More On President "Stupidly", Gates, And Crowley

More on the arrest and aftermath with Henry Louis Gates.

[0.  As I noted yesterday, the fact that Gates produced (per his version) a driver's license with an address is suggestive but not dispositive of his right to be in the house.  It is certainly conceivable that he and his wife had recently gone through a nasty separation, she had kicked him out and changed the locks, and he had broken into his former house in order to seize property in dispute or smack her around.  One wonders whether feminists and domestic violence experts endorse the view apparently held by President Stupidly, namely, if the man of the house can produce an ID with the appropriate address and refuses all further questions, the police should pipe down and leave.  (Per Crowley, Gates would not even tell him whether any one else was in the house; in Gates' version, he does not describe Crowley's question but he makes clear that he refused to answer it.)]

1.  Roll Dem Bones, or at least, the tape - hard to believe there is something for everyone in the 911 and dispatchers tape:

Mounting pressure to get to the bottom of the controversial arrest of black scholar Henry Louis Gates Jr. is centering on recorded police tapes that may offer a dose of reality amid all the media and political noise.

Cambridge police brass and lawyers are weighing making the tapes public, which could include the 911 call reporting a break-in at Gates’ home and radio transmissions by the cop who busted him July 16 for disorderly conduct.

...“I don’t believe this officer did anything wrong, and given what we know, I don’t think he would be afraid to share the tapes at all, either,” said Thomas Nee, president of the Boston Police Patrolmen’s Association. “It’s public record. From dispatch to conclusion, it’s all on tape.”

I bet we will find out.  Or maybe the authorities will just release a tape of an old Richard Pryor comedy sketch, with Pryror screaming "It's because I'm black!".

2.  Am I the only gutless white guy in America?  The Times gives this advice on dealing with police officers:

Mr. Vivian, 47, said that he had been unfairly stopped by the police in the past, but that he lived by “an unwritten code” for dealing with these incidents. And Dr. Gates certainly did not obey the code, he said.

Quiet politeness is Rule No. 1 in surviving an incident of racial profiling, he said. So is the frequent use of the word “sir.”

...

That there is a well-known code of behavior familiar to most minorities who are stopped by the police, Mr. Vivian said, is testament enough of a problem.

That is the code known to minorities?  Am I the only white guy who has embraced the "Look down and suck up" approach to dealing with cops?  Maybe over the years my pale friends have only been faking their humility in recounting their own police stories.

3.  Another moment of racial solidarity - at Irish Central, Obama was the one acting stupidly and Crowley is aces.

4.  Crowley should apologize?  My Inner Irishman says, As If.  The tape does not reveal whether the interviewer asked Elizabeth Gates if her father would apologize; maybe Gates pere didn't need to be talking about Crowley's mama.

5.  President Stupidly speaks to ABC News:

The president said he understands the sergeant who arrested Gates is an "outstanding police officer." But he added that with all that's going on in the country with health care and the economy and the wars abroad, "it doesn't make sense to arrest a guy in his own home if he's not causing a serious disturbance."

Almost!  With two wars and a faltering health care reform effort, maybe President Stupidly should not be bloviating about local police matters, especially when he does not have the facts.

6.  In A Pickle:  The Cambridge mayor is probably in a jam.  Other than Crowley the Cambridge and Harvard police were not on the scene immediately, but they don't need to wait for the mayor's special commission to tell them what they saw and heard at the end of the scene and during Gates' arrest.  If the cops are backing Crowley out of fraternal solidarity, that is one thing; if they are backing him because the other cops on the scene believe he acted appropriately, that is another.

From ABC News:

One of Crowley's neighbors supported the sergeant's account, saying that the police report that said Gates was "belligerent" was not completely off the mark.

LATER ON FRIDAY:  The Cambridge police request an apology from President Stupidly; Gibbs and Obama realize they are losing the message war so Obama makes a surprise appearance in the press room, blames the media for the hub-bub, praises Crowley, tweaks Gates a bit ("I also continue to believe, based on what I heard, that Professor Gates probably overreacted as well.") and hopes we move on.  However, Obama is not apologizing to anyone.  If Obama and Gates force Crowley to take the first bite of crow there will be Hades to pay.

