Obama and Gates and Crowley: dialogue and construction and racial profiling
Now we hear that Obama is going to get Gates and Crowley together for a White House chat. It’s an opportunity for a nice teaching moment about racial profiling, too, with Gates saying that “…he hoped his arrest by Crowley leads to greater sensitivity on racial profiling and that it was time to ‘move on.'”
Yes, let’s. Only trouble is, this case had nothing to do with racial profiling by Crowley. That’s the “construction” Gates put on it from the start—and after all, construction is his specialty, as is identity politics:
As a literary theorist and critic…Gates has combined literary techniques of deconstruction with native African literary traditions; he draws on structuralism, post-structuralism, and semiotics to textual analysis and matters of identity politics.
So I doubt Gates will be listening when I say the following:
Racial profiling occurs when police use racial criteria to target and/or stop suspects. Gates was a suspect because a witness had seen him break into a house, not because of his race, and he should have welcomed and thanked Officer Crowley for being so quick to respond to a possible break-in, instead of immediately using racial profiling to scream at Crowley and call him a racist for doing his duty. And if Gates had then “moved on,” as he should have, Crowley would have done so as well.
And then President Obama compounded the error by saying the police acted “stupidly” in the matter. That adverb should have been reserved for Gates, and then for Obama, who both demonstrated racial profiling themselves. Therefore whatever “greater sensitivity to racial profiling” is needed, it’s on the part of Obama and Gates rather than Crowley or the Cambridge police department.
But don’t sit on a hot stove till the press—or Obama or Gates—sees it that way. And now, can’t we all just get along?
[ADDENDUM: A previous post of mine on racial profiling—albeit in a different context—is here.]
[ADDENDUM II: And this non-PC joke by commenter gcotharn is quite on target:
Our nation will take a step forward when we reject PC and make jokes about BAPs, i.e.
How many Black American Princesses does it take to change a light bulb?
Nine.
One to change the light bulb. One to scream out “racist society” to the neighbors. One to berate the black police officer on the scene. One to berate the Hispanic Police Officer on the scene. One to call the (black) Mayor. One to call the (black) Governor. One to call the (black) President. One to begin booking the talk shows. One to start production on the documentary film.
It’s a joke, but embedded within it is a serious observation: here we have a black Harvard professor quick to cry “racism” about a group of police officers of mixed racial background, in a city with a black mayor, in a state with a black governor, in a country with a black President.]
Mr. Crowley should use the opportunity to tell the president to “stick it”
Good grief. This thing has gotten out of hand.
You would think our president would have more important things to focus on.
Like, swatting flies or something.
Lucius: The problem is one side has civility, manners, and morals. The other side does not. So who’s gonna win, the pacifist or the violent?
Sitting on the sidelines wringing our hands just won’t cut it.
If they realease the tapes, which I doubt they will at this point, I just hope we can hear Gates yelling motherf. So Martha’s Vineyard.
Dear Srgt. James Crowley,
Refuse the invitation by the president.
Issue a statement with the following points:
1) Obama has shown little propensity toward admitting mistake.
2) Obama has shown little propensity towards being open to an immense library of facts so I doubt my words will be listened to either.
3) If Obama says publicly that he is willing to listen on these key points, I will accept the invitation:
a) Tax cuts have a positive effect on the economy. We need corporate, capital gains and income tax cuts in order to turn around this economy
b) I would like Heather McDonald to join us and be listened to. 🙂
Better idea:
Srgt. Crowley,
Only accept the invitation if you can be joined by Walter Williams or Thomas Sowell and a tape recorder.
Or Ward Connerly
Look for something big to happen to remove this issue from the news.
I think they’re going to crucify the f**k out of Crowley — but how can he say no — this is going to be an interesting one!
Yes, Baklava, particularly Ward Connerly. He is a real hero, one of the few remaining who support the idea of individual behavior, not identity, being the measure.
Ward Connerly rocks!
There not going to do anything to Crowley…this year, while people are watching. Crowley will say “yes sir, no sir, three bags full.” He will accept any invitation and play it close to the vest. His chief will probably come along. There will not be any of this talking truth to power stuff.
What does Officer Crowley have to gain from this? He should decline the invite. If they call him racist for declining, release the tapes.
Neo said “How many Black American Princesses does it take . . . .”
Wow!!! . . . “never again” still lives in America! And that takes real courage.
Baklava,
To make it REALLY interesting they should invite Jeremiah Wright.
We could have a made for TV special here.
How can Crowley say “No”? Just do it. Don’t be intimidated by the political brahamans. Some will say it’s not that simple, but it really is just that simple!
Racism may be the cover, but it seems that this is clearly a “How dare you question me! Don’t you know who I am?” moment.
But it does sometimes work the other way. I lived in Montana for 12 years and there was a story about a certain celebrity who took the SUV into the local dealer for repairs. When told to come back that afternoon to pick it up, the celebrity did a “Do you know who I am?” to which the service manager responded “Yeah, you’re fourth in line.”
I love Montanans!!
Well, it looks like they are coming from all directions to see if they can make some hay out of the Gates arrest. This time it is Gates’ daughter Elizabeth, with a piece titled, “My Daddy the Jailbird,” posted on a website called the Daily Beast (http://tinyurl.com/lszyan) and Andrew Sullivan, opining in the Sunday Times of London under the headline, “Barack Obama’s Race Dream is Swiftly Shackled” (http://tinyurl.com/ntfqzm) which contains the line that “Gates is not a merchant of racial grievance,” which tells you all you need to know about Sullivan’s piece.
I’m just surprised that Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton haven’t shown up yet; I guess they don’t want to step on a brother’s action.
Wow. This is up at Protein Wisdom. Apparently Gates did an interview with Gayle King. Check this out:
Gates: I would love for him to look me in the eye and say ‘Professor Gates, I am sorry. I am sorry for the way I treated you. I am sorry for the fabrications I..I had to put in that report. And if he’s sincere, I would forgive him as a human being.
Gates: Gayle, I want to make a documentary for PBS or HBO or some place on racial profiling … on this kind of arbitrary and unacceptable behavior on behalf of the police force.
Gates: Ah, well I think that he is probably trying to protect himself. I think he feels very vulnerable. Uh, I think he knows that (a) what he did was wrong and (b) that, um, he falsified his report.
Holy Cow. This guy is incredible. Release the tapes! Now!
“Fabrication” and “falsified” = “lies” in this context. I would not go to the White House to meet with someone who had publicly called me a liar. If this report is true, Gates is doubling down, I guess. Despite himself, he’s denying Obama a photo-op!
I’m listening to the show right now to see if this report is correct. If it is, I am shocked.
This is not funny anymore. If this is true, Gates is accusing Officer Crowley of a crime. (At least, I’m pretty sure it is a crime to falsify a police report.)
Crowely needs to sue. Get an attorney immediately.
