Thursday, July 23, 2009

Black Barry, and Racialgate(s)


I knew it couldn't last, I knew that at some point the president of these divided states would have to let his guard down. It happened last night in front of a stunned white nation. Did you see that? Obama is taking sides with that black man. He is against the police. How could that be? He is the president of all the people. And to think, I voted for this guy. Don't worry white A-merry-ca, he will be back to being your president soon. It's just that he is a little pissed right now . He still can't believe that you would arrest one of his "talented tenth" buddies from Haaawvaaard.


Hey, at the end of the day, you can never run from yourself and your experiences. You can only put on an act and play pretend for so long. Maybe it's because his numbers are tanking and he figures that these folks are going to turn on him anyway. Maybe he figures that it's time to throw the people who will stay with him no matter what a bone. Whatever the reason, Barry Obama became black Barry last night.


"Now, 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's a long history in this country of African-Americans and Latinos being stopped by law enforcement disproportionately. That's just a fact."


Whaaaat? Is that the post racial president waxing poetic about race? I guess old racism got away from the secret service and is chasing the president's ass now. Boy I tell you, my man racism is a trip. He just won't quit.


Still, white folks are digging in this time: There was no racism here, and how dare president Obama imply that there was. If there was racism in A-merry-ca could he be where he is occupying the people's house? Officer Crowley is leading the charge, and he will be dammed if he apologizes to that uppity Negro. Rush says that the white man is "under assault" for crying out loud!


"'There are not many certainties in life, but it is for certain that Sgt. Crowley will not be apologizing,' Sgt. James Crowley told NewsCenter 5."


Nice. My man refers to himself in the third person now. But honestly, if I were Crowley, I wouldn't apologize, either. Hell if he admits that he made a bone headed arrest of an old black man, he might lose his gig teaching racial profiling to law enforcement recruits......wait, did I just write that? Crowley TEACHES CLASSES ON RACIAL PROFILING? Okay, I am going to have to wipe down my computer keys because of all the irony that's dripping on them. I mean come on now, isn't this guy teaching classes on racial profiling kind of like O.J. teaching classes on spousal abuse? I am just saying.


Oh well, at least for a moment there the black president was black again. Of course we knew it wouldn't last. This was a very unusual incident where racism went after a friend of the most powerful man on earth. I am sure my man will be more careful next time. It will be some old man in Louisiana, or any black person in the country of Texas.


Poor Bernard Monroe, if he had only gone to Harvard.




159 comments:

Anonymous said...

Field'

"Whatever the reason, Barry Obama became black Barry last night."

That was too funny!

Anonymous said...

I can't take it any more...I can't take the white man woe is me, because a black man is in the office they occupied for the last two hundred years....I hope that BO does run in 2012 and if he does I hope he lose because the white man has been oppress for far to long

MR.R said...

How can Barry O be keepin' it real when he hasn't got all the facts about what happen?

Than again Obama showed typical liberal behavior by reacting to something before all facts are known.

TrueBlue said...

I watched Obama's press conference and cringed for him when he described the Cambridge P.D.'s action as "stupid." He rendered a final judgment with that word, and he did it after admitting that he might be biased in favor of his old friend, and that he didn't have all the facts. It was an internal contradiction; had he used the word "questionable," he'd have conveyed the same idea but without the baggage.

The incident caused me to go find the police report and read it, and compare it to Gates's interview in his magazine. There was also a very helpful posting in a different thread here from a black police officer that I read with interest. I also recalled my own impressions of Gates from one of his books that I read, and read some stories about the backgrounds and reputation of both Gates and the arresting officer.

It sure seems to me that the arrest was wrong. Even if Gates acted exactly as depicted in the police report, I don't see any cause to arrest him. So, on that basic point I am on Gates's side.

Whether or not the arresting officer's conduct was "stupid" and/or "racist," rather than more simply a misjudgment, to me depends on which account, Gates's or the officer's is closer to the truth.

These two accounts cannot both be true. The officer depicted Gates as angry, irrational, raucous, and spoiling for a fight. Gates depicted himself as strongly disputing the officer, but in a quiet way. There were witnesses, or so the police report claims. Those witnesses should be interviewed to ascertain which version of events is closer to the truth.

If things unfolded as Gates has claimed, then the arresting officer is guilty of a serious misjudgment. He should be reprimanded and strongly counseled to apologize, and Cambridge should be rushing to offer Gates a tidy settlement. I'd say $100,000 would be about right, but that's off the top of my head.

If things unfolded as the officer claimed, then Gates should step forward and say so, and apologize to the officer for his conduct both during and after the incident. He'd be correct to continue to maintain that the arrest was wrong, but he'd be right to note that he was insulting and abusive to the officer.

If I were Obama, who is not only a black man but also president of all the people, I would lament my poor word choice, and say that I wished I had used the word "questionable" rather than "stupid," and be done with it.

To me, the bottom line is that Gates is a smaller, 70-year-man who walks with a cane. He was an a bad mood that night, and groused at the cop. He might have yelled at the cop and blatantly insulted him, although this remains very much up in the air and should be investigated

In neither case should he have been arrested. How blatant the arrest was -- whether it was motivated by racism and hatred or was essentially the outgrowth of two people who were highly sensitive to being disrespected -- remains to be seen.\

In the so-called "post Obama America," it would be good if people could find a way to take one step back, count to 10, and find out what actually happened. When Rodney King said, "Can't we all just get along," it struck a chord with me. Another way of putting it would be to ask whether we all have to be on a hair trigger all of the time, or whether we can't from time to time try to engage our brains before we haul out all of the old lines.

I'm sure this is terribly naive of me, but that's the way it goes.

MR.R said...

2 big thumbs up for calling out
Carolyn Maloney [D} for using the n word.

When its a Democrat the msm and leftwing will typically ingore what was said.

Anonymous said...

Why do refer to obama as president??Oh,he isnt black either,he is half white and half ARAB.

I.Am.Spoken.Word. said...

I'll admit I cringed when Pres. Obama said "stupidly", because of the potential and eventual implications.

Simply put, there are two different sides to the story here. But, Crowley's refusal to apologize FOR ANYTHING makes me raise an eyebrow. It's one thing to express your character ("The arrest was not racially motivated."), but to bluntly refuse any other form of apology ("We understand that the arrest served as an inconvenience and a form of injustice for Dr. Gates...")makes me think that he's simply trying to save face.

He has a reason to lie (as you stated FN), but why would Dr. Gates lie?

La♥audiobooks said...

Yeah Barry turned black on them last night (It's a good thing he left the ebonics home).

But did you listen to Limblah? That man is so sick, straight out of a Klan rally. That jaba the hut looking pig. How many spit balls does it take for him to cover his mic? I am so disgusted with racism, sometimes I can't take it.

Anonymous said...

You've been rather good of late. However, I don't know what it is about the President that gets you as crazy as your rightist white brethren. Honestly, I think some of you Black people -- really, Black men -- are screwed in the head. You either don't know how to shut up (Bill Cosby), support each other (you), or be faithful to one woman (pick from a plethora of names). You screech Obama isn't Black, then Black enough, then he's too Black. Get clear: none of you has what he has; all of you have something to say about what he has and does. How does it feel to be of such idiocy?

Sorry to be so mad. I can't stand your wishy-washiness. It's immature (and you aren't even the worst of 'em).

Monie said...

Why is it that Black people are stereotyped as being angry when White people seem like the ones who are really angry these days?

The Birthers, The Tea Partiers and now what the Crowley-ers?

White people are just so darned angry.

Anonymous said...

Field, you made a good point of how it took a personal friend of Obamas being arrested for him to argue about race issues in America. But, let's be honest it always take a some one you know for it to really hit home.
As for the cop I don't think he is racist but just your typical bullying prick officer. Also, some one please tell Mr. Gates to stop mention he is 56% White all the damn time "No one cares but his dumb ass". He should have told the cop "Hey, you can't arrest me I'm 56% White...lol"

Anonymous said...

Field...you are a lawyer. Please tell me this: even if Professor Gates uttered all kinds of abusive language in his own home and on his own porch and AFTER his identity was established...THAT is not an offense for which he can be arrested, is it?
I've seen abusive, loudmouthed drunks making all kinds of obscene and offensive comments to police officer and no arrests. It may not be that Gates is Black...but just that this cop is very into being "respected"
In some cities, a little belligerence with the Po-Lice will get you killed in your own driveway.

TrueBlue said...

Crowley's refusal to apologize FOR ANYTHING makes me raise an eyebrow. It's one thing to express your character ("The arrest was not racially motivated."), but to bluntly refuse any other form of apology ("We understand that the arrest served as an inconvenience and a form of injustice for Dr. Gates...")makes me think that he's simply trying to save face.

Crowley has been accused of official misconduct at best, and outright racism at worst. It doesn't surprise me that he is holding firmly to his position.

Gates, having made those accusations, would find it enormously embarrassing to back down if, on further reflection, he were to adopt a different self-view.

This sort of thing is characteristic of human beings at all levels. And now we've got elements of the entire country retreating to their corners.

If this country has made progress (and I think we have), cooler heads will prevail and the accounts will be reconciled. Everyone would do well to remember that the main actors are not robots, but are fallible human beings. Some realism and, yes, maybe even some mercy, might be in order. At the very least, facts ought to stand paramount.

Anonymous said...

How come no one in the press ever asked Obama about the Black and Hispanic kids denied to swim at the country club? that would have been a far better question then the Gates issue.
I also would not worry about Obama poll numbers it's not like he is up for reelection at the moment. Obama has four long as years of being president... and I get the feeling he doesn't care if about reelection. Obama is living in the moment...

metricpenny said...

Monie - Word.

FN, Make no mistake, President Obama made no mistake last night. He knew exactly what he was saying, and said it exactly how he wanted.

I think he was waitng for it to happen to someone he knows personally so he could have his say so under cover of friendship.