Gates has a long radio chat, to which I have not listened; does anyone believe the article excerpts?  I am stuck here:

Gates gives a detailed version of the encounter, challenging a specific aspect of the police report, that he referred to Sgt. Crowley's "momma":

"I think when they put together that report they did some historical research and watched some episodes of 'Good Times' or something," Gates said. "What kind of black person today says [that] to a big white police officer?"

What kind of person?  Hmm, a hyper-entitled Harvard prof with an overdeveloped sense of his own grievances and invulnerability?  Well, the cops there know what they heard, and maybe we will all hear the tapes.

THE TIDE CONTINUES TO EBB:

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (AP) — A black police officer who was at Henry Louis Gates Jr.'s home when the black Harvard scholar was arrested says he fully supports how his white fellow officer handled the situation.

Sgt. Leon Lashley says Gates was probably tired and surprised when Sgt. James Crowley demanded identification from him as officers investigated a report of a burglary. Lashley says Gates' reaction to Crowley was "a little bit stranger than it should have been."

Asked if Gates should have been arrested, Lashley said supported Crowley "100 percent."

Sgt. Lashley has to work with these guys every day, so the idea that he might have come out in support of Gates is far-fetched.  However, he could have been busy or unavailable today; silence might have been golden.

Comments

[hit and run]

TM:
Am I the only white guy who has embraced the "Look down and suck up" approach to dealing with cops? Maybe over the years my pale friends have only been faking their humility in recounting their own police stories.

No, really, when a cop has pulled you over, it's the perfect time to "Speak Truth to Power!"

Isn't it?

[Lord Whorfin]

Tom- No, you're not the only gutless white man in America. I was a teen in the late sixties, and ALWAYS sucked up to the cops- at least when they could hear me.

[Extraneus]

No double digits yet. Maybe tomorrow.

[Porchlight]

Rasmussen approval index at -8, overall approval 49-51. Oopsie!

Overall, 49% of voters say they at least somewhat approve of the President's performance. Today marks the first time his overall approval rating has ever fallen below 50% among Likely Voters nationwide. Fifty-one percent (51%) disapprove.

Eighty-three percent (83%) of Democrats continue to approve of the President’s performance while 80% of Republicans disapprove. Among those not affiliated with either major party, 37% offer a positive assessment.

Sly Scott R. does not tell us the disapproval number for unaffiliated voters, but if the approval is 37, I'm betting it does not look too good. Bye bye, independents!

[clarice]

" With two wars and a faltering health care reform effort, maybe President Stupidly should not be bloviating about local police matters, especially when he does not have the facts."

Picky, Picky, TM.

I wrote Lynn Sweet to tell her I don't credit her version of events but in any event the fansango backfired.
It seems not a lot of the commenters are buying her version.

[Lord Whorfin]

BTW- as a budding juvenile delinquent (and white) in the sixties (weren't we all?), I had several unpleasant experiences with the police. From my view, the cops hated everyone, and were just waiting for you to start mouthing off so you could take a ride in the paddy wagon.

[Porchlight]

One more little tidbit from Ras:

Fifty-three percent (53%) now oppose the Congressional health care reform package. That’s up eight points over the past month. Just 20% now see health care as the most important of the President’s priorities. Nearly twice as many, 37%, say deficit reduction is most important.

[hit and run]

The strongly disapprove has hit 38% for just the second time (7/9 was last time)

And at 51% overall disapproval, he's only 1% away from flipping his November 52% victory.

[Sue]

These idiots are going to get cops killed because someone feels that because they are black they are afforded a pass. Police officers follow protocol for a reason. A black officer would have asked that fool Gates the same questions the white officer asked him.

[verner]

Release the Tapes!!!!

The whole idea of a CODE, or that the police would only ask a black man for his idea is ridiculous.

