Uh oh, Nobama has been gettin’ the business ever since he said those Cambridge Coppers acted STUPIDLY when they arrested the black guy in his house, for yelling. So here he is offering his unique Obamapology at today’s White House Press Briefing, saying he could have “calibrated those words differently.” Okay! Huh? It was definitely rather sloppy and STUPID of him to get involved in the case like that. Why even bother reforming health care, after this comment? [YouTube]
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{ 129 comments }
Doesn’t he know that apologizing makes America look weak? It’s like he’s not even listening to Sean Assity.
Man that pissed me off. Oh boo hoo, how terrible that the stupids got offended!
I lived through 8 years of President Retard, and I don’t remember his lyin’ Texas mouth ever apologizing for saying stupid shit, which he did every God damned day. But ho, Barack Obama, an actual smart person, says an accurate description of the incident, and he has to walk it back.
God damn I’m sick of having the country run for the benefit of its stupidest citizens.
Cue Freeper howls for impeachment and pitchfork-and-torches militia to march on Washington in 3…2…
They never told us in history class that Napoleon was actually defeated at Cambridge.
When will the man stop oppressing us whites?!
can he incentivize his calibration?
Barry should have spent the first 58 minutes of his nighttime speech thingy making fun of white cops, THEN casually mention the need to fix health care soon at the very end. That seems to be the way to get the media’s attention.
How can Obama continue to believe that the police overreacted in handcuffing Prof. Gates and taking him to the police station? After all, Gates is black!
God damn I’m sick of having the country run for the benefit of its stupidest citizens.
Very straightforward solution: Jam all AM wavelengths.
[re=370307]LittlePig[/re]: Also!!
I can just feel the health care reform inching away from reality bit by brutal bit, on the wings of stupid (STUPID!) stuff like this. I can hear the glee of little pitchfork-bearing conserva-demons as their fire-tinged laughter rings in the abyss.
Ya know, I hate to say it, but Mr. Obama is doing it wrong. If he wants to make his point on health care, don’t have a press conference in some chandelierred briefing room with brass fittings and tasseled swags. He should show up at any emergency room in downtown Baltimore at about 3am on a summer weekend night, and THEN hold a press conference about how health care is not working in America. OK, I’m done now.
[re=370307]LittlePig[/re]: By the stupids, for the stupids.
Why does anyone care about an apology from an illegal alien, who’s about to get picked up by immigration at any second?
Toad, Fapper, et al. descended into Babel-esque babbling for half an hour, or so, all while I was trying to eat my lunch. BUT IS SGT CROWLEY BEING INVITED TO THE WHITE HOUSE, OR NOT?!?! CONTESSA BREWER NEEDS TO KNOW, RIGHT NOW!
A turkey sandwich never tasted so bitter and confused.
I’m hearing the cop’s defenders and the president’s detractors saying that Obama called the cop “stupid” but he actually said that he “acted stupidly.” This is a fairly large distinction that the right is happy to erase. But hey, at least they have something that fits into their narrative about which to get all hot and bothered.
Maybe they’d let Mischa Barton out of the nuthouse if she said she should have calibrated her words about razor blades and wrists a little differently.
A black man just broke in to a white man’s press conference?!
Quick! Someone call 911!!1!
I SMELL BACON
“My lawn is bigger than your lawn” Obama.
All cops are stupid, all blacks are burglars. Tit for Tat we must now internalize.
Obama should know by now that saying anything bad about any white person for any reason whatsoever (especially if true) is reverse racism.
Can a nigga make a speech on healthcare reform without having to apologize to the man for something totally unrelated? Sheeeeeet..
The more I see of reporters acting like worthless shitsacks with our very competent preznit, the less bothered I am when Cheney or Palin declare the MainstreamMedia WashingtonElites are a bunch of worthless shitsacks.
If the cops arrested Sean Insanity for breaking into his own house after showing ID, they would have been acting stupidly too. Course that’s the kind of stupid I can live with.
At least he can invite everyone over for a beer. W was forced to invite everyone over so he could watch them drink while he got angrier and angrier and angrier. What with being a dry drunk, y’see.
Overreactions occurred. Fragile police ego collided with fragile professor ego, international event ensued. Former Illinois state legislator steps into fray, is reminded that he has a different job title now, and that a sledgehammer, even carefully applied, can be a damned tricky tool for opening a peanut. Still and all, this president guy is so thoughtful, even-tempered, intelligent and just plain decent, I cannot help but wonder how he came to be president of this crumbling empire putrescent with discontent. He must have been born someplace else, perhaps in the magic island kingdom of Sawa Iki, fabled land to the west.
Three plain, irrefutable facts help with understanding this whole brouhaha.
1) ALL people who endeavor to be cops are sadistic.
2) ALL people of African-American descent who are intellectual and endeavor to teach at Harvard are uppity and quick tempered.
3) ALL people who endeavor to be President of the USA are egomaniacs and right about everything.
We were sitting on a powder keg which has now exploded all over our tee-vees.
Obama invites Skip Gates and Sgt. Crowley to White House for talks, beer.
White House spokesman Robert Gibbs describes the planned session as “practice” for upcoming Arab-Israeli peace talks. Gibbs stated, “What could be harder than getting a white cop to admit that sometimes “contempt of cop” should just be ignored and to get a successful black man to admit that some “contempt of cop” arrests are not racially motivated? After that, peace in the Middle East is easy.”
Well, we might not get health care after all, but we HAVE had a teachable moment about race relations and whether arresting people for breaking into their own homes is worthy of being arresting. I call that an even trade off.