Too bad a crowd of 50 white punks didn’t show up on Gates’ lawn yelling about this being a white country, belonging to the white man, and then beating up on Gates and his driver, putting Gates in the hospital for a couple days.
You know, like what happened in Akron a couple weeks ago, and never even hit the MSM. Oh, yeah, that’s right. The perps were black punks, the victims, a white family and a couple friends. Never mind. That’s not racial.
Interesting. I have listened to several clips, including this one with Gayle King.
I can’t find the clip that Darleen transcribed at PW that fits what I copied above.
However, in that clip that I linked above, the version of the story that Gates tells is totallly at odds with what I read in the police reports.
Someone is not telling the truth.
I hope Crowley brings that up at the white house beer fest.
Ok. I found what Darleen transcribed at PW. As usual, she was right on the money.
If you are interested go here. Click on the John and Ken show 4pm hour. The clip of the interview with Gates starts at 21.30. Right after the half hour news report.
Amazing.
Looking at what my liberal friends are posting on Facebook, I am afraid this little incident could get a lot uglier. This could have been stopped before this with professions of misunderstanding, just following protocol, I can understand how you must have felt kind of statements. If Gates said what is reported, then ONE of them MUST be a liar.
More than that, this has taken on symbolic significance for the Left, and if there is anything they can’t stand, it’s a public symbol that upsets their narrative.
As a literary theorist and critic…Gates has combined literary techniques of deconstruction with native African literary traditions
Native African literary traditions.
Jewish tattoo traditions.
Eskimo wine-making traditions
Pre-Columbia American horsemanship traditions
Russian surfing traditions
Hindoo weapons traditions
What do all of the above have in common?
Gates isnt quite the stand up guy he wants us to believe he is. Observe this vid over at Bob Parks site.
Al Sharpton is still stuffing his face from the last steak & potato dinner manufactured civil rights incident, let him whip his mouth on his shirt sleeve first and then he’ll come a running. He never misses a free dinner bell!!
dinga!! dinga!! dinga!! dinga!! COME AND GET IT!!!!
The biggest gaffe a politician can make is to reveal the truth about his views.
Obama made a reasonable point. It should be unusual and rare to arrest someone for mouthing off. Obama’s mistake was to say that the Cambridge police department acted stupidly.
If Obama had said only that Crowley had acted stupidly, that is debatable. It is outright group politics to say that the department acted stupidly. Obama has no basis for generalizing to the Cambridge Police Department from the actions of one officer, in one event, where the facts are fuzzy. But, Obama attached the actions of one man, Crowley, to the group he belongs to.
I say that generalizing the actions of one person to some associated group is the basis for identity politics and racism. The US is supposed to treat citizens as individuals, according to their individual actions and merits, not as members of favored or disliked groups. Obama so easily broke that boundary in his offhand analysis.
That is the reason Obama’s remarks were so inflammatory. He revealed to me that he so easily sees people as members of tribes, all members of a tribe being interchangeable.
Isn’t this kinda surreal that the president is going to umpire this thing? Purely as an idea, if you didn’t have what’s transpired in this case, it would be a pretty good idea.
Here in ‘tolerant’ Holland we know where this: ‘nobody should be arrested for insulting the police’, leads to.
We abandoned this thinking years ago for ‘a zero tolerance policy’.
Once the public loses its respect for the police, it’s over; respect for the police must be inforced in a clear and consistent way. Following openly stated, clear rules.
Indeed acting as the cop did. NOT acting like this, letting it go, is the wrong thing to do. And I suspect, given his background and specialty, the officer was acting not only sanely and prudently, but also in line of the rules of his department.
So the only question open for me is: was he indeed in line with the rules of his department on this?
Nyomythus @ 9:09, tactically speaking this is a pretty good ploy by Obama. As noted above, Crowley can’t refuse the “invitation.” I assume Crowley’s chief of police can’t back his man because the black mayor of Cambridge is as much of a race monger as are Gates and Obama. Crowley can’t wear a wire because of the Secret Service. Finally, no matter what happens the kool-aid imbibing media will report a complete climb-down by Crowley, because Obama’s own comments at the press conference have put the biggest whuppin’ on him that anyone has ever landed. We’ll never see the full report and it wouldn’t surprise me if the recording made live through Crowley’s open mic has already been destroyed.
I wonder what would happen if both Crowley and his chief of police quit their jobs and then answered the summons to the White House, heads held high, after suggesting their chain of command do something improbable involving their nether orifices? They’d probably have to sue for their pensions, but I’d contribute to that legal fund and I’m sure many others would as well.
Election of Obama has put back by a generation the cause of fighting racism in America. I thought I had a pretty good idea of the “content of his character.” Anyone paying attention to this mess should by now have seen all they need to know.
Dear Mr. President:
Regrets, but thanks for the invite. My wife and I don’t support any TV that we wouldn’t let the kids watch.
I really just want my old life back, and I’d still appreciate what ever help you can offer to get the damn media off my front lawn. They’re extraordinarily rude and scare the dog.
As for Prof. Gates, hasn’t he gotten you in enough trouble already?
Yours,
Sgt. James Crowley
Is the good Rev Jackson just sitting back waiting to see if Obama cuts his own nuts off?
Our community agitator-in-chief is going to start a race war. Thank you Obama voters! Now he’s gonna have a beer fest teaching moment. How special!
His entire 6 months in office have been surreal. This moron says and does the most outrageous things and the presstitutes will not call him on it.
It’s like what I see is happening in a vacuum. Thank goodness finally SOMETHING has broken through the shield of silence, even though it’s my least favorite topic – race – because doncha know all whites are automatically guilty. It’s called collective guilt, a marxist construct. There is no redemption for white people in America. And Obama has climbed the ladder of success using this handy weapon. He is a master agitator.
I was watching the CNN program on this and they’re talking about white privilege and the history of what black Americans have experienced with police — which is a great and important discussion but then reality snaps in and I’m asking myself, “What does this have to do with the incident in question?” Using the word surreal again this is such a total non sequitur — they’re applying academic theory to an actual incident and the incident looks nothing like the theory. This is some serious twilight zone stuff. The contention is not about equilibrium, it’s about controlling the outcome for minorities. It’s not fair whether it’s better for minorities or the majority because it’s wrong in principle.
It seems Mr. Gates may have had a good reason for wishing to prevent Crowley and his associate from entering the house:
http://www.riehlworldview.com/carnivorous_conservative/2009/07/a-gatesgate-at-henry-gates-bogus-charity.html
(Please forgive me if I’ve posted the link ineptly. If you do a search on “inkwell gates cambridge” you’ll find that Gates is running a charity at that address and that he may be disbursing its funds improperly and may have mis-handled the charity’s taxes. Mr. Bother asked whether there were any Cabinet positions open? Excuse me but being a conservative, I think I’ll go pay my quarterly taxes ahead, just in case.)
