How much lower can the president go?

[PRBuzz]

Sounds like an act of "stupidity" by the Office the the President? To be clear, I am not calling Obama stupid in a manner similar to Obama not calling the Cambridge Officer stupid.

If it were a Black/Hispanic officer arresting a white guy (Harvard Prof or not), this wouldn't even be news!

[Cool Beans]

yeah, that whole fiasco was assinine! Who do they expect the cops to arrest after a call comes in reporting 2 black men forcing open the door?

And because it involves race Obama has to chime in.

WHY THE HELL DON'T WE EVER HEAR FROM HIS WHITE 1/2?

[Slipknot]

What bothers me about the whole thing that nobody has brought up is, that Gates is a smart enough man to realize how it must have looked as they shouldered in his door that was stuck, so when the police arrived he should have come to the realization that a passerby may have called concerned about a break in, he than could have quickly explained his door was stuck and he owns the property, but no he had to escalate the whole thing immediately bringing race into it because he was irritable from a long flight. well boohoo, he is the one who should suck it up and apologize not the officer who was sent there to do his job. Obama says cooler heads should have prevailed, well they didn't, (not a time for monday morning quarterbacking but I guess after calling the police stupid, I guess that's what ya do)and Gates' head was not cool, Crowley gave him more than one chance to calm down.
Sounds like it was a freakshow to me. Now the guy is trying to ride this thing for all he can, pathetic if you ask me.

[buckman]

Originally Posted by Slipknot

What bothers me about the whole thing that nobody has brought up is, that Gates is a smart enough man to realize how it must have looked as they shouldered in his door that was stuck, so when the police arrived he should have come to the realization that a passerby may have called concerned about a break in, he than could have quickly explained his door was stuck and he owns the property, but no he had to escalate the whole thing immediately bringing race into it because he was irritable from a long flight. well boohoo, he is the one who should suck it up and apologize not the officer who was sent there to do his job. Obama says cooler heads should have prevailed, well they didn't, (not a time for monday morning quarterbacking but I guess after calling the police stupid, I guess that's what ya do)and Gates' head was not cool, Crowley gave him more than one chance to calm down.
Sounds like it was a freakshow to me. Now the guy is trying to ride this thing for all he can, pathetic if you ask me.

Gates was race baiting. The cop teaches racial profiling classes. I don't know the facts of the case but Gates acted stupidly.

[JohnR]

Originally Posted by buckman

I don't know the facts of the case but Gates acted stupidly.

I KNOW you said that on purpose

[Fly Rod]

Slipknot most highly intelligent, educated people do not have common sence, nor can they tye their shoes.

The President, Mr. Barack Hussain Obama did not have all the facts and should not have commented about the incident. He did not mention that there were two callers that called 911 to report a break-in, two people trying to force a door open. Also in 2008 there were approximately 60 break-ins in that area.

Even tho the professor became biligerant in his house or on his property does not give the officer the right to arrest.

In Massachusetts it is not a crime on your own property to be biligerant to a policeman and be arrested for disorderly conduct. If you are off your property then that is a differant story.

The bottom line is, two wrongs do not make it right. It should be over and no law suite

[spence]

Originally Posted by Fly Rod

The President, Mr. Barack Hussain Obama did not have all the facts and should not have commented about the incident. He did not mention that there were two callers that called 911 to report a break-in, two people trying to force a door open. Also in 2008 there were approximately 60 break-ins in that area.

Even tho the professor became biligerant in his house or on his property does not give the officer the right to arrest.

In Massachusetts it is not a crime on your own property to be biligerant to a policeman and be arrested for disorderly conduct. If you are off your property then that is a differant story.

The bottom line is, two wrongs do not make it right. It should be over and no law suite

+1 and a good analysis. I think the officers screwed up, but it was the process and not their judgement that caused it.

-spence

[Cool Beans]

Originally Posted by spence

+1 and a good analysis. I think the officers screwed up, but it was the process and not their judgement that caused it.

-spence

What the hell were they supposed to do? Respond to a report of 2 black guys on a B&E looking for white guys?

[fishbones]

Originally Posted by spence

+1 and a good analysis. I think the officers screwed up, but it was the process and not their judgement that caused it.

-spence

The officer did exactly what he has been trained to do. In fact, he made concessions to this man that would not have been made to you or me. Crowley cuffed Gates in the front because Gates said he has a bad back, and Crowley also went inside to get his cane. He's not required to do either of those things. Gates also got to sit in a room with visitors while he was at the station. He never even saw the inside of a cell.

Where Gates was wrong was that he did not show any proof of address at any time. He showed an ID, but it was his Harvard ID. That doesn't have his address on it. He should have been thanking the officer for doing his job and not pulling the "do you know who I am act" like he's superior to him because he's a scholar at an esteemed university.

Gates is trying to get as much mileage out of this as he can. He's already said that he'll be using this as part of his documentary about racial profiling in the US. Hmmm, seems that the timing for this is perfect for him.

Two years ago, I was leaving my house with my wife and son, when we heard our neighbors home security alarm going off. I knew my neighbors weren't home becaue they were away for a basketball tournament that weekend, so I told my wife I'd check on their house to make sure no one had broken in. I waked over and went up on the back deck and looked inside. Then, I walked around the back towards the front of the house and checked the basement windows. As I got to the front yard, there was a police officer getting out of his car. I said hi and he asked if I lived at the house. I said "no, I live next door. I heard the alarm and came over because they aren't home". He asked me if I could show him some ID because there have been break in's in my neighborhood in the past. I didn't start yelling at him and calling him a racist because he's Asian and I'm white. I didn't say that he was profiling me because I'm white and most arrests in my town are of white people. I simply showed him my license and told him to have a good day.

[Swimmer]

Originally Posted by Fly Rod

The President, Mr. Barack Hussain Obama did not have all the facts and should not have commented about the incident. He did not mention that there were two callers that called 911 to report a break-in, two people trying to force a door open. Also in 2008 there were approximately 60 break-ins in that area.

Even tho the professor became biligerant in his house or on his property does not give the officer the right to arrest.

Flyrod, don't think that you cannot be arrested in your home or on the property without a warrant. There are numerous scenarios under which an arrest could and have occured.

In Massachusetts it is not a crime on your own property to be biligerant to a policeman and be arrested for disorderly conduct.[/B] [B]If you are off your property then that is a differant story.

That is not accurate at all.

The bottom line is, two wrongs do not make it right. It should be over and no law suite

If one person involved was right, then the other was wrong. Both can't be wrong. Either Gates was right or the officer was.

I think you are confusing an officers right to enter a home to effect an arrest with a warrant, when the warrant is the only rerason why an officer would be on the property.