Believe me, he probably wanted to say something about the Bernard Monroes, but the man has patience.

All I can say is watch and learn.

Claudia said...

well now, Crowley is officially quliafied to appear in Skip's profiling documentary :D

Given how wrong a simple game of telephone can go, making celebreality stars of the eye witnesses will likely make this situation worse.

Nothing short of nannycam or dashcam footage will vindicate anyone or help apportion blame/responsiblity. Even if Crowley had apolgized and this blew over, the persistent images from the incident would probablay be Gates getting caught showing his ass-color in addition to his being somehow responsible for the mean black folk that have used the internet to libel and/or harass the hapless, helpful old neighbor lady.

This situation might have resolved differently if not for that little discrimination case the SCOTUS recently heard, but we now have the perfect atmosphere for Crowley to insist he was "mistreated" because he was a white.

At the end of the day, I'm not the black sargeant or Gates, but I can appreciate them picking their respective battles as I don't have to work and live in their community.

I.Am.Spoken.Word. said...

Metric penny said,
"Believe me, he probably wanted to say something about the Bernard Monroes, but the man has patience.

All I can say is watch and learn."

you got that right.

Muzikal203 said...

Did you see the cop's interview? The first thing out of his mouth was "well I didn't vote for him"

That's nice, but that's not what they asked you. That response (the way he said it) really made me question if this guy should be teaching racial profiling classes.

As far as the "he teaches racial profiling" "defense" goes, to me that's just like an obvious racist (like a Pat Buchanan) trying to say they aren't racist because they have "black friends" and then having someone like Ron Christie come back him up.

I'm really over the non-troversy that is Obama calling what the police did acting "stupidly." Hell, that's what they did. Personally, I'd like to see more of the straight up truth telling Obama than we get to see as opposed to the parsing one we normally get.

Lola Gets said...

I was glad to see Obama talking about it, using whatever words he wished to! Id love to hear his "driving while Black" stories too, cause I know hes got some!

Going back to that tale of the hospital who admitted their mistakes and lowered their operating costs...if people apologized more, acknowledged their wrongs and tried to make things right, perhaps folks would be less pissed off! Waddaya think? Am I crazy here??

L

Anonymous said...

look the bottom line is gates didn't obey the popo. "Failed to obey the Lawful Command of a Peace Officer" <-right fn?

gates is suppose to be this smart MF? lets see if i got this right gate's front door was damaged and he had been out of town. lady next doors sees two people jack'in with the front door black/white/hispanic whatever she was trying to help out a neighbor ....now she a along with all the popos (even the black one) are all racist?

if the truth comes out (i'm sure there's an audio recording you know how those sneaky popo are)you'll hear gates acting a fool hell he's prob heard it and thats why he's not wanting to pursue anything)

the freaking hilarious thing is now gate's good friend barry is turning into a feral case!!!

gates and barry both screwed the pooch on this one LOLOLOLO

brohammas said...

In light of that video of the cop in Philly putting his hand at the throat and gun to the face of the little blonde girl at the gas station, maybe race wasn't the cops issue with Gates....
Maybe it was just a case of a cop being a cop.
I know cops get shot her in Philthy but the boys in blue aren't really holding the high ground these days.
In a post racial America cops have the right to abuse...er protect us all.

rikyrah said...

you are hilarious. The President was on point, FN. you know it. I know it. Cracks me up.

mesha said...

One thing people forgot why did the reporter ask Pres Obama a race profiling question at Health insurance coverage..

Because Pres Obama wanted him too....Pres Obama dont give 2 shit about the racist cop or his family.

Keep Pres in the news coverage, give CNN, Fox, ABC, and NBC to discuss.. Number 1 headline, Pres call the cracker stupid..because he was..

Now all those Cambridge white folks are distanting themselves from the cop, even his own Commander is now regrouping about advance investigating in this matter.

The cop is done for..Maybe he will get a consulting job on Fox...with the rest of Palin friends or Joe the Plumber.

Pres Obama is chess man..2 or 3 steps arest of us. This shall go away in a couple of days but the white cop will be laugh at for a lifetime.

Do worry about being reelected Obama.. who cares about the polls. These white folks know that US is bankrupt and China, Jap, Dubai, India, and Middle East will pull in the money plug real soon..Blacks are use to being broke, that why they (white folks) voted for Pres Obama..who wanted to listen to white man after all the hell the last one put us thru. we will survive.


Go Pres Obama..it time to wake up..

grinder said...

One thing people forgot why did the reporter ask Pres Obama a race profiling question at Health insurance coverage

Maybe because it's a free press and they get to ask him whatever the hell they feel like asking him?

Anonymous said...

Screw the poll numbers...Obama is president until his term ends. What is really bothering some in the racist White media is the fact Obama doesn't give a shit....lamo
This reminds me of the time they tried to destroy him with Rev. Wright, clinging to guns comment etc... You name it these freaks have tried it all on Obama. Yet, he still became President and will stay commander and Chief until 2012...lol
So, deal with it racist...

grinder said...

if people apologized more, acknowledged their wrongs and tried to make things right, perhaps folks would be less pissed off! Waddaya think? Am I crazy here?

You're not crazy at all, at least not to me. This is something I have thought for years now. We need to hear a lot more often the magic words, "I was wrong, and I am sorry." One way or the other, the situation in Cambridge cries out for someone to speak those words.

Maybe both of them need to say it. The officer should apologize for arresting Gates, and maybe Gates needs to apologize for being a jerk to the officer. Wouldn't that be a stunning sight -- adults stepping up to the plate to set an example for youth?

Nah, it'll never happen. Too easy for everyone to shout at each other.

mesha said...

Maybe because it's a free press and they get to ask him whatever the hell they feel like asking him?

Now grinder, u are also being stupid...

Nothing free in this country..Free press my ass..everybody has a price.

Do u live in Amerikkka..do u think u are free?

Look around, u are being monitor.

Anonymous said...

What comes to my mind surrounding the President’s response to Mr. Gate’s arrest:
Is the biblical character ESTHER. A very short history reveals that Esther was a Jew who married King Ahasuerus. Her uncle was Mordecai. Queen Esther continued to be obedient to her uncle Mordecai causing her to conceal her race.
After Haman was appointed Prime Minister, he had his pride offended by Mordecai, causing him to devise a plan to kill all of the Jews in the kingdom, and to secure the King’s approval for the destruction 3:1-15. Esther heard of the king’s edict, but did not want to confront the king as Mordecai requested for fear of her life 4:4-12. When Mordecai rejected Esther’s excuse he reminded her of who she was (a Jew) and of God’s sovereignty in placing her as queen, she agreed to go to the king while Mordecai and others prayed 4:13-17.
Professor Gate’s circumstance brought the President back to reality; Yes he live in the White House, he has what appears to be unlimited resources; however, He realize he is STILL A BLACK-MAN. Just like Esther could not run from her Jewish heritage nor can President Obama run from being the First Black President.

GrannyStandingforTruth said...

Maybe, it's the "I'll speak with ya momma" comment.

How many educated black men will say that to a police officer?

Does anyone know of any burglars that use taxi cab and have the cab driver's car waiting outside until they break in?

If the woman saw two black men, why didn't she see the cab sitting out front? Cabs have markings on the side of them stating the company. How did she miss the cab sitting in front of the house?

Bob said...

The Iraq War is stupid. Authorizing torture is stupid. Letting Bernie Madoff pull off what he did is stupid. A vice president shooting his pal in the face is stupid. What Bush & Cheney got away made American look plenty stupid. & because Obama calls a police action stupid, his health care reform must be stupid, too.

Anonymous said...

I.Am.Spoken.Word:

I too, raised my eyebrows at the way in which the cop expressed his refusal to apologize. He should have spoken of doing his duty as briefly and emphatically as possible, mentioning that he has the support of the Police Association, or whatever. That preamble about "certainty" sounds both unnecessarily defiant or cocky and highly unprofessional.

This statement by Sgt. Crowley just doesn't sound very reassuring. He should be very careful in situations where, unfortunately, yet understandably, one must anticipate reactions like Prof. Gates'.

I.Am.Spoken.Word. said...

Grinder Said: "You're not crazy at all, at least not to me. This is something I have thought for years now. We need to hear a lot more often the magic words, "I was wrong, and I am sorry." One way or the other, the situation in Cambridge cries out for someone to speak those words.

Maybe both of them need to say it. The officer should apologize for arresting Gates, and maybe Gates needs to apologize for being a jerk to the officer. Wouldn't that be a stunning sight -- adults stepping up to the plate to set an example for youth?

Nah, it'll never happen. Too easy for everyone to shout at each other."

amen. one can only hope...

kid said...

why was a film crew outside of Dr.Gates home?Can you say set-up boys and girls.

Lady M said...

I really hate all this "reverse discrimination" crap going down. Rush Limbaugh's talk show is garbage.

GrannyStandingforTruth said...

Kid:

You know, that thought had occurred to me too. Who called them for them to be there just in time to take a picture of him coming out of his door in handcuffs?

Why would a reporter ask President Obama a question about Gates arrest during a health care press conference?

grinder said...

why was a film crew outside of Dr.Gates home?Can you say set-up boys and girls.

I wasn't aware of any film crew there. What's that all about??

GrannyStandingforTruth said...

There are several things that have brought question marks to my mind.

The cab drivers car parked out front.

The camera men there to take his picture just as he comes out handcuffed.

Exactly, how long were the police there?

The remark that Gates was supposed to have made to the cop, "the momma" comment. All black folks don't talk alike. They have different terminology that matches their social status or environment.

Anonymous said...

The only irony here is that this Kneegrow, who teaches racism for a living, decided to pull the "racial profiling" card on the ONE GUY who it absolutely wouldn't work on... the guy who teaches other cops to treat Kneegrows like everyone else.

Now that is irony.

GrannyStandingforTruth said...