A month ago my house sitter, a petite, white, cleancut, thirtysomething, accidentally messed up the code on the motion detector, and my dogs set off the alarm. Well, she got there just ahead of the sheriff and (though I told her not to) she went into the house.

The officer pulled a pistol on her (they didn't know that anyone was suppose to be there) and made her show ID etc., then thoroughly checked out the house.

And both she and I were glad they did. What if she had been the lookout for a bunch of criminals who were in the process of running out the back door with everything I owned?

But since she was a white female, I guess that wasn't acting stupidly. And yes, if she had started yelling and cursing the police, I feel quite sure they would have cuffed her and taken her to jail.

[clarice]

Now it's getting to be fun--Crowley may sue Gates for defamation:

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/story?id=8163051&page=1

[verner]

A little OT, But the link to the Congressional report on ACORN is LUN.

The list of over 300 shell orgs starts on page 74.

[Danube of Thought]

Hell--you folks beat me to it with all the Ras stuff. Guess I spent too much time savoring it all.

[Fresh Air]

Just a minor quibble, shouldn't it be "Presidebt Stupidly"?

[Rick Ballard]

"Just a minor quibble, shouldn't it be "Presidebt Stupidly"?"

I suppose we should ask Vice-President LePetomane. I think that he's allowed to speak on some Fridays.

[Lord Whorfin]

LePetomaine:" we've got to DO SOMETHING to save our phoney baloney jobs!"

[verner]

Rick, what I think is hilarious are all the people who voted for Obama instead of McCain solely because they thought Palin was too stupid to be president.

President Biden....va va va vooooom. Yeah buddy, watch out Ukrainian babes.

[DebinNC]

Is the police tape one of those FOA things that must be released if requested?

[Jane]

I just looked up Alan MacDonald who is Crowley's lawyer - he wasn't in my red book (2007) but his firm represents the MMPC (Massachusetts Municipal Police Coalition) so I wonder if his firm would bring any defamation suit.

My guess is that an apology from Gates and the presidebt would solve the problem. (Can you imagine that?)

[clarice]

A lawsuit against Gates would expose him for the fraud he is. Will Ogletree be able to persuade his client of that?

If you've time and want a laugh read the joint energy op ed attacking Palin by Senate bright lights Boxer and Kerry.

[hit and run]

Clarice:
Crowley may sue Gates for defamation

Obviously if Gates were Irish, Crowley wouldn't even think about doing such a thing.

What? http://www.irishcentral.com/news/Henry-Gates-has-50-Per-Cent-Irish-Roots--51568452.html>Oh, wait:

In a PBS series on African-American ancestry that he hosted in 2008, Gates discovered his Irish roots when he found he was descended from an Irish immigrant and a slave girl.

He went to Trinity College in Dublin to have his DNA analyzed. There he found that he shared 10 of the 11 DNA matches with offspring of Niall of the Nine Hostages, the 4th century warlord who created one of the dominant strains of Irish genealogy because he had so many offspring.

Where is the racial solidarity?

[Pagar]

But the link to the Congressional report on ACORN

How much of the "November 52% victory" was pure ACORN fraud votes and how much was actually legitimate votes?

If you think ACORN won't get a whole lot more powerful,:

Democrats funneled $8.5 billion of taxpayer money to the corrupt ACORN Organization this year. Investor's Business Daily reported:

Corruption: A nonprofit group committing a crime conjures up images of terrorist fundraising. But $8.5 billion in taxpayer money may go to specialists in political terror: the tax-exempt scam artists of Acorn.

This 8.5 billion does not include any payments to ACORN under the Health Care Bill, but I have heard there are some.

[PeterUK]

Whilst Obama is turning out to be the most unpopular leader sin Vlad the Impaler,another little ray of sunshine from the UK.
Norwich by election, Labour trounced.
Previous Labour majority 5,459. New Conservative majority 7,348. This in a traditional Labour seat.

"Oh,the sun has got his hat on...."

[verner]

Deb, I hope it gets leaked to the Smoking Gun.

[clarice]

I fon't know how many of the ACORN votes were involved, but it is obvious that ACORN was able to overwhelm critical state election offices making fruad more easy and more likely.