[re=370329]SpecialHorse[/re]: After seeing the arrogant cop talk on the teevee my unemployed but educated ass feels entitled to call him stupid. Stupid for revealing he did not vote for Obama, for making it clear he didn’t vote for That One, that he sided with the nuts and the racists and thought Sarah Palin should be anything more than a grease stain on the laundry of American history. He may not be dumb, but he is stupid, and he did arresr Gates for being black in America. If Officer Stupid wasn’t wrong in arresting Prof. Gates, why were the charges dropped so quickly?
Saying the police acted stupidly was neither smart nor accurate.
What he should have said was the police were fucking imbeciles.
That would have satified everyone.
All this hoopla over the “stupidly” comment?
I thought for sure we would be talking endlessly about the Secret Service shooting the Negro busting into the back door at the White House joke instead.
You know, when Barry’s all calm and reasonable like that, he sucks the fun right out of the room.
[re=370325]RushLickBall[/re]: Our new motto!
[re=370318]ShortShadey[/re]: And a fucking cripple. God-damn, I do hate them uppity gimps.
[re=370321]snideinplainsight[/re]: WIN! Brilliant idea, except that it goes against the whole “no drama Obama” thing, but I think we can put that aside for something this important, no?
Also, I must agree that Mr. Obama has far more important things on his plate that getting tripped up in that Gates clusterfuck – he’s got THE SOCIALIST PROGRAM to advance, people!
You gotta have a bunch of jackbooted thuggish imbecile dullards in gaudy fascist uniforms as your friends these days.
Look what happened to El Presidente of El Salvador.
Barry’s learning fast.
I don’t know about any of y’all, but I don’t want to be defended by a cop that demands an apology for getting his feelings hurt. Fucking pansy. Walk it off!
That said, I think my utter dislike for cops (and all authority, really) is starting to show. I can’t even pass a Chicago cop without wanting to flip the bird, and I’ve never been pulled over by them. It’s based purely on the behavior of turning on their lights and sirens just to get through a busy intersection. Show me an honest cop, and I will show you the end of times.
Arresting a guy on his own property for acting ‘uppity’ is acting stupid. FUCK THE PIGS!
[re=370359]WhatTheHeck[/re]: Is that why the ‘outro’ music to this presser was NWA’s “Fuck Tha Police”?
[re=370359]WhatTheHeck[/re]: Is that why the ‘outro’ music to this presser was NWA’s “Fuck Tha Police”?
[re=370372]SeminoleInDior[/re]: Cop Demands Apology from Obama, Claims Will ‘Never Apologize’ for Own Actions.
I’m sorry. The cop is an idiot and deserves not apology.
Here’s a teachable moment.
Quit pounding your hand on the lectern.
Man that was annoying.
I demand an apology.
[re=370321]snideinplainsight[/re]: I agree it is a brilliant idea– especially as I’m hammering through the entirety of the Wire– but I think you’re overestimating the amount of interest people have in what happens to poor black people
[re=370321]snideinplainsight[/re]: He might as well apologize for the rest of the press conference, while he’s at it.
I was mad at him for not pushing for single payer, and dissing the gays, and Gitmo still being open, and Cheney not being indicted, and the wars in Afganistan and Iraq and all that, but whenever he talks to me like an adult I just melt. He can be my boyfriend again.
[re=370350]slappypaddy[/re]: This is the best comment on the incident I have seen anywhere.
“Acted Stupidly” = “Failed to (1) draw service pistol and fire 10 rounds into center of mass; (2) drop cheap and untraceable throw-down gun near deceased perp’s hand (ideally, close of Harvard Class Ring); (3) clear story with fellow officers before IA/Officer Involved Shooting Team arrives to take statements; and (4) failed to stand said fellow officers to round of drinkies at local cop bar for having survived such a life-threatening ordeal.
(You know, a complete failure to follow LAPD processes and procedures.)
Gotcha!
Meh, it was an “apology” in the “I’m sorry if what I said was taken the wrong way by your dumb ass” way. Then President Mr. Cool proceeds to be all smoothy-overy and appropriately conciliatory in his patented, way-presidentialy manner. A shruggy-shouldered “yah, whatever” and it’s lemons-into-lemonade time. Ends up offering to make nice with everyone over beers at the White House, yet gets the “mine’s bigger than yours” dig in with that adorable twinkle in his eye. Sweet Jeezus I love this guy!
The man’s a grown up. We’re just not used to it yet.
[re=370335]AxmxZ[/re]: Hey, and both his lawn and Skip’s are rented? Coincidence?
Welcome to the office of the POTUS, Mr Obama.
[re=370348]Nappied Hypotenuse[/re]: Beer? Skip prefers Pinot Noir, s’il vous plait. Would Barry have said “beer” if Skip were white and the cop were a millionaire? Or if Skip were poor and the cop was biracial? Or if Sarah Palin just finished her last day in the government’s employ? C’mon, let’s get off Skip for a while. Yo mama already did….
when will Gates show us his birf certificate
ok so they (gates, crowley obama) all get to stroll through the rose garden sipping beers
at which point the AfterSchool Special Music fades in as the image fades to black…
That’s Entertainment!
[re=370428]Humpback[/re]: Thank you, kind person. I raise a glass to you.
[re=370375]chascates[/re]: Concur with the fucking of said swine. The side-by-side of Obama and the stupid cop on the LATimes.com home page is beyond comical. So now Obama’s statements are equivalent to the actions of an overreacting racist?
Obama has the skills of a lead singer ala Old Motown. He always brings it back to the mike. He will have good whitehouse pics of “Skip,” the cop, and the Prez. Everybody smiling and drinking together.
[re=370376]Bearbloke[/re]: I thought it was “Cop Killer?”