Oh, bother
Yes, now I feel ashamed that I gave Jr. a shoot (that I voted for him)
…but then I remind myself who the contenders were … and overall, by a hair, if I could go back in time (if I should have such a fatuous thought) I’d have voted for McCain.
…wish Giuliani/Lieberman had come to the fore, ugh, it would have been easy for me.
To assume the police were the bad guys and to call them stupid was so wrong, but well the last chapter in this book is yet to be written, so we’ll see…
Interesting story Oh Brother, but I wonder what are ”riehlworldview”’s credentials for writing this story?
Oh, bother
Yes, now I feel ashamed that I gave Jr. a shoot (that I voted for him)
…but then I remind myself who the contenders were … and overall, by a hair, if I could go back in time (if I should have such a fatuous thought) I’d have voted for McCain.
I know just how you feel. (Even though I did vote for McCain)
I think we’re getting to the “Oh, shit.” moment I predicted.
McCain would have sucked, but Obama sucks more…. (Giuliani/Lieberman would have sucked too).
nyomythus: I’m with you. Giuliani was my first choice, too. I figured that of the Republican candidates he was the one most likely to remember who we’re at war with and why it matters…which is pretty sad when you consider John McCain was also a candidate. Yes, Rudy has had his moral failings, but I wasn’t voting for a moral advisor. I was voting for a commander-in-chief who would take that job seriously and also understand his other executive functions and incidentally be tough on crime.
As to your second question, I chased some of those links myself before I was willing to post it here, and the ones I chased look as I believe they would. The tax docs look like tax docs and say what he says they say, the link to a Boston Globe article really does link to the Globe, etc. Glenn Reynolds of Instapundit has linked to Riehl in the past for hot items. I tend to trust the veracity of sources he trusts. Finally, in the past Riehl’s been on some salient news item and done one of these data dumps and he’s turned out to have been reliable. I have no idea how he does it. I confess I’ll feel more comfortable when Michelle Malkin or Allahpundit break this. If I’m wrong I’m wrong, and I’ll crave pardon from our gracious hostess and the rest of the community. But this rings true to me, although I don’t know why.
Greetings:
I would just like to comment on the use of the “teachable moment” descriptor. When I first came upon this reference it meant that the student was intellectually open and available for a transmission of information from a teacher.
Now, or in President Obama’s use, it seems to me to mean when the teacher believes that an information transmission, from the teacher to the student, is necessary or appropriate.
This may be a subtle difference to many, but, to me, it emphasizes that the teacher’s agenda and state of mind, not the student’s, is the controlling aspect. This, again, to me, is not a “teachable moment”; I would describe it as a “dictate-able moment”.
“I won,” again.
Oh, bother
cool i’m checking it out a lil’ more
“they’re applying academic theory to an actual incident and the incident looks nothing like the theory.”
I’ve always hated that type of expression. Really. Professionally I’m somewhere between a Software Engineer and a Computer Scientist – that is I do research but my research also has to work in the real world. That was true when I worked for the DoE (more towards the research part) and where I work now (more towards the engineering point – my projects now have to turn a profit).
IMO one of the greatest injustices we have ever come to is the acceptance of the fact that academic research can be grounded in nothing at all. A top end academic *should* be one of the most founded in reality positions out there – well versed in both total 100% theory and how it applies to the real world and real world issues.
Yet, that isn’t the case. During most of our history that was true – anyone think that Einstein, Newton, Currie, or any of the others we study were not that way? Yes, they may have very well been eccentric and in some cases more theory than not – yet they were *all* grounded in large part in “how does this theory work for my fellow man”. Academic science today (in large part because this is now not only accepted but also encouraged) is “how does my fellow man work for my theory”.
Being an Academic Weeinie *should* be looked upon as a great asset to our country. It *should* mean that you can take 100% theory and apply it to relevant topics. It hasn’t meant that for some time. There was a short period of time where people fought this, now not so much. Indeed most not only consider it to be OK but consider it to be the appropriate way things work.
I think there are all sorts of social ills that need to be fixed and I think some of them will end up bloody. While those are bad, I think this one can truly push us back into that dark ages again but instead of religion as the unquestionable force “science” will be it (and it will be just as – if not more so – dogmatic than religion ever thought of being). The way some treat global warming today is a great example – 30 or 40 years ago the same data would have been worried over and told we ought to look out as that doesn’t look good – nowadays we are all going to die unless strict and drastic changes are made and all that disagree are to be castigated.
As a non-reply post I’ll also add this.
One of the more …hmm – amusing or sad… parts of this story are the people who are shocked, shocked I say, to see this level of racial identity politics from the president. I had thought I wouldn’t be more surprised than when a fairly smart individual said Obama was being more populist than he indicated during the election run up. However I find myself (sadly) even more sad that people didn’t see this one a comin’.
Lets see – a president who *ran* on racial politics, went to a church for decades where they asked god to Damn American and Whites, and how he treated his white side of his family is *surprised* at this? Really – you *really* want to go there and say you are a well informed independent thinker who decided Obama was the Real Deal?
I guess I’m somewhat happy you finally figured this one out but I *really* wish you had been a better detective before the election – especially since many were pointing this out beforehand. It’s not like any of this was secret information.
While I may not agree with the following I will say I can understand it: I can understand the idea that McCain wouldn’t have done better – indeed I figure he wouldn’t have been wholly different than what we have seen (I still stand by the moniker of “media whore” when describing him – I rather suspect Palin would have something to say about that). There are all sorts of reasons I can see to vote for Obama – heck were I someone who were truly liberal I could see more than few reason. But to be shocked, shocked I say, that he would be a racial politician is just plain silly. That is what he ran on and that is what he is doing now.
Given his past success I would do what he is doing now. I just do not think his past success will get him past the scrutiny he is under now. I really think that “Team Obama” has/had no game plan past the presidency and is winging it. His success has been based on gaining the next level and there is currently no “next level”. I think he is trying to invent that (race reconciliater) but is too early in his Presidency to do so, nor is this a good example to pursue.
You guys are desperate for a Paula Jones.
Paula Jones = used to attack Clinton. Though they never gave a shit about her really. Well, if I remember correctly, she felt used by both sides.
But, so what, doesn’t make it shinola for either side now.
Doesn’t our brilliant, constitutional-law-teaching president know that speaking about a case that is unsettled could prejudice a jury? Since he didn’t know any details, BO should have refused to comment about an ongoing investigation.
He is an outstanding role model for the young: Start screaming before you know what you are talking about; facts don’t matter; feel before you think; empathy means aligning yourself with an approved victim group, not attempting to understand why police protocols are as they are. For BO, getting an education seems to involve learning to scream louder. He was an ACORN trainer, after all, and we’ve seen how reasonable they can be about a Baltimore woman who didn’t pay her mortgage.
