He accused Sergeant Crowley of being a racist and of targeting a black man. Crowely handled the incident professionally and appropriately and his account was backed up by a black police officer who witnessed the incident.

So what the hell is the teachable moment? Gates should keep his damn mouth shut and cooperate with the police? Obama should keep his lips zipped until he has a chance to get the full facts? What I have learned is that Barack Obama is a race baiter. Instead of trying to bridge differences between blacks and whites Obama declares without any proof that a white officer is guilty and a black professor innocent. Obama, you have nothing to teach us. Look in the damn mirror and go teach yourself.

In the future keep your yap muzzled until you actually know what in the hell is going on.

  • tyoholo

    You are wrong Larry. Since when is it against the law to question a police officier in your own home. What is wrong with asking a cop for his name, badge and even accuse him of racial profiling. That is not against the law. The police acted stupidly in arresting the homeowner. He did not break any laws. There are just some asshole cops who do not like to be questioned, but that is not against the law. Obama was 100% right the cops acted stupidly for making an arrest for no reason. The police should have just left.

    And no people don’t have to “shut-up” as you say.

    • mountainaires

      Domestic violence situations frequently involve people in their own home, and are some of the most dangerous situations for Police. The police officer doesn’t know who is who when he arrives. His JOB is to make sure that the situation is safe, secured, and that he knows who everyone is, and whether or not they are supposed to be there. That’s the police officers JOB. When you are unknown to the police who have a felony report of a burglary in progress at an address–which happens to be your home–why would you scream epithets at that officer, impugn his character, insult his mother, or threaten him?

      Anyone with half a brain knows to be polite and respectful to the police officers, whether you are in your own home or not. Professor Gates is a highly educated man; do you not think he should have been able to control his temper at that moment, no matter how annoyed he was?

      I ask again? WHY would someone scream, yell, threaten, harrass, and insult a police officer even if it is at your own home? That is simply STUPID; it’s an invitation to be arrested if you are out of control and ignore warnings about being out of control.

      And, Prof. Gates was out of control. Gates made an ass of himself; his friend “Obama” made an ass of himself.

      The only one who has behaved with any decency and dignity here is Sgt. Crowley, who has behaved well, despite being smeared by both the President and his crony-racist, Henry Louis Gates, Jr. Harvard Professor.

      You have the right to remain silent. Think about that next time, Prof. Gates and President Obama.

      • Anon

        Why was Gates upset? Because he was in his own home and the first he knew about it was a white cop challenging his right to be there. Given the history of white cops mistreating black men his reaction was not surprising and is one that the cop in question should have been prepared to cope with. Cop wasn’t prepared and escalated the situation. Dumb.

        Cambridge cop shop was even dumber. They stated cop was following protocol. If so, protocol needs to be changed. Cop getting yelled at in situation where further harm unlikely should not have the right to make an arrest. And under Mass law does not have that right. See The Commentator formerly known as NC Steve over at TPM.

        • NoBamaNoWay

          reality check for you, anon – if you think that cops are supposed to take whatever abuse people want to heap on them and just keep smiling, you are a fool indeed. what would happen very quickly is that no decent person would be willing to do the job, just like what has happened with the public school system.

          who in the heck is going to volunteer to be a punching bag for every low-life loser in town, and for very little pay, at that? it is time for people to develop some morality and take responsibility for their own behavior, instead of blaming everything on “the man.” Mr. Gates acted like a juvenile delinquent thug, and he got what he deserved.

        • goldengrahme

          The more this brouhaha progresses, the more I am inclined to think Gates, if not actually staging the event, took full advantage of it for dramatic effect. Being tired or old or affronted is no excuse for behaving like a street thug. “Yo Mama?” How does anyone in the precincts of Harvard Square square that rejoinder with civil, sophisticated behavior?

          Seems if Gates had allowed communication before rebelling, the situation could have been resolved with grace and understanding. He had
          an agenda, knowing his friends in high places had his back. And boy, was he correct in that
          assessment! I knew Obama was a closet racist from his list of associates. I also knew he
          isn’t above pulling rank and using any event to further his political aims. Obama, the great
          mediator.

          What a putz…two peas from same pod, IMO.
          I once admired Professor Gates; I never admired
          Barack H. Obama.

      • tyoholo

        There was no violence so I do not get your point. Read the police report. There was zero mention of violence.

        The arrest came after it was established that there was no crime. No break in. That this was the homeowner.

        It is not against the law to question a police officier. Why do you think the charges were dropped.

        How do you know the homeowner was “out of control” as you say? And how do you define “out of control”?

        Arresting an older gentleman who walks with a cane and is no threat to anyone in his own home, who thinks that he was mistreated is complete bullshit. And should not be tolerated in this country.

        I repeat it is not against the law to question police officiers. If you think you should be thrown in jail for that then we clearly do not live in the same country.

        It is an issue of tolerance and the thickness of the skin of the officier.

        “The line of when to put on handcuffs is a personal and blurry one, varying among officers.”

        “.. taking verbal abuse was a regular part of the job.”

        Read this:

        http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/25/us/25cop.html?hp

        • WMCB

          You’re missing the point. The claim that is being made by Gates is that all this happened because he is black. It is becoming very evident that his being black had not a damn thing to do with anything.

          Could the officer have walked away without arresting him? Yep. Officers often arrest people who are screaming and yelling and disorderly, and often they are WRONG.

          Gates contention and the contention of many is that none of this would have happened to a white man. That is has something to do with race, or profiling. That’s bullshit. I guarantee you that in my city, if the cops came and my white neighbor was following them out onto his porch and yelling at and abusing them, he would be in handcuffs so fast it would make your head spin. And that’s in this very nice neighborhood. In the poor whitetrash meth-head neighborhoods I’ve lived in, the man would not only be in cuffs, but likely slammed on the ground with a knee in his back.

          Whether or not cops should be able to DO that is a separate question. But saying t happened to Gates because “he’s a black man in America” is total horseshit.

          • OMG

            There is new evidence that Gates was drugged up on meth or cocaine and was agitated enough to make the cops leary. Even the black cop who was with Crowley was saying Gates was acting unusually incoherent and agitated. Some people think there was sex drugs and the down low where he was hiding a young trick inside. Gates the chicken hawk and those like him are forever getting robbed when they perform the downlow. So there is way more to this than meets the eye.

            • WMCB

              Feh, produce such “evidence” or quit with the insane rumours.

              • Scout

                I agree, put up with evidence or knock it off. He had just returned from a trip to China. I don’t know about you all, but I’m a little testy when I’m jet lagged.

                Personally, I think this has way more to do with class issues than anything else. And B0 weighing in was way out of line. He barely comments about Iran, but he’s all over this incident.

            • ahs

              What evidence? Where?

              Do you realize that if there isn’t such evidence, and you’re making this up, you could be sued for defamation?

              • trixta

                OMG, those are some pretty serious charges. Do you have links or evidence to back up those OT accusations?

                People have the right to side with whomever they want concerning the Crowely-Gates matter, but to make such defamatory statements without evidence is crossing the line.

          • tyoholo

            No you are missing the point. The racist element is a separate element. The issue is whether what Obama said about the cops being “stupid” was fair. As far as I am concern, there was no reason for arresting someone in their own home, even if they are questioning the cops or even accusing them of racial profiling. That is not against the law. That is the point. The cops have to follow the law. You can disagree with whether there was racial profiling or not, fine. I myself think the racial profiling was likely done by the person actually calling the cops at the beginning. But, it was stupid for the cops to arrest the homeowner. It was unwarranted. That is why the chages were dropped. I agree with Obama the cops acted stupidly for arresting the homeowner. There was no basis for the arrest.

            By the way the president did not even say in his original comments that there was any racisim or racial profiling in this case. If you read his remarks below he said that the “arrest” was stupid. He did not say that there was racial profiling that was stupid.

            And he also made it very clear when he mentioned racial profiling at the end of his response that “separate and apart from this incident…”.

            PRESIDENT OBAMA: Well, I — I should say at the outset that Skip Gates is a friend, so I may be a little biased here.

            I don’t know all the facts. What’s been reported, though, is that the guy forgot his keys, jimmied his way to get into the house; there was a report called into the police station that there might be a burglary taking place.

            So far, so good, right? I mean, if I was trying to jigger into — well, I guess this is my house now, so — (laughter) — it probably wouldn’t happen.

            (Chuckling.) But let’s say my old house in Chicago — (laughter) — here I’d get shot. (Laughter.) But so far, so good. They’re — they’re — they’re reporting. The police are doing what they should. There’s a call. They go investigate. What happens?

            My understanding is, at that point, Professor Gates is already in his house. The police officer comes in. I’m sure there’s some exchange of words. But my understanding is — is that Professor Gates then shows his ID to show that this is his house, and at that point he gets arrested for disorderly conduct, charges which are later dropped.

            Now, I’ve — I don’t know, not having been there and not seeing all the facts, what role race played in that. But I think it’s fair to say, number one, any of us would be pretty angry; number two, that the Cambridge police acted stupidly in arresting somebody when there was already proof that they were in their own home.
            And number three, what I think we know separate and apart from this incident is that there is a long history in this country of African-Americans and Latinos being stopped by law enforcing disproportion ately. That’s just a fact.

            As you know, Lynn, when I was in the state legislature in Illinois, we worked on a racial profiling bill because there was indisputable evidence that blacks and Hispanics were being stopped disproportionately. And that is a sign, an example of how, you know, race remains a factor in the society.

            That doesn’t lessen the incredible progress that has been made. I am standing here as testimony to the progress that’s been made. And yet the fact of the matter is, is that, you know, this still haunts us.

            And even when there are honest misunderstandings, the fact that blacks and Hispanics are picked up more frequently, and oftentime for no cause, casts suspicion even when there is good cause. And that’s why I think the more that we’re working with local law enforcement to improve policing techniques so that we’re eliminating potential bias, the safer everybody’s going to be.

            All right? Thank you, everybody.

            • hokma

              You have missed the entire issue here.

              There was no racism involved except what Gates introduced on his own, without provication, and he did so with malicious intent.

              Those were the facts and no witnesses have disputed that including the Black police officer who was on the scene and corroborated what Crowley said.

              Gates is a racist with a huge chip on his shoulder.

              The lesson from this is that once more we get confirmation that Obama came to office with no management experience or skills.

            • TeakWoodKite

              I mean, if I was trying to jigger into — well, I guess this is my house now, so — (laughter) — it probably wouldn’t happen.

              Two things. The White House IS NOT HIS HOUSE.

              Second,The Secret Services agents will take a bullet for POTUS, and he says he would be shot?

              Why because he pretends to be “black”?

              Can anyone tell me why the word “jiggered” was used by BO?

              • fif

                He’s trying to bamboozle us…Notice how he pulls out the dog whistles when needed?

                Larry wrote: What I have learned is that Barack Obama is a race baiter.

                This is not news Larry. We all saw it repeatedly last year. Again, he sat in that church for 20 YEARS. We’re supposed to believe that Wright’s p.o.v. was not absorbed by Obama?

            • FLDemFem

              Gates was NOT arrested in his own home. He was arrested outside after he had followed the officer out and continued to verbally abuse him. The officer was trying to call in on the car radio and make his report on the outcome of the 911 call, and Gates was yelling so loudly that the officer was unable to make his report over the radio. So Gates not only exacerbated the situation by going on a rant, filled with those lovely elitist phrases such as “Do you know who I am?” etc. but he interfered with the officer’s ability to make his report. If I, a 57 year old white person, had done the same thing I would have been arrested too. And since I don’t know, or care to know, the President, it is likely I would have been charged and had to pay the fine, or whatever. So Gates started the whole thing by initially refusing to show him ID and then by going on a racist rant against the officer. The black officer, who was there the whole time, backs his partner 100%. Do you think he would have stood by while his white partner used racism against an elderly man with a cane? I don’t. The only racists in this story are Gates and Obama.

            • Terry

              You’re trying to say that Obama didn’t play the race card here? He pushed the hot button of racial profiling. And you are forgetting that the police officer warned Gates several times to tone it down or he could be arrested for disorderly conduct. Gates did not stop. If you threaten a consequence for an action, and the action doesn’t stop, you need to follow through on the consequence. Every parent in America knows that rule, police officers know that rule, and Gates certainly knew that rule. Of course Obama never follows through on what he says he will so maybe he thought the police officer acted “stupidly” when actually he acted with integrity–he did what he said he would do if Gates didn’t calm down.

          • elizabethrc

            Correction: In Gate’s mind, being black has everything to do with everything! He immerses himself in the black experience everyday as he teaches his black courses! I think he is obsessed with the subject and looks for any excuse to kick ‘whitey’.
            The whole black community is trying to take this and run with it. All they seem to be doing is running amok and straining black-white relations to the breaking point.
            The man was belligerent, refused the officer’s orders, shouted coarse things about the officer’s mother (that’s really civilized, isn’t it?), and brought the whole thing upon himself. He needs to grow up or move out! He also needs anger management classes.
            I wonder if the Cambridge police will respond the next time his home is broken into, as it has been in the past. I would certainly not!
            He owes an apology to the officer.

            • BlueTopaz

              I hope Crowley brings his “Mama” to the White House kegger so Gates can show his ID to her like he originally wanted.

        • NoBamaNoWay

          “.. taking verbal abuse was a regular part of the job.”

          right, and that’s why a lot of places make that grounds for arrest. no one should have to be abused on a daily basis, while risking their life to protect and serve, and do it for 30K/year. you would think that an educated, upper crust type such as mr. gates would know a thing or two about common decency when dealing with other human beings.

          • Terry

            Beautifully said!

      • Diana L. C.

        What you said!!!

        All of my interactions with the police in my life have been positive, even when I got tickets (I used to be a little bit of a lead foot). The officers were never nasty, and because I admitted my deed and gave them no guff for doing their important jobs, we parted company without any problems.

        As in any profession, there are bad cops. Most, however, don’t get credit for the very difficult jobs they have with people trying to blame them when those very people are at fault.

        • tyoholo

          Assuming you are white, it is often a different experience for black people.

          • elizabethrc

            Gates displayed racism against the white officer because he immediately hurled the accusation against Crowley. Crowley put the cuffs on him AFTER Gates became belligerent, and he followed the officer out of his door before those cuffs went on. It was a chargeable offense and the only reason the charges were dropped is because people in high places piled the pressure on. Had that been most of us, we’d be in jail.
            We have all had different experiences in our lives. Look at the Jews. No one has suffered as they have, and yet they are not over the top with cries of anti-semitism, as blacks are with their race baiting. Jews have retained credibility. Blacks are losing theirs.
            As for Obama…the man is just a jerk in a job he is unfit for!

            • BlueTopaz

              Look at the Jews. No one has suffered as they have

              Actually, there is a group of people that has suffered more then the Jews. Women have been (and still are) abused, ignored, enslaved and raped since the beginning of “man” and it’s even worse for minority women. Because of the events of 2008, I have lost sympathy for the black man. The dems cheated on a qualified white woman for a unqualified black man, now cops are expected to handle abusive black elite racists with kid gloves. Is that progress?

              Your words are too kind for BO, jerk is actually a complement considering what a f^cking POS he is.

          • http://deleted BuzzisbackLatte

            Why is it a different experience? Because they choose to look at it differently or because their behavior and reaction to it tends to hand them an undesired result?

            We’re talking interaction, behavior and responsibility here. There is no more hiding behind worn out MalcolmX hate.

          • TeakWoodKite

            What does assuming someone is white have to do with,

            “it is often a different experience for black people”.

            Try getting breakfast in downtown Maneta someday. It frakin doesn’t matter what color you are.
            But at the same time, I clearly recall some instances growing up where a ride Thur New Castle was a dangerous thing for a white kid to do. SO what? Does that impair my ability to judge people “by the content of their character”. Hell No!

            An individual who breaks a law that conscience tells him is unjust, and who willingly accepts the penalty of imprisonment in order to arouse the conscience of the community over its injustice, is in reality expressing the highest respect for the law.

            Martin Luther King, Jr.

            Seem like Gates “willingly accepts”? No he calls the officer a racist and whines his stinky ass all the way to the booking room and on to CNN.

            And one my all time favorites;

            Nothing in all the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.
            Martin Luther King, Jr.

            For a Harvard professor to act SO belligerent is a poor reflection on Harvard.

          • tzada

            I have noticed both black and white or other skin colors who have a smile on their face and no chip on their shoulder never have a problem getting ahead in life.

          • http://firefox AnnieCollier

            Nope, just a difference in demeanor not color.

            Or are you suggesting that being black is excuse enough that a lack of civility or just plain manners is OK when it comes to interaction with legal authorities? No, that would be just plain stupid for anyone of any color.

            And when it comes to the “history” of AA’s and police…living in the past is not the way to move into the 21st century.

            • lorac

              “living in the past is not the way to move into the 21st century.”