Wall Street
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Were we supposed to forget about Single Payer?
Gravel Kucinich Paul Nader
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The ‘Fed’
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9/11
“Acting stupidly” is when a white cop forgets to plant a bag full of dope in a black guy’s house.
But seriously, how can one man (Barry) be so classy? Is he even human?
Also, he’s just luring the cop to the white house with beer in order to enslave his stupid ass.
FFF Tha Police -
comin straight from tha underground –
cambridge professah can’t get wit it cuz he’s brown. . . .
[re=370448]blackarachnia[/re]: “as the image fades to black…” ??? BLACK? Why not whitey-white?! What are you, some kinda reverse racist?
Ugh. The second he answered that question (with what, it’s pretty obvious, he actually thinks) I thought: uh. oh.
Why why why did the silver tongued devil not use the word “unfortunate”? Or brush off it off with a smooth smile?
Oh, hell. Nobody wants to talk about health care — it’s too complicated and boring. This stuff is much more sexayer.
As a nation, we are obviously too retarded to have a smart president.
OMFG am I gettin’ a Bill Hicks moment here. I’ll paraphrase Saint Bill from his riff about the Simi Valley acquittals of LAPD Officer Coon and Officer Keepdarkydown that started the LA riots:
…and the cop’s name was Jim Crowley. Is life fucked up or what?
I eat breakfast with a bunch of old white guys….our 90 year old liberal leader, a WWII bomber pilot, suddenly came out this morning with a bunch of ” someone is going to have to back these aggressive, loudmouth black folks back down”… WTF is going on here? My new (black and very paranoid) neighbor, in our old once Polack neighborhood, doesn’t want to talk about race stuff, just keeps on saying “you know where I’m coming from…” as if it were because he’s from Delaware… I don’t have the heart to tell him I used to drop acid with Black Panthers in 1972, because they were the ONLY black folks brave enough to do that kind of thing….somebody (SOMEBODY) is going to have to start saying something other than…”well, this is a teachable moment…” Oh, yea, and single payer is the only way to have any kind of medicine we can afford…except cuba libres….
Supercalibration is semantically precocious.
[re=370476]agitpropster[/re]: amazing! yet spooky at the same time.
[re=370458]Hooray For Anything[/re]: Nah, that was Ice-T/Body Count. Totally different vibe.
[re=370311]user-of-owls[/re]: Why yes, the Battle of Waterloo was won on the yards of Harvard.
” Whether I were black or white, I think that me commenting on this and hopefully contributing to constructive — as opposed to negative — understandings about the issue, is part of my portfolio so jump up my ass”
Ok, I added that last bit.
I do love it when Barry gets all “I’m the President, bitches”.
[re=370350]slappypaddy[/re]: so you’re a birther, then?
This whole sorry incident could have been avoided if Prof. Gates had simply shown Sgt. Crowley his birth certificate.
Just like those whackoos in Waco would still be alive if they had just come out with their hands up.
From Leah Garchik’s column in the San Francisco Chronicle (July 22, 2009):
“A member of the cast of ‘Porgy and Bess’ stayed with a Pacific Heights friend during the opera’s run here. One night when the singer, an African American [duh!], was parking, a local woman emerged from her house, approached and demanded to know why she was there. She was visiting her ‘mother,’ the singer joked, employing the term she and her pal jokingly use. ‘I’m her houseguest.’
“The next night, when the singer lingered in her car making a phone call, the woman apparently summonded police, who drove up and asked what she was doing there. When she went inside and reported this to her host, the singer burst into tears. Friends and other neighbors are mortified.”
Just ask Smokey Bill Robinson – don’t mess with the SFPD. Ask Joe Morgan – don’t mess with the Huston airport police.
This isn’t news in America…
[re=370514]marioninnyc[/re]: i’m a cat in a cardboard box
[re=370486]gurukalehuru[/re]: A spoonful of sugar for you!
I dunno. Every time I see HL Gates on teevee, he’s ranting and raving and being kind of an a-hole. I suspect the cop had heard enough and finally slapped the cuffs on him. When I listened to the cop’s side of the story (and, granted it was in front of his union rep) it sounded like he did everything he could to shut this guy up, gave him more than a few warnings (and more than I as a white man would have gotten from a cop — black, white or otherwise — here in Texas). Gates didn’t even have an ID that showed it was his house! Anyone who is hollering “don’t you know who I am” and “you’ll be sorry”…well, they tend to get what they deserve.
That said, did the first African American Preznit need to weigh in? Probably, but it could have been a little more artful: “I wasn’t there. I’m sure the local authorities and Professor Gates will work through these issues…next question”. I mean, he’s not the Mayor of Cambridge (or Boston), so, ’nuff said.
When he said that the police acted stupidly in arresting Gates and refusing to backdown from the principles of that statement is proof positive that he isn’t totally devoid from the black experience as the MSM likes to propagate. I hope it isn’t too churlish to hope that Crowley’s beer is flat and warm, that asshole deserves it.
[re=370521]Tundra Grifter[/re]: And yet, had she been staying a mere 10 blocks away in my entirely respectable neighborhood, such an incident likely never would’ve happened. In fact, for over a year now, a 50-year old black man has been living in a beat-up old Chevy Suburban that’s parked 24/7 right in front of my apartment. During this time, he has never had the cops called on him (according to the last time we talked), despite the fact that he occasionally blocks our driveway, and the convalescent center next door (and park/businesses at either end of the block) means a steady stream of people visitors from other parts of the city (and tourists) walk past him 24 hours a day.