Yes Mr BO, let us honor Gates, who throws around terms like cracker. He too shows a younger generation what passes for civilized discourse among the Cambridge and Martha’s Vineyard set. That will be a valuable lesson should a white cop ever have to investigate a drive-by shooting in their own neighborhood. The history-challenged (not that you could be expected to figure that out) Reverend Wright was another fine role model whom you supported. Do you really think that young blacks are going to be happy caulking windows and treating customers with respect when they see that they can get rich by being obnoxious loudmouths?
Be honest. You and your cohorts don’t care about these young people. You just want them to stop embarassing you. In the end, it’s all about you.
Crowley would be “acting stupidly” to go the White House under those circumstances.
All he has to do is say, “Hey, I did my job and that’s all. It doesn’t warrant a trip to the White House. I’ll continue to work to protect the safety of all residents of Cambridge. Thank you very much.”
Check out the Democracy in Action post at Powerline. Keep the Kleenex handy because you will probably cry at the state of education in America. Does anyone want to guess how the lady voted?
Really it is gr8 post and too informative as well.
Only authoritarian and totalitarian states make intimidation a law enforcement perogative.
The only possible justification for arresting Gates is intimidation.
In America, police can’t arrest you for mouthing off at them. In this country, the police work for the public, not the other way around.
That’s one of the reasons I love this country.
I don’t care what color Gates is, the cops had no good reason to arrest him. That’s why they immediately dropped the charges.
real conservative, you are entitled to your opinion, that Crowley had no good reason to arrest Gates, but why should we take your opinion seriously? Do you have special training in evaluating such cases, knowledge of police procedures and regulation in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, knowledge of the relevant statute, or special information about the true record of events that is denied to the rest of us? Were you a witness? If you were a witness, you are a member of a very small minority: real conservatives in Cambridge.
Native African literary traditions.
Jewish tattoo traditions.
Eskimo wine-making traditions
Pre-Columbia American horsemanship traditions
Russian surfing traditions
Hindoo weapons traditions
What do all of the above have in common?
I will bite for the fun of it. 🙂
native africans had no written language so these traditions arent literary till someone writes them down from the hand me down stories.
the jews do not tatoo… as you come into the world so shall you leave and the jews will cut off tatoos before the grave (and they have a short time limit too, unlike the secular who sometimes display them for years).
eskimo wine… well, not from grapes, and i will leave it at that.
unless the columbians rode those tiny horses that were here, they had to wait till the spaniards brought them (which is why the movie about the vikings terrorizing american indians drives me crazy as they rail how columbus ruined it and use horse symbolism as the native american spirit. something that wouldnt exist till after spanish and their horses).
russians had to first defeat the latvians after they were sold out at yalta before they could get good access to a surf that wasnt inundated by ice most of the year… however archeological evidence of the czarinas boogey board on the volga. they made big waves by dropping a rock repeatedly in the river to create a soliton wave… ok , that last part was for fun…
and you should have stopped when you were ahead, unless you spelled hindoo wrong to denote a population that didnt exist. but the hindu DO have weapons traditions. the fighting is unusual. they stay very low, hold their shields almost level with the ground and there are grand jumping moves. the katar (tiger hunting knife), and i believe the kriss are from them. they also had curved blades, scimitars, and you can look up the khanjarli daggar.
there is no such thing as a pacifist nation, only pacifist islands within nations… so the hindu had to defend themselves from tigers to incursions by other groups as any group does.
the west doesnt focus on the full history… just selective history, so we teach noble savage and not that he was a cannibal. (and inter human predator prey makes for an arms race in intelligence as man preys on man).
if one knows the history of the area, the tribes from the islands all around india are not exactly freindly. and to this day some are still cannibal (but denied). papua is no longer part of indonesia (27 down to 26. walt pipe in if i get it wrong, i am a newbie to their history)… the people there are still tribal and have a wealth of weapons. the phillipeans had weapons too.
Kali a hindu god is drawn with a selection of weapons one in each hand. so thay had bows too (though by their shape i would guess that they were more towards the arab version of the bow, and not the more familiar curves of the saxons. arabs had recurves which made more power in a shorter weapon).
according to texts hindu military science recognizes two kinds of warfare. the dharmayuddha, and the katayudda.
they have very much a code of honor and such much as the japanese and the knights of the later periods in europe. they call it niti and saurya.
they are covred in the dharmasutras
hindus also had the use of gunpowder (arabs learned from them), and Terence Duke argues that the martial arts we are so familiar with started intheir cruder forms in india and moved into china and the rest of the area where they were more refined.
as walt will confirm, indias religion and animism dominates a lot of art and temples all over there. along with bhuddist symbology as most are dressed for islam. (i think that its these other things that has kept indonesian islam from not having the same nuances in other areas).
the weapons of offense and defense are four, the mukta, the amukta, the mantra-mukta, and the yantramukta. mukta are thrown, amukta not thrown, mantramukta (discharged – is fired).
the visvasaghati-agni-yoga was basically a hand grenade. so that would be a mukta.
so a great list… ya should have stopped while you were ahead. 🙂
by the way… it was a great point..
Obama and Gates and Crowley: dialogue and construction and racial profiling
Doesn’t our brilliant, constitutional-law-teaching president know that speaking about a case that is unsettled could prejudice a jury? Since he didn’t know any details, BO should have refused to comment about an ongoing investigation.
I suspect that Obama, if he knew that his buddy had been arrested probably also knew that the charge had been dropped and that there was absolutely no danger of a jury trial.
I don’t care what color Gates is, the cops had no good reason to arrest him. That’s why they immediately dropped the charges.
Don’t be too hard on the commentor. He is only making the same point many others in general society and Progressive punditland are making and will make in long, thoughtful op eds earnestly affirming Gates’s version of the event. When charges are dropped it is always seen as a tact admission by the authorities that there was no basis for the charges in the first place.
And we KNOW the City Attorney was only doing what would be done if any one of us were arrested for yelling at a policeman in public and continued publicly alleging wrongdoing on the part of the policeman from then until … well, until he decides to stop, I guess. Right?
The Progressives needs to give that City Attorney the Obama/Gates Award For Stupidly Playing Into the Hands of Race-Baiting.
To real conservative:Just compare Mel Gibson mouthing off a Jewish cop with racial insults, while drunk, to Gates mouthing off a white cop with racial insults, while sober. The whole country fell over Gibson and he humbly apoligized. With Gates the media back Gates and he demands most arrogantly an apology.
It’s all insane.
My only experience with Boston’s finest. Years ago I was waiting for a train–the orange line–and there was this guy yelling into payphone. (Yes, it was that long ago). Apparently his girl friend was dumping him. Anyway he was shouting his way through the alphabet, You goddam B…You goddam C…., when two cops showed up. They cuffed him and ran him in. The poor guy cried, “WHY?”. “For being a ninny”, replied one of the cops.
I just had an unsettling thought. Interesting … but unsettling.