[verner]

Congrats PUK. I only hope that young Cameron will be a good PM for you.

[bad]

Gibbs says the presidebt regrets that the media is distracted from more important matters by stupidgate.

per Fox News

[Jane]

New presidential utterance.

President regrets that the media has been distracted by his comments on Gates.

I kid you not.

[narciso]

Let's face it, he's never had the facts about anything going back to 1983, so why should he start now. His lead cohort of supporters think Colbert and Stewart are actual reporters what does that tell you

[Jane]

Will Ogletree be able to persuade his client of that?

My impression of Ogletree is that it is all about him, and he will welcome the limelight - he's been out for quite a while.

[hit and run]

Whoever had http://www.deusexmalcontent.com/2009/07/infamous-mr-ed.html>Ed Rendell in the JOM sex scandal pool, it looks like you can collect your winnings.

Don't spend it all in one place.

[clarice]

I bet Crowley would have no trouble finding counsel either or people willing to help underwrite the cost of the fight--in fact, his union might be obligated to do so.

I don't know about you, but i am sick of race and class warfare and of overprivileged and not too smart people abusing working class people.

[verner]

Hit, he's a democrat. They don't care about sex, remember?

[Rick Ballard]

"I am sick of race and class warfare and of overprivileged and not too smart people abusing working class people."

So - is it gonna be FL or The Republic of Texas?

[Jane]

I bet Crowley would have no trouble finding counsel

None at all. He just needs the right person. I have a few in mind. (Of course I'm pretty sure I won't be consulted.)

I think this is just part of the spar and parry (is that a phrase?) - it's a warning shot to Gates that this could cost him a lot of money.

[fdcol63]

I'd love to see Crowley sue Obama for defamation.

[verner]

I would LOVE to see the Police Union in Massachusetts up against the Obama Administration and its allies.

And if they have it on tape, sounds like a slam dunk for Crowley.

The union should be obligated. The president of the United States just gave every black thug in America license to get into the faces of any policeman who may deem it necessary to stop them for whatever reason. Dangerous situation that.

Clarice, you've got it right about race and class. HLG likely makes ten times what Crowley does--yet he is the victim.

These people make me want to vomit.

[Fresh Air]

Hey, I said "think Democrat in a Mid-Atlantic state." Does Pennsylvania qualify?

[hit and run]

DoT:
Hell--you folks beat me to it with all the Ras stuff. Guess I spent too much time savoring it all.

Bah! It simply is not possible to spend to much time savoring it, in my opinion.

"You never want to waste a good Obama crisis", is my motto.

[bad]

Legal Insurection sees a class battle in stupidgate.

LUN

[Rick Ballard]

fdcol63,

I think that a statement by Crowley that he is saddened by the President's slanderous accusation against a police officer doing his job per all department standards would suffice.

Especially if the tape comes out soon. Presidebt Stupidly has stepped in it - big time.

[Rob Crawford]

That there is a well-known code of behavior familiar to most minorities who are stopped by the police, Mr. Vivian said, is testament enough of a problem.

Oddly, the "well-known code" is the one advocated by every white person I know, too. Weird -- it's almost as if there's really one good approach, and it's not based on race!

[Pagar]

Speaking of police, How many knew that:

RBO The Obama “inlaws”, as the Chicago Sun-Times‘ Frank Main and Fran Spielman reported December 4, 2008, is Michelle Obama cousin Michael Shields, who “was one of four police supervisors recently kicked off Supt. Jody Weis’ command staff.”

Shields, the former deputy superintendent of strategic deployment, was bucked down to a lieutenant at the Belmont Area headquarters at a far lower pay scal

But, He came out smelling like a rose.

June 10 CBS 2 News Chicago reported that big job cuts were coming to Chicago Public Schools, with up to 1,000 non-classroom employees expected to lose their jobs.

Who is not losing his job? Michael Shields..

[hit and run]

Verner:
Hit, he's a democrat. They don't care about sex, remember?