No the irony here is that a woman saw an elderly man with a CANE breaking into his own house, with a taxi cab sitting out front. The other irony is that after were able to open the front door, the cab driver went back to the car and got the luggage out and carried it into the house. How did the woman standing across the street who made the call, miss all of that? The woman who made the call just happens to do fundraising for Harvard and works in the Harvard Magazine Department.

This is straight up BS and is starting to sound like s setup.

GrannyStandingforTruth said...

One more thing, the cop claims that Gates was on the phone asking what was the Chiefs name. Gates said he was on the telephone with the Real Estate Company.

Anonymous said...

I'm with Granny and others in this thread. Set up!

And if what we saw was Black Barry the other night, this country needs more of it. When was the last time we had a President with a back bone?

Doc L said...

I guess neighbors in A-merry-ca don't know each other any more. If she was his neighbor, why didn't she recognize it was he who was trying to get into his own house.

So Crowley teaches on racial profiling. That somehow gives him credibility? Hitler was vegetarian too? And the only black on the highest court never rules for us. Prolifers somehow don't see the hypocrisy of being pro-death penalty.

Gates probably did pop off. But who wouldn't. Crowley baited him outside because he knew he couldn't arrest him for that charge in his own home.

And why didn't the brotha cop there run interference--for either of them. He could have remained "blue" without abandoning "black".

The President knew the question was coming. It wasn't the last one by accident.

grinder said...

What's this about a film crew? Does anyone have a link that mentions this? Who did this film crew work for, and who called them there?

By the way, in Gates's account, he found the front door jammed, and went around to the back and let himself in. The front door was jammed from both directions, and the driver came up onto the porch and was trying to force it from the outside while Gates was inside working on the door from there.

So, at least from what I read, no one called 911 because a man with a cane was breaking into the house. I believe someone called 911 because the driver, who was big, was seen trying to force the door after another man (Gates) had gone around back.

There had been daytime breakins in that neighborhood, and the caller to the police evidently thought this was another one.

Ernesto said...

It's interesting to note that most white folks will always defend the white cop in these situations. It seems they have a stake in this, namely that they see cops as protecting their property from...you know who.

grinder said...

If she was his neighbor, why didn't she recognize it was he who was trying to get into his own house

According to this article, the caller to the police was someone who works at Harvard Magazine, which has an office on Gates's street. I used to live in Boston and occasionally went over to the Harvard area for one thing or another, and from the stories I'm thinking that Gates's place must be close to Harvard Yard in the area where there university-owned historic houses, some of which are residences and others of which house university-related offices.

If that's the case, then the caller wouldn't have been a "neighbor" but someone who works in the neighborhood. I don't think it's reasonable to expect that she ought to have known Gates on sight. He's well-known, but he's not exactly a celebrity. Or at least he wasn't.

I don't think there's any evidence (yet, anyway) to suggest that the 911 call was shifty. I think it was what it was portrayed to be: a prowler call. Even Gates himself has said as much.

grinder said...

It's interesting to note that most white folks will always defend the white cop in these situations. It seems they have a stake in this, namely that they see cops as protecting their property from...you know who.

It's just as interesting to see that most black folks will automatically hang any white cop involved in a dispute with a black person out to dry.

Now, how about breaking the pattern? I'm as white as they get, and I've already said that I don't think the cop should have arrested Gates. Have you questioned Gates's behavior, or are you just jerking your knee because it makes you feel good?

GrannyStandingforTruth said...

Is there such a thing as an unmarked taxi cab? Nope!

After they got the door opened, the taxi cab driver went back to the car and got the luggage out and carried it into the house.

From the time they were trying to force the door open up until the driver went and got the luggage out, the taxi cab was sitting parked in front of the house.

Never heard of a burglar catching a cab to commit a burglary, while the cab waited outside in the broad open daylight too, come on now.

This happened in the broad open daylight.

The woman with the cell phone was standing outside across the street.

Even if she was peeping from behind her curtains, how did she miss a taxi cab sitting in front of the house? But she saw two men breaking into the house. She didn't miss two men, because when she called in, she said two men.

Gates is an older man uses a cane and limps because one leg or foot is shorter than the other, and had foot surgery.

The woman works for the Harvard Magazine, you mean to tell me they've never did a story on Gates being that he has been awarded several awards at the University? In addition, she is a fundraiser for the University.

Gates had to walk to the back of his house to unlock the back door and turn off the burglar alarm. She didn't notice him limping and with a cane.

How many burglars walk with a limp and cane. A burglar would have to be in shape enough to run if things went bad. A man on a cane with whose had hip surgery would not be an ideal burglar, especially, a black man who would stand out like a sore thumb in a predominantly white neighborhood.

The cameras there just in time to take a picture of him coming off the porch with handcuffs on.

The "Ya momma" comment not a term an educated black man would use, especially, a scholar, because that type of language is ignorant to them.

Too many things not adding up, I'm sorry, but this was a setup.

President Obama was a lawyer and people seem to forget that. He went to law school too, graduated cum lum, he had a position at Harvard over I forgot what they called it, and he taught law. He should know something about BS when he hears it as any lawyer should and probably why he didn't back down from his statement.

Why is it that some whites feel that he shouldn't speak up for his own people? That he is less than a President if he says or does anything for his own people? I thought this was a "post racial" America. Smh! People are so full of it. Shaking and faking!

grinder said...

Is there such a thing as an unmarked taxi cab? Nope!

Au contraire, Granny. In his interview with his magazine, Gates said that he used his usual car service to come from the airport to Harvard. Car services are not taxicabs, and they do not carry markings. When I lived in Boston I used car services all the time for work. Unmarked.

The woman works for the Harvard Magazine, you mean to tell me they've never did a story on Gates being that he has been awarded several awards at the University? In addition, she is a fundraiser for the University.

Harvard is a big university with a lot of famous professors.

The cameras there just in time to take a picture of him coming off the porch with handcuffs on.

What is this about the cameras?! I am not doubting you. I just haven't heard of it until now. Whose cameras, and who called them?

grinder said...

p.s.: The difference between a car service and a taxi is that car services don't cruise for fares. The vast majority of car service trips are to and from airports and sometimes train stations, or between corporate offices.

My guess -- and it's only that -- is that Gates used Boston Coach, which is the premier car service in Boston. They are owned by Fidelity, the big mutual fund company. The bigwigs and medium-wigs in town use Boston Coach. I was a medium-wig.

kid said...

GrannyStandingforTruth said...

Kid:

You know, that thought had occurred to me too. Who called them for them to be there just in time to take a picture of him coming out of his door in handcuffs?

Why would a reporter ask President Obama a question about Gates arrest during a health care press conference?

1:00 AM
______________________________
Granny about the question at the press conference, that was planned.Remember he can't mention race.Just like he called on the reporter from Cleveland and ask him about health care. He knew he was coming to Cleveland the next day.

right wing radio pundits are saying that the President is trying to cause a riot.Yea right.

GrannyStandingforTruth said...

Grinder:

Have you ever experienced being black in America before? Your a white male, so naturally you haven't and wouldn't understand why black people don't trust the police. Ask StillaPanther to explain it to you. I bet you he could tell you some stories about why there is so much mistrust between police and black people. I could tell you a few myself, and I am a black woman. Even black police could tell you some stories about how black people are treated.

We're not trying to hang a white cop out to dry. He is hanging his self. There are quite a few problems with the whole story. Gates has impeccable reputation and every one that knows him will vouch for his character.

grinder said...

I'd like to know who took the pic. Was it a police photo?

grinder said...

Have you ever experienced being black in America before? Your a white male, so naturally you haven't and wouldn't understand why black people don't trust the police.

Okay, fuck it then. Have it your way. Black people are the only ones qualified to talk about this. I'm outta here. Really. This is truly a waste of time if that's all you can say.

kid said...

this is not in Dr. Gates character to mention racism.He's actually a post racial person. Remember when Oprah was locked out of a Hermes store in Paris.Oprah doesn't mention race unless there was something racist about it.

Ernesto said...

Grinder, I think the cop would probably not have arrested a white man for doing what Gates did. Maybe the cop was, as someone else said, an equal opportunity asshole, but I think he would have taken verbal abuse from somebody white and let it slide. Why do I think this? Because I work in a security-related field and have seen enough "empirical evidence" to come to that conclusion.

But I'm also looking at more than racial issues here, I am also looking at it from a materialistic perspective. As the health care situation shows, this country places material wealth above human life, more so than just about any place on earth. Gates was in his home, and that is supposed to be a sacrosanct place in our culture. You don't invade people's homes and treat them like crap, even if you're a cop. The cop was lucky that this didn't go down in Texas or Louisiana or he might have gotten shot.

It's funny that white people aren't defending Gates from the perspective of him being arrested at his own house. That's because him being black apparently trumps their "defense of the sacred domocile" belief.

GrannyStandingforTruth said...

Grinder:

Don't tell me that you didn't see the picture of him with handcuffs. Everyone else has, they are splattered all over different newspapers and online.

Even if it was a car service, they have a certain look. The woman is not a dummy and should know what one looks like since most car services are uniformed in appearance and their drivers do wear uniforms don't they.

GrannyStandingforTruth said...

BTW, Grinder, why do white folks always seem to think that a black person when accosted by the police must not have been obeying their orders? So therefore, they had it coming.

kid said...

Grinder:

Look up Don Jackson. He was a black policeman that was stopped by the police and had his head rammed through a window.People know this because it was videotaped.People are blaming the President for racism.No one is saying anything about Limbaugh, Oreilly, Hannity or any of the other race hustlers.

Rashida said...

My reaction to Gates was *shrugs shoulders*

I KNEW the charges would be dropped. I KNEW blacks would have the usual knee-jerk reaction and play telephone all over the internet getting the fact wrongs.