Gates has his “teaching moment” with Crowley. Gates, righteous indignation still inflaming his soul, calls his buddy, Obama.
“Some dimwit called the police on me. I dunno, I guess they told them it was a break-in. You know how whitey is, we all look alike to them. Barack, that cracker cop arrested me in my own home even after he knew I was no burglar! Yeah, took my cane away and led me out IN HANDCUFFS in front of the whole neighborhood, bro. They dropped the charge — so you KNOW they knew they were full of the brown stuff in the first place. My lawyer says I have grounds for a civil suit.”
Obama then gets a(perhaps) surprise question at the press conference and decides on the spur of the moment to give all America a “teaching moment” on racial profiling, one of his pet peeves. Being a careful man and a lawyer, he issues the standard throw away caveat about not knowing all the facts of the case and weighs in. The rest, stupidly, is history.
I, too, believe that there is no upside for the cop in going to the White House; there to be used by both Gates and Obama to get themselves out of this mess and at his expense. It will be a condescending dog and pony show photo op, with the cop being both dog and pony.
So, I say to Officer Crowley, tell the White House “thanks but no thanks, I got work to do.”
Ok, Artfldgr, I’ll step in. First, I believe you’re thinking of East Timor, which split off from still-Indonesian West Timor in 1999. Regarding Papua, as with Timor, the western part is still part of Indonesia. The eastern part is the separate nation of Papua New Guinea. The island of New Guinea as a whole is populated by tribes that in some cases haven’t changed much since the Stone Age (and yes, some probably would find a nice, fat Westerner very appetizing).
Now, as to the last item on Gray’s list, Hinduism as a whole has never been a pacifist religion. As with Christianity, there have been those within it who practiced pacifism, but the Hindu kingdoms on the Subcontinent and in other places like Bali were very familiar with the art of war, which they practiced regularly, both offensively and defensively. India also has a legitimate claim to being where systematized martial arts originated (although the Chinese might disagree). Kalaripayat, among others, is still practiced today, and includes both empty-hand forms and weapons techniques. Interestingly (to me, at least), it’s one of the few traditional martial arts systems that has consistently included women in its training before that became the PC thing to do.
Other than that, Gray, the answer to what the items on your list have in common is “these things don’t exist”. And to get back to the theme of Neo’s article, it’s pretty clear to me that no particular good can come out of the planned beer bash at the White House. Sgt. Crowley is going to get pilloried whether he shows up or not, and it’s pretty clear to me that the objective is to humiliate him. BHO and Gates haven’t made careers out of respecting the opinions of working-class “crackers” like Sgt. Crowley. I don’t know if he can refuse the invitation without getting hammered by his higher-ups in the Department, but if they’ll back him up, he should stay home.
Bill Cosby for President!
strcpy
I work in academia, professors are required to publish and then practice what they publish, I’m talking about the humanities (soft sciences) it’s called that for a reason and it’s because it’s largely based on anecdotal evidence and methods that attempt something towards a scientific process, where the pool is often tainted towards a desired outcome, especially when it comes to minority research, there are to many lucrative grants and academic departments are hard strapped for resources, which in defense of education republican could do more to stabilize academic research without oversight — we must maintain academic freedom. It’s serious business because peoples jobs are on the line to publish, publish, publish — and many time it’s such waste of time when professors could be spending precious time actually helping students. Any water cooler discussion of this Gate/Obama/Crowley race issue will be meet with me with, “I haven’t been watching the news, I have bills to pay.” We’re being primed for a serious anti-PC witch hunt. Academia is the LAST place if you’re employed there where you ant to speech freely despite reasonable contention, it’s a big no-no don’t rock the boat on this topic, phew.
Drop all remaining ordinance on my position, I repeat, on my position — it’s been a lovely fucking war fellas, as I crawl in my bunker and scoop sandbags over me.
correction, “Republicans could do more to stabilize academic research funding without oversight”
I actually did have a cop come to my house once because a new neighbor assumed someone had broken in, while it was just me.
I live in an area with a lot of summer homes, which quites down in late fall. Lots of homes are then empty.
At the time I was working a night-shift, and slept during the day. So come night time while I was at work, there were no lights on. In the daylight I slept, or worked my second job so no activity was going on.
My parked car wasn’t visible from this new neighbors house. I had met them briefly during the end of the summer, but I actually remember telling them that I was on my way out to my part-time summer job and was sorry I couldn’t stay to chat.
I guess they assumed I was a summer resident who worked part-time and spent the rest of my time at the beach or something.
So now it’s the fall, and my part-time summer job is done, I just have the night shift job. Because I worked nights, my sleeping schedule remained out of wack, but now I have more free time.
So here I am, (actually at home for once) up at 2am, lights blazing in the house watching TV in a pair of old sweats and a T-shirt.
Suddenly I see a man’s face staring in my front door right at me. I yelled out “Who the hell are you?!”
He tells me he’s a cop and there’s been a report of lights on at a summer home and he’s come to investigate.
I let him in, it really is a cop. I hadn’t heard him pull up (he used no sirens or lights). He asked me for ID, but the 1st thing I pulled out didn’t have my picture.
He explains politely that he needs to see a photo ID as I could be a robber who just picked up someones wallet from the house.
I can just imagine how it would have went down if I had followed up my “Who the hell are you?!” with a Mr. Gate’s style reply — I too would have gotten arrested.
Only being a white female, the charges would have probably stuck, as I don’t know the president nor am I a professor.
Lucky for me I have more common sense and respect — my neighbor and the cops were trying to help. I provided photo ID, and thanked the guy for coming out.
Obama should have just kept his trap shut. He didn’t know the facts, and now this will bite him in the ass.
Obama should have just kept his trap shut. He didn’t know the facts, and now this will bite him in the ass.
And according to the latest Rasmussen poll, it is biting him. The first survey in which all of the polling was done after the Gates remarks shows his current approval index (which in Rasmussen weighs the difference between those either “strongly approving” or “strongly disapproving” of the president) now down to -11 (40% strongly disapprove, compared to just 29% strongly approving).
http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/obama_administration/daily_presidential_tracking_poll
Would it be presumptuous to say at this point the BO acted stupidly?
After my stint in the military in the 60’s, I went back to college and studied English constitutional history, then on to law school. I don’t practice anymore; I’m a software developer, farmer and sailor. But I remember some of what I’ve learned.
Sgt. Crowely stands on the brink of becoming a badly-needed hero for us all. The citizens of this country are its true sovereigns; we are free people who wrote our own constitution — it wasn’t handed to us by a dictator or a king. Under that constitution, the President cannot compel* a citizen to attend a meeting at the White House. Crowley can provide Obama — and all of us — with a “teachable moment” simply by refusing to go.
* Short of declaring martial law.
Oh, bother: Crowley has a better alternative, that doesn’t require professional seppuku on his part, and obviates the participation of the mayor of Cambridge.