True, except remember that we're talking about the fact that Rendell and Spitzer shared the same hooker.

So to whatever extent Democrats don't care about sex, Spitzer is still on the outside looking in on the governor's mansion.

Yeah, yeah, other laws were broken, his resignation was mostly about those, etc...Spitzer was a lightning rod with lots of enemies, etc...

I just wanted to use the phrase, Rendell and Spitzer shared the same hooker.

(and yes, we're working off of the word of the shared service provider, without any other corroboration, so take that for whatever it's worth)

[KJ]

I'm still looking for a plausible explanation for why Crowley arrested a man on his front porch after verifying that the porch was in fact his. Does anyone have one? All the facts may not be in but it's hard to imagine a situation where an old man should get arrested on his front porch for yelling at cops who were clearly wrong about why they hassled him in the first place. No?

And what's with Rasmussen reporting such different results than all the other polling companies. Rasmussen has always been pretty accurate in my view but they seem kind of fishy now. Which of these pollsters doesn't belong: http://www.pollster.com/polls/us/jobapproval-obama.php. Has Rasmussen provided an explanation for being a slight outlier basically every time?

[fdcol63]

" ... Presidebt Stupidly has stepped in it - big time. ..."

Rick, I think so too. I think this is going to have a greater negative impact on O among the independents and moderate whites who voted for him than most of the pundits acknowledge right now.

In this one incident, he proved he's a race baiter instead of the "post-racial" figure that he's pretended to be.

[semantic]

At least that hooker's not sleeping with Republicans

[verner]

You're right Hit. Even if nothing happens to him, it's still nice to keep in the ole file. Wonder if it will get the coverage that the Sanford mess did in SC?

[hit and run]

KJ:
And what's with Rasmussen reporting such different results than all the other polling companies.

Rasmussen reports "likely voters", while others use "adults".

[GMax]

Well if you think about it, at 49% likely voter approval, means he has already lost 3% of voters who pulled the lever for him.

And a human trait is to deny you made a mistake, and then get angry and direct your scorn at the "deceiver".

I think we have yet to see the depths this man will plumb in the polling. Women seem to be still clinging to him and that will change as well.

[Rob Crawford]

I'm still looking for a plausible explanation for why Crowley arrested a man on his front porch after verifying that the porch was in fact his. Does anyone have one?

Obstructing an officer in the performance of his duties? Disturbing the peace?

All the facts may not be in but it's hard to imagine a situation where an old man should get arrested on his front porch for yelling at cops who were clearly wrong about why they hassled him in the first place. No?

You haven't been paying attention, have you? They were NOT "clearly wrong about why they hassled[sic] him". They:

o Had a report of people breaking into that particular home

o In a neighborhood that had seen a rash of break-ins in the recent months

o And that particular home had been the target of an attempted break-in within the last few weeks

They showed up, found people inside the home. How do they know if those people are the owners? They ask for ID -- and instead of cooperating, Gates launched into his Hatin' Whitey Tirade.

They'd have asked for ID regardless of who they found in the house, because it's their job to make sure there's no crime occurring. Gates refused to cooperate with them, which is the dumbest thing anyone can do.

Has Rasmussen provided an explanation for being a slight outlier basically every time?

Everybody else is wrong?

[semantic]

Legal Insurrection is right--again.

[bad]

Texas healthcare reform is bigger and better!! Look and learn presidebt stupidly...

LUN

[Strawman Cometh]

Bad,
Get it right, it's stupiquiddick!

[verner]

"Women seem to be still clinging to him and that will change as well."

Not this one.

With Obama, always assume that he will have a solid 30% no matter what (African Americans+marxist "progressives") His strongly approve now stands at 30%, which tells me that after six months, he is now down to his rock solid base with nowhere to go.

And we haven't even felt the impact of "cap and trade" and health care "reform" yet.

Now if they can only indict ACORN before the midterms...

[Porchlight]

I'm still looking for a plausible explanation for why Crowley arrested a man on his front porch after verifying that the porch was in fact his.

My understanding was that Gates never did provide ID to prove that the house was his. Did I miss something?