              I’ve been thinking about this, as well. We should always be looking at each situation as it is, looking at the particular individuals involved, looking at actual behavior. That should never take a back seat to what someone else did at another time. If all that matters is that past, what’s the point of anything getting better? Only looking at the past and minimizing or ignoring progress = victim mentality (and $ for the Sharptons of the world).

              Gates should be asking himself, “What would MLK do?”

      • tyoholo

        http://www.samefacts.com/archives/crime_control_/2009/07/nightmare_on_ware_street.php

        The crime of disorderly conduct, beloved by cops who get into arguments with citizens, requires that the public be involved. Here’s the relevant law from the Massachusetts Appeals Court, with citations and quotations omitted:

        The statute authorizing prosecutions for disorderly conduct, G.L. c. 272, § 53, has been saved from constitutional infirmity by incorporating the definition of “disorderly” contained in § 250.2(1)(a) and (c) of the Model Penal Code. The resulting definition of “disorderly” includes only those individuals who, “with purpose to cause public inconvenience, annoyance or alarm, or recklessly creating a risk thereof … (a) engage in fighting or threatening, or in violent or tumultuous behavior; or … (c) create a hazardous or physically offensive condition by any act which serves no legitimate purpose of the actor.’ “Public” is defined as affecting or likely to affect persons in a place to which the public or a substantial group has access.

        The lesson most cops understand (apart from the importance of using the word “tumultuous,” which features prominently in Crowley’s report) is that a person cannot violate 272/53 by yelling in his own home.

        Read Crowley’s report and stop on page two when he admits seeing Gates’s Harvard photo ID. I don’t care what Gates had said to him up until then, Crowley was obligated to leave. He had identified Gates. Any further investigation of Gates’ right to be present in the house could have been done elsewhere. His decision to call HUPD seems disproportionate, but we could give him points for thoroughness if he had made that call from his car while keeping an eye on the house. Had a citizen refused to leave Gates’ home after being told to, the cops could have made an arrest for trespass.

        But for the sake of education, let’s watch while Crowley makes it worse. Read on. He’s staying put in Gates’ home, having been asked to leave, and Gates is demanding his identification. What does Crowley do? He suggests that if Gates wants his name and badge number, he’ll have to come outside to get it. What? Crowley may be forgiven for the initial approach and questioning, but surely he should understand that a citizen will be miffed at being questioned about his right to be in his own home. Perhaps Crowley could commit the following sentences to memory: “I’m sorry for disturbing you,” and “I’m glad you’re all right.”

        Spoiling for a fight, Crowley refuses to repeat his name and badge number. Most of us would hand over a business card or write the information on a scrap of paper. No, Crowley is upset and he’s mad at Gates. He’s been accused of racism. Nobody likes that, but if a cop can’t take an insult without retaliating, he’s in the wrong job. When a person is given a gun and a badge, we better make sure he’s got a firm grasp on his temper. If Crowley had called Gates a name, I’d be disappointed in him, but Crowley did something much worse. He set Gates up for a criminal charge to punish Gates for his own embarrassment.

        By telling Gates to come outside, Crowley establishes that he has lost all semblance of professionalism. It has now become personal and he wants to create a violation of 272/53. He gets Gates out onto the porch because a crowd has gathered providing onlookers who could experience alarm. Note his careful recitation (tumultuous behavior outside the residence in view of the public). And please do not overlook Crowley’s final act of provocation. He tells an angry citizen to calm down while producing handcuffs. The only plausible question for the chief to ask about that little detail is: “Are you stupid, or do you think I’m stupid?” Crowley produced those handcuffs to provoke Gates and then arrested him. The decision to arrest is telling. If Crowley believed the charge was valid, he could have issued a summons. An arrest under these circumstances shows his true intent: to humiliate Gates.

        • Frikken’s Lunch Box

          Tyoholo, you have obviously never been in law enforcement or been involved with someone who is in law enforcement. You can quote statutes until you are blue in the face, but until you can fully appreciate the job of a police office, 95% boredom-5% sheer terror, shut your trap.

          Let’s turn this around and say that inside the house was a beaten and bruised person who had managed to lock out the assailants? What if it was Prof. Gate’s wife or child and the person picking the lock was not Professor Gates? You have to remember the officer knew nothing about the homeowner, the person who called in the report or who should be in that house. He is going on very, very little information and making what could be life and death decisions. To be verbally abused by a homeowner while trying to protect the life and property of the homeowner is not a typical situation. Most homeowners are grateful the police showed up and are asking questions. Maybe the arrest for disorderly conduct wasn’t warranted, but the abuse the officer had to put up with to do his job wasn’t either.

        • TeakWoodKite

          “tumultuous behavior.”

          See the Sargents police report ding bat.

        • http://firefox AnnieCollier

          shows his true intent: to humiliate Gates.

          Sorry, he didn’t have to…Gates did that on his own. What a classy guy. Wondering now whether it’s appropriate to respect any Harvard professor if this is the standard of behavior they tolerate. Gates held himself to be an elite but really came through as trashy (which comes in all colors).

    • ahs

      Exactly right. OK, so what Gates did was dumb: he should have just controlled his anger and not escalated the situation. BUT, what the cop did was dumb too: he should have admitted the mix-up and not felt the need to arrest a homeowner no matter how verbally abusive the homeowner was being — because Gates did nothing worthy of an arrest.

      Stupidity on both sides. Sad story.

      • mountainaires

        Wrong. The officer didn’t act “stupidly” in the least. Having worked in ERs evaluating people who are “out of control” for years, I can tell you that anyone who is screaming, out of control, and unable to control themselves when they are warned by police to do so, are always subject to either arrest, or hospitalization.

        When a police officer is asking you questions on a felony burglary in progress at your home, why would you automatically assume that the officer suspects YOU? Your initial response says a lot about your ability to control yourself. Gates’ initial response to the officer’s simple question was “WHY? BECAUSE I’M A BLACK MAN IN AMERICA?!”

        Challenging an officer in such an abusive manner, particularly when you are insinuating clearly that the officer is a racist–shows a complete lack of judgment and control.

        Any officer subjected to what Sgt. Crowley was subjected to has to arrest the offender–not only for the officer’s safety, but for the individual’s safety as well, since that offender could be a danger to himself or others if he has such poor impulse control.

        You can’t walk away from a man who follows you out on the porch, continues to scream at you, malign you, threaten you, and is unable to calm himself down. That man could be so out of control he grabs a gun and starts shooting.

        • ahs

          That’s ridiculous.

          At the moment Sgt. Crowley learned that Prof. Gates was in fact the lawful resident, he had no continued legal rights to be on Gates’ property. And Gates can legally shoot his mouth of as much as he wants, on his own property.

          “Maybe he was going to grab a gun” is just silly. Really, you think Crowley was afraid that this 58-year-old career Harvard egghead (and he knew he was a Harvard prof by the time he arrested, him, remember) was going to start shooting up the place? That’s absurd.

          Gates never threatened anybody with physical violence. Period. Read the police report. There was no basis to assume that he was a threat to anybody. He was loud, and angry, but at no point did he threaten the officer with anything other than the pursuit of administrative punishment. That’s not arrestable — not when you’re standing on your own front porch.

          • ces

            Gates didn’t have to be a threat to be a disturbance.

            The officer was trying to conclude his investigation and Gates interfered with that.

            And he was trying to escalate the situation.

            THAT is why he got arrested.

            • tyoholo

              There was no investigation to conclude once it was proven he was the homeowner. Not sure what your definition of disturbance is on your own property. It must be very broad. The cop should have just left. How do you not know that it was not the cop that was “escalating” the situation? You do not know.

              • sandi78

                But, Gates didn’t provide ID which had his address on it. Had he done that, most of what followed might not have happened. But, Gates CHOSE to present his Harvard ID, which let the officer know that Gates was a VERY IMPORTANT PERSON, but which does not have his address on it. Gates does not own the house, it belongs to Harvard, so the officer had no way of knowing that it was his residence without ID which had his address on it.

                Officer Crowley was trying to establish whether or not Gates was the resident by radio, but couldn’t hear what was being said because of Gates yelling at him. Crowley was walking out of the house as he did that, to find a quieter spot so that he could hear. Therefore, the officer didn’t hang around inside the house after determining that Gates was the resident, because he didn’t determine that until he was outside.

                The police in my town do, on occasion, arrest people for no other reason than their behavior is irrational. Most often these people are high on drugs and are a danger to both themselves and others. Whether that is something that applies in this case is unknown.

                I would bet that part of the reason for Ozero’s backtracking is that the Cambridge police have this whole encounter on tape. That will incude all the racist remarks by Gates, all the insults, and also it will detail the cool, calm behavior of the officer. No wonder Ozero and his good buddy Gates don’t want that made public.

                • fsteele

                  Good points. Also, the report had said 2 black men were breaking into the house. Finding Gates, Crowley did NOT assume that Gates was one of the two men. For all Crowley knew, the two housebreakers might have been hiding in the house unknown to Gates.

                  Or, Gates, acting irrational, might have innocently broken into the wrong house, and the real owner might be waking up and coming out with a gun.

                  Investigating the situation and handcuffing the person who was acting irrational was for everyone’s safety, including Gates’.

                  Better embarrassment than physical danger. And even if the police somewhat misjudged the situation, still not all misjudgement is racial.

                  • trixta

                    If only Gates had taken his cue from Alvy Singer in the film ANNIE HALL, we would be laughing now instead of having a “teachable moment.” Remember the cop scene after Alvy crashes his car?

                    ALVY: “Officer, I know what you’re gonna say. I’m – I’m not a great driver, you know,I-I have some problems with-with-with-”

                    OFFICER:
                    “May I see your license, please?”

                    ALVY: “Sure.
                    (Searching, he finally fishes
                    his license out of his pocket)
                    Just don’t – don’t get angry, you know
                    what I mean? ‘Cause I-I have – I have my-my license here. You know, it’s a
                    rented car. And I’ve ….(He drops the license and it falls to the ground.)

                    OFFICER:
                    “Don’t give me your life story
                    (Looking at the piece of paper
                    on the ground.) Just pick up the license.”

                    ALVY: “Pick up the license. You have to ask
                    nicely ’cause I’ve had an extremely rough day. You know, my girl friend…”

                    OFFICER: “Just give me the license, please.”

                    ALVY: “Since you put it that way.(He laughs) It’s hard for me to refuse.(He leans over, picks up the
                    license, then proceeds to rip
                    it up. He lets the pieces go;
                    they float to the ground)
                    … have a, I have a terrific problem with authority, you know. I’m … it’s not your fault. Don’t take it personal.”

              • elizabethrc

                Nor do you.

              • tzada

                Trying to incite a riot is against the law.
                Gates knew exactly what he was doing, he just didn’t have any takers on his racial hatred rant. But he did what he set out to do, made a mess.

                Like Drudge said it’s a hot mess. Look on the Drudge Report and see what American’s and the whole world have to look at. I am ashamed of the current administration.

                How would Obama handle Putin? But then we know how he did don’t we? He ballsed that up too.

                My anger is more toward Obama than Gates. Gates he is what he teaches, a president one would expect more.

                • oowawa

                  How would Obama handle Putin?

                  Godzilla versus O’Bambi

                  However, I think he would be very competitive against Kim Jong-il if the event were one-on-one basketball.

                • Terry

                  Thank you, tzada, for making the point that because this was occurring outside, there was every potential to incite a riot which was why the officer warned Gates to tone it down. Gates kept shouting about how white officers were treating a black man. How easily that could have escalated.

            • elizabethrc

              I guess all those cops on those cop reality shows should be fired if they are breaking the law in arresting belligerent people on their own property! How ridiculous!
              Gates was spoiling for a fight from the outset and didn’t need to keep escalating the situation.
              People can lawfully be arrested for disturbing the peace (which Gates was doing), in their house or out of it (ever hear of domestic disturbances?). It happens every day…to white people and to black people.

          • http://deleted BuzzisbackLatte

            Strange little bubble world you live in there, Ahs.

            Buying the obot spin again today…

            Here: Try this. Go outside and pretend you are breaking into your own place. Make sure someone calls the cops on you. Behave in the same manner as Mr. Gates. Be sure to refuse to give ID , then proffer it, let the cop walk away and then start out your front door yelling racial slurs against the cop and see what happens.

            Please don’t post again until you’ve tried this little experiment.

            • ahs

              If by “obot spin” you mean “the law,” then I guess I am. I know it might be hard to believe, but ANY lawyer you ask will tell you that this was at the very best a questionable arrest, and at worst clearly illegal. What Gates did wasn’t disorderly conduct, as it’s defined in Massachusetts, because he was on his own property and made no physical threats.

              That is the law. There’s no spin there. And if a cop arrests somebody for doing something that wasn’t against the law, well, I think that’s stupid. Don’t you?

              • Ferd berfle

                You’re not a lawyer so you would be wise to shut your silly-little piehole.

              • http://deleted BuzzisbackLatte

                Well see below and treat this as a teachable moment.

            • tyoholo

              How do you know what manner Gates was acting in? Where you there? Where did you get this “racial slurs” stuff?

              And if a cop arrests me for questioning the police, then that officier is also wrong and I would be pissed… he would probably just make up some charge up, like they often do in these circumstances… complete BS.

              • http://deleted BuzzisbackLatte

                Read the police report.

                • tyoholo

                  Gates said the police report was full of lies. And it is irrelevant it is not against the law to question the police no matter what.

          • Portia Elizabeth

            ahs — how old are you? You must be very, very young to not understand that respectful interaction with a policeman is the best choice (with the most positive outcome), for anyone, no matter whom they happen to be. You write as if you were there and witnessed firsthand what happened. Do you understand that a fellow officer, who happens to be black, was there and did see what went down and supports Officer Crowley “100%”?

            Even The Boston Globe, Obama’s best friend in New England, has commentary criticizing Gates and Obama and supporting Crowley. The citizens of Cambridge are quoted saying their police department is one of the least racially biased anywhere. They also support the police action against Dr. Gates under the circumstances.

            Good grief! The home had been broken into recently. With that in mind, of course the police were going to be suspicious of anyone forcing in a door at the residence. Instead of being arrogant and contentious, Gates should’ve been grateful that officers responded to a possible break-in. If it had been a true crime and police hadn’t shown up in time to stop a robbery, how loudly do you think Gates would have screamed about police not doing their jobs?

            I also want to point out that, according to local news stories, the house in question does not belong to Gates, but is being rented by him. Perhaps he hasn’t lived there long enough to get to know or be recognized by his neighbors. Perhaps when the police checked, they found a different name registered as the true property owner and felt further questioning was called for.

            I think if you really want to know more about the story, you should verify your opinion by reading local accounts instead of jumping on internet rumors. Or believing a Prez who doesn’t have all the facts.

      • felizarte

        The spin: Both were wrong.
        What Gates did is incongruent with his so-called “Scholar and noted intellectual.” Gates was arrogant i.e. “You don’t know who you’re dealing with”, “none of your business” when asked if there was anyone else in the house with him?” and obviously with a chip on his shoulder. How can anyone supposed to be smart be so stupid?

        The same goes for Obama. Why couldn’t Obama just say he made a mistake? It’s not even a question of “calibrating his words.” It is plain wrong. He condemned the whole police dept of Cambridge while admitting he did not have all the facts. This man just couldn’t admit a mistake. If he intended to diffuse the controversy over his first statement by making the second, he miscalculated because it only served to keep the issue alive.

        • OMG

          Obama spoke and ‘acted stupidly’ concerning Crowley.

          ‘Acting stupidly’? Is that a real phrase? Is stupidly a word? Or is it one of many of obama’s made up words. Crowley didn’t act stupidly like obama said..obama acted stupid(ly)

          • politicalidentitycrisis

            Was anyone misunderestimating anything??? Sorry, just had a Bush flashback there! There have been a lot of Bush flashbacks! Are we sure that Bush and Obama weren’t separated at birth, or cloned from the same alien material???

          • BlueTopaz

            The POtuS used the adverb “stupidly” to cover his own @ss because if he had called Crowley &/or the PD stupid, that would be slander.

      • TeakWoodKite

        BUT?

        ROLF!

    • Ani

      That is not a correct assessment of the situation. The officer provided the identification that Gates asked for (and had every right to). The matter was settled and tHe officer left the house. He was departing. He did not arrest Gates until Gates followed him out of the house and continued to be belligerent.

      • ahs

        But being belligerent is not a crime. Being a jerk is not a crime. Hell, even though I think it’s a straw man in this particular case, being a “reverse racist” (whatever that means, exactly) is not a crime. In the United States, these things should not get you arrested.

        Especially not when you’re on your own property. On public property, or somebody else’s property, maybe. But not on your own front porch.

        If an officer arrests somebody for committing no crime at all, that’s stupid. End of inquiry.

        • Ferd berfle

          It was disorderly, ahs-hat. Gates was arrested properly. Had he shut his piehole and left well-enough alone, none of this would be in the news.