He can just say that knowing how busy the President is, he doesn’t need a personal apology, and considers Obama kinda sorta apology good enough.
It makes him look gracious and modest, while simultaneously characterizing Obama’s statement as an apology. Pretty tough to come down on Crowley for that, and yet it does the job, and puts Obama and Gates back on their heels.
Btw, Rasmussen has Obama’s approval index now at texthere. Down bubble!
Obama obviously hasn’t figured out that America can get — and may already have — Obama fatigue. Much like Britney Spears or Lindsay Lohan, there comes a time when people just tired of hearing about someone constantly, to no purpose, after which point more exposure simply erodes popularity (and interest) further.
Sorry, that should have been:
Btw, Rasmussen has Obama’s approval index now at -11%. Down bubble!
Obama obviously hasn’t figured out that America can get — and may already have — Obama fatigue. Much like Britney Spears or Lindsay Lohan, there comes a time when people just tired of hearing about someone constantly, to no purpose, after which point more exposure simply erodes popularity (and interest) further.
Occam: I disagree. I think it would make Crowley look like he was “knuckling under.” Just like when Obama told the bankers that he was “the only thing between them and the pitchforks.” None of them raised the point that there was that inconvenient document, the U.S. Constitution. But then, bankers, unlike cops, aren’t known for courage, especially after they’ve taken a few billions in taxpayer money . . .
Cap’n Rusty, you may be right.
My reasoning was that Obama is trying desperately to avoid the “a-word” and instead back off by issuing further statements to “clarify” his first one.
After getting Crowley behind closed doors, Obama can then publicly characterize their private conversation in any way he wishes. For that reason, Crowly must not agree to a private meeting.
So my idea was to obviate the need for a private meeting, while simultaneously characterizing Obama’s “clarification” as an apology, and then accepting it, closing the issue. Obama could then only dispute that characterization by re-opening the issue yet again, something he is probably loath to do.
But you may be right; my advice might look Crowley look like he was caving.
I guess I don’t see how it would make Crowley look like he was caving if he declined the invite. I still think, as I said yesterday, that Crowley has nothing to gain from this meeting.
The most professional way to handle it would be what Occam just suggested.
Crowley needs to state that Obama has done the right thing, that he accepts his apology, etc. That will get Obama off the hook. Then, Crowley can drop the hammer on Gates.
Divide and conquer.
to Real Conservative at 8:01 am,
You make a forthright point, yet your point is not relevant to the thing which interests us, which is the way Barack damaged himself with a revealing unforced error.
What interests me – more, maybe, than it interests most other commenters here – is the way this subject resonates with Joe and Jane Voter. Americans understand police interaction. We may not understand economics, we may not be able to get our heads around “trillion”, but we understand interaction with police.
Barack’s unforced error allows us Joe and Jane Voter Americans to see him more clearly than we could see him before. Barack bumbled into an area in which we regular Americans have expertise. “Cops” plays 10 times a night on cable TV. We understand the lack of reasoning behind the rash Gates Assumption. We understand the racial agenda behind the Gates Assumption. We understand men who are too vain to see their mistakes and apologize for them. We UNDERSTAND this. We GET this. Barack is unmasked in our eyes. And, if he’s unreasonable, agenda-driven, and unwilling to admit error here: WHERE ELSE is he unreasonable, agenda-driven, and unwilling to admit error?
This is a small incident which is HUGE, b/c me, my auto mechanic, and the girl who cuts my hair all understand it perfectly.
in fact, you’d have to be a college professor (or a law school lecturer) to fail to understand this incident.
I’m going for Occam and MikeLL’s advice to Crowley.
If he meets with Obama it signal’s Crowley’s acceptance of Obama’s non-apology. If he publicly states he accepts Obama’s “apology,” without meeting with Obama then Crowley gets to spin it as Obama having apologized and therefore admitting of his unfair slander against Crowley.
Obama cannot then deny he apologized to Crowley without looking like an ass. He’s stuck with Crowley’s spin. Obama wants to have it both ways. Crowley can deny him that luxury.
The Rasmussen poll is encouraging but this Gates affair is not a real game-changer IMO. An accumulation of gaffes is needed before Obama’s popularity will be lowered significantly. If the Republicans can just hold off passage of the healthcare bill until the public gets a chance to find out what’s in it … then we might see a meaningful dent in Obama’s popularity and approval rating.
grackle,
My opinion: what can Crowley do, really? He HAS to accept a Presidential invitation. Could he live with his wife if he denied her a White House visit? Crowley is a cop. He has no interest in being a political player or a martyr, and properly so.
Give this Gates Assumption some time. This thing is a blister which becomes infected and then leads to sepsis. Barack could stop the fatal progression, yet will not, b/c he will not admit his true error.
The Barack accumulation of gaffes are out there, waiting to be discovered by us regular Americans. The Gates Assumption will aid the process of discovery.
I agree with grackle that the Gates incident is not a game-changer in itself, but it did come at a most inopportune time when the game is changing.
Obama is not going to ram his healtchare through. Oh, I believe some kind of health reform will pass, but not of the universal socialist variety.
This will be a great disappointment to Obama and his followers and a sign that the new boss is become an old boss.
That Ramsussen drop of Obama’s Approval Index to -11 is remarkable. Obama realizes that he has damaged his popularity at the time when he can least afford it. Hence, this peculiar meeting with Crowley and Gates.
That will have to be a very carefully controlled meeting. It’s a risk keeping the debacle in the public mind any longer.
Barack and Gates are going to publicly use and abuse Sgt. Crowley, via publicly characterizing him and his remarks to serve their own purposes. They will treat him as a dupe. It’s what self-serving politicians and college professors do. But I don’t see how Sgt. Crowley can avoid it, or if he even cares. I suspect his code of manly behavior disdains political shenanigans. Such is beneath his dignity.
OT – Sarah Palin stepping down today. Sigh.
My opinion: what can Crowley do, really? He HAS to accept a Presidential invitation. Could he live with his wife if he denied her a White House visit? Crowley is a cop. He has no interest in being a political player or a martyr, and properly so.
If the wife has a brain she’ll realize that Obama wants to use her husband for Obama’s benefit and be content with the social cachet of the invitation itself. Crowley may not be interested in being a political player but I’ll bet he has just as little interest in being manipulated by Obama.
Give this Gates Assumption some time. This thing is a blister which becomes infected and then leads to sepsis. Barack could stop the fatal progression, yet will not, b/c he will not admit his true error.
We can always hope but even the Rasmussen poll indicates a shift of only 3 points.
The Barack accumulation of gaffes are out there, waiting to be discovered by us regular Americans. The Gates Assumption will aid the process of discovery.
Most things that have happened so far have been a wash for Obama. Those who voted for him haven’t changed their mind because of anything he’s done so far.
Oh, I believe some kind of health reform will pass, but not of the universal socialist variety.