SMH @ how sheepish we've become. Once upon a time we were clever and knew who and what to believe. Operating under slave codes and what not forced us to be diligent and careful. Now we run hootin' and hollerin' without knowing anything. Look at "our" President and his asinine comment. Who cares if Obama and Gates are "buddies". He should have said he doesn't know what happened therefore he can't comment on the conduct of the officers. However, he understands there is some dispute over the incident and called Professor Gates to see how he was doing blah blah blah. Leave the judging to us "regular" folk. And stop planting reporters with questions.

Gates was arrested for disorderly conduct, not "breaking into his own house". He was tired and didn't feel well after a 20 hour flight and did not feel like dealing with the police. Fair enough. But to repeatedly ask the officer for his name and badge (when he gave it to you twice) and tell him he "doesn't know who he's messing with" sounds like the behavior of someone with a chip on his shoulder. The average black man cannot pull the "don't you know who I am" card. He'd be dragged by his earlobes to the local police station. So I don't have any sympathy for a man who pulled the "class" card. Those cops don't give a damn WHO your black ass is, idiot.

This is also the man whose eyes lit up when he found out he was 56% white on his show.

Sometimes the Ivory tower negroes need to experience some good old fashioned profiling and hostility. Lest they forget about the other folks who actually have to live with the day in and day out of the prejudice they speak about at their Ivy League institutions.

Rashida said...

Also, Gates has been licking boots all over today thanking that lovely white woman for thinking he was a criminal and calling the cops on him.

He said he is going to send her flowers.

Y'all go 'head and keep feeling sorry for this dude.

Ernesto said...

"Those cops don't give a damn WHO your black ass is, idiot."

They do now.

GrannyStandingforTruth said...

Ernesto:

"It's funny that white people aren't defending Gates from the perspective of him being arrested at his own house. That's because him being black apparently trumps their "defense of the sacred domocile" belief."

Nope, and the good neighbor defense doesn't apply to black and hispanic men in America either because they should have complied with the police orders or they had it coming to them. (wink)

BTW, no 24/7 news reports or faces blasted across the screen for those folks who let a rat chew off an infants toes. They weren't black or hispanic. Lord knows if they had been that would have been the top of the news story for at least three months. Nah, I take that back, until the court of public opinion sentenced them to prison. Just a short brief story, not a whole page.

http://blog.taragana.com/n/3-adults-accused-of-letting-rats-bite-baby-girl-chew-off-her-toes-at-messy-ohio-mobile-home-116698/

GrannyStandingforTruth said...

Kid:

Nah, they not saying anything about Rush, Hannity, Beck, Bachmann, O'Reilly, Savage, or Hal Turner because this is post racial America. Black folks are playing the race card. After all, a black scholar said "ya momma". All educated black men in America use that term, it's their favorite word and all disabled elderly, cripple black men are burglars.

Rashida said...

They do now.

Uhm, no they don't. This cop has the majority of whites on his side. He refuses to apologize and the BLACK FEMALE mayor of Cambridge had to go out and lick the good professor's wounds.

Even if he is "disciplined" he will be able to make money off of this. I can see him getting paid for interviews on Fox, writing a book, filling in for Rush Limbaugh, etc. He is not going to jail for this. Let's not forget how one quick Bin Laden video or a celebrity death can wipe this thing of the radar. This is the story of THE WEEK. Let Michael Jackson's doctor be arrested for manslaughter and it will be "Crowley, who?"

Mark Sanford is somewhere laughing right now. He literally had two black men shift the focus off his affair with a tranny in Argentina.

SMH @ black people still not getting it.

GrannyStandingforTruth said...

Rashida:

Ben Laden's son was killed in a USA air strike the other day. They kept that off the radar. There has been a lot going on that has been kept of the radar.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not really into Gates because he acts like he would be more than happy to deny his blackness and that does not sit well with me at all. The "yo momma" comment is what didn't sit too well with me because it is a subtle sterotyping in the form of we all talk alike, we all look alike, we all act alike and that's not true.

Sansan said...

President Obama did not mix words when he spoke about the incident.

People forget that President Obama is a Harvard trained lawyer, who use to teach Constitutional law.

There is always three sides to a story, his side, her side, and and the truth. The truth being in the middle.

I don't believe that the officer was concerned about Gates' safety. Did he search the house after arresting Gates. Also, from the photo there were other officers present when Gates was arrested so the officer can't say it was a safety issue.

Would this incident happen the same way if it was a white person? Well, we've all seen white people lose their minds on the tv show "Cops" and not get arrested.

The answer, Probably Not.

Anonymous said...

NYT - “He was arrested after following me outside the house,” Sergeant Crowley said on the radio, “continuing the tirade even after being warned multiple times — probably a few more times than the average person would have gotten. He was cautioned in the house, ‘Calm down, lower your voice.’ ” He added, “The professor at any point in time could have resolved the issue by quieting down and/or by going back in the house.”


WTF? Only somebody white in this country could/would say with a stright face about that they "warn?" someone about their speech in their own house.

GrannyStandingforTruth said...

Rashida:

In my opinion, MSM wants to make black men the topic of news for the day, and they plan to make sure that it will be all negative too. So, that no one will pay attention to Cheney's daughter going along with the birther conspiracy. Or how Cheney is talking against Bush now. Or how the bankers have set a billions of dollars to pay their CEO's. Or how they have lobbyist and Insurance companies paying big money to derail the health care plan, or why is it that we don't see any blacks working on some of the construction projects and a whole more going on right now. Oh yeah, it's a lot going on and Granny is not missing none of it.

Rashida said...

Granny,

I believe Bin Laden's son MAY have been killed a few WEEKS ago. The pentagon said they were 80-85% sure. Certainly that is not enough to warrant a "breaking news" story. Plus, he allegedly was killed by accident, they weren't even targeting him. The Gov't is careful how they spin anything related to Bin Laden. Too much news will get folks asking "where is HE?" and "Why haven't they caught him yet?"

My point was to the commenter who said that now the police know who Gates is, as if he is some modern MLK and his arrest and the subsequent "fallout" will result in some sort of "progress" for blacks. This man went to NYC and was "living it up" in the West Village at dinner while Obama was humiliating himself on national TV on his behalf.

Gates is a fraud. A bootlicker and a buffoon. Flava Flav without the clock. I know a lot of folks think that because he is "educated" he wouldn't stoop to calling out someone's Mama. I don't agree. Folks cloaked in privilege can get "gutter" like anybody else.

He has shown repeatedly via his show on PBS and his insistence on "cultural inclusion" that he is only black for profit or convenience. Otherwise he'd be happy living in his 56% whiteness and sending his neighbors flowers.

I am not one to side with law enforcement on the regular, but Gates' actions after the arrest and his public statements sound a lot like "how dare that lowly civil servant get up in my shit, I am friends with the President."

I just wish black people would stop looking at **symbols** like Gates and run around e-fighting internet troll racists. All this rallying for someone who probably wouldn't piss on the average black person if they were on fire.

GrannyStandingforTruth said...

Anonymous 3:49:

Isn't that something, now, blacks are not allowed to be upset in their own house. Notice that he said that Gates could have resolved the issue at any time by going back into his house. But I thought he told Gates to step outside, wasn't Gates complying with him by coming outside?

GrannyStandingforTruth said...

I feel ya Rashida

Anonymous said...

So, as we use one Gates intellectual property vehicle to dissect and comment on another Gates sudden "burst" of reality check..wait! stop, did i not hear Henry Louis once talk proud and loud about this DNA testing and white ancestry not too long ago?
All of a sudden bruh wishes to be down with da folks "on da other side of town" [i need to stop listening to donny hathaway]?

Henry Louis got lucky over on the West Coast, we have an transit officer who shot and murder another younger brother in cold blood whilst he was face down on a tram platform. Henry Louis could have been rendered the same in his home since not too long a 65 year old African/mother was shot by the police in here on bedroom in the middle of the night.

The bottom line folks is after eight years of clintonism and eight more of bushism, you now have sixteen years of a culture of creating a semi fascist police state in all but name [wait until the drones of pakistan and afghanistan come state side] and in every police force in every little or big hamlet there are white supremacist elements in the ranks... do the math and figure it out and know what time is being set on the clock for all peoples of a darker hue.

Your gender, age, occupation, etc. does mean anything as the colour of your skin since the war on terror is really a war on ALL dark skin peoples.

GrannyStandingforTruth said...

One thing, I disagree with you on Rashida. President Obama did not humiliate himself on national televsion. He was open and honest and took that opportunity to say that racial profiling does happen in America.

Aren't we as black people entitled to be treated the same as any other USA citizen?

Had he been white do you think that would have happened or would it have been handled in that manner? No! It would not have. In fact, he probably would have apologized to him for the error. Instead of asking him to step outside so he could arrest him.

Ernesto said...

Rashida, of course the cop has the majority of whites on his side, but that doesn't mean he is enjoying this "bit" of publicity. Roaches don't like light and he's got ten thousand watts of it shining on him right now.

And Obama didn't "humiliate himself" he spoke obvious truths that needed to be put out there, because they aren't obvious to the oblivious audience he was in front of.

Yeah Gates is a bourgie but you notice he was quoted as saying "This is how they treat black men in america", not "this is how they treat a 44 percent black man in america"? He found religion. Or maybe it found him.

Anonymous said...

Ever watch "cops"? I believe that they would take anyone in if you don't yessir/nossir them...It's a power trip thing. Talk back to a cop and go to jail...I dont care if you're green with blue polka dots. Sometimes the cops get unlucky and hassle the wrong guy. It looks like they didn't know he was the Presidents friend.....lol

field negro said...

"Why is it that Black people are stereotyped as being angry when White people seem like the ones who are really angry these days?"

And you know what Monie, we should be angrier now more than ever. I guess we are just going to be a country full of angry folks for awhile.

LOL@ 9:44PM.