This isn’t news in America either, but not in the same way that your example isn’t news (i.e. surprising). It isn’t news, but perhaps if it were, the type of people who reduced that singer to tears (and others to much worse) would be forced to re-examine—and hopefully adjust downward—the need for, and extent of, their own prejudices.
Alright, I gotta go. The deliver boy from Pancho Villa’s just arrived, and I’m starving. That fucking spic took forever!
[re=370553]smellyal8r[/re]: I’m really glad that this episode revealed that a) many people will unquestionably take a police officer’s word over that of a citizen even though said officer has a good reason to fudge facts and cover his ass; and b) people believe the government has the power to arrest you for simply being an asshole and speaking loudly in your own home or on the porch of your home (hint, hint — they do not).
I don’t take at face value the officer’s version of events or Gate’s. I think there is truth in both of their statements. But even if I were to take the officer’s version of events at 100% face value, he still abused his authority. He still demonstrated that he lacks the professionalism and people skills to shrug off insults and walk away even though he is the one with the legal responsibility to do so. That may not trouble you, or others, but it troubles me; the fact that a cop can restrain my liberty because I was being too “annoying” troubles me. Gates could be the worse asshole that ever lived, but I will defend his first amendment right to speak out in protest if he thinks he is being mistreated, or if he just wants to mouth off. I would also defend his fourth amendment right to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures by law enforcement.
that’s just me.
[re=370317]ShaqsDong[/re]: I would have definitely tuned in to that! Multiple references to their fat white Dunkin’ Donuts bloated bellies…and I’m white. But I hate cops.
[re=370562]lawchic[/re]: “[The cop] still demonstrated that he lacks the professionalism and people skills to shrug off insults and walk away even though he is the one with the legal responsibility to do so.”
Oh, really? Tell me, “lawchic,” where is THAT proposition written down? It is somewhere next to “Black Harvard Academics Get To Act Like Assholes Without Fear Of Consequences” statute?
[And what "fourth amendment" right was implicated? Or are you throwing that in just for the fun of it? As to the First Amendment, you apparently were dozing when the exceptions for "fighting words," etc. were discussed.)
I remember a comment from the 1970s: A "Law Enforcement Liberal" is a Conservative who has not been mugged yet. I dunno if that is true, but I do know that most civilians have no idea what policing requires, and could not perform to the standards to which they try to hold law enforcement.
I was at a Shakespeare in the Park production on Saturday night (being put on by a company run by friends of mine), during which "the pigs" had to remove a drunken/demented street person at the interval. After I warned her, very politely, that if she didn't quite down, and stop using profanity in front of some kids who were seated directly in front of her, that I was going to radio it in.
The three "pigs" who showed up escorted her out, and then did a standard Field Interrogation.
As the audience was filing back in, I overheard a couple of them complaining about the poor street person being harassled. One of them comments, "Those cops don't even read Shakespeare."
I imagined the speaker being raped and strangled, slowly, by a drunken boyfriend/husband, while the responding unit stopped for donuts. And a copy of the Cliff Notes on "Henry V."
As the prep went "Once more into her breach, dear friends!"
The image amused me for the rest of the performance. Even during the stupid courtship scene in the last act, which I have never liked.
The most logical explanation, consistent with the uncontraverted facts, is that Gates acted like an asshole, despite warnings, and suffered the typical consequences. But he's happy: He now can play martyr/victim for several news cycles.
Let's hope that he doesn't plan to picket the local production of "Othello."
[What's next? The old "Why didn't they shoot the gun out of his hand" accusation? Or something more original?]
[re=370570]Neilist[/re]: The day it becomes illegal for a person to act like an asshole in their own house, is the day we might as well burn our collective houses down.
Police officers: I’m sympatico with much of what you say, but the bottom line is that in this case, the arresting officer knew almost immediately that Gates was the lawful resident of that house and that there was no B&E in progress. Who cares if Gates was yelling at him—it should’ve gotten harder to hear by the second as he walked back to his patrol car. By remaining in the room and trying to get Gates to come out on the porch to construct a more solid arrest scenario (“public nuisance + disorderly conduct” vs. “loud and tumultuous behavior”), he escalated the situation. Police are trained and paid to de-escalate the situation. Most cops are amazing at doing so, and I strongly believe that it’s the most important tool in their arsenal. When they lack that tool…well, that lists is rather long.
Gates: Very likely did act like an asshole, though hardly without reason. However, he was in his own home, so unless he was threatening or perpetrating physical violence on the police officers or himself, they should’ve allowed him to act like an asshole all by his lonesome. Also regarding the whole “play martyr/victim” comment, who have you seen on TV the most the last three days: Gates and his lawyers and official Harvard faculty representative, or Crowley and his lawyers and the police union reps and their lawyers?
Plenty of nails & wood to go around. Though something tells me that the conservatives will end-up hogging most of it.
When I initially heard of all this, my reaction as a socialist commie was, “DAMN RACIST COPS!” But I have to admit, the more I learn about it, and turn it over it my mind, the more my thinking falls roughly in line with smellyal8r and Neilist’s comments.
That being said, if Gates really was arrested just for being an uncooperative asshole, it raises the question of when that is appropriate. Neilist, your story, while amusing, doesn’t seem exactly equivalent to the few things we know about the Crowley/Gates incident. The police clearly acted appropriately there, since citizens have a right to be able to enjoy their play in peace and without vulgar disruptions. But you were in public, and not in a private residence. Did Crowley suspect that Gates was lying, that he wasn’t really a homeowner who had come home to a stuck door? If so, he had good reason not to just leave. However if, as has been reported, Crowley wanted to search the house to make sure no one ELSE was there, that seems a little odd to me. After all, if he accepts that gates is the homeowner, then it logically follows that he ought to accept his explanation of the call — namely, that he had to force his way in because the door was swollen shut. This would seem to preclude any need to search the house.