          You half-wits always blame everyone else for your own stupidity. Gates acted like a fool–his fault. And you come here posturing and pontificating just like an obamabot, which is entirely your fault. So don’t get all pissy when we call you on it and when Gates get called on his–just go the hell away.

          • ahs

            I’m going to guess that you aren’t a lawyer practicing in Massachusetts. So I’ll just point you to this, which is an accurate summary of the Mass. disorderly conduct law and the standards that Mass. courts apply to it:

            http://blogs.masslawyersweekly.com/news/2009/07/22/making-legal-sense-of-the-gates-arrest/

            Oops. Looks like it was a bad arrest after all. Funny how when you actually check, and make damn sure you know what you’re talking about, things tend to look different.

            • Ferd berfle

              And I’m going to guess you’re about 12 with zits, a basement to call home and shitty attitude to go with it, ahs-hat.

              Your link represents but an opinion, little turd. The courts will decide and not commenters on your little link or rusty clunker automatons like you.

              • Portia Elizabeth

                Ferd — you have such a way with words! Love the “ahs hat” nic.

                • BlueTopaz

                  LOL me, too.

                  Ahs-hat, go cry to “yo mama”. We aren’t interested in your racism here.

              • trixta

                Thank for the link, ahs. Ferd, you are right that the case was never argued in court, but I believe the case was dropped by the police dept. I thought the following excerpt from this (Mass lawyers’ blog) article was especially interesting:

                “Assuming the prosecution could establish that those factual allegations are true – which Gates vehemently says it could not – it does not appear the government would have any realistic chance of proving its case in a courtroom.

                In order to secure a disorderly conduct conviction, the prosecution would have to show three things:

                1. That Gates engaged in fighting, threatening, violent or tumultuous behavior or created a hazardous condition by an act that served no legitimate purpose;
                2. That Gates’ actions were reasonably likely to affect the public; and
                3. That the defendant either intended to cause public inconvenience, annoyance, alarm or recklessly created a risk of public inconvenience, annoyance or alarm.

                In 1976, the Supreme Judicial Court in Commonwealth v. Richards held that the law cannot be applied to a defendant’s language, even if it is offensive and abusive, unless it constitutes “’fighting words which by their very utterance tend to incite an immediate breach of the peace.’”

                • tzada

                  Accusations of racism have incited riots before.

                  • Terry

                    Exactly!

              • ahs

                Haha… how typical of you. You have no legal counterargument. And I’m imagining you couldn’t find one in a frantic search of the internet, which makes sense since there isn’t a good legal counter to make given the clarity of Massachusetts law here. So what do you do? You go ad hominem, because it’s all you know.

                Unfortunately, for ad hom attacks to work, you have to be dealing with somebody who cares what you say. And I don’t.

                FWIW, just finished my first year of law school. In Massachusetts. High grades, participated as a student attorney in a few pro bono cases in the community (including one disorderly defense), etc. So I know infinitely more than you about this — given that you obviously know nothing at all.

                • WMCB

                  Ooooo! That changes everything! Oh, well, since you had an entire year of law school, I shall defer to your obvious expertise.

                  I’ll also be having my next surgery done by a first-year medical student.

                  • ahs

                    Ha. Yeah, I know. But seriously, first-year law students come out knowing more law than most practicing attorneys. Practicing lawyers almost always specialize, so they know a ton about one tiny area. In your first year, you delve in moderate depth into all the broad areas. I can promise you that any law student knows more criminal law, for example, than any big-shot partner at a Wall Street firm.

                    At any rate, I wrote a motion on this exact stuff in the spring. And we won. I’ve been trying to argue without appealing to my own slight expertise (which is distasteful) but as you can see, I’ve give up on that.

                    • Docelder

                      Really, all you need to assert is a first year law student knows more criminal law than a cop. The cop seems confident in his procedure. He might know his procedure, and his police union may protect him. But, the cop is no lawyer. The lawyer for the State has dropped the charge before even the arraignment. What does the state attorney see that the cop didn’t?

                    • TeakWoodKite

                      The phone call from BO.

                    • ahs

                      @Docelder: bingo. And that’s where I feel justified in calling Sgt. Crowley’s conduct “stupid” — dept. procedures exist to guide officers who have no deep knowledge of the law (and can’t be expected to). But as a Sergeant, Crowley should have known better here.

                    • Docelder

                      Stupid is forgivable. Everybody makes mistakes. I think stupid may be generous, because when the cop brought up his mother in reference to the “Yo Mama” part of the encounter… it makes this arrest look more personal as opposed to stupid. The cop needs to zip it in my opinion… albeit a personal non legal opinion. ;)

                    • http://deleted BuzzisbackLatte

                      Here’s the deal. Since neither one of you were there, signed off on the police report, gave eye/ear witness account, heard the 911 tape, you cannot conclude that Crowley’s behavior was in error.

                      You can state that as your opinion as Docelder did and we understand the bias filter that is present making that opinion.

                      And you can try to present yourself as knowing the absolute truth as newbie Ahs is doing.

                      Ahs, your biggest mistake has been very simple…everything you’ve blathered on about has been your OPINION based on looking up a few MA laws and relying on what? 2-3 semesters of law school? That alone is laughable.

                      While you may deem you have some sort of an advantage – perhaps rightfully so – it doesn’t give your opinion any more weight than Gates’ skin tone gives him special treatment for his status and behavior.

                      When the filters and bias can be dropped, then perhaps the conversation here can become relevant. Until then this is nothing more than a internet discussion of a truly idiotic event and sustained by a truly stupid comment by the president.

                      Ahs, you don’t have the official facts so stop arguing in Gates defense and blaming Crowley.

                    • BlueTopaz

                      because when the cop brought up his mother in reference to the “Yo Mama” part of the encounter…

                      I noticed how you conveniently worded the “Yo Mama” part. You mean the part where Gates brought up Crowley’s “Mama”. Is that the part you’re trying to gloss over? Do mean that cops should neglect to report the details of an arrest?

                      And what if the black cop was 1st on the scene and Gates called him an “Uncle Tom” or a “Whitey Lover” Would you consider that racism? I would.

                    • BlueTopaz

                      And if Gates were white and the officer were black, do you think Gates should be arrested if he called the cop the “N” word in his tirade? I do.

                      To me, an unjustified “racist” taunt is just as bad as the “N” word or the “C” word.

                  • Ferd Berfle

                    I’ll also be having my next surgery done by a first-year medical student

                    LMAO. Touche

                • http://deleted BuzzisbackLatte

                  Who’s your advisor? We need to let them know you are practicing law without a degree, bar exam, and license. Also that you may have missed the part about jumping to conclusions by interpreting the law without consensus.

                  Ahs, seriously. You need to give it a rest.

                  If it is true that you’ve completed the first year, your little utopia will not look the same two years from now.

                  Until then, refrain from practicing the law.

                  • ahs

                    haha, you just can’t talk without revealing ignorance.

                    law students practice regularly while at school — they’re called student practice organizations and clinics. actually, they do a ton of good work.

                    if you’re referring to me opining on legal affairs on the internet, there’s no penalty for that. if there were, given the volume of uninformed talk about Gates’ case on this site, the NQ community would be a lot smaller today.

                    and if you think you can state the law more clearly than i can, be my guest. haven’t noticed it yet.

                    • http://deleted BuzzisbackLatte

                      But we’re not your student practice organization or in a controlled environment of a classroom or university setting. There is no one monitoring your conclusions, guiding your practice, or giving suggestion to your critical thinking skills. In other words, you’re not in a position to give your conclusion as the only truth.

                      I commend your enthusiasm, but question your judgement in this endeavor.

                      Keep it up. But, as a reality check, no one much cares what you blather on about here.

                      Try a website of fellow law students or, better yet, attorneys, to argue this and remember that little utopia of yours.

                      Question: How many websites can you find where licensed attorneys are sitting around doing what you are doing in this matter?

                    • ahs

                      ha! this wouldn’t be nearly as much fun on a legal blog, because they all know that i’m right already!! go poke around for yourself; you’ll find nobody arguing the contrary. if it were a close legal point, i’d argue with lawyers, but it’s not, so why bother?

                    • TeakWoodKite

                      they all know that i’m right already!!

                      .

                      Arrogance is not a defense, nor is your understanding of the law a viable tenent for arguement.

                      Wow, pray you never pass the bar. Hopefully, you’ll have a “teaching moment”, and grow up.

                      Wonder what Proffesor Tribe would say..”He’s brillant”? GAG

                    • ahs

                      hahahaha… jeez. Seriously, if you can find any lawyers out there arguing that Gates could have been convicted for disorderly conduct, let me know. I’ll… I dunno, donate $100 to the RNC or something. Or charity of your choice.

                      The law is perfectly clear here. Really, it is.

                    • http://deleted BuzzisbackLatte

                      You didn’t do the work then, apparently.

                    • TeakWoodKite

                      @AHS what like the 100 dollars BO got Rezko off for? 100 dollars to the Fisher House will do just fine.

                      Pony up sucker.

                    • tzada

                      Well splain this to us. How did BO get away with not disclosing on his Illinois Bar application his former name? Where it asks for any alias or other names he has had. Why did he not list Barry Soetoro? It was his name,why not list it?

                      Could you lie and get away with it?

                • elizabethrc

                  You are a first year law student? I shall be taking bets on when you flunk out.

            • WMCB

              From your link

              In order to secure a disorderly conduct conviction, the prosecution would have to show three things:

              That Gates engaged in fighting, threatening, violent or tumultuous behavior or created a hazardous condition by an act that served no legitimate purpose;

              Note that it says “OR” all throughout that sentence, not AND. Grammar has actual specific meaning in the law. So no threat of violence is needed, merely “tumultuous behavior” meets the standard.

              That Gates’ actions were reasonably likely to affect the public;

              He was out on his porch, and there was at least a small crowd of onlookers gathering. Iffy, but it could be argued.

              That the defendant either intended to cause public inconvenience, annoyance, alarm or recklessly created a risk of public inconvenience, annoyance or alarm.

              I would think that going out onto one’s porch and screaming “RACIST COPS” to the neighborhood at large could conceivably meet the standard of “intending to create a public annoyance”

              Maybe it’s a little bit of a stretch, maybe not. The charge was dropped. But it’s also a huge stretch to say that there was no justification WHATSOEVER for the arrest.

              • ahs

                Hey, a real response! Way to go.

                The problem with your analysis is that you’re missing how Mass. courts define the first prong of that test (fighting, threatening, violent, or tumultuous behavior). In Commonwealth v. Richards, the Mass. supreme court said mere words never meet that part of the test, unless they are “fighting words” that lead to a reasonable belief that a physical altercation is imminent.

                Honestly, I see nothing in the record that would make me think that prong is satisfied. The “you don’t know who you’re messing with” and “you haven’t heard the last of this” stuff is a threat, but it’s not a threat of violence — it’s a threat to try to get the guy fired. That’s not enough, according to Richards. And that’s the end of the story.

                On the last two prongs, I agree with you — questionable, but at least close enough for an arrest. The first one’s crystal clear though, and Sgt. Crowley should have known better (just as Gates should have known better and not been so agitated in the first place).

                • WMCB

                  I completely agree that they almost certainly didn’t have enough for a conviction.

                  But the working standard for “a generally legally defensible reason for arrest” is not, in practice, the same as “ironclad evidence for conviction on the charge”. No police dept. on the country operates on that basis, in reality. None. If you’ve worked with them as you say, you should know that.

                  One can debate all day long how much leeway police officers should have, and how far they can push a statute to decide they have “enough” for an arrest, even if they know conviction is iffy. But no police dept in this country doesn’t push it, and Crowley was not so far outside that norm that his actions were outrageous. If it were not a high-profile individual involved, no one would have thought twice about it.

                  • ahs

                    Yeah, one interesting thing here is that Crowley was, in fact, within the Cambridge police dept.’s guidelines.

                    What this says to me, though, is that those guidelines are sorely in need of revision. I’m pretty convinced that this case wouldn’t have survived more than a glance from a judge. Even taking all the stuff the cops alleged as true, the state can’t say what crime that Gates committed, because of the Richards problem. It’s one thing if there’s a dispute about what Gates actually said or to whom, but in this case even the cops version has Gates making no physical threats. So, very very likely that a judge would have summarily dismissed.

                    Like I said, Cambridge guidelines still OK an arrest in those circumstances. To me, that seems like a waste of departmental resources. Why allow your officers to arrest people that you almost certainly can’t convict, let alone get before a jury?

                    Anyway, I appreciate your thoughtful response. Kind of a rarity, it seems.

                    • ahs

                      blah, goofed the italics, obviously, on “Richards problem”

                    • WMCB

                      Some depts allow that leeway in arrests knowing full well they intend to drop the charges.

                      They pretty much figure that if a person is getting out of hand and drawing a crowd, then taking them in, booking them, then letting them go in a few hours gives them and anyone gathered time to calm down and not escalate further.

                      I’m not saying that’s necessarily right, but I don’t think the motives for it are nefarious in most cases. The practice may indeed keep some bad situations from getting worse. But many depts do it as a matter of course, on the officer’s judgement. It’s an attempt to defuse the situation, knowing full well that you’ll be turning them loose later. The PROBLEM with it is that you can get an asshole cop who abuses the privilege.

                    • BlueTopaz

                      So, should police never arrest elite, rich or connected offenders because they know that their lawyers will eventually get them off? Are you proposing different laws, treatment and punishment for the haves vs. the have-nots?

              • trixta

                WMBC, you make a reasonable argument. It would have been interesting to see this law challenged in court. But I must say, as a citizen and libertarian on this particular matter, I’m happy that the bar is high for disorderly conduct — even if only in the Commonwealth of Mass. Gates certainly was/is lucky to live where he lives, otherwise he would be facing a court battle.

                • WMCB

                  I said just above you upthread that I don’t think they had enough for a conviction on the charge, if it had gone to court.

                  The police are always going to push that line of “how much is enough for an arrest” under a disorderly statute, and we do need to push back to keep them honest. I have a libertarian streak myself. But I truthfully can’t see where Crowley was WAY over the line of what is generally done here. The escalation of the incident was entirely in Gates court, from what I can see. The arrest itself was….iffy, but not blatantly outrageous. And the race-baiting after the fact is disgusting, and not helpful at all to the cause of preventing REAL profiling and abuse.

                  Just my opinion.

            • elizabethrc

              If this was a bad arrest, why did the entire Cambridge police dept. stand 100% behind Crowley’s actions, and why did the black police officer who was there and WITNESSED everything also stand 100% behind him?
              I think I’ll trust the word of eyewitnesses before I’ll trust the lame excuses offered by many posters on this site.
              Charges were dismissed? Wonder why! Maybe because Obama is his friend, the governor is his friend, and they applied pressure.

        • felizarte

          People had gathered in front witnessing the commotion. Gates was creating a disturbance–it is cause for arrest. Gates was wrong; so was Obama. End of story.

          • ahs

            Bzzzt. Wrong. On own property + no physical threat = no cause for arrest. Sorry to burst your bubble, but that really is the law.

            • http://deleted BuzzisbackLatte

              Please try the experiment up-thread, Ahs. Then get back to us.

              • ahs

                Hush. If I did it, I’d run the risk of getting an officer who would make the same mistakes Sgt. Crowley unfortunately made. And if that happened, I’d be just as successful in getting my suit dismissed, because the arrest wouldn’t be legal.

                Learn some law, or google some, or ask somebody who knows, or else stop pretending you know what you’re talking about.

                • Ferd berfle

                  I’m surprised oxygen can make it into that tiny little crevice you call your skull. Such doltish commentary, even by obamatron standards, is truly mind-boggling. Do try to peddle your toxic spew some other place where it won’t be noticed–like your trailer park. I’m sure they’re accustomed to your rantings.

                  • ahs

                    Hi Ferd. You seem like a smart guy. It’s a shame that you post comments that seem to be written by a random-personal-insult generator. Do you have any thoughts in your head, or just vitriol? If it’s the latter, could you at least post insults that make some sense? That would be more fun for everyone. Applying “doltish” to somebody who is simply and accurately explaining the law is… an odd word choice.

                    • Ferd berfle

                      Why don’t you stuff your snide remarks up your rectal orifice right beside your left nostril, boy?

                      And I stand by my statement. You are a fucking dolt because you come to a website where your views are not welcome, making snotty remarks to those who are welcome here. Further, you aren’t a fucking attorney nor a very clever writer. What you are is an anal-retentive control-freak with a penchant for punishment and gluttony for same. You just can’t stand the thought of someone having an opinion that is not only different from yours but one that is probably closer to the truth. In short, you are a follower. It isn’t my fault that you follow one who is as shallow and callow as That One.

                      As for explaining the law-you can’t because you aren’t qualified.

                    • ahs

                      haha re: not qualified… then don’t take my word for it. Broaden your view beyond this little corner of the internet, and go find what some real, live, qualified lawyers are saying about this. Not that they’re any different from students who focus their lives on studying the law, but whatever. You won’t be very happy, but at least it will get you out of the house, so to speak.