Anon 10:40PM,how could you imply that I am "wishy washy" on black Barry when I have him as my FNOTD?:)

Grinder, grinder, grinder, when will you learn? Too many black folks have been profiled, beaten, and hauled off to jail for no reason to approach this issue in the cold objective manner you want us to. It just aint gonna happen. A-merry-ca has created this monster. In situations like this we can't give that policeman the benefit of the doubt because our history won't allow us to. Sorry, that's just the way it is.

Now if it comes out that Gates was being an asshole will we be surprised? Of course not. But he still shouldn't have been dragged off to jail.


I co-sign with a lot of what Rashida & Ernesto said. But at the end of the day, I still have to ask myself this question: If Gates and his driver were white,would that woman have called the po po? And if Gates was white, would the po po have arrested him on his porch? Ask yourself that question, answer it, and then get back to me.

Hathor said...

Gates is 70 years old and when we were young, he knew if you said "yo Mama" to anyone that one must be ready to fight. Ya think he was ready to fight?

That is probably the only thing the cop could remember some other Black person saying to him.

Rashida said...

If Gates and his driver were white, would that woman have called the po po?

Of course not. She would have waved from across the street, welcoming him home from the trip. Even if the driver were black and Gates were white this would have ended "amicably".

But Gates doesn't see it that way. He sees it as a "concerned" neighbor watching his place. So if he doesn't care about racist white women trying to rob him of his civil liberties, why should I?

And if Gates was white, would the po po have arrested him on his porch

This isn't a fair question. Whites are known to react differently to law enforcement. Yes, the occasional frat boy will get gully and try to cause trouble but a swift kick to the teeth or a tase will put an end to that. So if Gates were white, he would have acted differently, probably more cooperative. "We" tend to have our blood pressure raised as soon as we see a cop - that's just how it is. Naturally, any group who feels threatened is going to react different. BUT, if a white professor acted the same way Gates did (popping off at the mouth, threatening to ruin the officer's career, etc) and then refused to calm down and technically committed an infraction by participating in "disorderly conduct"?

No, probably not. Or maybe he would have been to make a statement. IDK, arrests of white men fly so far under the radar unless it's for killing a white woman or a child. Anything "they" do that's not MAJOR rarely makes the news. I mean, a white man literally has to get violent to get any ink. SO maybe he would have been arrested but I doubt anyone would have cared. His lawyer would get him out in a hot minute, much like Skip.

But if this white Gates was friends with the President the reporter wouldn't have even asked the question so this is all moot.

Pascale J.L. said...

Even if you believe the police's version of events, since when did "mouthing off" to a cop become an arrestable offense?

Rashida said...

He was arrested for disorderly conduct which is one of those "catch all" crimes:

any act of molesting, interrupting, hindering, agitating, or arousing from a state of repose or otherwise depriving inhabitants of the peace and quiet to which they are entitled

Basically, he was disrupting the peace of his neighbors once he stepped outside. For someone so educated, he obviously didn't know that once he stepped OUTSIDE he was subject to the same laws as anyone else. This is a textbook police tactic - they ask you to step outside for a reason, not because they need fresh air!! And he didn't even NEED to step outside! He CHOSE to pick up his phone and call one of his "important" friends to "tell" on the police officer. He chose, in that moment and in his HEIGHTENED state, to flex his muscles and show the officer whose boss. His actions are demonstrative of most elites who get in trouble with the law. Granted, he didn't do anything wrong and was trying to enter his own residence, but out of his OWN mouth he said he understood the police coming to his house! So if he understood why she called, and understood why they came, why did he flip out like that? Something in the milk ain't clean.

Now this whole thing is not only a mark on HIM but Obama as well. Trust, unlike blacks, whites do not forget moments like this. This is a President who is trying to pass sweeping reform on healthcare and all anyone could talk about was him defending some entitled Harvard professor and calling the actions of a police department stupid. And trust, when Crowley has "retired" from his job, Gates will still have that mugshot floating around. Was it really worth it to him? What did he accomplish or prove? That he could be treated like any "Tyrone"? Duh, WE all knew that. Maybe he didn't, but most of us did.

Obama has enough problems. He did not need to come to the defense of Gates. There are plenty of other LEGITIMATE cases of discrimination or police misconduct he could comment on. It was STUPID to plant that question since it clearly backfired.

Whites do not care about black charges of racism anymore. We lost that card, we can keep playing it but the dealer left the black jack table on January 20th, 2009.

Anonymous said...

you said:
I knew it couldn't last, I knew that at some point the president of these divided states would have to let his guard down. It happened last night in front of a stunned white nation. Did you see that? Obama is taking sides with that black man. He is against the police. How could that be? He is the president of all the people. And to think, I voted for this guy."

i don't know why i read here anymore. i am so sick you stereotyping white people. many white people happen to agree that the arrest was unnecessarily. your comments are just ridiculous day after day...you really disappoint me.

DuchessDee said...

What Pres. Obama said was on point. It was a stupid ACT made by the police. Of course white america do not like having the mirror place in their face. Im quite sure it is a ugly old wrinkly site.

I Do Not Trust the Police! They are liars and and haters. Look at the website and blog here in Philly that the police have going.


I say a war is coming...are you ready...

MR..R said...

GrannyStandingforTruth said...
Rashida:

Ben Laden's son was killed in a USA air strike the other day. They kept that off the radar. There has been a lot going on that has been kept of the radar.

Say what??? This was breaking news on FOX,MSDNC,and CNN.

Anonymous said...

and yes i can spell; just wrote quickly.

Erin Vertreace said...

All I know is Pres. Obama didn't say anything I and probably many other Black people weren't thinking anyway. The fact that he didn't take it back is great, it lets me know that he knew what he was saying and will stand by it. Also, like many have said before in their comments, it also hit home harder for him, Gates being a friend and all. Americans, especially Whites, must understand that just because Obama is our president does not change the fact that he is a Black man and is subject to all that goes with it and is sensitive to that journey in America and what it means. If he wasn't president it could have been him being arrested outside of his home. With that in mind I can understand why he said what he said. Now can we finally let the man do his job??

Tiki said...

"I mean come on now, isn't this guy teaching classes on racial profiling kind of like O.J. teaching classes on spousal abuse? I am just saying."

Now that shit was funny!! Keep up the good work Field!!

ChickenHammer said...

Bumbling-O-bama admits he doesn't know the facts but places the fault on the white police officer and not the colored burglary suspect because that's how it really should be. Oh boy oh boy oh boy I can't wait to move back into my old house in South Central because that neighborhood has probably become really nice again too.

alicia banks said...

i say the president became only GRAY again...at best!

had he become "black again", he would have uttered the word "racism" at least once during his habitually tame reflections...

indeed, had obama EVER become black he would have LONG ago stated something similarly tame about the recent public executions of sean bell & oscar grant...

what is even more tragic than serial racist police abuses is the serial pimpings of suicidally loyal black voters who are indeed incessant "bone catchers" as they are perpetually dogged by the blackish obama/gwb 2.0...

http://uhurunews.com/story?resource_name=the-parasite-is-dying

Anonymous said...

field
man I love your commitment to the truth!
thats all

o did you know that Jim Crow-LEY gave mouth to mouth to a basketball (Reggie_____) yrs ago?

Boy you cannot make this shyt up


Gracey

uptownsteve said...

Monie,

"Why is it that Black people are stereotyped as being angry when White people seem like the ones who are really angry these days?

The Birthers, The Tea Partiers and now what the Crowley-ers?

White people are just so darned angry."

Lawd, ain't that the truth.

Some of my white colleagues are practically frothing at the mouth over the fact that Obama criticized the Cambridge cops.

To them that's showing "black favoritism" which they "knew" he would do eventually.

Rudy said...

Obama did not know all the facts. But he knew enough of the facts to draw a warranted conclusion. The cops acted stupidly.

Once the officer learned that Gates was the owner, he should have departed. But no, like a typical cop (white, high school-educated or possibly community college-educated and detests blacks), he took Gates' uppity disposition personally (can you blame him considering what he is?) and bait the man outside to escalate the matter.

In closing, if Gates is such a preeminent scholar on anything and everything African-American, why was he so taken aback by his "nigga wakeup moment"?

uptownsteve said...

"Hell if he admits that he made a bone headed arrest of an old black man, he might lose his gig teaching racial profiling to law enforcement recruits."

Not to worry Crowley.

There is always a place for you at Fox TV, the media home for public racists.

Geraldine Ferraro
Bernard McGuirk
Mark Fuhrmann

Dis black folks, get a job at Fox!

kid said...

ChickenHammer said...

Bumbling-O-bama admits he doesn't know the facts but places the fault on the white police officer and not the colored burglary suspect because that's how it really should be. Oh boy oh boy oh boy I can't wait to move back into my old house in South Central because that neighborhood has probably become really nice again too.
____________________________
OK some little racist punk want attention.If you go to this punks blog , the racist has a photo of the President dressed as Hitler. The racist little coward thinks he the next Greg Gutfield , a racist unfunny comic that's on FOX at 3 a.m. in the morning.The cowards address is below.

http://www.chickenhammer.com/

kid said...

The mayor of Cambridge apologized to Dr. Gates.That was cool for the SISTER to do that.

EcoSoulintellectual said...

he made me smile wiiiiiiddddddddeeeeeeeeeeeeee and hard! one for the home team

La♥audiobooks said...

Granny and Hathor, I hold much respect, but I don't agree regarding the "yo mamma" conclusion. Granny, I really wanted to mention this two days ago, but I held back. I'm not saying he said it or not, but I don't think the logic surrounding his circumstances that you both use to refute the claim would be withstanding. It would amaze us all to know how fast a professional individual of any race or gender can become 'street' when provoked.

Rashida, I co-sign with you on 8:09 AM, and most of what you said previous.