Anyways, I haven’t made up my mind yet, but I’m definitely leaning toward the “asshole” narrative and not the “racism” one. Should be interesting as we (hopefully) get more information in the days to come.
[re=370580]Extemporanus[/re]: Good take on the situation. The facts of the case are pretty simple.
The officer responded to a call that turned out to be bogus.
A good cop lets the story end there. I’m sure that happens every day in every city.
A bad cop (or a good cop with the bad luck to get caught in a perfect media-storm on a bad day) pushes the envelope and messes with a person in their own house for no just cause.
Didn’t we have a revolution where one of the major popular motivations was intrusions into private homes by police or their (para-)military equivalent? Some wonk(ette) enlighten me.
Wikipedia can’t hold my attention cuz this weed is frickin’ awesome!
[re=370586]Magnus Maximus[/re]: That was well-stated appreciated.
One thing, though: I think the “Gates=asshole OR Cop=racist” narrative formulation is overly strict. It’s entirely possible that racism played no part in the police officer’s decision to arrest Gate. The cop might have just acted like an asshole and decided to arrest someone in their own home who was making unfounded, racially loaded accusations.
Without having yet heard the tape recording of the arrest, I feel like kind of an asshole even speculating, so I’m going to shut up and go get drunk now.
[re=370593]Extemporanus[/re]: That should read “well-stated AND appreciated.”
My weed is frickin’ awesome as well. (Thanks [re=370590]meyotch[/re]: !)
[re=370586]Magnus Maximus[/re]: This is interesting, no? The President (and all the other folks who think regularly about this kind of thing) have wanted a “conversation on race” for some time in the last 20 years. Get us. We are having it. This isn’t about assholes being arrested in their own home (were that the case, my old man would have spent most of my teens in jail). It’s about some cop who responded to a potential b&e and happened to come across Professor Gates who is able to attract his own media. I suppose if he had it to do over again, the policeman would have left. But now President Obama has accused him of bad police behavior and escalated this story. I think Obama (who I love) is learning that he has a mighty large megaphone. Methinks a month at the Vineyard and off TV might be a good prescription.
userofowls: go get those AM airwaves, that would be great!
[re=370597]smellyal8r[/re]: The dude does have impeccable timing, doesn’t he:
1. “The police officers acted stupidly.”
2. “My words were poorly calibrated, but that shit was still kinda messed up, right?”
3. “Later beyotches! Y’all better have this beef quashed by the time I get back!”
[re=370580]Extemporanus[/re]: Well, according to the MSM, Gates has a HISTORY of VIOLENCE!!!!!
“NEW YORK – Decades ago — long before Harvard, long before his books and documentaries — Henry Louis Gates Jr. and some friends nearly set off a brawl trying to integrate a West Virginia club.”
Sgt. Crowley and the rest of Cambridge’s Finest were lucky to get out of there alive!!! If you don’t believe me, look at this next-door-neighbor video footage that was aired on Fox News earlier today:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1csr0dxalpI
Oh, and I loved the “brawl” for trying to integrate an all-white country club.
But then again, Fox News is advertising a historical special about how all Martin Luther King, Jr. and all his vicious ilk attacked all those police dogs in Selma, Alamaba back in the day.
Terrified the poor little pups, reportedly. Someone should have called PETA.
[re=370608]Neilist[/re]: FOX noise footage? You have lost the thin line of credibility you imagined you had. Sorry to hear you are white and losing your grip on the reins…
Your unsourced news report of Dr. Gate’s Civil Rights Movement-era nearly-brawl (did the all-white country club have a pool?), and bravely-recorded Iranian Revolution-esque YouTube video of Dr. Gate’s bloodthirsty, bone-in-their-nose black brethren (did he chuck his cane at the cop like a spear?) has really opened my eyes!
Thank GOD that you survived the nearly-race riot that ruined your friend’s recent “Shakespeare in the Park” production (was it The Taming of the Shrew?) so unnecessarily! Thank GOD that you were able to “radio it in” (were you working security, or did you use your CB radio?) before hoses & Dobermans were unleashed! Thank GOD that the incident provided you with such richly detailed rape fantasy (it was a fantasy, right?) fodder!
Thank GOD that you have given me absolutely no reason to regret having replied to your original comment in such an unnecessarily open-minded and even-tempered manner!
Thank fucking GOD!
[re=370562]lawchic[/re]: Well said. Thank you. How anyone can defend the arresting cop is beyond me, but I don’t have the energy to shout them down each time one inexplicably pops up here. I haven’t read the rest of the comments yet, but I suspect yours is the first of many to push back on smellyal8r.
[re=370622]Extemporanus[/re]: “Thank fucking GOD!”?
God is dead. Didn’t you get the memo?
A bunch of liberals with no sense of irony killed Him.
Or Her.
Or It.
Whatever.
(And it was “Henry V.” Hence the “into her breach” reference.
Perhaps I should have said, “a bunch of illerate/ill-read liberals with no sense of irony . . . .”
PRAISE JESUS! And that other Mexiskin guy who does the gardening.)
[re=370622]Extemporanus[/re]: In case it wasn’t painfully obvious, that was in reply to [re=370607]Neilist[/re]: and [re=370570]Neilist[/re]:, plus a few others.
Commenting is sooo complicated!
Well, now I’ve read the rest of the comments. Not exactly what I expected. Some of you people surprise me. Let’s see if I can state this clearly: a human has a right to be an asshole, call a cop a racist, be left alone in his own home.