                      I find it hysterical that I’m somehow not “welcome” on a site. Is this site exclusively for insulated, self-congratulatory assholes, who are terrified of contact with diverse opinions? Or are you the only one?

                    • BlueTopaz

                      could you at least post insults that make some sense?

                      They made sense to me. Maybe you’re just too “Stupid” to understand them. Or should I says your brain acts “stupidly” so as to prevent a slander charge

                    • BlueTopaz

                      Make that ‘acted” stupidly since that would suggest a temperary condition and not a slanderous characterization.

                  • Arabella Trefoil

                    ahs only has a neural tube, so we have to make allowanced.

                • elizabethrc

                  There was no suit. The charges were dropped, and it’s highly likely that pressure from Obama and Patrick were the reason. There is a big difference, but I guess you can’t see it.
                  Are you trying to pass yourself off as a lawyer?
                  And aren’t you blanket condemning most innocent police officers? Shame on you.

                  • ahs

                    Please. There’s a whole big thread right above this where WMCB and I go through the disorderly conduct laws in Massachusetts, and both conclude that Gates’ behavior was not DC. Take a look.

                    WMCB and I disagree, I think, only on the relative blame we lay on Sgt. Crowley for arresting Gates for a clear non-offense. I think people can disagree over that in good faith, but the big, obvious point is that Gates’ case was dropped because it lacked any legal merit.

                    • WMCB

                      Well, if the PD guidelines allow an arrest, and Crowley followed them, then there really shouldn’t be any relative blame to him

                      Argue that the guidelines are wrong, and not stringent enough – not that the officer just doing his job the same way he’d done it in 100 different cases overstepped.

                    • ahs

                      Maybe so. It’s a fair point. Personally, I’d expect a police sergeant (there are tests for that, and all) to know more about a basic law like DC — enough to avoid wasting everybody’s time like this.

                    • Ferd berfle

                      enough to avoid wasting everybody’s time like this.

                      I agree with you. You’re going to need a police officer one day and when that day comes, I hope they just ignore you so as not to waste taxpayer money or their valuable time which could be better spent helping real people and avoid wasting everyone’s time. Indeed, I hope that lackey Gates never needs an officer, too, as he has earned the cold shoulder.

                • jwrjr

                  If Sgt. Crowley was within the P.D. guidelines, then he didn’t make any mistakes. Attack the guidelines if you feel a need to, but lay off of Crowley.

                • http://deleted BuzzisbackLatte

                  Gates doesn’t own the property. He rents from Harvard.

                  • TeakWoodKite

                    “Pity the down troden landlord”.

            • WMCB

              Please read. There is nothing in that statute that says any physical threat must be present.

            • http://deleted BuzzisbackLatte

              But Wrong. Gates doesn’t OWN the property. He is a renter. Harvard OWNS the property and may have covenants against creating a scene or loud behavior being displayed in the neighborhood. Remember the Harvard University Police were requested as a backup.

              The fact that you continue to argue this tact, Ahs, also reveals that you are not a lawyer.

              • ahs

                It’s possible, but:

                1) if Harvard has such covenants, they’d only expose Gates to private liability (like a suit for money) against Harvard. No effect on what the police can do.

                2) Renting vs. owning has zero effect. As against the police, the rights of renters and owners are identical.

                • verminme

                  ahs
                  The law is what the judge says it is and that follows public oppinion which is against the president or he wouldn’t be back tracking. Congrats on your memo victory but that was a different case. Hope it isn’t the high point of your career. By the way, did you go to Harvard?

                • http://deleted BuzzisbackLatte

                  No so.

                  Do you know the inner workings of a University and what sanctions they could place by contract on their employee – the professor for public behavior?

                  Does Harvard have a policy that the university police will call the regents or university president when one of the professors spins out of control?

                  There’s much more at stake than your judgement of Crowley.

                  This is an onion. Each layer must be peeled back and looked at.

                  No snap judgments, please.

                  • ahs

                    I know that it is illegal to put a private covenant in a property lease that in some way allows a public police force to have extra powers on that property. Which is what you seem to be suggesting. If they can’t do it to an owner, they can’t do it to a renter, period. I don’t know what Harvard’s specific policies are, but I do know they couldn’t possibly have one like you’re (confusedly) describing.

                    Basically, a landlord can’t say “my tenant is yelling, come arrest him” if the tenant’s behavior isn’t independently arrestable. A landlord can evict a tenant for making a scene, and have them arrested for refusing eviction, but the LL can’t have them immediately arrested for making a scene. Period. Anything further?

                    • http://deleted BuzzisbackLatte

                      Wasn’t suggesting that at all. You drew the wrong conclusion and approached from the wrong angle.

                      I am talking about the Cambridge police and the University police syncing up together on the local city and state laws and any rules that Harvard University may have on towards their employees – ie the professor.

                      You would need an employment contract and conditions to see if any stipulations set forth in that were violated by Mr. Gates.

                      Suspicion: Harvard got the charges dropped and Gates will be dealt with internally by the university.

                      If the charges should ever be reinstated by the Cambridge Police, Mr. Gates would still need to answer on that level. He actually has two levels working against or for him – the local police and the university.

                      If he had regulated his behavior, he would not have any of this sitting in his backyard.

                      Food for thought: As a future attorney, if your client called you and said he was going to engage in refusing an officers request for ID, yelling at a police officer and yelling racially charged epithets at a police officer, would you advise him to go ahead?

                    • ahs

                      I’m sorry… I can’t make any sense out of any of that.

                      Any rules Harvard has toward about the conduct of either employees or tenants (or both) are not directly enforceable by the Cambridge police. Not by the Harvard police, either. That would require a civil order, following a civil lawsuit and based on a violation of the contract and/or lease, before it would be enforceable by cops. Since that didn’t happen here, it’s not germane to the discussion.

                      Beyond that, I truly have no idea what you mean.

                    • http://deleted BuzzisbackLatte

                      Then you shouldn’t be pursuing a law degree.

                    • ahs

                      ha! Making sense out of the confused legal speculations of non-lawyers isn’t on any attorney’s agenda. The job is to get facts, look up the law, and explain potential liability. You haven’t described any facts that would lead to liability, so that’s that. Seriously…

                      I am talking about the Cambridge police and the University police syncing up together on the local city and state laws and any rules that Harvard University may have on towards their employees – ie the professor.

                      …that is gibberish. Much sound and fury, signifying nothing. CPD and HPD can enforce public laws, but (absent a court order) not private covenants. What more is there to say? How could they “sync” anything to justify Gates’ arrest? Who cares about Gates’ employment contract, when we’re dealing with an arrest for disorderly conduct by CPD? ?????

                    • http://deleted BuzzisbackLatte

                      But you’re not an attorney, either. You seem to want to forget that fact, apparently.

                      And one of the reasons you won’t find attorneys sitting around discussing this is because they are under the auspices of professional standards. Something you know nothing about, apparently.

                      So, if you are striving to become professional, you need to practice being one.

                      Why in the past were attorneys called counselors? Figure that out and then learn to shut-up.

                    • ahs

                      You ever hang out with attorneys? You ever visit legal blogs? Lawyers love to sit around dissecting cases they aren’t working on. Gates’ case isn’t a hot topic because the answer is so obvious, but all the law blogs still hit it just to say “ugh.”

                      At any rate, good to see you’ve given up on finding a legal counterargument to the simple fact that Gates’ broke no laws. That wasn’t going so well for you.

                    • http://deleted BuzzisbackLatte

                      Yes. No, and So What?

                      I have never argued that Gates broke laws. I have stated that Gates’ behavior led to an arrest. BIG DIFFERENCE.

                      You, on the other hand, have implied al sorts of things about Crowley, his state of mind, his personal reactions, and his supposed bias, and his faulty grasp of local laws.

                      Therefore that invalidates your line of thinking to being nothing more than your opinion sprinkled with a small knowledge of the law.

                    • ahs

                      No, I haven’t “implied” anything. I’ve certainly not guessed as to Crowley’s state of mind, bias, or whatever else. Check my posts, and quote me if I have.

                      I’ve stated that Commonwealth v. Richards precludes disorderly conduct convictions where the accused was not physically violent and did not threaten any physical violence. I’ve stated that Gates thus broke no laws. You agree.

                      I think this makes it fair to say that a police sergeant made a big mistake in arresting Gates, because a police sergeant can fairly be expected to know better — to know the law itself, rather than just the police dept procedures. If you disagree, fine. It’s a hard question. But we’re out of legal territory on that one, so I won’t fight you that hard on it.

                      Oh, and clearly Gates’ own behavior contributed. If you look way up to my first post, I said that Gates was “dumb.” So there you go, we agree on the big stuff.

                      Sorry if I’ve misunderstood and/or overreacted to your points; I’m mostly watching baseball today, some people are arguing more/less politely with me than others, some people are making more/less sense, etc.

                    • http://deleted BuzzisbackLatte

                      Re-read your post from today at 12:53:51.

                      “…what the cop did was stupid (judging the cop’s reaction)…he should have admitted the mix-up (judging there was a mix-up)… and not felt the need to arrest (judging what the cop needed to feel and how he needed to react)…a homeowner (incorrect information)…no matter how abusive the home owner…(incorrect information) …was being” (inferring that it is proper and in all cases legal for someone to berate and verbally – in this case- abuse an officer of the law and in turn another human being)…

                      Good luck with that second year, LOL!

                    • ahs

                      ugh: like I said, no meaningful difference between homeowner and renter, so whatever. my bad.

                      “what the cop did was stupid”: my opinion, not a legal conclusion. Obvious to any reader. What followed was my reasoning why it was stupid.

                      “mix-up”: factual. there was, in fact, a mix-up — it was Gates’ home, and the 911 caller and the cops didn’t realize it. That’s a mix-up. Right?

                      “felt the need to arrest”: seems like a fair assumption — if he arrested Gates, can’t we assume he felt the arrest was necessary? why else do it?

                      “[no matter how abusive Gates] was being”: what?? As we learned in the discussion of the applicable law, that’s perfectly true — no matter how verbally abusive, there’s no crime, so (IMO, and this is getting back to my subjective “stupid” opinion) there should be no arrest.

                      So let’s sum up: you’ve got me for a legally meaningless factual error that I had no reason to know about (rented home); calling a mix-up a mix-up; and stating what is, in effect, the thesis of my argument (shouldn’t have made arrest). And in none of this did I make statements about Crowley’s state of mind, beyond that he felt like he had to arrest Gates, which seems self-evident.

                      Wow, I’m devastated. Devastated.

                    • Arabella Trefoil

                      ahs- Why are you so cranky? Did your Mom forget to buy Hot Pockets?

                      I’ve been reading your ridiculous nonsense all day. I can’t decide whether you’re an obot, or just a garden variety idiot.

                      Go out for a walk or something.

                    • http://deleted BuzzisbackLatte

                      Supersede.

                      Laws and ordinances and what supersedes…

                      Ask yourself why the Cambridge PD asked for backup from the University Police and why that was necessary.

                      Book learning is not necessarily all there is in real time, real life situations.

                      And yes, you need to be more careful about what you fling out there as knowledge and truth. Why do you think law firms don’t let you on your own for sometimes years or why you aren’t made a partner in say, six months? You have to win cases. You have to argue cases with no holes in your strategy and summation.

                      Harvard University is very much involved in how this turned out. Bet on it.

                    • ahs

                      I know how the Harvard bubble operates. I just don’t see what that has to do with the one and only argument that I’m making: Gates broke no laws, and given that, Crowley should not have arrested him. Both parties made avoidable mistakes that led to this controversy.

                      BTW, thanks for (implicitly) backing off your assertion that I was implying bias (or anything else) in Crowley. I do appreciate that.

                      And if you’re trying to say stuff beyond what I’m covering, please, for God’s sake, spell it out clearly. Hinting at the edges of things makes my end of the conversation pretty tough.

                    • Donna Brazile

                      I think Ahs is a student at Harvard. He makes the same illogical arguments and never seems to listen:-)

                      Thank god there are other Universities where students can get a real education.

                      Stop the Harvardlovefest!

                    • ahs

                      Point to the illogic. Please, share your wisdom. Clearly I need your instruction, and I’m so dumb that you’ll have to use small words. I’ll be waiting right here.

                    • http://deleted BuzzisbackLatte

                      Ahs, your words I pointed out are public record via the internet. I backed off of nothing.

                      My point goes beyond your assertion that Gates broke no laws.

                      My point is that your argument may be the simplistic answer, but necessarily the truth. Go have a beer on that on, Ahs.

                      And yes, Donna, ya gotta love college KIAs* LOL!!!

                      *know it alls

                    • ahs

                      So what’s the truth? Definitely getting toward time to go have a beer, but you’ve been hinting at this elusive, deeper “truth” for a while now… and damn me if I can figure it out. So just spit it out. I’d hate to have it haunt me for the rest of my life.

                      (Is it… God? Ooh, I hope it’s God).

                    • Donna Brazile

                      Ahs:

                      Don’t parse your words on my account. Give me a list of all the big bad words you know how to use.

                      I’ll anxiously wait your next post with bated breath:-)

                      Stop the postfest!

                    • http://deleted BuzzisbackLatte

                      ….not necessarily the truth.

                      I was talking on the phone and typing at the same time.

                      Ahs…

                      Law School 101

                      Never assume – or in your case – create an assumption about how the cop should have felt or reacted. You weren’t there.

                    • http://deleted BuzzisbackLatte

                      If you can’t figure it out…well that’s why you go to school for so long…you, as a first year student, don’t have all the answers…

                      Ah, it’s time for a martini…

                    • ahs

                      re: not necessarily, yeah, I put that together on my own.

                      re: your point… what’s your point? just that I shouldn’t assume anything?

                      Since my only assumption was that Crowley felt it necessary to arrest Gates, let’s just drop that assumption. It changes nothing. Leaving Crowley’s feelings out of it, he still shouldn’t have arrested him at all. Doing so was a mistake (IMO a stupid one), based on the law, about which I have assumed nothing. Crowley’s own account of the events doesn’t justify his actions, legally.

                      And once we’re outside the legal question, I don’t care enough to keep arguing. So I won’t.

                      Are we done yet?

                    • http://deleted BuzzisbackLatte

                      On the surface and within the framework of your limited knowledge, yes. Class dismissed.

                      But, ask around why the Cambridge police would call the Harvard Campus police to support their investigation and why given all that, the decision was made to arrest Gates.

                    • ahs

                      actually, I’m officially done. after this:

                      buzz, you really are a dope in what you’re saying about lawyers and law school. fact is, you take criminal law in your first year. and then never again. so most full-fledged lawyers have had zero criminal law experience after their first year (since most don’t practice crim law in the field).

                      me, i got an excellent grade in crim (tooting my own horn, yeah). and i’ve worked on a disorderly case, in Cambridge. it’s fair to say that right now i know more about this legal question than most career lawyers do. that’s why i’m so insistent that i’m right — because i really, truly am. i have been to court on this question, and won.

                      find some older lawyers and ask them about what they know now vs. what they knew as a student. you’ll be surprised how much they’ll freely admit to having forgotten. it’s not a know-it-all thing… it’s reality.

                    • ahs

                      waitwaitwait… (you keep sucking me back in with the dumb)

                      maybe I get it: you think the Harvard police told the Cambridge police to arrest Gates? You think that’s what happened? Really? What, based on something in his contract and/or lease? Really?

                      Do you think they asked for an original birth certificate?

                    • http://deleted BuzzisbackLatte

                      So now you insult to me is public record via the internet, counselor wannabe JD maybe someday, Esquire not yet….HAHAHA!

                      Nice going.

                      It’s all in the complete understanding of legal terms, vocabulary, and compliance to those meanings and how they apply in the law and the interpretation of the law.

                      But, then you have no need to understand the law or it’s legal ramifications, or apply it evenly, being the hotshot that you are…

                    • http://deleted BuzzisbackLatte

                      Try jurisdiction – ahs hole

                    • BlueTopaz

                      Are we done yet?

                      We sure hope you are!

                    • ahs

                      What. Are. You. Talking about??

                      Jurisdiction??? Harvard police are a private force, empowered to do security work on all Harvard property. That include Gates’ house. That’s their jurisdiction.

                      Cambridge police are the city fucking police, empowered to do police work in the entire fucking city. They don’t need to check with Harvard for anything. They do as a courtesy, but Harvard has zero control over them.

                      What in the hell do these overlapping jurisdictions have to do with Gates’ arrest? Rather, what do you think they have to do with it, because the answer is almost certainly nothing whatsoever.

                    • http://deleted BuzzisbackLatte

                      But why did they call the Harvard police force for backup?

                      You still haven’t answered that one. And you can’t answer that without a full report. Be Brave. Ask a cop for the answer! To blithely say Gates was let off because he broke no laws is the first year law school answer.

                      And did I say jurisdiction was a correct answer?