It amazes me how forgiving and docile some black males are towards the white female. They seem to overlook that the white female has always been the core enabler to their racial oppression as black men/black people. Racist white women are just as racist as racist white men, white women give birth and nurture white men from young. I have mentioned this in a previous thread on this blog. If you look at all the various racial fiascos surrounding black males in the media, you can always find a white female in the midst. Now Gates is openly giving this woman flowers. Some of them will never learn. They have no clue about the signals and symbolic gestures they are sending out to society that would further perpetuate their demise.

Field, will you consider changing the settings on the comment section to reflect the time as well as the date. Some of these comments are going down in history.

Anonymous said...

You may want to rent the Japanese classic "Rashomon". A young woman is raped, and the same crime is told from 3 perspectives - none of which seem to tell the same story.

There definitely seems to be a class element at play here. Gates seems ticked that the most prominent black professor in the U.S. is subject to the same treatment as the black guy who delivers mail.

Growing up, one of my friend's dad worked at Riker's Island prison in NY. He was not a cop, but was a member of the Policeman Benevolent Association. My friend carried a little PBA pin in his wallet that could get him special consideration if he got a ticket. But, one day when he was pulled over, he made the mistake of getting out his car before the cop walked up to it. The cop immediately pulled a gun on my friend and yelled at him to get back in the car. When he told this story to his dad, his dad was angry - at HIM! "What the hell were you thinking getting out of the car?!" It was one of the earliest lessons we learned, don't talk back to cops. If they mess up, get all the details, and clean it up afterwards. That Gates did not learn this lesson suggests that he has lived a clositered life.

- KXB

Lisa J said...

See the dept issued an apology of sorts and Crowley just shot himself in the foot for saying he wouldn't apologize. Seriously, if he kept his mouth shut and said he had no comment and didn't apologize that would have been one thing, but by saying he won't apologize, he is putting the dept in a bad light. He might have gotten a slap on the wrist but now, he may not get get fired but he will get a MUCH HARDER slap. This just shows that he has poor judgement across the board. I hope he loses his badge just b/c of all of the other fools who mistreat black folks it would be good to see one go down, even if it is sort of as a scapegoat. I hope he gets a serious dressing down. Cocky SOB.

And I give Obama a high-five for what he said, especially about getting shot if he tried to break into the White House. I'm tired of some of these white folks with their back the cops at all costs mentality. I even saw a classmate from HS sign up for a support Jim Crowley group on facebook. Made me want to puke but I don't feel like getting into a fight with another white acquaintence over racial issues. Lots of folks are working my nerves thought.

foxyroxy said...

Harvard Professor can't open his own front door...Says it all really.

Farley said...

It seems to have all started when some white woman took the appearance of two well dressed black men trying to get a door open as burglars.

That took a lot of assuming on her part.

Not only that, she reported seeing things that weren't there, such as backpacks and "large" black men.

She should be the one apologizing.

MR.R said...

uptownsteve said...
"Hell if he admits that he made a bone headed arrest of an old black man, he might lose his gig teaching racial profiling to law enforcement recruits."

Not to worry Crowley.

There is always a place for you at Fox TV, the media home for public racists.

Geraldine Ferraro
Bernard McGuirk
Mark Fuhrmann



If theres no place at FOX NEWS theres always a home in the party of racist,that be the Democrat party.Democrats love for racist to run on their ticket.

Anonymous said...

"Mr. Obama’s use of the bully pulpit of the presidency, and his choice of verbiage on a matter about which he admits he does not have all the facts, is unbelievable."


David J. Holway
IBPO National President
July 23, 2009

Obama looks like a complete fool.

ch555x said...

"SMH @ how sheepish we've become. Once upon a time we were clever and knew who and what to believe. Operating under slave codes and what not forced us to be diligent and careful. Now we run hootin' and hollerin' without knowing anything."-Rashida

It's like you took the thoughts I had and put them into coherent words. Kudos sent...

Constructive Feedback said...

Filled Negro:

You know that I monitor your blog as a key reference for 2 things:

1) What is on the mind of the BQPFRC

2) How many people in the City of Brotherly Love have 'lost their damned minds' and thus have run up the Murder Count in this fair city

I am curious about one thing, Filled Negro. There was a bevy of officials arrested the other day in the neighboring state of New Jersey.

I realize that an unfaithful Republican Governor or Senator is far more tasty red meat to you per your agenda.

I am wondering if you plan to provide any analysis of the big corruption scandal in NJ?

(Yes at least one Republican was arrested. This is not my point though. It is YOU who affirmatively claims that one party is corrupt. I am only asking if you plan to cover "political corruption" or only "Republican political corruption". Hell even if you only focused on the Republican guy who got busted I would be appeased, at least you are talking about this situation that is so close)

uptownsteve said...

Mr. R.

"If theres no place at FOX NEWS theres always a home in the party of racist,that be the Democrat party.Democrats love for racist to run on their ticket."

I think I asked you this before.

Can you name a black Republican elected official?

Anonymous said...

LOL I didn't know Y'all really say stuff like "YO MAMA"... Dont tell me Y'all really like fried chicken, watermelon, and loose fitting shoes too...

Too bad Mr. PhD Genius just gave the Greenlight for anyone to break into his Crib...no way the Cops will come within a mile of the place....

Frank

uptownsteve said...

Constructive Feedback

Can you take your lips off a white ass for one second????

Anonymous said...

You do not always need to know ALL the facts to make a reasonable conclusion, all you need are the critical facts.

The critical facts here are:
1. Both sides agree that at some point in the exchange Dr. Gates was able to establish through identification that he was the owner/resident of the home.
2. The Cambridge police department after looking at ALL the facts decided to drop the charges.

Based on the above I am not sure what the officer is trying to establish. Unless he is trying to say that even though he was wrong he was reasonably wrong!

MR.R said...

Can you name a black Republican elected official?


Representative Melvin Everson

Anonymous said...

Obama explained to an ABC reporter why he does not like to use the word victory:

"I'm always worried about using the word 'victory,' because, you know, it invokes this notion of Emperor Hirohito coming down and signing a surrender to MacArthur," Obama told ABC News.


And Yet Obama claims to be a student of history.

tjwash said...

Hey Field...not to crack-wise or anything about this, but if you want a good laugh, go check out some of the lib-bloggers about this whole thing, most notably the white lib-bloggers.
.
It never fails to crack me up, that when a situation such as this pops up, there is always a huge, vocal, white-liberal contingent that will actually go out of their way to push aside all the black folks so they can preach to them them about how horrible this whole thing is, and to "shut up; this is how you SHOULD feel!"
.
Well...that and the constant referring to Gates as "someone of his age" by a lot of folks, when he's younger than I am. ;)

uptownsteve said...

"Representative Melvin Everson"

Who the hell is that?

uptownsteve said...

"It never fails to crack me up, that when a situation such as this pops up, there is always a huge, vocal, white-liberal contingent that will actually go out of their way to push aside all the black folks so they can preach to them them about how horrible this whole thing is, and to "shut up; this is how you SHOULD feel!""

For example?

Because the righties at Frontpagemag and Freerepublic have actually twisted the Gates/Cambridge incident into an "assault on white authority."

Anonymous said...

This story has matasisized to another dimension. Have been meaning to point out that the police report which was available online and even several links in this post helped people find it pointed out the Dr. Gates is 58 and not 70 as grinder and someone else had stated here.
This reminds me of the very old game of telephone where someone whispers a story in a circle of friends and by the time it makes the circle becomes a different story entirely. It now seems that the month of August may be dominated by this story, ugh! Hopefully cooler heads on both sides will prevail. Enough already. Peace
No wonder the world is so much trouble.
aloha nui loa
from Maui
Makaii

southernsepia said...

Field, what have you got against the Prez? He obviously knew what he was doing when he made that statement. He didn't have to, but he saw an opportunity to engage the county in a racial dialog and he took it. I am usually with you but for some reason you seem to resent Obama. He is not the President of the Black United States - he is the Black United States president. As such he plays it just about right, keep your eye on the big picture, but never run from who you are.

Claudia said...

I wish the pd would just hurry up and release the audio so the chips can fall where they may.

Jesse Jackson survived his recorded nut-cracking musings and surely nothing Gates said could be as bad or embarrasing as that.

Anonymous said...

GRINDER... THERE WAS NO FILM CREW. THE LADY WHO CALLED 911 TOOK A PICTURE OF GATES AS HE WAS BEING ARRESTED, THAT'S IT.

GRANNY... THERE IS A SUCH THING AS AN UNMARKED TAXI. IT WASN'T A TAXI PER SAY, IT WAS A REGULAR UNMARKED BLACK SEDAN, NOT A YELLOW CAB. THEY'RE CALLED AIRPORT SHUTTLE SERVICES.

grinder said...

Don't tell me that you didn't see the picture of him with handcuffs. Everyone else has, they are splattered all over different newspapers and online.

I had not seen the picture until it was mentioned here and I looked it up. I have been very busy the last few days and was checking just about everything on the Internet only.

In any case, I am still really curious about who took the picture and why. Was there a video crew there, or was there just the one still photo? If it was just the one pic, maybe the cops took it and it was part of their report. If there was a video crew, the plot indeed thickens.

As for the reality of profiling, god damn it, don't cast me as the defender of everything the police do. It's true that I'm inclined to support them, but I don't do it blindly. In the case of the Gates arrest, how many times must I write that I don't think he should have been arrested? Do I have to boldface it and put it in capital letters before anyone here will notice that?

The question left in my mind is how bad the cop's error was. To determine that, I think it's not just "fair to the poor white cop," but necessary for all concerned, to look at all of the circumstances involved, including Gates's behavior that night.

The two stories are sharply at odds. Field and others automatically believe Gates. I am actually, any appearances to the contrary, inclined to believe him too, although I am also inclined to think that he might have been insulting and arrogant. (Which, for the fifth time, is not something I believe is an offense worthy of being arrested.)

