Obama, Gates, and Cambridge police

I rarely write to the White House, and I'm pretty sure that nothing I've written has made it within 6 levels of the President, but occasionally I send something just to declare my contribution to the general sentiment of the public. Anyway, this is what I wrote this time...

I am extremely disappointed in the statement made by the President regarding the Cambridge police officer. That officer was responding to a burglary report. He was obligated, FOR THE SAFETY OF THE HOMEOWNER, to investigate that report. Upon finding ANYONE in that house, it was prudent of him to ask for identification. If Dr. Gates had simply THANKED the officer, the issue would have been over peacefully and amicably. This was NOT RACIAL profiling as alluded to by the President. This was a response to a specific report of a possible burglary.

The statement made by the President was both stupid and irresponsible.


I just find it very disconcerting that the President, friend of Dr. Gates or not, would choose to step into the middle of this with such an insensitive statement. The whole issue would not have escalated if Dr. Gates had simply been cooperative and cognizant of the fact that the cop was trying to protect him and his property. I wonder how he would feel if, while he had been gone in China, his home HAD BEEN burglarized. I wonder how he would react if he found out that a burglary had been reported, the police came to investigate, a black man opened the door to tell the cop that it was his house, and the cop politely walked away to let the guy continue to clean out the entire house.

Whatever happened between Gates and the cop, it would not have escalated to arrest if Gates had simply cooperated. I consider it unfortunate that the charges were dropped and more unfortunate that the Cambridge police are being insulted by our president.

Dr. Gates needs to watch this THIS.

failure to comply with a lawful order

resisting without violence

it has different names in different jurisdictions abut exists in most all

profiling?

stupidest thing I've heard all year

if someone calls the police and says a black man is breaking into a house
and the police show up and there is a black man in the house
and he just broke in (by his own admission)

how the hell is that profiling?

I have no idea how many people I've caught going in windows and subjected them to questioning.
If they are uncooperative then they WILL be detained by whatever means needed until their identity can be confirmed.
Vicarious liability is a real muther.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Utopian

Whatever happened between Gates and the cop, it would not have escalated to arrest if Gates had simply cooperated. I consider it unfortunate that the charges were dropped and more unfortunate that the Cambridge police are being insulted by our president.
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I agree on all counts. In my younger days I was a would be juvenile delinquent and have had my share of interactions with the police. I learned really fast that I wasn't going to win and yes sir and no sir were better then "off the pigs." When you're dealing with the cops in a situation like that if you look for trouble you'll get it even if you are a Harvard professor and a well known author.

I was surprised and disappointed in President Obama addressing the question when he wasn't really aware of all of the facts. I thought he had more sense than to fall into that trap. Obviously an emotional rather than an intellectual response.

The real depressing part of all this is not so much President Obamas comments on this case ( although that is depressing in itself ) but that before he even made his asinine comment he rendered it even more asinine by prefacing his comments by saying that he didn't know the details of the case. Rather Presidential huh:aargh:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by JMS

The real depressing part of all this is not so much President Obamas comments on this case ( although that is depressing in itself ) but that before he even made his asinine comment he rendered it even more asinine by prefacing his comments by saying that he didn't know the details of the case. Rather Presidential huh:aargh:

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If I wasn't on this administrations right wing terrorists list already I bet I am now.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by JimmyHAD

Obviously an emotional rather than an intellectual response.

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And I suspect that it was the emotional response of the intellectual Gates that started this whole mess.

Sure the stories differ, but if you imagine yourself in the role of each individual, who can you imagine would get emotional first?

Put it this way. The cop was responding to a burglary, reportedly by a black man. IF there was such horrible racial profiling going on, why didn't Crowley approach the house with his gun drawn???

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Utopian

And I suspect that it was the emotional response of the intellectual Gates that started this whole mess.

Sure the stories differ, but if you imagine yourself in the role of each individual, who can you imagine would get emotional first?

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99.95% of the time it's the civilian

law enforcement deals with so many idiots that it's water off a ducks back
death threats are the least intimidating

go figure

As an Obama supporter, I'm just as appalled by the president's comments as anyone who's commented before me. What I find more disturbing however, are his comments afterwards, in which he maintained his positon rather than apologize for having misspoken. I'm in hopes that he will retract the statement but I'm not seeing much evidence that it will happen. His statement just proves that anyone can "act stupidly."

Race card = top trump, especially when the commander in chief plays it. However, it does seem a bit plebian for the man who is actively solving the world's problems.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Utopian

I rarely write to the White House, and I'm pretty sure that nothing I've written has made it within 6 levels of the President, but occasionally I send something just to declare my contribution to the general sentiment of the public. Anyway, this is what I wrote this time...

I am extremely disappointed in the statement made by the President regarding the Cambridge police officer. That officer was responding to a burglary report. He was obligated, FOR THE SAFETY OF THE HOMEOWNER, to investigate that report. Upon finding ANYONE in that house, it was prudent of him to ask for identification. If Dr. Gates had simply THANKED the officer, the issue would have been over peacefully and amicably. This was NOT RACIAL profiling as alluded to by the President. This was a response to a specific report of a possible burglary.

The statement made by the President was both stupid and irresponsible.


I just find it very disconcerting that the President, friend of Dr. Gates or not, would choose to step into the middle of this with such an insensitive statement. The whole issue would not have escalated if Dr. Gates had simply been cooperative and cognizant of the fact that the cop was trying to protect him and his property. I wonder how he would feel if, while he had been gone in China, his home HAD BEEN burglarized. I wonder how he would react if he found out that a burglary had been reported, the police came to investigate, a black man opened the door to tell the cop that it was his house, and the cop politely walked away to let the guy continue to clean out the entire house.

Whatever happened between Gates and the cop, it would not have escalated to arrest if Gates had simply cooperated. I consider it unfortunate that the charges were dropped and more unfortunate that the Cambridge police are being insulted by our president.

Dr. Gates needs to watch this THIS.

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Ha, that clip is correct in my book no matter what skin color you are; white, black, purple with polka dots, it doesn't matter. I've felt this way since I was younger. My view on this doesn't stem from a blind trust of authority; rather, a law enforcement officer is in the position to use OR abuse their power at that moment.

Chris L