I think any bill passed will be a victory for Obama. For one thing, he gets to claim an accomplishment. Also, the bill may be watered down at passage but could be amended and modified over time. The present Social Security law is significantly different than the one originally passed.
BTW, even if Obama becomes very unpopular it doesn’t necessarily mean he will be defeated in the next election. Bush wasn’t all that popular and won re-election. And things happen. For instance, the Republicans could conceivably end up with a nominee with very little voter appeal.
A bad economy won’t save us either. Roosevelt won 4 elections during a worse economy. Besides, that same Rasmussen site has a poll showing most American still blame Bush for the economy.
I screwed up the italics in that last comment. God Bless America!
thanks waltj, at least i wasnt too far off… still got a lot to go in that area… worlds a big place and history is a long time for us.
I don’t see why Crowley should feel any obligation to respond to a White House invitiation.
He could do what I would do in such a situation-
ask if they have a warrant compelling him to cooperate.
If they don’t, wish them good day and get on with life. Crowley has been accused of stupidity by a sitting president, who was admittedly short of facts, and has been accused by Gates of submitting a fraudulent police report – a crime.
Screw Gates, and let Urkel go about his business of failing his presidency (and the nation) without inconveniencing an ethical, professional, law enforcement officer.
Obama is going to come to appreciate that class cannot be bought or coerced.
Being devoid of such a trait, he’s been depending on media and the leeches he’s collected over the years to give him a camouflage of sorts, a veneer of respectability… but it’s getting to be a pretty thin act.
If I were Crowley’s wife, they could surround my house with tanks and demand my husband come out to be ‘escorted’ to the White House and I would be standing in my front yard yelling at them in blind fury, telling them exactly how they could better use their tanks. Cops’ wives are cagy and tough. They have to be.
Kinda funny video.
As other have said, there is no way Crowley can turn down a presidential invitation. All he can do is how up and respond with the Yes Sir, No Sir, that Gates owed Crowley but Gates was too foolish and bigoted to bother with.
I’m not sure how this plays out. If Obama and Gates are too smarmy about using this “teaching moment” to impress Americans further with their profound thoughts on racial profiling and how racist a country America is, they could do even further damage to themselves and the Obama administration.
grackle: Obama is not FDR by a very long shot.
In 1932 FDR won 57-40% of the popular vote and 472-59 in the Electoral College. FDR had a 60-40 majority in the Senate, and dominated with 313-117 in the Hosue. That’s what a real mandate looks like. And he increased those margins in the following election.
Obama is the most bizarre president in American history, and now only six months into his term, though he started with extremely high poll numbers, he has already dropped to 49% according to Rasmussen (whose numbers are based on likely voters) and 40% of Americans “strongly disapprove” of Obama.
Obama is not FDR. He has not rallied the country, much less healed its divisions or set it on the road to economic recovery. Obama has his followers but aside from blacks, some young people and the media, no one is swooning for Obama anymore.
If the economy does not start recovering soon, Obama is in deep trouble.
There’s no reason a principled public servant need respond in the affirmative to a White House invitation.
In another age – say, before last November – that would not have been the case.
The Won has come to tear down the old and bring in the Utopic. Maybe he shouldn’t have trashed his office before getting the job done.
Think about it – the ONLY reason Crowley has to show up at the White House is in order to be packaged as the racist storm trooper who went after Gates.
Period.
Where is it in anybody’s interest that there even be a meeting? No, the Won’s best option here is to STFU and let media chase this latest gaffe down the memory hole. Anything else is just going to put more hearty slices of fail in an already Dagwoodian fail sandwich.
TmjUtah: Seriously? Remember that the police are quasi-military in character and that in any large city the police are most definitely part of the local political system. Remember too that the Boston area is deeply Democratic.
Whether any of this should be the case is up for grabs, but the reality is as I have described.
Imagine Crowley telling his superior that no, he would prefer not to accept the President’s invitation, that Crowley is slapping away the President’s outstretched hand.
Not happening.
“… the president’s outstretched hand.”
Feh. Al Capone was tough to say no to, as well, but sometimes good men did do the right thing. Not without cost, mind you, but it was done.
Barak Obama is president of the United States. In this professional capacity he called Sgt. Crowley “stupid”. Further, he implicitly sided with “Skippy”, his campus faculty break room buddy, in the absence of facts, who has alleged on national media that Sgt. Crowley has committed a crime.
Stop behaving as if there are rules for us to behave in the presence of our “betters” when it is emphatically clear that these people are not worth the consideration we would like to extend to their offices.
We screwed up. Most of us can only wait to vote in 2010. Sgt. Crowley can act now.
I knew it:
“On today’s Fox News Sunday, presidential press secretary Robert Gibbs admitted President Obama had been prepared to answer questions about the Henry Louis Gates arrest at his press conference last week.
“Well, look,” said Gibbs, “Let’s just say it’s safe to say we went over a whole lot of topics that we thought might come up, and certainly this was a topic that was, has been in the news . . .”
I knew it. They knew the question was going to be asked. Obama was prepped for it. They went out of their way to schedule it as the last question during the presser.
And Obama screwed the pooch! If this doesn’t highlight the stupidity that is Obama, what will?
Gates is under the impression, from his public statements, that the whole thing has to have a ‘higher meaning’. That’s what the whole White House thing is about. The trouble is, it doesn’t. It was just a guy acting like an ass in a stressful situation. It happens, but it has no higher meaning.
I think Officer Crowley certainly can decline an invitation to the White House. Especially if, as Gates seems to be under the impression, his purpose in going there would be to apologize. He should just say he was doing his job and will continue to do it for the people of Cambridge and he’s not important enough to warrant a trip to the White House, unless every time he makes an arrest Barack Obama would like to speak with him. Okay, maybe he shouldn’t say the last part.
Factually incorrect, and I disagree with the implicit premise that the police should not be able to arrest people for mouthing off at them.
A police officer in the performance of his duties is not an ordinary citizen. He has especial responsibilities, and therefore should have corresponding authority. Mouthing off to a police officer treats him as an ordinary citizen, but an ordinary citizen can perfectly well kick your ass, too. So you have to choose: either a police officer has authority corresponding to his responsibility, and therefore can legitimately arrest you for disrespecting his authority (my position), or he doesn’t, and is in effect simply a private citizen, in which case he has free rein to kick your ass as a private citizen (in effect, your position). It’s invidious to hold police officers to a higher standard of behavior (responsibility) while denying them the right of redress either by legal means (authority) or street means (kicking your ass).
It’s much the same situation as a judge. Mouth off to a judge in court proceedings, where has responsibilities and also authority, and he has every right and ability to throw your ass in jail for contempt of court.
With regard to profiling have you really been able to tell the race of the driver passing you at 90 mph + on the turnpike?