In any case, I very rarely put all my eggs in one basket in general, and am exceedingly reluctant to do so in this case without more examination of the discrepancies in the two stories.

There were witnesses to this event. They should be interviewed, and the results should be made known. You can all blame my evil white father for effectively teaching me a couple of things: "Never assume anything," and "Never say never." I really try to live up to that wise advice in many areas of life. Like anyone, I fall short. But I do try.

What offended me here, and still does, is the accusation that by wanting to know more about the circumstances so I can make a better evaluation of just how wrong the cop was, and why, I am blind to racism or that I approve of it.

You know, I give a lot of opinions here. I try to base them on facts, but sometimes I fall short. But all those opinions, even when occasionally not well-founded, are sincere. I've never lied to you about what I think. So, on the several occasions when I have joined in condemning racism, including that committed by white police officers, I was sincere.

In this case, I need to know more about what happened before I'm going to equate the Cambridge cop with the white highway patrolmen in Texas who put a choke hold on a black paramedic on the way to the hospital. The fact that both cases involved white cops and black citizens does not make them the same. Not to me, anyway.

grinder said...

Grinder, I think the cop would probably not have arrested a white man for doing what Gates did. Maybe the cop was, as someone else said, an equal opportunity asshole, but I think he would have taken verbal abuse from somebody white and let it slide. Why do I think this? Because I work in a security-related field and have seen enough "empirical evidence" to come to that conclusion.

This might be true, and I can't blame you for thinking the way you do. "Where we stand depends on where we sit." But then, I sit in a certain place, too, and I can't imagine yelling at a cop.

I've had a few dealings with cops. The farthest I've ever gone was to tell one who pulled me over for speeding that the radar reading was absurd. And when I drove away with the $91 ticket, I kicked myself for being stupid enough to give the cop enough respect to argue with what was a lie.

A few months ago, I had to break into my own house because I'd locked myself out. No one called the cops; the only neighbor who could've seen me break in was at work. If the cops had been called, my reaction would've been, "Wow! You guys are good! Thanks!" I wouldn't have been refusing to show I.D. and demanding a badge number, etc. etc.

But, once again, I'd really like to know what the witnesses saw. Gates said he wasn't yelling at anyone and couldn't have done so because he had bronchitis, and the cop says Gates could be heard from the sidewalk. One of those stories is true, and one of them is not. Before I hop on the bandwagon that wants to call this cop a modern-day Bull Connor, I want to hear from the others who were there.

field negro said...

"Even if you believe the police's version of events, since when did "mouthing off" to a cop become an arrestable offense?"


Pascale, out here on the mean streets, it always is. I defend people for just that all the time.

Not so fast Lisa J, the Cambridge PD just had a huge press conference and your boy Crowley was the star. He might be mayor of Cambridge soon. :)

"i don't know why i read here anymore. i am so sick you stereotyping white people.."

Anon. you are right, I am going to stop. *fingers crossed*

southernsepia, you can't be serious. As much love as I show your boy on this blog? Come on, lay off the O-Aid for a minute. For a real O man basher see Alicia Banks. Now that is where you shoud focus your rant. :)

grinder said...

GRINDER... THERE WAS NO FILM CREW. THE LADY WHO CALLED 911 TOOK A PICTURE OF GATES AS HE WAS BEING ARRESTED, THAT'S IT.

Thanks for the answer. I hadn't read it before asking about it again.

alicia banks said...

fn:

see how your gray boy obama/gwb 2.0 & euro skip are both getting whiter by the second?

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/07/24/obama-addresses-gates-rem_n_244518.html

when this is all over, the allegedly white racist cop will be blacker than both "bros" combined!

shame!!!

GrannyStandingforTruth said...

Rashida:

You were right.

Grinder:

I am not accusing you of being a defender of profiling. I understand that you've never experienced what black people have been through or go through on a daily basis; therefore, you wouldn't understand why blacks have such mistrust for the police as much as they do.

One of my sons is in law enforcement, plainclothes, and I worry about him on a daily basis when I hear stories like the one in Harlem. I have sons, grandsons, and I worry about them as well not because they get into trouble, because none of them are those type of kids. I worry about them because they are black and things like driving while black, walking while black, just for being black and being confronted by some racisit jerk on the police force.
Lately, I even worry about my daughters and granddaughters because they are black. I know that there are some good cops on the police force. I've met some of them, personally, at a few of our family events.

Nevertheless, did it ever occur to any of us that maybe, both of them could have been wrong?

BTW Mr R:

Didn't I tell you until you have something of substance to talk about, instead of immature kiddie talk, that I have nothing to talk to you about. I meant that!!!!

grinder said...

It looks like Obama is backing off of his unfortunate "stupidity" comment.

And I suspect we will be finding out more about the details of the arrest. We're going to find out whether Gates was yelling at this cop or not. Again, not that it ought to be arrestable to yell at a cop, but it does have a bearing on the motive and severity of the misjudgment(s) involved.

Oh, and by the way, I realize that as a white man I am one of the Ice People. It's what we are. As not only a lawyer, but a Philadelphia lawyer no less, I'd think that you could appreciate cold reasoning.

grinder said...

I understand that you've never experienced what black people have been through or go through on a daily basis; therefore, you wouldn't understand why blacks have such mistrust for the police as much as they do.

I have never attempted to say or imply that I've walked in your shoes. It would be phony, dishonest, and patronizing, all of which are things I seek to avoid. But if we can't have some level of understanding through discourse, then what's the point of discourse?

And do we really need a full understanding here? Whether or not blacks are suspicious of all white cops changes nothing about this incident. Either the cop is telling the truth about key facts, or Gates is. The accounts are different enough that they both cannot be true.

Again, I don't think Gates should've been arrested. My interest now, and my comments about it, go to the question of what sort of misjudgment the police made. Was it motivated by the kind of ugliness we've seen elsewhere (Louima, etc.) or was it an overreaction to be hectored and insulted by a crank, arrogant, uncooperative old professor?

I used to drive a cab in a college town, and I can attest first hand to the self-entitled nature of some professors. The vast majority of them are great people, but every now and then you get a clunker. Or, more likely, you get a good person in a sour mood. Maybe that's what happened with Gates, for all we know.

A side observation: Everyone wants respect, and when we don't get it we can get pretty irked, as I did with you last night. Well, at the risk of getting my ass flamed right out of here, I'm going to suggest that cops (not just white ones) and black men are, on average, two of the more respect-sensitive groups of people out there.

Seems to me that this whole thing might be viewed at that level. It's a cop's job not to let his sensitivity to respect lead him to misuse his authority, but cops are not robots. They make misjudgments. How bad this one was really does, at least in my mind, depend on those little details.

grinder said...

Here is a really interesting take on the arrest and aftermath.

grinder said...

And another pertinent article about the I.D. that Gates showed the cop.

Anonymous said...

Field, I nominate Jo Watkins Republican strategist for SLAVE CATCHER OF YEAR...This studip ass negro was on live TV defending Rush's comment on his Oness

LIMBAUGH: I think Obama is largely misunderstood by a lot of people. … We’re finding out that this guy’s got a chip on his shoulder. He’s angry at this country. He’s not proud of it. […]

Let’s face it, President Obama’s black, and I think he’s got a chip on his shoulder. I think there are elements in this country he doesn’t like and he never has liked. And he’s using the power of the presidency to remake the country.

NOLOVE said...

This was racist,but it was more if you pop your mouth off at a cop they will arrest you if they choose,they have that right & plenty of wiggle room thats what we need to adress,it was a bad call on the pigs behalf fueled by ill teach this uppitty nigger,whom makes more money than i a lesson.
brothers in the street know if they smart off they will get beat up & arrested,black men whom live in a white bubble dont know these simple life saving technics,they forget they are still niggers in america this cop wanted to remind Mr harvard that he was the boss.
33 1/3 king

Anonymous said...

Field, I nominate Jo Watkins Republican strategist for SLAVE CATCHER OF YEAR...This studip ass negro was on live TV defending Rush's comment on his Oness

LIMBAUGH: I think Obama is largely misunderstood by a lot of people. … We’re finding out that this guy’s got a chip on his shoulder. He’s angry at this country. He’s not proud of it. […]

Let’s face it, President Obama’s black, and I think he’s got a chip on his shoulder. I think there are elements in this country he doesn’t like and he never has liked. And he’s using the power of the presidency to remake the country.

Anonymous said...

By dropping the charges against Gates the police department has in effect admitted it was wrong and acted stupidly! Everything else (especially all the talk about we need to know what REALLY happened, or what Gates REALLY did) is a sideshow.

Anonymous said...

I think Larry Elder and Limbaugh are best friends,except I don't think Limbaugh has his head up the ass of the police like Elder does.

Rudy said...

It amazes me how forgiving and docile some black males are towards the white female. They seem to overlook that the white female has always been the core enabler to their racial oppression as black men/black people. Racist white women are just as racist as racist white men, white women give birth and nurture white men from young. I have mentioned this in a previous thread on this blog. If you look at all the various racial fiascos surrounding black males in the media, you can always find a white female in the midst. Now Gates is openly giving this woman flowers. Some of them will never learn. They have no clue about the signals and symbolic gestures they are sending out to society that would further perpetuate their demise.

As a public figure, he had to forgive. If he did not, he would have been pegged as a black man with a chip on his shoulder, instead of a man who justified to be indignant.

Sucks doesn't it? Double standards and stereotypes normally do.

Rudy said...

By dropping the charges against Gates the police department has in effect admitted it was wrong and acted stupidly! Everything else (especially all the talk about we need to know what REALLY happened, or what Gates REALLY did) is a sideshow.

Yeah, the only time cops drop charges is when there leveling were unjustified to begin with.

Anonymous said...

Sgt. Leon Lashley, a black officer who was at Gates' home with Crowley at the time of the arrest, said he supported his fellow officer's action "100 percent."

Rudy said...