And what's with Rasmussen reporting such different results than all the other polling companies.

Ras polls 1500 likely voters every day. Nearly all the other polls are of registered voters or adults and most have a smaller sample size. Polls of "adults" include people not likely to vote, who also coincidentally are also not likely to pay much attention to the news. Ras was showing a decline in Obama approval before the other polls registered that decline.

This isn't very hard.

[Jane]

From Legal Insurrection:

I strongly suspect that this confrontation will be revealed not to be about race, but about class. A supremely educated Harvard Professor versus an educated but non-academic police sergeant.

I couldn't agree more. And it is also a recurring theme throughout this administration. When the revolution comes it will be a class war.

[bad]

And Rob, don't forget the 911 call reported TWO breaking into the home but when the police arrived there was only one man visible.

High alert time for the officer in the house.

[narciso]

Well for starters, they seem to have a rather tight screen for likely voters, not
those all adults, like that ridiculous poll
in the Journo(Memeorandum)link. That's likely to bring in voters who actually know
something.

[semantic]

Funny--Jane--when we have an emergency in DC and they tell only essential personnel to be on the roads--that definition never includes professors or politicians.

I'd gladly provide the cops and teachers and nurses and firemen the coffee, doughnuts and whatever else they need on the barricades to overturn these ninnies.

[narciso]

BTW, Biden's stupidity seems to be catching across the pond, although Peter would probably say that it migrated over here

[fdcol63]

Considering the report of a prior burglary or burglary attempt at the Gates house, one would think that Gates would have been a little more understanding and appreciative of the police response, and more cooperative.

Instead, he felt "victimized" by the police and became hostile and belligerant.

This says more about Gates than it does about Crowley or white police officers.

[Pofarmer]

These idiots are going to get cops killed because someone feels that because they are black they are afforded a pass. Police officers follow protocol for a reason. A black officer would have asked that fool Gates the same questions the white officer asked him.

If this was anywhere else but Cambridge Mass, I imagine there would be riots going on.

[Sue]

He didn't become hostile and belligerent, he started out that way.

[Extraneus]

As bad so eloquently hypothesized last night...

Whataya bet Ol' Skippy, who wallows in racial injustice day in and day out, but who has never had the personal experience of such, got a major bone on thinking his big moment had come.

[Extraneus]

(Speaking of honing and boning, no less.)

[clarice]

I wonder if the cops have given Ogletree a sample of the tape yet?

[Jane]

If this was anywhere else but Cambridge Mass, I imagine there would be riots going on.

I'm trying to get a bead on the mood. I just spent some time on the phone with a Boston lawyer who was not necessarily outraged but clearly paying attention. He was pretty disgusted by Gates "it's all about me" attitude.

Talk about stereotypes - is that the new black elitist stance?

I suspect if Cambridge were to riot it would be all about Gates - not so much any where else.

[Sue]

Lynn Sweet is not going to answer my follow-up to her it wasn't a conspiracy/plant story. I asked her if she knew before she asked the question if Obama and Gates were friends. She has let through several posts that were time stamped after mine, so I assume she doesn't want my question on her blog.

[PeterUK]

Forget about Gates,this is about his friend Obama using his position to defame a working man.

[Cecil Turner]

My understanding was that Gates never did provide ID to prove that the house was his. Did I miss something?

Yes. Per the police report, there was a brief discussion about ID and Gates provided a Harvard one. Then Crowley radioed the information back to base (presumably to check if it matched the residence). They never really suspected Gates of anything, and finally arrested him due to disorderly conduct (as he followed them to his front porch and continued haranguing them. If this summary is correct, Crowley's report has it almost exactly as the law states:

'A person is guilty of disorderly conduct if, with purpose to cause public inconvenience, annoyance or alarm, or recklessly creating a risk thereof, he: (a) engages in fighting or threatening, or in violent or tumultuous behavior; or (b) makes unreasonable noise or offensively coarse utterance, gesture or display, or addresses abusive language to any person present; or (c) creates a hazardous or physically offensive condition by any act which serves no legitimate purpose of the actor. `Public' means affecting or likely to affect persons in a place to which the public or a substantial group has access.'.