The cop had no reason to suspect a crime was being committed after it was established that Gates was in his own home. The cop had a clear desire to impress and affirm his authority over a shouty black man when the cop should’ve been de-escalating the situation.
Finally, the ultimate proof that the cop acted “stupidly,” and overstepped the boundaries of his authority, is the fact that the charges were dropped within four hours of the arrest. If the cop acted entirely appropriately, why were the charges dropped? Why wasn’t the cop backed up by his prosecuting D.A.?
This seems to be the unspoken subtext to the president’s remarks. Obama remarked, upon the “stupidly” acting cop, confidently because all the evidence he needed was already in — the charges had been dropped. It was obvious to Cambridge PD’s attorneys that there was no crime to prosecute.
[re=370624]Neilist[/re]: In the spirit of our newly-elected President, I’m replying with an toward elevating shared beliefs, and bridging minor differences:
1. Not only is God dead, God was never alive in the first place. (I was being ironic)
2. Liberals with no sense of irony do indeed kill things (see #1)
3. As I did not explicitly note your Henry V vaginal(?) rape reference, I can understand why you might have been lead to assume that I was an “illerate[sic]/ill-read liberal.” (I was alluding to the subduing of the rabble-rousing homeless woman)
4. I sometimes try to speciously elevate inconsequential details when confronted with a personally unpleasant, yet substantively sound, critique of my argument. (“God”, Shakespeare, ironic racism)
We should have a beer sometime. You can drink it “ironically” while I pretend to give a shit.
[re=370629]Extemporanus[/re]: Just so as there’s no confusion, “I’m replying with an toward” was a subtle, grammatically-maimed allusion to the ancient judicial concept of “taking an eye for an eye”, as exemplified by the tit-for-tatting betwixt me and the esteemed Kneelist.
I’m totally (ironically?) serious.
[re=370631]Extemporanus[/re]: All is good, then. Carry on with Neilist.
Hobo and lawchic,
Seeing you guy’s thoughtful take on this gives me a lot of hope. I can’t tell you how depressed I’ve been watching freepers and the ignorati construe a comment like “they acted stupidly” to mean “why does Obama hate Real American, white police officers?” At the end of the day, Gates got pissy but and the cop got even more pissy, and in this kind of relationship the responsibility is on the officer, not the belligerent, to diffuse the situation and handle it in a more adult and professional fashion. Crowley DID act stupidly; it’s just that simple. Gates can act stupidly; he’s in his own home and he’s not on the job; the cop can’t afford to act stupidly while on his job.
BTW, I was willing to simply assume that race wasn’t involved in the arrest given that Gates’ accusations were really kind of baseless, but when I saw Crowley on TV, yesterday, if he’s not a racist, the guy is a complete and utter dick of a man, a very “good, ole boy” Irish Catholic establishment-type who’ve never been kind to other ethnicities in Boston. That has no bearing on how I judge the actual incident (Crowley was just plain wrong), but to pretend that Gates was the only belligerent, here, or even the biggest one in this incident is mistake to put it lightly. lol
[re=370627]hobospacejunkie[/re]: Thank you for distilling the swill.
However, there’s a chink in the armor of the iron-clad “charges were quickly dropped so cops were obviously wrong” conclusion:
The Cambridge police chief, as well as the head of the local police union, both stated in their Friday morning full court-presser (there were like 50 white guys behind the podium) that the charges were dropped without their consultation, and against their better judgment.
Furthermore, one of the dudes stated that he would’ve preferred that this case received a full hearing in court—”an impartial venue for the airing of true facts”—which he unequivocally stated would show that the police officers’ actions were entirely appropriate, and that it was Dr. Gates who bore sole responsibility for the fact that the interaction resulted in his arrest.
A secondary grievance aired repeatedly by a parade of popo-types at said press conference: I am mortally offended that Obama called me/us/them “stupid” (vs. “acted stupidly”), and he needs to apologize immediately, not only to the cops involved, but to every single law enforcement individual, entity, and institution in this country.
Finally, my little brother—former Army Special Forces member, pre/post-Iraq invasion Beduoin-guarding security contractor, IED-injured enthusiastic user of medicinal and recreational drugs, archeologist/anthropologist degree, linguist, EMT-in-training, Nihilist, hippy, tattoo addict, classical guitarist, etc.—is considering a move to Austin. And he hasn’t even seen any of Richard Linklater’s films.(?!)
My question: Should he see them? And if so, do you have anything to add?
(Whiplash!)
[re=370633]LoweredPeninsula[/re]: Well said. You know, before this I thought it was in the Lefty Bible: never give cops the benefit of the doubt. So I’ve been astounded to see some posters here (apart from Nihilist/Neilist) instinctively take the cop’s side or say/imply that Gates had it coming for the capital crime of being an asshole. I have my own, not exactly mysterious, ideas on why some people do this, but now’s not the time for name-calling.
[re=370632]Smoke Filled Roommate[/re]: Thank you, Roomie.
(BTW- Your Neilist link was broken…)
[re=370636]Extemporanus[/re]: Your brother should see Slacker to get an idea of what Austin was like pre-tech boom. I can’t speak for the rest, not having seen them.
As for the cops & charges dropped: my understanding is that cops arrest & book, a prosecutor brings charges, a judge presides over an arraignment to read the charges, the defendant pleads.
So this seems to have been short-circuited by a prosecutor who thought “this is not a winnable case” and sent Gates on his way. I don’t believe prosecutors need the arresting cop’s permission to do their job.
So yeah, I’m saying I don’t care what the cops & union said or want, and it appears the prosecutor didn’t either. If I’m mistaken about how the process works, I’m certainly willing to be corrected.