Sgt. Leon Lashley, a black officer who was at Gates' home with Crowley at the time of the arrest, said he supported his fellow officer's action "100 percent."

What's your point?

MR.R said...

Pin them big ears backs,pucker them lips up and kiss the white mans ass Obama.While your tossin' dat salad never forget who got you were you are now.

Obama calls white policeman who arrested scholar

"The president said he had telephoned the white policeman who arrested Gates, and he said the conversation confirmed his belief that the officer was a good man and an outstanding officer. "

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D99L0H700&show_article=1

Anonymous said...

grinder-"I watched Obama's press conference and cringed for him when he described the Cambridge P.D.'s action as "stupid.""

Me too, grinder.

Rudy said...

He's an asskisser, huh? Had he not called Crowley, he would have been a militant black, right?

Damned is he do, damned if he doesn't.

Ernesto said...

Yeah that was predictable. Obama cannot afford to offend white folk sensibilities (however warped and twisted). This reminds me of how Isiah Thomas was forced by the NBA to apologize for honest comments about the media adulation of Larry Bird more than 20 years ago.

How far we have come as a country. (sarcasm)

Way to go Obama, now prepare for the full wrath of Alicia Banks. ;)

MR.R said...

Rudy said...
He's an asskisser, huh? Had he not called Crowley, he would have been a militant black, right?

NO!! He would have looked strong for once.

Obama took on Rush Limbaugh and lost.

Obama took on a white cop and lost.

Obam when you gonna learn dat white devil is just to strong !!!

sandra said...

Question of the year: "Will all three get together for a beer?"
Put your chips on the table.

Rudy said...

"NO!! He would have looked strong for once.

Obama took on Rush Limbaugh and lost.

Obama took on a white cop and lost.

Obam when you gonna learn dat white devil is just to strong !!!"


Since when is "puckering up" (your term) a show of strength?

True Blue Texan said...

The right wing sites are having a blast with this. Why are Obama and Gates suddenly the racists?

Field, more antics from Governor Good Hair.


http://www.star-telegram.com/804/story/1504240.html

Bear in mind that our state already has the highest uninsured rate in the nation.

grinder said...

By dropping the charges against Gates the police department has in effect admitted it was wrong and acted stupidly!

Not necessarily. A disorderly conduct charge is penny-ante. To actually prosecute it would cost Cambridge all kinds of money and hassle. That's why they dropped it.

Sgt. Leon Lashley, a black officer who was at Gates' home with Crowley at the time of the arrest, said he supported his fellow officer's action "100 percent."

There are only three explanations for that that will be broadly accepted here. One is that Lashley is a race traitor; another is that he's sticking to the cops' code of silence; another is that he's afraid to tell the truth.

It couldn't possibly be that Lashley saw and/or heard the whole thing and thinks Gates was a dickhead who deserved what he got. Nope, couldn't be. Impossible.

Anonymous said...

@grinder,
"You're not crazy at all, at least not to me. This is something I have thought for years now. We need to hear a lot more often the magic words, "I was wrong, and I am sorry." One way or the other, the situation in Cambridge cries out for someone to speak those words."

I agree 100%. But like you said, it's not going to happen. If the officer was a woman, maybe. But if the officer was a woman, the conversation would have been more civil, don't you think?

The three most difficult things for a human being to do are:

1. To send love where there is hate.
2. To defend someone when everyone else is unjustly piling on that person.
3. TO ADMIT WHEN YOU ARE WRONG.

From the comments regarding this episode from the beginning to now, I think we saw all three of the above in action. Plenty of hate, a lot of folks jumping on the cop and Gates' neighbor, and no poster admitting their errors.

So, how can you expect the officer and Gates to do it?

Anonymous said...

Thank You Field for revoking the O man's field status award. Fu**, Bush may have screwed-up the country but he acted like a man.

I'm fed-up. Had he just done what he said from the beginning and spoke honestly like he said he was going to do, I would nor be losing the respect that I losing for him. Hopefully, those black children get to come to the WH to swim before the clearly wrong cop comes for his beer. Cop wrong. Period. His conduct unlawful and our damn president is apologizing.

Astonishing!!

GrannyStandingforTruth said...

Obama did not lose with Rush, he made Rush look like the imbecile he is, just like Mr R looks like an imbecile for even making that statement. It must be in cereal he eats called the breakfast for silly azz people. He really did not lose with the cop either, he was honest enough and man enough to settle a petty matter that was drawing attention away from healthcare. That's something that Mr R would never be able to fathom because he worships a drug addict who is drugged out the majority of time on pill. A pill popping drug addict couldn't tell me nothing because his head is not clear and stays delusional 24/7. I would be shame to admit that I even followed the instructions or put any weight on anything a drug addict has to say. Gosh golly, do you let a drunk guide your thinking as well? You're more mess up in the head that I thought at first. Seriously, you need help!

Rashida said...

*hands clasped like Mr. Burns*

Looks like Obama bowed to the pressure. Gates will be apologizing to the country pretty soon. Hell, he just may purchase bouquets for all the white women in Cambridge. 1-800-FLOWERS stock is about to go up, I need to buy some. Crowley will become a commentator and "expert" on race relations and profiling. CA-CHING.

Can we finally stop leading with our bleeding hearts? This was not our "cause" to take up nor was it Obama's. White folks will check him every time he crosses that "line". He OWES them EVERYTHING and owes US nothing. He wasted the couple of scraps he has for us on an elite professor from Harvard. So, the next few incidents he will have to be silent on. He ain't stepping over to the dark side for at least another 6 - 8 months. Please check your cousins and make sure they don't get into trouble until it is safe for Obama to show out again. Hopefully there is no hurricanes or fires or unarmed African immigrant shootings in the next few months because we are on our own!

We paid a huge price by getting our "prize" and we are being taught every day that we should not forget that.

Faces in high places does nothing for the races.

cinco said...

I respected the President for speaking out. I'm not sure I respect him more for 'clarifying' and 'apologizing' or less. But he's able to be the 'bigger' person and not only be a leader but be an example of someone trying to mend race relations and create a new tone not only in the White House but across the country.

MR.R said...

"Republicans are tough on crime.
Democrats are tough on cops."

I love Charles Krauthammer

Anonymous said...

Let's be real. Gates racially profiled that cop. Maybe for good reason. Whites racially profile blacks. Definitely for good reason.

vanishing point said...

I can't believe Crowley is teaching a class on racial profiling, now that is funny.

You can't unring the bell, Crowley should have walked away after he knew that Gates was in his own home.
Even if Gates was loud or shouting, the cop should have acted in a manner that is beyond reproach, and that is why I think Obama is correct in saying he acted stupidly. Crowley is acting even more "stupidly" by not apologizing, but I guess he does want that job at Fake News after all, that probably why he refer to himself in the third person, keeps his name in the news longer.
I actually give Gates a lot of credit, after flying 15/16 hours with a broncial infection, I don't think I could have remained as composed as he was.

grinder said...

I agree 100%. But like you said, it's not going to happen. If the officer was a woman, maybe. But if the officer was a woman, the conversation would have been more civil, don't you think?

That's a good question, and I don't think we can know the answer. Here's another one: If Crowley hadn't done into the house but instead the black officer had gone in there, would Gates have behaved differently?

how can you expect the officer and Gates to do it?

I don't. I voiced my hopes, not my expectations.

The three most difficult things for a human being to do are:

1. To send love where there is hate.
2. To defend someone when everyone else is unjustly piling on that person.
3. TO ADMIT WHEN YOU ARE WRONG.


I wholeheartedly agree! I think I'd put #3 in the #2 position if we were rank ordering things, and I think I'd modify #2 to include the idea of defending someone who is not in your crowd, or the in-crowd.

Look at the people here who are going after Obama for backing off a bit. I think it's refreshing. The man isn't so invested in his own infallibility or group identity that he can't make a change. I admire anyone who can do that. It's really a noble character trait. In a politician, it's incredibly rare.

Whitney B. said...

Kid,

Thanks for the comment on the previous post. I have been bizzy today, leaving tomorrow for my house in Podunk, KY and then to see my husband in Kansas...where's Dorothy?

At any rate, I am thoroughly engrossed in the thought of establishing a Langston Hughes Honorarium, or whatever the term is. I would love to be able to facilitate inner city kids in Cleveland in that beautiful house. Please keep in touch.

wcbcwi@yahoo.com

Also, I have a blog:

swiftboatingtherepubbas.blogspot.com

I haven't posted in a while, but you can leave a message on the last blog or the one before.

Thanks, Kid!

Fondly,
Whit

My word verification is bezzazz:

Bezzass back at ya, Kid!

kid said...

MR.R said...

"Republicans are tough on crime.
Democrats are tough on cops."

I love Charles Krauthammer
________________________________
...and Dr. Strangelove (Krauthammer)is tough on wheelchairs.(I know bad Kid, but he's a racist fascist).

Whitney B:

Don't thank me thank kAthY-xyb she was the one that told me About Langston's house.I will try to get you that information.

Meezie said...

You people wear me out. This is all about the 24 hour news media and apparent lack of reporters' obligation to report actual, substantive news. President Obama wanted this ish to shut the EFF UP. He has health care to handle. This was ALWAYS about the press more than the President.

I'm pissed so many Black commentators seem only able to focus on one thing at a time. I understand how horrible racist cops are to deal with; they are the WORST. But, I think a FEW more Blacks will be far better served with the passage of universal health care coverage and a public option than they would've been had the President stood firm on his word (choice). FOCUS, dammit! Police brutality and racial profiling are serious issues; this was NOT that opportunity -- as you've now learned -- for all racist cops to be fired, the President to go all John Shaft, or the heavens open up and rain fire down on bad cops. SORRY.

bigWOWO said...

Glad you revoked Obama's FNOTD award. I really thought it would last this time, especially since there was very, very little political pressure for him to take back his strong stand.

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