                      I said try it. And it certainly jogged your thinking off of how wonderful you are.

                      LOL!

                    • ahs

                      Dumbo: I don’t care why he was let off, and never have. Harvard-Cambridge relations certainly sped it up. I just care about whether he should have been arrested. Answer is “no” so I’m going to bed.

                    • Donna Brazile

                      Just can’t get enough ah-hole. You play the role of agitator well. You’ve been here ALL day from what I can tell and what have you accomplished. Let’s see— nothing.

                      Stay out of those Holiday Inn Expresses they really don’t make you smarter.

                      Oh, and get some real friends and a life.

                      Stop the agitatorfest! Is that word to big for you?

                    • http://deleted BuzzisbackLatte

                      Tee hee…

                • TeakWoodKite

                  No, they are NOT. Lawd have mercy on this arrogant wanna be.

                  • ahs

                    Oh? You’re talking about the rights of owners/renters against police in situations like this? What’s the difference? Only thing would be owners who show cause can allow police to go onto a renter’s property, but that doesn’t apply here.

                    If I’m wrong, I’d love to know.

                    • TeakWoodKite

                      I rented a room in college. The owner pulled a gun on me. I called the police. The police said “it is his home,sorry”.

                      He did not arrest the owner. He yanked MY chain instead. Did I give this officer crap and get arrested? NOPE I left. And believe when I tell you, the last thing I wanted to do is get shot by the owner of the house OR the police officer.
                      —
                      Gates does not own this house he rents it. I can’t wait for you to get spanked by the first judge you argue a case in front of, if you ever make it that far.

                      The owner of the property was Harvard. A call to determine who owned the house would have indicated that the Harvard Police had an interest as they are paid to protect said property

                      Up thread, you also show that you have no clue when it comes to interagency protocol. I suggest that you ride a cruiser for a week with what ever PD you like. You need a better education than the one you getting now in what ever sad sack U you attend. The first thing they teach you is respect. The lack there of, you and BO have in common.

                    • http://deleted BuzzisbackLatte

                      Dang, on the respect thing and Obama – I was thinking the same thing the whole time.

                      Arrogance is never a qualification one should highlight on a resume.

        • OMG

          Obstructing justice like Gates did is a crime. Anyone who is beligerent with a cop will get arrested no matter what age or race. Make a note of it.

          • ahs

            This wasn’t obstruction of justice. Not even close. That deals with impeding an investigation or judicial proceeding. Crowley could easily have walked back to his squad car to finish his report — so legally, Gates obstructed nothing. Trust me, that dog won’t hunt.

            This is disorderly conduct, and the rules for DC are stated in a link I posted above. Read them.

            • WMCB

              I did read them. And elaborated upthread. You are wrong. Learn what grammatical conjunctions, such as “and” and “or” actually MEAN, then get back to us.

        • Ani

          Being disorderly is a crime if the cops are worried you can escalate behavior — its called disorderly conduct and you can be arrested for it.

      • Patrick Henry

        EXACTLY…At which point He may Have been “BAITING” Sgt Crowley and yelling loud enough to be Heard by Nieghbors..which would have been in the area of Public Disorderly Conduct or even Disturbing The Peace..

        This Obviously Biased Activist Professor Discriminated against the police Officer..and should be held accountable..just like many african Americans Sue everyone they can even fast Food Restaurants for “DISCRIMINATION..”

        I think its Possible the professor saw an Opportunity to “CREAT A RACIST INCIDENT”..and did everything He could to Force the Sgt to Arrest Him..

        President Obama has show some of the worst and most Biased Judgement on Racial Matters of aany President I Have ever seen in my Lifetime..

        He is certainly in a Class far below John and bobby Kennedy and Martin luthar King..

        Shame on Both Obama and this Professor..

      • tyoholo

        So why does the picture show gates being led out of his house in handcuffs if he was already outside?

    • TeakWoodKite

      He did not break any laws.

      That would be a judgement of the court to say he, Gates, did or did not. Sgt Crowley is a law man charged with enforcement and did his job.

      If it were an AA officer are you saying Gates would have given him a high five and thanked him?

      • BlueTopaz

        He probably would have called him an Uncle Tom or a Whitey Lover.

    • lorac

      Follow your thoughts through. Imagine a society where it’s okay for everyone to disrespect authority just because they want to or can. That would be anything but a civilized society. I’d never want to live in a society like that.

      I thank goodness I was in 4-H as a kid and learned about good citizenship.

  • PuppyDogMom

    Amen.

    • http://deleted BuzzisbackLatte

      No one knows ‘dick” about the situation until the 911 tapes are released. To say that Larry is flat out wrong is revealing bias and lack of critical thinking skills.

      The issue is Obama exposing himself as a racist.

      • http://noquarterusa.net/ SusanUnPC

        Yes, Ani. Henry Louis Gates is also a racist. Solely because Sgt. Crowley is white, Gates painted him with a broad brush, ignorantly assuming that the officer’s white skin automatically makes him a racist. Gates failed to see the situation from the standpoint of a law enforcement officer who’d responded to the report of a break-in and was trying to help secure Gates’ home. Racism goes both ways.

        Incidents like these can create resentment among whites who tire of the race card being used to put them in a “can’t win” situation. Usually, it’s the likes of Al Sharpton who see racism everywhere, so it was especially shocking to hear Obama condemn the police as behaving “stupidly” when Obama didn’t have all the facts and clearly hadn’t read the police report, which logically explains Gates’ outrageous behavior.

        It is especially depressing in this situation, given Sgt. Crowley’s outstanding record of teaching police officers about racially sensitive situations.

        • http://deleted BuzzisbackLatte

          Is it fair to say that it appears Gates was race baiting in this instance?

          Yup.

        • trixta

          Susan, I was just wondering why with all of Crowley’s teaching background and experience, that the situation ended up the way it did — with an arrest and a PR fiasco? I’d be curious to see what Crowley’s/Police Dept’s teachings consisted of and where there might be a gap. In an interview Crowley said that he mulled over whether or not to arrest Gates, so obviously there was a turning point. Was arresting Gates a way to protect his person if he felt he was being threatened, or was it a way of getting back at Gates for calling him a racist?

          • http://deleted BuzzisbackLatte

            IT was probably more of a legal issue – ie – disorderly conduct – than a personal issue that landed Gates in handcuffs.

            • jdona

              I think Gates was arrested because the police officer felt it was necessary to end this situation. Crowds were gathering, Gates wouldn’t shut up, he was deliberately instigating a confrontation, and by arresting Gates, the confrontation could be avoided, and it brought what was an apparently never ending tirade to a close. I don’t blame the cop, I blame Gates. If he had simply shown his ID, thanked the cop for checking up on his home, shook his hand, said goodnight, it would have been over. Gates chose to go the other route and scream racism. The cop was in a no win situation, he did the logical thing, and ended it. Gates was simply trying to score some publicity, which he did, but I don’t think it was exactly what he had in mind.

            • trixta

              Peace, Buzz! We sure got into it yesterday, didn’t we. If disorderly conduct was the reason, I still think it would be informative to hear both sides debated in a court of law. That said, the Police Dept decided it was best (for whatever reasons) to drop the charges. I really believe both parties exercised poor judgment and let the worst of their egos prevail. I don’t believe either Crowley or Gates are racists just two dudes who made some very poor decisions.

              What I truly regret is the divisiveness and bad blood that this event has conjured up– and I blame it on Obama and his destructive presidential campaign and dirty politics. Good people were besmirched and defamed, and they are mad as hell and aren’t gonna take it anymore. I get that.

              • http://deleted BuzzisbackLatte

                Harvard University pressured the Cambridge Police Department to drop the charges. I believe the article is through Real Clear Politics on that one.

                A little university politics at play? Probably.

                Perhaps the university’s internal mechanisms will deal with Gates out of the public eye. I’ve seen it happen to more than one professor that decided to make national news.

                Anyway, on some level Gates will not be able to walk away from this one without some from of discipline. Restriction on what classes he will teach or something along that line.

                It will largely depend on how many big buck donors close their checkbooks to the university or how many drop their donations to the African-American Studies Department.

          • ritamary

            Maybe the turning point was when Gates said something about Crowley’s mama. What a classy guy Gates revealed himself to be!

        • Portia Elizabeth

          Susan — absolutely! Dr. Gates is well known on campus as a pompous ass who likes to flaunt his position all the while crying victim to white society. My husband is a Harvard grad who’s familiar with Gates by reputation. He said it’s bound to come out if this story doesn’t die down.

          • trixta

            Portia Eliz, I don’t know how Gates is viewed at Harvard per se, but I’ve never heard that he has a professional reputation for being a “pompous ass.” At the risk of being slammed again on a NQ thread for proffering my first-hand opinion of Gates, I’ve never seen him come off this way in a professional situation or in his scholarship. Personally, he may very well be what you say his his, but on a professional level, I would say he is a highly respected scholar the world over. Unfortunately, this whole fiasco may change that perception.

        • tyoholo

          You do not know what happen. You don’t know what Crowley said or how he conducted himself.

          If Crowley had all this training then why did he end of arresting an old guy with a cane? Why did he not know how to diffuse the situation? Sounds like Crowley was doing more than what you think.

          It is irrelevant whether Gates was using the race card. The issue is that it is not against the law to use the race card whether it is true or not. There was no reason to arrest Gates in his own home. You would think Crowley, and expert in race relations, would know how to diffuse the situation. That is his job.

          • lorac

            “You would think Crowley, and expert in race relations, would know how to diffuse the situation. That is his job.”

            Well, I think that’s not the only way to look at this. Since Crowley is an expert in race relations and diffusing such situations, if he wasn’t able to in this case, it speaks to the determination of Gates to make this a racial issue. Your way of framing this automatically makes Crowley the bad guy – maybe it’s really the opposite.

      • BlueTopaz

        until the 911 tapes are released

        Unfortunately, the POtuS will not allow that. He’ll just spend another $800.000 for lawyers to seal those records. Past actions speak loud!!!!

    • trixta

      Larry, I totally agree that Obama should have stayed out of it! I think he should apologize to law enforcement for his hasty comments on the Crowly-Gates matter. Also, it is because of Obama and his race-baiting (and misogynist) campaign last year that this country is experiencing a meltdown in race relations.

      I’ve argued, however, that this whole issue for me is more about individual rights, property rights, and First Amendment rights. Both parties exercised poor judgment and let their egos get the best of them. Did Gates go to far by accusing the Officer of racism — absolutely! The Officer was doing his job. Did the officer go to far in ultimately arresting Gates? — I would have to say yes, since I don’t think it is a crime to make an ass of oneself in one’s own home. But if Gates had verbally threatened Crowley it would be an entirely different matter! What all this goes to show is that the laws governing what constitutes “disorderly conduct” are slippery indeed. Do First Amendmend rights prevail over someone bad-mouthing a cop (short of threatening him/her), I would argue yes, IMHO. This is probably why the charges against Gates were dropped. Many may not like this outcome — and we all have a right to our opinions — but I’m glad that the Constitution prevailed in this case. Unfortunately, the reputations of these two men who should have known better and who are otherwise regarded highly by their peers are tarnished forever.

      (BTW, I find reference to this whole matter as a “teachable moment” condescending — especially coming from BO!)

      • justme_kc

        of course it’s a teaching situation. the lesson – if you are black, don’t automatically assume that every white person is “out to get you” because of your skin color.

      • TeakWoodKite

        his hasty comments

        I watched BO say this and in humble opinion, he was very careful and thought exactly what he was going to say. What he said WAS intentional.

        You don’t spend a whole press conference on healthcare and on the last question pivot to calling the Cambride Police “stupid”, unless they are more “JUST WORDS” or unless you are clueless or have never been in the big leagues before.

  • Terry from NH

    I could not believe it when 0bama said the police acted “stupidly” at his press conference the other day. It was the most un-presidential performance I’ve ever seen! How can you in one breath say “I don’t know all the facts” to “the Cambridge police acted stupidly?”

    And this is the smart guy?

    Bush was the “stupid” one remember!

    • TeakWoodKite

      Makes a New York minute seem like an eternity, doesn’t it.

  • Bobo

    Yes, the President put his foot in his mouth and has only pulled it partially out. Whether he takes it all the way out time will tell.

    The teachable moment here is not what the President thinks. It is that too many people of color or religion toss the bigot card too freely when the rest of us are long past those concerns.

  • Helen

    What do you mean you have just learned Obama is a race baiter? His whole candidacy was based on race. He is an opportunist, if not a narcissist, who has happily allowed himself to be the front man for a group with a radical social and political agenda. Obama is so self-absorbed he has no insight into the long term damage he is doing to race relations.

    On the other hand, I guess we should be grateful to him and to Professor Gates for pulling back the cover on the mystique of Harvard educated leaders and professors as learned men who are somehow more fully emotionally and intellectually developed. This incident revealed an attitude that permeates the black community and is enabled by the Sharptons and Jacksons. It’s time we as a society confronted that in the workplace and academia. I am grateful to the police Sgt. who has unwittingly brought this to light.

    So now the boys are going to have a beer to make this right? That speaks volumes about this President’s lack of class and understanding. If I was the Sgt. I would beg off or take some friends with me, otherwise he is going to have an evening of a condescending lecture.

    • http://deleted BuzzisbackLatte

      In the long run, the exposure of the prejudices working within Obama and his friends like Gates and Wright will be beneficial.

      This will be one of the many things that will cause white guilt to end for good and cause those who still blame whites an opportunity to become responsible.

      Obama’s so-called apology was so lame and insincere it very much exposed just how much growing he needs to do in this area. Mr. Post-racial just sent things hurling back about fifty years in time.

      Sometimes it appears that the ‘blame whitey’ meme is almost like an addiction.

      America is going to serve up some tough love for Obama on this one.

      • Cindy

        Buzz—You’ve made an excellent statement. I’m in total agreement.

      • http://noquarter foxyladi14

        he is in real need of it.

  • Objective Analysis

    Larry, I am an african-american woman. You are dead right on this. Let’s take some principles shall we.

    When you become PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES (or any leader of any organization, country, etc…), you act in that leadership capacity ALWAYS. You have to be mindful that when you don’t have the facts, it is best that you provide a NO COMMENT on the situation regardless of what you think you know is right. I know we learned that in law school. Obama is a lawyer, isn’t he after graduating from Harvard.

    Even Jesus states “But above all things, my brethren, swear not, neither by heaven, neither by the earth, neither by any other oath: but let your yea be yea; and your nay, nay; lest ye fall into condemnation” (KJV James 5:12). (or in NLT James 5:12 “But most of all, my brothers and sisters, never take an oath, by heaven or earth or anything else. Just say a simple yes or no, so that you will not sin and be condemned.”

    Now, it looks like Gates, Obama, Deval Patrick and the Cambridge Mayor all need to heed to Jesus teachings. Say “Yes or No” because anything else leads to sin and condemnation.

  • HARP

    It is now official……..Barack Obama is a flaming racist.

    • mountainaires

      Barack is a narcissist. He just thought he had the right to issue a summary judgment about something he knew nothing about. Because to Barack, everything is about HIM. He can’t resist; It’s his compulsion, his ego drive to insert himself into every situation.

      It was a “teachable” moment alright, it taught Americans that Obama takes sides on spurious charges of racism, instead of having the “good judgment” to stay out of it until the facts are known.

      Remember his “good judgment” campaign tactic right? He’s got such “good judgment,” because he opposed the Iraq War [of course he supported every dime spent on it]. Well, his “good judgment” has turned out to be a complete lie, since asserting such an inflammatory thing as “the police acted stupidly,” shows a complete LACK of judgment.

    • http://noquarter foxyladi14

      lol.official

  • kato

    The teachable moments here are:

    1. Our POTUS jumps to conclusions.

    2. Our POTUS’s words can’t be trusted. If he finds out something he has said is wrong, or unpopular, he just changes the meaning of what he said or tells us we didn’t hear him correctly.

    The teachable moment is that our POTUS can’t be trusted to speak honestly and factually.

  • IMHO

    Larry,

    you are CORRECT! I agree with your assessment 100%!!

    • http://noquarter foxyladi14

      DITTO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  • SJ

    Gates it is said held fund raiser for both Obama and Patrick so Obee was just using his Presidential muscle to help out his buddy, that is why Gates kept reminding the cop that he did not know who he was messing with.

    Unfortunately I don’t think Obama thought this was going to backfire on him, when they did notice it was not going down smoothly Obee had to do some major damage control.

    As for the beer that will never happen, that was just silly talk to feed the press and give the impression that hey we are all tight its nothing but the horse has already left the barn and we all know exactly what it was, and exactly how Obama feels

    • Arabella Trefoil

      I’m just waiting to find out which obscure microbrewery is going to get a special order to Fed-Ex the beer to the White House.

  • oowawa

    I could have calibrated those words differently

    The figurative use of “calibrate” is “to adjust precisely for a particular function.”