[re=370633]LoweredPeninsula[/re]: That’s precisely the point I’ve been trying (unsuccessfully?) to make from the get-go.
In Crowley’s first on-camera interview—which I believe took place Thursday morning in front of his house—the reporter asked him what he thought of Obama. His answer: “Well, I sure didn’t for the guy!”
No shit.
Judging by the indignant tone of the pro-Crowley Friday morning press conference, I’m guessing that very few of the featured speakers—police chief, fellow officers, union reps, lawyers, etc. who repeatedly expressed frustration that Gates wasn’t locked-up and awaiting trial, and anger that Obama had the temerity to say “Boo!”—did either.
[re=370641]hobospacejunkie[/re]: I’m totally with you on the dropped charges thing. My earlier comment wasn’t meant to undermine the integrity of that decision, but to note that the oft-times adversarial relationship between DAs and PDs has a way of rendering such decisions irreconciably contentious.
Having seen his others, Slacker would be my preferred primer as well. But speaking as a pre/post-boom resident, do you deem Austin worth the scrotal scorpions, SXSW self-shittedness, and surrounding stretches of shit-kicking Sahara to warrant a relocation?
I’m assuming you do, seeing that you still live there. Though maybe you just like dusty, sweaty ass-cracks?
[re=370646]Extemporanus[/re]: Tell him to move to Austin. It’s a great city (though with their own white police issues, eh Hobo?). Any Linklater film is worth seeing and Austin is still filled with scorpions, most of them in starched jeans and a white open-collar starched shirt.
After reflecting on my comments overnight, I still stand behind them (what kind of Wonketteer would I be if I folded up like a cheap suitcase?). However, I’ve also done quite a lot of reading last night and today and, sadly, we aren’t far removed from the Bull Conner 60s in a lot of areas (the south fer sure, and, now, it appears the northeast). As a gay white male Texas Methodist lawyer/lobbyist who tries to do right and live a good life, I don’t have a lot in common with people who are pulled over because they are driving “too nice a car” that suddenly has a taillight busted out.
However, that’s not what happened here. The cops (one of them African American) responded to a neighborhood b&e call that turned into a shoutfest. I suspect police training dictates that no matter who’s yelling at you (or what color they are) it’s practice to eventually arrest and let the DA sort it out. It’s also not incumbent on our President to pop off, fan the flames and make this the “above the fold” headline on the Saturday paper in every major American city.
So you don’t think President Bush was the brightest bulb on the tree??? So what? That doesn’t make it right to call him a retard. Stop using words that were only acceptable in 7th grade. Using the word retard dehumanizes people with special needs. Why use it knowing that you hurt others?
[re=370629]Extemporanus[/re]:
Re Your 1: Thanks for conceding the “Liberal = Athetist” point so clearly. It helps explain Rev. Wright, and it will be intereresting to see whether The Great Muggle Hope endorses your views, given what this will cost him in terms of votes. But of course, Liberals don’t care about that silly politics/voting stuff . . . which is why, historically, they keep losing elections.
Re Your 2: Ah, the old “I Meant To Say That – It Was A Joke/Ironic” Defense. Last seen by Wingnuts trying to explain away their racist emails, etc. Again, good to see that you go “right” to the playbook when pressed.
Re Your 3: Of COURSE you got the “Henry V” reference. Sure. Jumped right out at you. You were just too busy making accusations of rape fantasies to bring it up. (Oh, by the way: If you had ever read the play, you’d know that, immediately after that speech, Henry threatens the town with rapine and pillage. But let’s not talk about Dead European White Men’s Literature anymore. It’s too racist to warrant comment.)
Re Your 4: In the process of your attempt “to speciously elevate,” could you try not to split those infinitives? I realize that the rules of grammar are simply more of the DEWM’s ways of keeping down oppressed minorities, but it grates a bit regardless.
Finally, and to all: I agree with all here that The PO-Lice should have no right to arrest ANYONE for merely verbal comments, abuse, etc. Which is why I am sure that all here will agree that the next time the KKK, American Nazi Party, Homophobic Religious Nuts, etc. refuse to quiet down as requested, the The PO-Lice simply should leave, or stand by reading the Constitution and/or the Bill of Rights. (Well, except for that 2nd Amendment. That clearly was a mistake, and should be ignored.)
The officers can return to pick up the bodies, and clean up the mess, after the riot/lynching/”civil unrest” quiets down — or if Extemporaneous has gotten that far in his/her/its remedial reading, the breach of the walls of Harfleur.
Remember our meme for the weekend: Snarky Liberals = GOOD! The PO-Lice (regardless of race, ethnicity, training, temperament, or situation) = BAD!
[I think that last may be some of that "irony" stuff. If God wasn't dead -- as Hopey doubtless wil confirm shortly -- He/She/It could explain.]
You people are making a mockery of the mockery that is Wonkette. Get a room at the Kos-mopolitan or the Red State Inn.
thank !
http://blog.kakavip.net
I can’t remember if Skip Gates is this generation’s Emmett Till or this generation’s Emmett Kelly.
I can’t determine if this episode is this year’s Tawana Brawley or this year’s Duke Lacrosse team.
Cops, black and white, can be racists. Harvard guys, black and white, can be arrogant assholes.
If everyone who was a racist or an arrogant asshole was put in jail well, uh, there would surely be lots of people in jail.
[re=370682]A Better American Than YOU[/re]: Well said. But I don’t know if there’d be enough jail cells. Basically, I see the whole incident as the natural result that occurs when two arrogant dongles collide. Not really surprising at all.