That report may be self-serving, but the idea that Gates can't be charged (e.g., because he was on his own porch) is clearly faulty.

[hit and run]

You've seen the stories about that chart house republicans want to send out, depicting the maze created by the dem health care plan, right?

Dems are blocking it. Saying the repubs can't send it out as official house material.

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/07/23/gop-charges-dems-censorship-sign/>Here's a nice line by Rep Dan Lungren from CA:

The author of the chart, Rep. Kevin Brady of Texas, alleged that Democrats are afraid of the purported visual representation of their reform plan.

"This is the most outrageous example of censorship I have seen in Congress," he said.

Lungren said Republicans were told they would be allowed to mail the chart if they added a disclosure at the top that states the chart "might be inaccurate."

"I would agree to that if it said that on the speaker's rostrum," he said.

Dan Lungren: Speaking Truth to Power

[hit and run]

Oh, and "rostrum" sounds dirty.

[Sue]

I think I saw this "middle-aged man who needed a cane" briefly being interviewed making the claim that he got in the officer's face. I'm going to go look and see if I can find it. I know I saw this "middle-aged man who needed a cane" on tv looking very spry and agile.

[Thomas Collins]

Gatesgate is Obama's Waterloo, not health insurance. Obama's initial reaction and his insufficient backtracking, along with Obama enablers, are in the process of making Obama a niche POTUS. Obama will continue to appeal to the George McGovern aspect of the American polity, but to noone else.

By the way, I realize that George McGovern has matured and is probably no longer a member of the "George McGovern aspect of the American polity." By using that phrase, I am referring to the folks who supported McGovern in his 1972 run against Nixon. It's not a coalition that wins Presidential elections.

[PeterUK]

"Oh, and "rostrum" sounds dirty."

As in Presidebt Obama is talking out of his "rostrum".

[clarice]

Well, instead of just moaning and pissing about it, why not make the chart available to bloggers and people with facebook accounts etc and ask everyone to play Paul Revere and post it everytwhere they can with an explanation that the Dems will not let them mail this out?

[Extraneus]

'Disgraceful': Cops Angry After Obama Slams Arrest of Black Scholar

Obama's public criticism that Cambridge officers "acted stupidly" when they arrested black Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. could make it harder for police to work with people of color, some officers said Thursday.

[Sue]

No, I must have missed part of the interview,

Cultural and historical references came into play for Gates, a historian of racism. One of out nine young black men are in American prisons, and Gates decries the criminal justice system as "rotten." He told the Boston Globe that when he moved to the mostly white Boston suburb of Lexington in 1991, he promptly visited the police station.

"I wanted them to see my black face," Gates told the Globe. "I would be driving home late from Harvard. I had a Mercedes. I didn't want to be stopped for 'driving while black.'"

[Danube of Thought]

In the final polling before election day in 2008, Rasmussen had the most accurate result out of twenty polling organizations studied by Fordham University. Google "fordham polling study."

My uninformed guess is that the tape can be obtained through FOIA or some Massachusetts version of it. I understand the cops are having a news conference at noone eastern; maybe we'll hear it then. It would be quite wonderful to see this asshole get egg on his face.

[hit and run]

PUK:
As in Presidebt Obama is talking out of his "rostrum".

"He is talking out of his Obama" is even dirtier.

[Extraneus]

Which one, Obama or Gates?

[clarice]

Wouldn't it though,DoT?

[Jane]

TC

What is the reaction of your colleagues downtown?

[clarice]

Looks like Pelosi's heafing for a demented power play:
"House Speaker Nancy Pelosi will bypass the committee working on the chamber's health-care reform bill and put the legislation to a full floor vote by next week, Rep. Tom Price said Friday.

"My sense as of last night is her plan is now to bring the bill to the floor," said Mr. Price, a Georgia Republican and orthopedic doctor. He spoke on The Washington Times "America's Morning News" radio show. "We've witnessed some remarkable conversations and discussions between the speaker and others that leads me to believe she's going to pull a power play."