    O’s remarks did not need fine-tuning. He needed a sledge-hammer to smash that segment of his press conference completely out of existence:

    “I have not reviewed the details of that incident, and I’ll have no comment. Next question.”

    • Ferd berfle

      Oowawa:

      As far as I’m concerned, his use of the verb “calibrate” was out of place and stilted. It is also equivocation. The verb he should have used was “chosen” as in he should have “chosen” his words. The adverb to go along with it would be wisely. That One should have chosen his words more wisely.

      The only things that need calibration are the automatons that fawn over his every word.

      • oowawa

        Agreed, Ferd. As a scientist, I’m sure you have correct uses for the word “calibrate.” Good to hear from you.

        • jwrjr

          By using the word “calibrate”, Ozero was trying to say “that didn’t come out exactly the way I meant it to”. Or, to use a term the readers will recognize, “WORM”. There was nothing wrong with his statement that a bit of duct tape used beforehand wouldn’t have prevented.

          • Ferd berfle

            Using the verb calibrate was entirely inappropriate unless he is a machine. We have different words for different actions for a reason–clarity of communication. His was an equivocation and a very poor one, at that.

            His bots, on the other hand, being the rust clunkers they are, could use a good calibration.

            • http://deleted BuzzisbackLatte

              Dictionary.com

              Any usage of the word calibrate involves the given that there is a measurement or some type of equipment used or acted upon.

              Unless we agree that an instrument that could be calibrated is Obama’s brain, he misused the word.

              Since I have no evidence that Obama’s brain could ever be calibrated or changed, I vote that he, indeed, misused the word.

              • tzada

                lmao

            • jwrjr

              How could Obama have misused any word? He is The Smartest President Ever ™. (/sarcasm)
              Seriously, I am not actually disagreeing with you. Obama is simply using the old principle of “If you can’t dazzle ‘em with brilliance, baffle ‘em with bullsh*t”.

              • Ferd berfle

                You’re spot on and I did see your nuanced sarcasm vis a vis That One.

                Like every politician, he finds new and “improved” ways to abuse our common language to avoid answering questions directly. What needs to be calibrated and used on That One is a lie detector. Hell, it could be set on the upper range of sensitivity and it would still plot off the charts.

                • FLDemFem

                  Not necessarily. Narcissists are basically sociopaths, and they tend to pass lie detector tests since they don’t think they are ever wrong. If they say it, it’s the truth. Or so they believe. So he would pass a lie detector test, because he really believes he is never wrong. Of course, he is wrong in thinking he is never wrong, but he will never believe it, or admit it.

        • Ferd berfle

          Afternoon, oowawa.

          I decided to come back to see what was going on. I have grown so weary of the incessant white noise coming from the extremists among us that I just decided to take a break.

          As for That One–he either needs a new speech writer or a new vocabulary or both. What he has now ain’t making it.

          • oowawa

            I have grown so weary of the incessant white noise coming from the extremists among us

            I know what you mean, Ferd. I’ve found that an extra layer of tin foil in the beanie filters out much of that. Or, if the amount of nutty static on NQ reaches an unbearable level, I’ve found I can reduce it by commenting less frequently.

            Anyway, NQ just isn’t the same without your energy added to the mix.

            • Ferd berfle

              Thank you for the kind words, oowawa and I feel the same about you and your commentary.

              I do miss the regulars, too, even those with whom I disagree. I will try to take shorter breaks between commenting.

      • inconsiderable wretch

        Ferd berfle,

        I thought there was something odd about BHO’s use of “calibrate” but I didn’t figure it out. You nailed it perfectly with “out of place,” “stilted,” and “equivocation.”

        • tzada

          Maybe it is some sort of “buzz”word to set his zombie on the prowl? Sorta joking and sorta not. Things are getting down right bizarre. But it was strangely worded.

    • TeakWoodKite

      Calibrate also implies that ones spoken word was in the ballpark but did not reach home plate.

      Nailed it Ferd. What I am very much puzzled about is why he took the question in the first place.

      Calling any police department “acting stupidly” betrays a very serious lack of political “self awareness”. Calling any greater Boston area police department stupid is political suicide. To what depths of political tone deafness can BO sink?

      His shit is mental. In a split second most average politicians can run this one in their heads for the spin value and” and pivot back to healthcare with just say what oowawa said.

      The really sad thing for me in all of this is how the office of POTUS was sullied by BO’s actions.
      It is NOT his house.

  • pm317

    Larry, I agree with this post and am now angry for watching his drivel and lecturing. And even more so with the laughing Hyenas in the background. Disgusting!

    This fucking idiot of a professor, now says this with all the arrogance:
    Gates, who returned to his summer home on Martha’s Vineyard, said “it’s time to move on to another story. Barack said it all.”

    Barack said it all.. Oh, he has a first name based friend in the WH who can go on and on about the teachable moments on race in America. How nice! I am sick of this.

    I used to think the cop could have walked away in spite of the race baiting from the Harvard idiot. But he was there in his uniform and if the authority to his office is compromised he had every right to act on it. So it is not a white man/cop but a cop in uniform representing his office and his mandate of protecting citizens that was at the door to this clown’s house. And a Harvard professor could not tell that from the other thing, what kind of an intellectual is he? Maybe it is the folly of the affirmative action, not giving the opportunity to those who deserve even within the minority community.

    • Ani

      There was a marvelous panel on Bret Baier last night that included Juan Williams and Krauthammer. Even Williams said clearly that Obama should have apologized and moved on and that he has lost control of the message.

      William, like the rest of the panel agreed that was not so much a matter of race as it was of class.

      This Harvard professor is an “important guy” with a very important friend and didn’t think the regular rules applied to him. He is of a “higher class” than the officer, so he thought he could boss him around. Williams also pointed out that Obama still had the facts wrong when he said Crowley took Gates out of his house. That is not true. The officer was leaving and Gates followed him outside continuing to be belligerent.

      • Betty

        And Gates knew that a break-in was reported at his house because he yelled to Officer Crowley - are you going to believe a white woman over a black man. No one seems to be taking offence from that – but I resent it. It freshens the wounds inflicted by the lying cheating democrat leadership and the obamabots who felt justified in trashing two outstanding white women because they thought it was so important to get a black man elected.

    • oowawa

      And even more so with the laughing Hyenas in the background.

      I also found that disgusting, pm317. If he needs laughter on cue, he can borrow the laugh-track from an old sit-com, like Bewitched. Sycophants among the press who force themselves to yuk it up make their profession seem like a joke. Besides, a laugh-track would mesh well with the teleprompters.

      • trixta

        Very funny, oowawa! Laugh-track to go with His telepromter indeed!

        • Portia Elizabeth

          I can see it now -
          BO is yammering along mindlessly and then reads aloud, ” So we’re all gonna sit down and have a beer. Pause for laughter.”

    • sandi78

      And where is “Barack” going on vacation? Why, the very same Martha’s Vineyard.

    • Cindy

      pm317….I hope Prof. Gates remembers to take his keys with him to his Martha’s Vineyard summer home, because I can’t stomach another “teachable moment”.

  • Babs

    Larry, is there any chance that Patrick and gang will try to stop the release of the tapes? The one police union rep said that Officer Crowley left the mic on after he had called into his command and that Gates can clearly be heard yelling in the background. Are the tapes considered “public record”, and is there no chance they can just disappear?

  • pm317

    One more thing,

    are his teleprompters now at ground level?

  • SJ

    Gates and Obama will be having a beer soon when Obama goes on vacation at Martha’s Vineyard, seems Gates also has a summer home there how cozy is that??

    Thank god this COP held his ground and had support because if he did’nt this poor man may have been out of a job this morning, this entire thing is disgusting.

    • Portia Elizabeth

      The Chilmark location where BO will be staying rents for ~$50,000 per week. But then don’t we all spend that kind of money on a vacation?
      (Those who can still take vacations.)

      • http://noquarter foxyladi14

        whats a vacation???????????

  • politicsisdirty

    I agree Larry. Pres Obama is a race baiter.

    He used it handily during the Primary, during the Pres Election and now tried using it again to rally the blacks to his side for this all important agenda called Obamacare.

    And the media fully supported him all the way.

    Did you notice that CNN even had the special feature “Black in America part 2″ and even have Prof Gates as one of the special guests?

    I will not be surprised if he and his media cohorts uses this again whenever he is in trouble or runs for the second term. Remember, there will be “Blacks in America part 3″

  • http://www.hillaryorbust.com Hillary or Bust

    I’ve been reading up a lot on narcissistic personality disorder lately and I really do think Obama has full-blown NPD. An NPD is incapable of apologizing. Look at what Obama said here:

    “I could have calibrated those words differently”

    CALIBRATED? I’m sorry, but that’s the mind of a sociopath talking. Chilling, when you really think about it.

    • Ferd berfle

      CALIBRATED? I’m sorry, but that’s the mind of a sociopath talking.

      Not only that but it is incorrect use of the language. Words are not instruments and cannot be “calibrated”. This is more of his use of stilted, gobbledegook language, which doesn’t make him sound smart but sophomoric. Fine orator, my rosy-red backside.

      • http://deleted BuzzisbackLatte

        The fluttering eyelids and Obama’s inability to give eye contact during the “apology” was a huge giveaway that not only was he being insincere in his apology, he didn’t own his own behavior.

        Mr. Obama has some real thought problems.

      • trixta

        Ferd, just wondering if meaning can be calibrated instead of words? (Just curious as to how to use the term correctly.)

        • Ferd berfle

          The short answer is no.

          I would still use the word “choose”. “Choose words wisely”, which is correct in this instance because one has many words from which they can select for communication. One does not “calibrate” the words–they choose (or select) them for propriety to the context in which they will be used. Calibration, on the other hand, is a set of conditions to which an instrument is subjected.

      • inconsiderable wretch

        Ferd Berfle,
        Yes, right on again: stilted, gobbledegook language!

        • trixta

          Thanks for the clarification, Ferd. Yeah, Obama never “chooses” anything because that means he would have to hold a position — which means that he would not be able to weasel his way out of his given choice. I’ve always said he’s as slippery as they come.

          • Ferd Berfle

            You’re welcome and also right on the money. His two-faced demeanor and multiple personalities make for a smorgasbord of potential positions from which he can “calibrate” whatever message the personality/face combination du jour spews forth. Damn it, where’s my lucky-number program?

  • politicsisdirty

    Oh, and btw, Sargent Crowley should move on and not attend the White House meeting. He will just be used as a political prop.

    Obama: See, I told you I transcend race and I am a great mediator between black and white.

    • Diana L. C.

      I agree–two good buddies and one outsider does not make an equal situation for the “lowly white police officer.” He needs to avoid those two so as not to legitimize their minimizing of him.

    • sandi78

      I also agree. Crowley should not go to any White House meeting. He’s just being set up.

    • http://noquarter foxyladi14

      and i have calibrated the situation.lol.

  • Ferd berfle

    In the future keep your yap muzzled until you actually know what in the hell is going on.

    That is certainly sound advice. It seems when his mouth is in gear, his brain is disengaged. So much for a great orator. I’m surprised he is even able to speak with all those hooves he’s swallowed over the course of the last couple of years. Want some catsup to go with them, Obumble?

  • mountainaires

    “I could have calibrated those words differently”

    Translation: Being President means never having to say you’re sorry.

    The man’s a snake, never doubt it. He’s a clear narcissist, most likely NPD, and his history and background fit the mold. With Rahm–dead fish in your mail–as his personal political thug, he’s so self assured he can’t fail. But, NPD has a weakness, and if someone’s smart, they’ll start exploring that weakness.

    • http://www.hillaryorbust.com Hillary or Bust

      “But, NPD has a weakness, and if someone’s smart, they’ll start exploring that weakness.”

      What’s that weakness? (Have to deal with an NPD in my personal life…)

    • http://noquarter foxyladi14

      he just loves to throw those big words around,even if they make no sense at all.

  • Babs

    I just read Gates’ acceptance of Obama’s invitation to have a beer with Crowley. It’s on his website at roots.com. (Sorry the old lady can’t get the knack of posting links.) It’a a self-serving statement that does nothing to even hint that he feels he has any culpability in this whole matter, and if I were Officer Crowley I would be too darn busy to get within a mile of this guy.

    • BlueTopaz

      Crowley should send his “mama” in his place to accept their apologies, which won’t be offered so why bother.

  • vanroth

    The man’s campaign was based on race-baiting innuendos and highlighting his “blackness” to the African American community. Remember the “Selma March” lies, the horrible race card he played against the Clintons in SC and elsewhere ; and he had the most obsequious media at his feet, aiding and abetting him every step of the way.

    It’s impossible for him to ever be that “post racial” president that the loyal media has tried to sell – you just cannot reconcile those cunning and despicable race ploys of his in the past to that lofty adjective that he is so undeserving of.

  • Peggy Sue

    Wow, Larry. Tell us how you “really” feel :0).

    I don’t dispute your essay. I think if anything this whole incident proves that Obama completely misjudged the moment, made a stupid comment without the facts, and I suspect “those tapes” will reveal that if there was any racial profiling it was on the Gates’ side of the equation: cop + white = automatic racism and nobody will dispute my version because I’m a big shot. Even the comments in the police report lean that way. So, Gates “miscalculated” as badly as Obama.

    I’m still glad the president made an attempt to walk this back and reached out to Crowley, even though his motives for doing so were obviously political. He’s completely wrecked the health care news cycle. And maybe that’s a gift because it’s going to slow the process down.

    So what was the teachable moment? We’ve got a president who is in over his head and he and his merry men are willing to play the race card as was done throughout the primary and general election.

    As for Professor Gates? He’s made a total fool out of himself. Why? Well, he’s putting together a documentary on racial profiling. The cynic in me says the quote “there’s no such thing as bad publicity” may be in play here. The realist says: he picked the wrong damn cop to throw a hissy-fit on and even the educated and well-heeled can prove themselves absolute jerks given the right situation.

    The circus has definitely come to town.

    • kat in your hat

      Yeah, a documentary on racial profiling. What was the lady who called supposed to say when they asked her for description? She saw two chinese ladies barging into the door? This thing is not even NEAR racial profiling. argh

      • lorac

        Yeah, I guess she was also sexist, since she said they were men.

  • jesslepp

    If he were truly working for post-racial world, Gates would never have injected race into his beratement of the officer. Neither Gates nor Obama really want a post-racial world–nor do Brazile, Wright, or the cast of characters that make their living cultivating hatred and misunderstanding, sowing divisiveness while conning their patrons into thinking they are all about inclusiveness. And we (the greater human community) have decided to pay these people’s bills, when they do not act in the interest of the greater good. We’ve got to get smart and put an end to this garbage. Maybe the officer went too far, maybe the professor was irritated and within his rights, BUT to charge the situation with racial overtones is very telling of Obama’s and Gates’ MO’s.

    • lorac

      It makes you wonder what exactly they’re teaching in “African American Studies”, especially Gates at Harvard. Are they teaching history, or are they trying to perpetutate the past by keeping blacks in a victim mentality?

  • required reading

    In a similar vein, “Guilty by virtue of being white,” see this quote from the NYT today about the Blue Dog Dems putting the brakes on Obama’s health care proposal: so now some AA politicians feel free to claim that members of Congress make policy proposals based on their skin color and gender (i.e. “nondiverse white men are trying to sabotage good policies”). This is a dangerous game these people are playing:

    “The intraparty dispute had racial overtones. One African-American Democrat, Representative Hank Johnson of Georgia, pointed out that the seven Blue Dog Democrats holding up the health care bill in the Energy and Commerce Committee were “a nondiverse group” of white men.”

    • Peggy Sue

      I’ve been reading the same thing. And in this case, I do think playing the race card will be a poison pill. These are not “good” policies. These are not even well-thought out policies. The very fact that no one can articulate how this health care bill will reduce costs and provide insurance reform is indicative of that.

      You can’t make swill taste like filet mignon. There’s a reason the Far Left wants to ram this thing fast and furious. And I think the opposition to this ugly sister posing as health care reform means the public is waking up.

      Add race to the mix? You’ll only make the resistance stronger and it’s playing with fire at the country’s expense.

      • required reading

        Right! This is exactly what I mean: now instead of a debates about the merits of a policy, we have accusations that policies are supported or opposed because of race. The same old Obama campaign mantra, this time put forth by Johnson: “If you’re against something Obama proposes, you must be racist.”

        I feel like a stranger in a strange land.

  • rickrickrick

    Sgt. Crowley should just go quiet. Not say anymore and politely say no to the Beer offer. Going to the white house to meet with Obama and Gates is a concession, and acceptance of some responsibility.He did his job and with a Black officer as witness did nothing wrong. This is a racial issue only because Gates made it one, and Obama exacerbated the situation with his “stupidly” remark. There is no winning for a white person in a situation like this. Just let it go, and leave Gates and Obama as the ones who acted Stupidly.