[re=370646]Extemporanus[/re]: I do like dusty, sweaty ass cracks, but I’m in Austin kind of by default, having gone to school here off & on and then my whole family moved here eventually and then I got married & my wife has a bitchin’ job so we’re here for now. I’m not a huge fan of Austin, it’s far too dry. I can handle the heat having grown up in Houston, but I like rain and we only get it here occasionally, often in large amount at once. It’s also a bit small for my taste. I like the fact that you can drive for hours in Houston and still generally be in Houston. Plus we’re surrounded by wingtards, it being the deep south and all. If that’s a recommendation, I don’t know.
[re=370319]user-of-owls[/re]: Unfortunately getting Levin and Savage and Hannity and Beck and Brian Thomas and Limbaugh and Rove and all these other fucktards silenced from the AM radio (something that frankly should be done away with altogether) will not stop them, as history has proven. Michael Savage is actually sueing England for banning him from their country, a country he will NEVER get off his fat old ass and even intend on visiting in his entire life I gaurantee you. Trust me, it will just make it worse. They’re the same as these dipshits on Counter-Strike and whatnot. If you mute or kick them, it will just make them more annoying.
Lets be honest here people the only dumb one here is the so called professor who is crying racial profiling, how can it be profiling when all the cop did was answer a 911 call, he did not just happen to go to the house because a black man was standing there HE ANSWERED A 911 CALL…..what a dumbass this professor is.
[re=370682]A Better American Than YOU[/re]: This kind of moral equivalency is ridiculous, as is the near-constant attempt in all of these cases to try and make it as if the onus in these situations lies equally on both parties. It doesn’t, and being an arrogant asshole and being a racist aren’t equally desctructive and evil, nor are they mutually exclusive.
Mr. Gates is well within his rights to be a prig and dick in this situation whether one likes it or not. Short of putting the officer or himself in danger, or ultimately impeding an investigation, the belligerent is always within his or her rights to be a jerk, and can’t (and shouldn’t) be arrested for being one. The officer (who we swear and delegated great power and responsibility to) can not be a dick on his job, PERIOD. Goddamnit, it is his job to diffuse these situations. After he found out that it was indeed the beliigerents home, he should have simply left no matter what Gates was yelling at him while he left. Crowely, in the end, escalated this shit by essentially demanding/luring Gates outside so that he could arrest him for disorderly conduct. That’s a pussy/bitch move on the officers part, and quite frankly, I hope Gates sues the badge off his ass.
I’m not a “fuck the cops” individual by any means, and it’s because of that that I find the officers ultimate answer to Gates’ priggishness so terrible and a ridiculous abuse of his power as an officer.
Both Gates and Crowley acted stupidly. The difference is that Gates as a private citizen being investigated in his own damned home is completely within the law and his rights to act stupidly. There is no controversy, here; there are not two equal sides to this story.
[re=370682]A Better American Than YOU[/re]: Oh, and fuck you for making light of Emmet Till and the rest, you racist douchebage.
[re=370767]Notalib[/re]: And, a well deserved “fuck you” for completely missing the point you equally racist asshole.
[re=370836]LoweredPeninsula[/re]: Typical for people like you, I did not miss any point all but ignorant people like you who thrive on hate are. The cop was doing his job a man who has a chip on his shoulder decided he was going to act like an asshole because of his color he could get away with. Thank God that people are getting tired of the race card that people like him want to use whenever they please. The biggest mistake the office now can make is go to the White House and let the two people who have made this a controversy off the hook.
[re=370844]Notalib[/re]: The biggest mistake the office now can make is
go to the White House and let the two people who have made this a controversy off the hookrefusing to admit he fucked up./fixed
The disorderly conduct charge was dropped, so obviously someone in the DA’s office thought the arrest was bogus. End of story.
[re=370844]Notalib[/re]: Good for you. Amen, etc. Lowered has some issues that (apparently) need to be worked through.
[re=370846]Advocatus_Diaboli[/re]: “The disorderly conduct charge was dropped, so obviously someone in the DA’s office thought the arrest was bogus. End of story.”
Come back after you finish law school (or at least criminal procedure/legal ethics), and understand that a prosecutor is ethically obligated to drop a case if he/she/it does not have a good faith belief of obtaining a conviction.
Not necessarily the same thing as think the “arrest was bogus.” It can be, but not necessarily.
Ignorance: End of story.
[Sorry, sorry. I apologize. I forgot that the law, facts and/or rational thought don't apply in here. Let me get Back On Meme.]
OFF THE PIGS! FREE HUEY!
[re=370896]Neilist[/re]: I’m willing to bet that most disorderly conduct charges stem from an officer’s inability to come up with a real offense with which to charge a suspect. Moreover, disorderly conduct is a misdemeanor for which a citation is and generally should be the appropriate response. That is, the officer doesn’t have to take the suspect to the hoosegow and waste taxpayer dollars on booking, etc. – a nice little piece of paper that says “hey, guess what, you get to show up in court to defened yourself against this dumb charge.” But in this case officer dumbass really thought it was in the best interest of society to place Gates under arrest. What are you fucking smoking if you think that that was an efficient use of limited police resources?
[re=370639]Extemporanus[/re]: Wow, never been goatse-rolled before.
[re=370627]hobospacejunkie[/re]: Obviously, the primary force at work here is class difference, not race difference. If the perp were a pasty-faced wasp, the cop would do the same to him to punish his display of “attitude”.
I think the 500 Days of Summer ads are metastasizing. Good Bye Wonkette.
If you are so smart, why aren’t you Alphonse Fletcher University Professor at Harvard University? I’ll hop off my tricycle and denounce you as racists in a heart beat!
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