[Jane]

Can you imagine the pushback going on from the administration to stop that tape from getting out. That's precisely the kind of thing the WH likes to spend time on. I'm determined to get the inside scoop.

[PeterUK]

Obama - Crooked,slightly bending.

[Porchlight]

Thanks, Cecil, for the clarification. As you point out, he was arrested for disorderly conduct, not B&E, so the fact that it was "his own porch" had ceased to be relevant at the time of the arrest.

[PeterUK]

"Can you imagine the pushback going on from the administration to stop that tape from getting out. "

So what happened to the Chicago Way? Lean on the Cambridge Mayor and Police Chief.Crowley goes back to taking car number plates. Nothing ever hits the MSM.

Is obama a cool operator,or have his handlers lost some control of his verbosity?

[Porchlight]

That is insane, clarice. I suspected they were going to force a House vote before recess but I didn't think they'd yank it out of committee to do so.

[Porchlight]

Nothing ever hits the MSM.

Normally that would be the case but they can't hide it from the MSM when they themselves put it there.

They screwed up with the planted question at the presser. Their little distraction scheme backfired and the issue that Obama himself put into the spotlight ends up kicking him in the rear.

[Jane]

Rich Lowry sums it up nicely. LUN

Recouping in Martha’s Vineyard, Gates is considering devoting his next documentary to racial profiling. He says if Officer Crowley apologizes, he will do him the favor both of accepting it and educating “him about the history of racism in America.” Since Harvard students pay $33,000 a year for the privilege of getting lectured by Henry Louis Gates, perhaps he sees this as a generous offer rather than another stupendously arrogant gesture.

Even in Barack Obama’s “post-racial” America, the lectures never end.

[DebinNC]

Gates' arrest happened last Thursday...over a week ago. That tape has been, could have been, and should have been listened to by the Cambridge police who publicly supported Crowley and the Cambridge mayor, MA guv, and POTUS who publicly supported Gates. If the mayor is suppressing release of the tape for political reasons people should know.

[MayBee]

Whoever had Ed Rendell in the JOM sex scandal pool

EEssh. Dump some more chlorine in that pool. ick.

[jimmyk]

KJ,
He was arrested for disorderly conduct. What does that have to do with whether or not he was on his own front porch? Your hindsight is 20-20, but the cops don't have that luxury.

[Thomas Collins]

Jane, the reaction of the "of pallor" moderates is whispered and discrete, and it is not good news for the Dems if it reflects the reaction of "of pallor" moderates nationwide. As to the cops, well, I had dinner last night with a group of folks including the wife of a retired cop. I asked her what her husband thought of the Gates matter and Obama's statements. Let's just say that fuming would be understating his reaction.

[fdcol63]

Deb, the charges against Gates were just dropped on July 22, IIRC.

The tape could have/should have been held pending the outcome of the investigation into the charges.

Now that charges have been dropped, this is probably why the PD feels comfortable in releasing the tape.

[Neo]

Am I the only white guy who has embraced the "Look down and suck up" approach to dealing with cops?

We are all minorities, if you break it down far enough, so TM .. it sounds like you were profiled.

Personally, I've found that saying "sir" and refraining from abrupt movements works well.

I had this friend who looked like your stereotypical "hippie" who thought it was a good(?) idea to jump out of the car and run back to the cop car when his car was stopped by the police. The policemen gave him ... let's call it a non-operational demonstration of his firearm. ... and he wasn't white.

Even Gates didn't get that.

[Neo]

and he wasn't white.

He was white. He wasn't black.

[BigEdsBlog]

I first wrote about this on Tues and basically said that Gates was a jack arse.
Now Obama opens his uninformed mouth and inserts his foot in it.
Gates said that Crowley didn't know who he was messing with.
Perhaps Gates is the one who didn't know who he was messing with.
Check out my take on it and the link to my Tue post. Also, please stick around for more good content.
http://libertarianhumor.com/2009/07/24/gates-2/