    • oowawa

      Maybe they could also invite Joe the Plumber and Tito the Builder to the beerfest and make it one big Heartwarming No-Hard-Feelings Triracial Healathon! Lots of toasts all-around, of course. Ein, Zwei, G’Sufa!

      (live coverage by the MSNBC crew, featuring Chris and Keith)

      • oowawa

        Gee whiz. I forgot to invite any ladies to the beerfest. Oh well, so will they.

        • Portia Elizabeth

          And if they include a Native American and a sailor, they can revive the Village People.

          • oowawa

            LOL Portia–Perfect! Joe the Plumber, Tito the Builder, Crowley the Cop, Henry the Professor, Barack the President . . .

            Y-M-C-A

            Then, later on, when they’re all getting sloshed and sentimental, they can put their arms around each other’s shoulders and sing “The Whiffenpoof Song.”

            Baa Baa Baa

            • trixta

              Village People — too funny!!

              I can see it now … a cop…a professor…a President…a reporter, Joe Public, and a blogger (for good measure)!

              • NomNomNom

                Kos?

                • trixta

                  Good one, Nom! Kos could wear a barely-there orange outfit. Yikes, what a visual assault that would be!

                  • NomNomNom

                    then we’ll have to add Favrequ

                    • NomNomNom

                      oops Favreau

              • BlueTopaz

                BO can be the gay guy.

          • http://noquarter foxyladi14

            and Sarah..

          • Patience

            LOL Portia Elizabeth!

          • Cindy

            Portia—-With the Obama admin. in charge, I’m afraid it might become “Village-of-the-Damned People”!

        • http://deleted BuzzisbackLatte

          My guess…Crowley will get a middle of the night phone call from Hillary telling him to run like hell and to hang tough.

        • Animal Control

          Brew for the Bitches

  • http://deleted Aaron Kramer

    what if Gates arrived after 2 men broke into the house? If the cop left after Gates screamed like an elitest, and the burglars killed him what would everyone say? The only act of bias was that perpetrated by Gates. Protocol exists so people follow the correct path under duress and Crowley followed protocol. There was also no racial profiling because the women who called 911 was asked , “What did the burglars look like?” She gave a description and that is what people do when reporting a potential crime.

    “I could have calibrated those words differently” is such stupid way to cover your @ s s. If Obama really believed this statement he would have have said “I should have calibrated those words differently” Obama really doesn’t think he said anything wrong. This is also proven by how he blamed the media for making this a big deal.

  • LisaB

    FWIW, I’ve always thought something like this would happen. BO has an undeserved reputation as a “bridge.” Everything he has done though: attend church, call out his grandmother, choose associates (Pfleger, Ayers, etc), and choose his “hometown” (Chicago) was rooted in racialism.

    Just because J Jackson and A Sharpton weren’t on his payroll never meant Obama was “post-racial.” He was simply “above” that sort of activism. But he has never been above racialism. Just the more “crass” version of the likes of Sharpton and Jackson.

    He’s the smoother version.

    • http://firefox AnnieCollier

      Yep, he’s done everything except blame any mistakes he’s made on his “white” side. Which he most likely will if he ever admits a mistake.

      • TeakWoodKite

        AnnieCollier, that is what is coming next. ROLF.

        He owns it now, even if he thinks he can crawl around the mountain of BS he created.

        • http://deleted BuzzisbackLatte

          I can see it all now. Obama talking out loud to his evil white twin as if it were there in the room with him!

          “The whitey Devil made me do it!!!”

  • Patience

    This was a teachable moment alright. Some voters who were charmed into thinking the POTUS was post-racial have now discovered he harbors racial bias. This won’t bother most of his supporters, or die-hard partisans. But it has obviously bothered enough people to cause the POTUS to attempt damage control.

    I don’t know enough about applicable statutes to be able to fairly judge if the charge of disorderly conduct was appropriate in this case. I’ve read opposing opinions. But I believe there should be some penalty for attempting to thwart a legitimate police investigation that seems to have been carried out according to proper procedure. To allow uncooperative behavior of this sort to go unchecked sets a bad precendent. The fact that the charge was dropped likely has more to do with Gates’ connections and status than lack of merit.

  • IndieDogg

    When I write the book, “The Face of Racism in America” it will not have a white face on the cover. Not to suggest that black Americans are the only racists out there, but to suggest that, today, black Americans are often the first to shout it out. Just as Prof. Gates did.

    As BHO’s minions did during the campaign, from bloggers to news casters, to his campaign spokespersons. As Rev. Wright did. As Al Sharpton does on a daily basis, whether or not he’s been invited or has anything to do with the subject at hand.

    The only “racist” on the scene in this case was Gates himself.

    I suggest some time travel. If this incident had occurred in 1959 in a rural Mississippi town, who do you think the conversation might have gone (speaking of Sgt. Crowley’s side – we already got the race-baiting from Gates)? Did anybody hear a single racially-motivated word from the mouths of any of these officers? No. Take the situation and place it in a truly race-hate environment and see what you think would have been done and said (assuming the whole dust-up was race-based).

    x x x

    Now, as to the incident, the suggestion that no crime was committed. Technically, not true. Disorderly conduct is a crime. Sorry. The charge was dismissed. That’s fine and good. Smart thing to do. But, it happens all the time. These people have a job to do. Cooperation is welcome and good.

    Second, let’s look at some facts. There was a report that TWO men were breaking into the house. Sgt. Crowley asked Prof. Gates if he was the only one in the house. I don’t know that he ever got an answer to that question. Crowley asked him to step outside the house. That’s (apparently — again, I was not there) when all hell broke loose, or more hell.

    If there was a second person and that person was not yet accounted for, you’re in a potentially live crime in progress. A second person can be a threat to the officers or others. He was not accounted for (the driver). Prof. Gates could have been forced into his home and told to “get rid of the cops” as we’ve seen many times.

    Sure, all speculation. I was NOT there. But, this is what I’ve seen from reading accounts and reading the actual police incident reports (both of them) and the officer’s statement corroborating Crowley’s account and actions.

    x x x

    So, two issues, conduct of the incident and race.

    There is NO evidence, anywhere, that any of these officers acted with any racially-motivated intent. They certainly didn’t “profile” Prof. Gates. They were dispatched to the scene of a crime already in progress.

    The conduct? Prof. Gates was treated much more gently than he would have been in many other jurisdictions. Could they have left him on his front porch ranting about racist cops? Could have. Did the law or reg’s or manuals of conduct require them to do that? No.

    Final comment.

    The person whose conduct in all of this is the least defensible is Barack Obama. His off-hand comment to 24 million Americans, speaking as Commander in Chief (a frightening thought in itself) and President of the Nation was sophomoric, neophyte nonsense.

    • Ferd Berfle

      The person whose conduct in all of this is the least defensible is Barack Obama. His off-hand comment to 24 million Americans, speaking as Commander in Chief (a frightening thought in itself) and President of the Nation was sophomoric, neophyte nonsense.

      He has once again shown himself as one who speaks first and then engages his somewhat warped brain later. This is his NPD at work. His need to have the last word will be his undoing. I have said it before, there is going to be a melt-down of seismic proportions by That One and it will be in front of a substantial audience. His day of reckoning, and ours by proxy, is coming.

  • IndieDogg

    When I write the book, “The Face of Racism in America” it will not have a white face on the cover. Not to suggest that black Americans are the only racists out there, but to suggest that, today, black Americans are often the first to shout it out. Just as Prof. Gates did.

    As BHO’s minions did during the campaign, from bloggers to news casters, to his campaign spokespersons. As Rev. Wright did. As Al Sharpton does on a daily basis, whether or not he’s been invited or has anything to do with the subject at hand.

    The only “racist” on the scene in this case was Gates himself.

    I suggest some time travel. If this incident had occurred in 1959 in a rural Mississippi town, how do you think the conversation might have gone? Did anybody hear a single racially-motivated word from the mouths of any of these officers? No. Take the situation and place it in a truly race-hate environment and see what you think would have been done and said (assuming the whole dust-up was race-based).

    x x x

    Now, as to the incident, the suggestion that no crime was committed. Technically, not true. Disorderly conduct is a crime. Sorry. The charge was dismissed. That’s fine and good. Smart thing to do. But, it happens all the time. These people have a job to do. Cooperation is welcome and good.

    Second, let’s look at some facts. There was a report that TWO men were breaking into the house. Sgt. Crowley asked Prof. Gates if he was the only one in the house. I don’t know that he ever got an answer to that question. Crowley asked him to step outside the house. That’s (apparently — again, I was not there) when all hell broke loose, or more hell.

    If there was a second person and that person was not yet accounted for, you’re in a potentially live crime in progress. A second person can be a threat to the officers or others. He was not accounted for (the driver). Prof. Gates could have been forced into his home and told to “get rid of the cops” as we’ve seen many times.

    Sure, all speculation. I was NOT there. But, this is what I’ve seen from reading accounts and reading the actual police incident reports (both of them) and the officer’s statement corroborating Crowley’s account and actions.

    x x x

    So, two issues, conduct of the incident and race.

    There is NO evidence, anywhere, that any of these officers acted with any racially-motivated intent. They certainly didn’t “profile” Prof. Gates. They were dispatched to the scene of a crime already in progress.

    The conduct? Prof. Gates was treated much more gently than he would have been in many other jurisdictions. Could they have left him on his front porch ranting about racist cops? Could have. Did the law or reg’s or manuals of conduct require them to do that? No.

    Final comment.

    The person whose conduct in all of this is the least defensible is Barack Obama. His off-hand comment to 24 million Americans, speaking as Commander in Chief (a frightening thought in itself) and President of the Nation was sophomoric, neophyte nonsense.

  • kat in your hat

    Yes, Larry, you are right. You know, I watched the 20 minute interview with Sgt. Crowley, and he said that Gates was screaming so loudly while he was radioing in info that he couldn’t even hear himself speak. That was recorded. A lot of it was recorded. I hope the police release the recordings of this event, and I hope they don’t try to keep it under wraps in the hopes of this thing blowing over in light of oblow’s faux conciliatory words. Release the tapes! It’s public information.

  • PO’dVet

    I just hope the 911 tapes are released, then the whole truth will be out there. And I have little doubt that they will prove Officer Crowley spoke the truth. And personally I think Harvard should fire Prof. Gates for racism!

  • http://deleted BuzzisbackLatte

    Oh so your chicken then, eh?

    …and, by the way, I do know something about the law. Let’s just begin with that…

    and then let’s talk about federal, state, country, parish, city, village laws and ordinances that govern where and how you behave, shall we? Oh, and let’s not forget neighborhood and homeowner covenants.

    Remember Mr. Gates is only renting the house from Harvard and Crowley requested Harvard Campus police to also respond.

    It may not have been Crowley, alone, who made the decision to arrest Gates. He just became the arresting officer. Do you know of any conference between the different police departments that may have influenced the decision to arrest? Do you understand that this was not a rogue cop situation with no other law enforcement officers present and witnessing the arrest? Do you think that the other officers just stood there with there mouths shut?

    Come back when you have the answers, Ahs.

    • http://deleted BuzzisbackLatte

      county not country…

  • Just Me

    The entire event is just stupid. Unfortunately this case will not go to court to see who did what when and how. I will bet there was overplay on both the sides of this coin. By both the cops and the professor. To take sides without a common frame of reference to the truth of the matter is plainly stupid on every ones parts.

    To side with the cops is just as bad as siding with the professor. Both have agendas and both are not above stretching the truth to protect themselves. The cops knew this was a potential backdraft situation and the professor knew he could also use this to his benefit. The President? Well DoH! Like we don’t step on ourselves once and a while???? Eh? Or do we all have short memories?

    The only suckers getting drawn into this game is us.. To continue to even draw this into the spotlight is plainly a waste of time in lieu of the other very critical issues we as a nation face.

    Besides who are “we” to be judging others in the manner that we are presently in the first place on this issue? Especially with race…..

    “He who has no sin cast the first stone”….

    • Animal Control

      “He who has no sin cast the first stone”

      Jesus, is that you?

  • http://thesibylspeaks.wordpress.com/ Anthony

    I think the whole thing is a distraction to take away from the ear shattering THUD of the Health Care Initiative ‘pep rally’ that preceded it. “The Changeling” and Gates are buddies since Obama’s (purported) Harvard days.

    In the meantime, full scale race baiting continues as a distraction. Only this time, thanks to the Cambridge police, everyone is saying “Screw You with this white guilt bullshit”. Its about time

    • kat in your hat

      Yes! I was *just* saying exactly what you wrote to someone here.

  • kat in your hat

    “It’s public record. From dispatch to conclusion, it’s all on tape.” http://www.bostonherald.com/news/regional/view.bg?articleid=1186764

    Right, so release ‘em!

    • Arabella Trefoil

      Just keep watching “Cops” and the whole thing will turn up eventually.

  • viking

    The main defense of Gates and Obama now seems to be that you are entitled to behave in an uncooperative, belligerent and disruptive manner with the police if you’re on your own property.

    This is ludicrous! These people are advocating resistance to cooperation with police officers. The police protect and serve their communities. Anyone who advocates that anything short of instant cooperation with uniformed police is advocating lawlessness and anarchy. There can be no peace or security of life and property if lawful (i.e. uniformed, dispatched) authority is not respected. That this is even being discussed is absurd.

    I’ll bet that when the prosecutors elected not to prosecute the charges they didn’t expect that Gates was going to trot out on national TV and claim racism.

  • Juliet16

    What really kill me is that Obama is now laying the blame for this whole racial/political escalation at the feet of the American public – for the way in which they reacted to his comments, as if he were totally innocent of any lack of judgment as Chief Law Enforcement officer of the USA in making the statement that he made.

    So rather than to use this occasion to apologize for what he had done (weigh in, instead of saying “no comment” an active situation)or otherwise try to set things right, Obama now blames the American public and “teaches” Americans that they are indeed racist for reacting the way they did — otherwise they would have kept their mouths shut and not expressed any discontentment.

    I used to roll my eyballs in amusement whenever folks accused Obama of being NPD and think that they were attributing the disorder to him just because they don’t like him, but now I must admit, his behaviour sure looks that way to me, too…

    • Diana L. C.

      All you have to do is live with a man who has NPD and is under the control of his mother, who has it, if anything, worse than he does. You start growing radar about other people who have it. And one thing about people with NPD is that if you aren’t in close contact with them on a daily basis, you often find them charming.

  • http://deleted BuzzisbackLatte

    I imagine they timing of the release of the 911 tapes will correspond when this story is out of the news cycle.

  • TeakWoodKite

    Mr. Johnson, in the K-12 world I move in, I have conversations as to what is a teachable moment.

    “If They Bring a Knife to the Fight, We Bring a Gun’”

    “No, no. I have been practicing…I bowled a 129. It’s like — it was like Special Olympics, or something.”

    “I didn’t want to get into a Nancy Reagan thing about doing any seances.” –

    “I think when you spread the wealth around, it’s good for everybody.”

    “Hold on one second, sweetie, we’re going to do — we’ll do a press avail.”

    “It’s not surprising, then, they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren’t like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations.”

    “Over the last 15 months, we’ve traveled to every corner of the United States. I’ve now been in 57 states? I think one left to go.”

    “Now that’s my phone buzzing there,” he said, drawing a laugh. “I don’t want you to think I’m getting fresh or anything.”

    Some folks never learn.

  • SHV

    I used to roll my eyballs in amusement whenever folks accused Obama of being NPD and think that they were attributing the disorder to him just because they don’t like him, but now I must admit, his behaviour sure looks that way to me, too…..
    ********

    Aggressive narcissism

    1. Glibness/superficial charm
    2. Grandiose sense of self-worth
    3. Pathological lying
    4. Cunning/manipulative
    5. Lack of remorse or guilt
    6. Emotionally shallow
    7. Callous/lack of empathy
    8. Failure to accept responsibility for own actions

    Sound like anyone that we might know???

    • kat in your hat

      I thought those were the symptoms of sociopathy.

      • http://deleted BuzzisbackLatte

        Narcissism is a condition or way that sociopathy displays itself in the person’s behavior and thought processes.

        • Diana L. C.

          I also believe a narcissism is “learned,” or “created” personality disorder. True sociopaths are narcissistic, but often they are born that way or become that way with help–as, for instance, a brain injury.

    • cat

      SHV, you’d better apologize to Krauthammer-he’s been saying this all along :-)

  • Elle

    Just another “Race-Dividing” speech by Obama !

  • Margaret

    Thank you Larry. Most of those in the media and the public bloviating about this incident haven’t read the police report. Which the local paper – the Boston Globe – has now scrubbed from it’s site. The police saw Gates ID – Gates yelling at them the entire time – and tried to leave. But Gates went after them out onto his porch and would not leave them alone. That’s why he was arrested, because he was harassing the police and disturbing the peace.

    I think Obama likes being a divider, because he then can pretend to be a uniter, and isn’t it handy how he’s distracted the press about his failure re: healthcare reform.