The real sin of profiling is that it subjects every arrest to a race norming counter. So, the police are reluctant to make arrests in minority neighborhoods (so who suffers?) and dissuades individual officers from arresting minorities unless s/he is willing to undergo a Gate’s form of profiling examination.
Could he live with himself if he did?
To hell with the wife — she doesn’t have chips in this game. A man’s gotta do what a man’s gotta do. If she won’t support him, he needs to kick her ass out, now, and good riddance.
I don’t see it. Why not? I’d turn it down in a heartbeat. Who’s got more to lose, Crowley or Obama? Last week nobody knew who Crowley was. A week from now, no one will care. Obama is the one with his gonads on the anvil, who wants this to go away. Crowley’s insignificance is his strength.
Think about it: if Crowley burns the Messiah, and then gets denied promotion (or whatever), he can scream “payback.” The powers that be in Cambridge (especially if they’re viewed as in Obama’s pocket) have to bend over backwards to appear fair to Crowley. For that reason, it’s better to totally blow it out now, publicly, than make nice now and let them shaft him later.
I don’t think that screaming “payback” is all that attractive for Sgt. Crowley as a recourse. He’s not an agitator or activist. He doesn’t want to spend his time suing his employer or being a poster child for political causes. (I doubt the New Haven firefighters did, either.) He doesn’t want to become a target of racial hatred; that would put his life in danger even more than it is. I’m not a policeman, but I suspect that Career Management 101 for Police Officers says, don’t get sideways with the Prosecuting Attorney, Mayor, and Governor all at once. Unless, of course, he doesn’t want to be a policeman anymore, and he either doesn’t care about his pension or figures he can get it as part of a settlement.
Sgt. Crowley’s best course is to say, “I did my duty and acted according to department protocol and policy. First, to protect and defend Professor Gates’ property and life. Second, to uphold public order. I did my job, as my report shows. The Prosecuting Attorney has done his job. That should be the end of the matter, and I have no further comment.”
Here’s Gates’s viewpoint of the meeting:
“I am pleased that he, too, is eager to use my experience as a teaching moment, and if meeting Sergeant Crowley for a beer with the president will further that end, then I would be happy to oblige.”
So, Officer Crowley is to go to the meeting, policeman’s hat in hand, and submit to Obama and Gates’s “teaching moment” on racial profiling. How nice for Gates and Obama.
Obama is not FDR by a very long shot.
Nor did I suggest he is. My point was that a bad economic situation does not preclude the re-election of an American President. There’s a tendency for some to see a silver lining in this economic cloud. But Obama will not be blamed — Bush is blamed and will continue to be blamed by the MSM.
… he[Obama] started with extremely high poll numbers, he has already dropped to 49% …
True. And I would love to have Obama become very unpopular. But the future is impossible to predict — numbers go down and they sometimes also go up.
How interesting that we have two great symbolic stories swirling around the Cambridge (“Harvard”) police and the New Haven (“Yale”) firefighters. Almost as if we are seeing a kind of crack-up when the Ivory Tower and fine words meets reality. How interesting that the “academics” are opposed to the symbolic heroes of 9/11, the cops and the firefighters who selflessly rushed toward deadly danger.
Almost a metaphor for the Obama Presidency.
kcom Says:
It was just a guy acting like an ass in a stressful situation. It happens, but it has no higher meaning.
Nailed it.
This whole thing is kind of like a neurosis.
A current event that is only tangentially related to a traumatic memory, taps into that memory and brings up the old feelings.
In this case police butality and profiling againt blacks is part of the African American traumatic cultural memory. This Cambridge routine police action touched that nerve and the old feelings came up, causing a stronger reaction than was appropriate.
Just a thought.
I’m not a policeman, but I suspect that Career Management 101 for Police Officers says, don’t get sideways with the Prosecuting Attorney, Mayor, and Governor all at once.
Oblio puts it colorfully and succinctly. In a perfect world Crowley might decline an invitation from the Prez, but if he has any concern for his future as a policeman in the state of Massachussetts, he’d be crazy to.
Furthermore Crowley’s superior, for the same reasons, would be crazy to let Crowley do so.
The game from here out for Crowley is to be civil without letting himself be framed into a “teaching moment” by Obama and Gates.
This game will be risky for all three hands.
I think Obama and Gates are continuing their stupidity, their urgent emotional need to “teach” Americans about racism, while Obama and Gates remain unable to see their own.
At best this meeting will be a wash. There’s a good chance, though, that will only highlight the reverse-racism at the heart of Obama’s presidency and damage his poll numbers further.
I don’t see how any good can come to Crowley from this meeting. The deck is stacked against him.
Crowley is in a no-win situation.
Didn’t the Other Greatest President in History, Lincoln, from time to time receive various nobodies at the White House where he’d manifest his great clemency?
Doesn’t matter if Crowley really does come home telling all how he was floored by this encounter with wisdom and goodness and rose again a new man; legends like this are in the script Obama wrote for himself years ago.
armchair pessimist: I’d be curious to see some of these stories. Names, links?
“Crowley is in a no-win situation.”
Sadly the only one set to gain by this is Gates.
Crowley is going to be gutted if he declines, gutted if he just sits/listens/agrees, and gutted if he comes away talking about how great it is. I would guess his best option is to attend and say as little as possible both during and after the meeting.
Obama has no where to go but down, he stuck his foot in his mouth and trying to convince us it tastes wonderful. No matter what happens in this meeting it is just keeping it in the public eye. Not to mention that a “success” (Crowley talking good) will be seen as a forced issue and Crowley just being silent will be seen as an abject failure. He hasn’t figured out that this doesn’t sell well outside of his church.
Gates, OTOH makes his living by pushing this type of stuff. At worst his name becomes famous and his rate for speaking engagements climbs through the roof, at best he could easily become another one of the big race baiter like Sharpton or Jackson. He only needs to speak to the believers and anything that occurs here works in his favour – “See those white guys admitted it and it all due to me!” or “See, those white guys knew what they did so badly they can not admit it, all due to me!”. He could easily get as much or more national fame than rev Wright did (and yes I intentionally refused to capitalize Rev and Church when referring to that entity).
Like many things about him I’m not sure which is better – that Obama realizes this and is making that sacrifice to get another race baiter out there or if he is just being duped by Gates. Neither one is good and frankly I think he was just duped.
strcpy: No question that Gates becomes more famous, sells more books, and gets more speaking engagements.
The other big loser is America. We come out of this with race relations increasingly polarized.
In a Mr. Spock sort of way, it will be fascinating to see where race relations are after Obama, but I suspect it won’t be pretty at all.
Huxley,
Sorry no links. Maybe I was babbling a piece of Lincoln folklore, the part about how the mothers of sons being court martialed for desertion appealed to the president, who over the advice of his generals and cabinet, would issue a pardon.
Obama is no Lincoln but he’ll have the means to spin and decorate this story of the Great Peacemaker.