  • graywolf

    For Gates, this was probably better than sex.
    Finally, he got a chance to yell at a white cop – and get some street cred.
    Something, Harvard professors don’t normally get the opportunity for.
    Now he can say:
    “down wif the brutters.”

  • Helen

    So having a couple of beers at the white house is a teachable thing? Good grief!
    And to add to the stupidity of it all, he then goes on to insult all cops, assuming a cool beer is their level of education, culture and social forum. I’m surprised he didn’t offer a box of doughnuts to the guys at the precinct.

    • oowawa

      I’m surprised he didn’t offer a box of doughnuts to the guys at the precinct.

      HaHaHaHa! Very funny! He’s just showing that he knows how to placate Joe Sixpack. Maybe they could all go out and bowl a few lines afterwards. Patronizing?

  • Docelder

    Honestly, I sense most everybody will have been had here before this is done. We have unleashed a lot of pent up white anger over our society bending backward for decades in an act of futility, because nothing will ever be enough. OK, I get that. But what is happening here, The President is acting calmly, he offers a meeting over a beer, the professor accepts and appears to regret the sequence of events… the cop maintains he won’t apologize and his union stands by him. He asserts he was within procedure. Procedure… OK tell that to people who just see a guy arrested on his own front porch for public disturbance. All we need now is for some prominent republicans to come on the news shows tomorrow and all but call Obama a racist and the setup is complete. I have a sinking feeling we don’t know everything about the police. But I think that we soon will. Then the crucified “plastic Jesus” figure will climb down off his cross still wearing the bloodied crown and will appear to the magnanimous and forgiving bringer of racial peace. Nobody will talk about health care and when the votes come up these republicans will be too ashamed to stand up for themselves. The stupid part is this incident was never about race, or it shouldn’t have been. Nothing we are seeing from this administration is real. This is an act, and as much as I hate to say it… right now it is the best act in town.

  • trixta

    Yeah, it’s also a distraction from Obama’s plummeting poll numbers.

  • http://deleted BuzzisbackLatte

    You left out the university, it’s role and the behind the scenes string pulling.

    It’s a tangled web that Obama couldn’t have wished for in his darkest moments of hatred and greed.

    • Docelder

      A perfect storm of unlikely coincidences. I no longer believe in coincidences in regard to this administration. I sense the other shoe out there and it is going to drop hard before this is over. This is a fool’s game to jump in on this racism boondoggle. I hope people like Palin stay free from commenting at all about it.

      • Patience

        I agree about the “other shoe” and fear the scenario. I hope the POTUS’ opponents are careful about what they say if they choose to comment further. Frankly though, I think at this point enough has been said. But I fear since this has aroused so much interest, media may want to keep it going. Imagine the increase in hits media websites are getting because of it. It’s something they can take to the bank.

        If 20 years of attendance at a racist church wasn’t enough to bring down candidate Obama, I wonder if anything of a racist nature will. Having said that, I think now that he’s a sitting POTUS his comments have caused some self-inflicted damage. I hope people will be wise enough to not take any bait and leave it at that.

        • Arabella Trefoil

          Cops ain’t black. Cops ain’t white. Cops are blue.

          This whole incident is exposing the class divide Obama so expertly exploits. Just like the media bitched about the “uneducated women” who voted for Hillary Clinton. It’s the elitism, stupid.

          Obama doesn’t like the working class folks. And that includes cops, fire fighters, nurses and lots of other hard working people who put their lives on the line every day.

  • oowawa

    Always be polite to the police.

    Hey, that sounds almost like wisdom!

    • http://firefox AnnieCollier

      It would never enter my mind not to.

  • citizenjane

    Pelosi picked a prissy, pompous, posturing, pathetic prick for president. I’m so tired of his racist crap, I can’t see straight. I WAS a democrat. That bird-flipping so and so changed all that. End of story.

  • jangles

    Gates’ story was that he was just returning from a trip to China. If so, he should have had a passport handy which would have given his address.

    I am amazed and appalled at the number of people who seem to believe that Crowley was the trained professional and therefore most responsible for resolving the situation without the conflict. Why is it that a Harvard University professor is given a free pass to yell insults and scream? I have no problem with the professor challenging the policeman but any high school graduate on main street knows that if you are going to go down that road you are well advised to proceed in a calm voice and orderly manner. That is if you want the “trained professional” to listen to you.

    • lorac

      “I am amazed and appalled at the number of people who seem to believe that Crowley was the trained professional and therefore most responsible for resolving the situation without the conflict. Why is it that a Harvard University professor is given a free pass to yell insults and scream?”

      Because the whole point of the race card is to put
      everyone else on the defensive, and take the focus off yourself and your own behavior. And it worked pretty well – as you’ve observed, not many people are talking about Gates’ behavior and how it led to the consequences. Instead, Crowley and the police are having to defend themselves against charges of racism, police brutality, past history of other people, etc, etc, etc. Everything and anything to take the focus off what Gates did wrong.

  • jangles

    BTW it is exactly this kind of conduct from the so-called intellectual elites that gave us the ugly election of Obama—tell me this is somehow different from the scurrilous verbiage and misogynist insults that were pepper sprayed all over HRC supporters and HRC herself?

    • Arabella Trefoil

      Excellent observation.

  • Arabella Trefoil

    Prof Gates, how do you like it under the bus?

    http://enews.earthlink.net/article/top?guid=20090725/4a6a9150_3ca6_15526200907251937324805

    He learns fast, does Prof Gates. His only regret is that the controversy distracted the public from Obama’s health initiative. No wonder Gates is a Prof at Harvard – he’s got a great memory. When The Teacher tells him what to say, Gates always gets an A+ because he repeats Teacher’s wisdom word for word.

    Prof Gates, with all due respect, I’ve been under this bus a lot longer than you. I’m not gonna pay rock/paper/scissors to decide who gets the upper bunk.

  • Emma

    There are a lot of ungrateful people ( who don’t knwo the law or the facts) criticizing Sargent Crowley for doing his job and he did his job and what he did was legal. If all you peopple who think it is easy to be a police man and that the law needs be changed you go to the 911 calls a few times. Teh reason teh police have protocol is to keep others and themselve safe. I am so tired of hearing the ignorancet hat is coming out of of people’s adn the news’s self rigtheous mouths about Gates being in his own home. Well if he stayed in his own home he migth not have gotten arrested. Read the report and stop being so ignorant of what a policeman does and has to do. This arrest had nothing to do with his being in his house or pissing off the officer or for askign for an id which the offer did give originally. Honestly doesnt anyone think before they blabber or did you who think you knwo what happen read the police report.
    Just wait until you are in need of a policeman at your home and you will sing anoterh tune. The lack of resopect police get is disgugsting. Go live in Afghanisstn if you think Gates was treatd abdly and this was nto a case of racila profiling. gates is continuing to say it was becasue he is actually a stupid man for all his acclai. He is delusional in this case. The only person who was bringing up race was Gates. Black people need to heal there collective uncosnious and stop seeing everyhting as race based. Honestly the best thing that coud lhappen to people liek Gates is some free trauma therpay to heal his delusional self. He can’t tell the difference between what he thinks is happeneing and what did. Here is what is legal about the arrest.

    http://www.telegram.com/article/20090725/NEWS/907259997/1116

  • Emma

    There are a lot of ungrateful people ( who don’t knwo the law or the facts) criticizing Sargent Crowley for doing his job and he did his job and what he did was legal. If all you peopple who think it is easy to be a police man and that the law needs be changed you go to the 911 calls a few times. Teh reason teh police have protocol is to keep others and themselve safe. I am so tired of hearing the ignorancet hat is coming out of of people’s adn the news’s self rigtheous mouths about Gates being in his own home. Well if he stayed in his own home he migth not have gotten arrested. Read the report and stop being so ignorant of what a policeman does and has to do. This arrest had nothing to do with his being in his house or pissing off the officer or for askign for an id which the offer did give originally. Honestly doesnt anyone think before they blabber or did you who think you knwo what happen read the police report.
    Just wait until you are in need of a policeman at your home and you will sing anoterh tune. The lack of resopect police get is disgugsting. Go live in Afghanisstn if you think Gates was treatd abdly and this was nto a case of racila profiling. gates is continuing to say it was becasue he is actually a stupid man for all his acclai. He is delusional in this case. The only person who was bringing up race was Gates. Black people need to heal there collective unconscious and stop seeing everyhting as race based. Honestly the best thing that coud lhappen to people liek Gates is some free trauma therpay to heal his delusional self. He can’t tell the difference between what he thinks is happeneing and what did. Here is what is legal about the arrest.

    http://www.telegram.com/article/20090725/NEWS/907259997/1116

  • Emma

    There are a lot of ungrateful people ( who don’t knwo the law or the facts) criticizing Sargent Crowley for doing his job and he did his job and what he did was legal. If all you peopple who think it is easy to be a police man and that the law needs be changed you go to the 911 calls a few times. Teh reason teh police have protocol is to keep others and themselve safe. I am so tired of hearing the ignorancet hat is coming out of of people’s adn the news’s self rigtheous mouths about Gates being in his own home. Well if he stayed in his own home he migth not have gotten arrested. Read the report and stop being so ignorant of what a policeman does and has to do. This arrest had nothing to do with his being in his house or pissing off the officer or for askign for an id which the offer did give originally. Honestly doesnt anyone think before they blabber or did you who think you knwo what happen read the police report.
    Just wait until you are in need of a policeman at your home and you will sing anoterh tune. The lack of resopect police get is disgugsting. Go live in Afghanisstn if you think Gates was treatd abdly and this was nto a case of racila profiling. gates is continuing to say it was becasue he is actually a stupid man for all his acclai. He is delusional in this case. The only person who was bringing up race was Gates. Black people need to heal there collective unconscious and stop seeing everyhting as race based. Honestly the best thing that could happen to people like Gates is some free trauma therpay to heal his delusional self. He can’t tell the difference between what he thinks is happeneing and what did. Here is what is legal about the arrest.

    http://www.telegram.com/article/20090725/NEWS/907259997/1116

  • Emma
  • Emma
  • Bella in Florida

    I do not see how it was fair for Obama to give any opinion on the issue because he did not know any of the facts. He should have been more professional and Presidential and he should have simply said “NO Comment”People are trying to spin this in all kinds of ways but there is only one thing he should have done. To side with the Professor was a huge mistalk.

    • Arabella Trefoil

      Maybe Barry remembers some less than friendly encounters with the Cambridge Police.

      Just kidding.

      • Donna Brazile

        The fact that he had 17 parking tickets in three years says it all. He doesn’t respect rules and regulations or they don’t pertain to him. Only piad the tickets when he started his presidential run.

        • Arabella Trefoil

          Yeah, I forgot about that. Maybe a Cambridge cop asked him for his ID and Barry produced three different passports and drivers’ licenses from five different states.

          “That enough ID for you m***** f*****? Yo, I got some birth certificates here too.”

          “Sir, just pay the parking ticket.”

        • Donna Brazile

          oops, that’s paid:-)

  • Arabella Trefoil

    I used to love Vanity Fair, until they became rabid Obama supporters. (In fact they had Obama on the cover of their magazine at least three times in one year, including on their famous annual “Hollywood Issue.”

    There is an interesting article in this month’s VF about how Almighty Harvard University mismanaged their endowment, lost a bundle, and engaged in gradious building schemes.

    And you will see some familiar names in this article – they work for Obama now.

    http://www.vanityfair.com/politics/features/2009/08/harvard200908

    The Harvard elitism is at the core of the Citizen Gates affair. And I predict that Obama will throw the good Prof under the bus. A nice yellow school bus so that he doesn’t have to mix with the common folk.

  • SAINTIXE56

    I have read a lot of arguments since this issue began. What do we know: a busybody nosey parker said she/he saw a black man entering suspiciously in a house-
    the fact was gates was getting into his own house and had difficulty getting his door open Is it a crime
    once the officer was made aware Gates was the lawful owner. why in heaven sake did he not leave the premises
    ok gates was irate, would not you be angry to see the police questioning you how dare you get into your own house and shake the door because – OMG the door is stuck
    possibly miss nosey parker would have us consider it a crime
    well crowley was told the truth and likelmy gates was angry because he was tired after his trip anfry at his relectant door mad because the police had turne dup not to help him but to question him
    a smart cop would habe known when the moemnt is right
    there was not crime he was in his house for god sake
    but it is so smug the crtiticise obama
    well obama has a point larry
    he is smart enough to admit he can be wrong and is courageous enough to apologize

    ever read rudyard kipiling larry
    it takes a real man to say I am sorry
    prose as long as you wish
    when you are man enough to admit that you are wrong sometimes like anybody me included then people will listen at you more
    until theer you are just a big mouth
    a mouth and not a man

    • Arabella Trefoil

      Ever read a book about English grammar?
      It takes a big man to admit he can’t spell or punctuate a sentence.

      • SAINTIXE56

        no problemo in admitting my orthograph is n’t up to scratch
        ther will always be people more interested by the way the message is sent than by what the message means actually

        • Arabella Trefoil

          OK. Either you’re James Joyce or you’re high as a kite.

          • lorac

            lol Good one. If anybody still actually believes that all the educated and intelligent people supported BO…. well, that’s all I’ll say.

    • http://firefox AnnieCollier

      would not you be angry to see the police questioning you how dare you get into your own house and shake the door because – OMG the door is stuck
      possibly miss nosey parker would have us consider it a crime

      Well, even though your post is almost incoherent, I think I get your point. And, no. I would not have been irate that the police were looking into a potential break in at my house…that had been robbed previously. I would have pulled out my ID, clarified the situation and given them my eternal thanks for being on the ball for my security. BTW, he doesn’t own the house, He rents from Harvard. Since he has a home on Martha’s Vineyard, it is conceivable that is his permanent address on the passport. But whatever, if my ID didn’t add up, I’d go to the next level to prove my identity…no anger. If you act in a defensive manner or in an overt inappropriate way, what do you expect? The passerby that you mock is the good Samaritan here. Certainly not a busy body.

    • lorac

      “a busybody nosey parker”

      It’s called neighbors looking out for neighbors, communities working together to stay safe, people being good citizens. I’m incredibly shocked that you would be cutting her down for reporting something suspicious. I’m glad you’re not my neighbor.

    • BlueTopaz

      courageous enough to apologize

      Ummmm, link pls.

  • mel

    The end of this video proves just how Obama thinks:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2c6eatiAlIw&feature=player_embedded

    from the mouth of Ostupid!

  • http://liberalrapture.com/ John (from Liberal Rapture)

    Gates and Obama both need to grow up.

  • JayD

    I think what we are going to begin seeing more of now is that police, when called upon to defend/protect an African-American, will walk away and let them deal with their problems on their own out of fear of being accused of being racist. When you bite the hand that reaches out to assist, you leave that person very few options.

  • Dave

    Obama has once again shown his arrogant ignorance. Its not up to the President to even comment on this BS. Gates is a race baiter, the Cambridge Sgt didn’t fall for his lame trap.

  • Retired

    Ironically, the most intelligent thing that I have seen on this blog concerning this incident on is the Chris Rock video, which was actually a comendy routine. But just think what would’ve happened here if the various parties all would’ve taken Chris’ advice to “shut the fuck up.” There would’ve been no arrest in the first place, and this incident, along with it’s seemingly endless permutations of emotionally charged ignorance, would’ve never occured.
    As a white guy who lived in South Central LA (a mostly black neighborhood) until I was 20, I was detained as a suspect a few times largely because of my race when pathetic white shitheads came in to my neighborhood and conducted violent crimes (no shit, it happened in the late 1960s/early 1970s). Sometimes I felt that the police, who were about 50% black in that neighborhood in those days, detained me a bit longer than was needed after I identified myself because of their incredulty about a white college student living in South Central LA. Nevertheless, I remained calm and “shut the fuck up,” not wanting to get my ass beat by police officers of any color for mouthing off as they were trying to sort things out.
    Sound advice, Chris.

  • Cathy in Ks.

    I agree with you Larry. The President spoke too hastily about the Gates situation and yes Obama did pass judgment prematurely on the police department. To be fair to Gates, it’s possible in his past he was harassed by law enforcement officials and grossly over-reacted to the police in this current situation because of his previous experiences.

    However the President should have looked further into the story if he was going to cite this incident on national television as an example of “racism” and that the police were the ones behaving stupidly. Obama’s apology was as usual “no apology”. Most of us have been guilty of premature judgments about other people at one time or another. It would have been nice if the President would have just owned up to his mistake and simply said, “I’m sorry.”

  • Babs

    I haven’t heard that Crowley has accepted yet, have any of you? I did see that Judicial Watch has filed a Massachusetts Public Records request, so at least Patrick and his cronies won’t be able to “lose” the tapes. The police want them released, what’s the delay?

  • Babs

    By the way, I don’t think that Crowley should accept this invitation. To me such a meeting would suggest that Crowley needs mediation, that he did something wrong, and I don’t think that he, the Cambridge police, or the majority of America believe that supposition.