What he did say was "“Because this has been ratcheting up and I obviously helped to contribute ratcheting it up, I wanted to make clear in my choice of words I think I unfortunately gave an impression that I was maligning the Cambridge Police Department or Sgt. Crowley specifically,” Obama said. “And I could have calibrated those words differently.”
It was only an “impression” that his previous statement maligned those parties, don’cha know.
And he could have “calibrated” the statement differently. Not should have, but could have – and certainly it’s a fact he “could” have. Who could disagree with that fact?
I don’t know if the TelePrompTer was used for that one.
[quote]JD430 wrote:
<<< A part of me hopes this little bullshit dust-up continues to grow bigger and the whole country gets to see the gory details of the all-too-common false, concerted attacks we have faced for decades from the militant socialist left. >>>[/quote]
Obama…oh man, First the Special Olympics comment, now Cops are stupid…This guy is 12.5 percent through with his last term in office.
Profiling…Black men are reported to be breaking into a house. Police should be looking for Asian women? Latino midgets?
Officer sees one man…Call is about 2. Should the officer go inside? uh, NO! He hasn’t even positively ID’d the one, and he is going to accept someone’s word?
Professors are not universally smart people. Their area of study may be their only subject on the right side of the bell curve.
Obama. Enjoy your 4 years of political spotlight and millions of dollars on the speech circuit after your '12 trouncing by an awakened America.
Apparently Gates has not decided whether or not to file a law suit, for what I have no idea. The more facts I hear about this as they come out, the more I think Gates could be in the wrong. I really hope the 911 tapes are examined.
Why did i even bother ever arguing against Obama when he was on the campaign trail? Time Wasted. I could just have sat back and waited. All his inadequacies are surfacing. He is an inexperienced politician and incompetent.
Mr. Gates lives in a city with a black mayor, a state with a black governor and a country with a black President. The dispute was arguably about town-gown relations rather than race. If this is a teaching moment, one lesson is that itâ??s usually better to cooperate during encounters with law enforcement so that matters donâ??t escalate needlessly. And if a cop asks you to step out on the porch, or away from your car, itâ??s probably because heâ??s concerned for his own safety.
In addition to that, a black cop at the scene backs Crowley.
I’m highly dissapointed in Obama for his initial comments on the situation. A lot of the anti-police outrage comes from a general lack of understanding of law enforcement tactics and protocols for crimes in progress. From the details I’ve heard, it sounds like Sergeant Crowley’s actions were tactically sound. Many of the loudest critics who are doing this Monday morning quarterbacking would be the last ones to step up to the plate, put themselves in danger, and address a potential threat at a residential burglary or any other serious crime for that matter.
Sergeant Crowley should sue Gates for defamation of character.
Perhaps the mentality involved is illustrated by the White House press secretary, Gibbs, in his response to a question as to whether, given that Obama had enjoyed a positive relationship with police groups to this point, the White House might find it distressing to suffer any backlash from police groups.
Gibbs replied that the police didn’t support Obama in the election: the Fraternal Order of Police endorsed McCain.
So hey, what can the po-po expect? They didn’t endorse Obama so they get what they get, now.
I’m familiar with the report and I’m going to be perfectly honest. If I were in the Sergeant’s position, I would have locked up Gates as well, no matter what his ethnic or racial background was. We are a nation of laws, not men. The Sergeant actually showed restraint during the incident, and likely knew he was being baited in front of the neighborhood. Part of me suspects that the Professor was grandstanding to cause a use of force, which would make him an instant media star and ensure years on the lecture circuit.
Instead, he got arrested without further incident because he broke the law and the responding Officers chose not to cut him a break. Sadly, as mentioned, the administration is not backing up the perfectly legal actions and responsibilities of the cops due to political pressure.
And on another note, why in the world would a man who is undoubtedly intelligent not call the police first to let them know what he was doing, who he was, and what he was wearing, in case someone did believe it was a break-in and call 911?
I’ve made this arrest in nearly identical circumstances. After I explained why the suspect was going to jail, he actually apologized for his actions and told me he understood why I made the arrest.
I guess we should do the right thing and fight stereotypes and prejudices. Let’s start by educating all of those white racists cops, huh? Er…wait a minute…
“I think I was chosen to be arrested in my own home, um, so that I would start to devote my considerable resources toward a problem that plagues American society and it plagues the criminal justice system…and that is both racial profiling, and arbitrary capricious actions by rogue, rogue cops.”
Chosen? So now it’s his destiny? The actions of the police were ARBITRARY and CAPRICIOUS? Give me a break.
Listen to the interview. Flat out, the guy was acting like an ass. “The police were hostile.” Yeah, no shit, they thought you were a burglar, so they ordered you outside. How unreasonable and outrageous!
He instigated this thing to prove a point. I think the only point he did prove was that even educated and intelligent people do incredibly dumb things.
Here we have another black man with a prestigious position, friends in high places, plenty of money and generally a better life than a very large % of white people, bitching and moaning about how bad he has it because some cops were doing their job.
These professional ethnics really get under my skin. When oh when will people finally grasp that liberals thrive on everything they claim to be fighting. They cannot AFFORD to have their stated goals ever actually achieved because their very existence would become instantly pointless.
[quote]
These professional ethnics really get under my skin. When oh when will people finally grasp that liberals thrive on everything they claim to be fighting. They cannot AFFORD to have their stated goals ever actually achieved because their very existence would become instantly pointless.[/quote]
I do not know because I was not there. But I have seen plenty cops act all stupid because you did not give them the respect they think they deserve. I have also seen people not give the cops a fair chance. But why would the cop take the professor to jail after he discovered the guy did own the house
If the cops did overstep the line, I contend it probably was not racial, I contend it is something cops do on a regular basis because the average Joe does not have the clout or the money to go after the cops.
I’m pretty sure any further extrapolation would be lost on somebody for whom my statement is apparently that far out of reach. I just might attempt it though if he further expresses a sincere interest.
[quote]Demo Dick wrote:
I’m familiar with the report and I’m going to be perfectly honest. If I were in the Sergeant’s position, I would have locked up Gates as well, no matter what his ethnic or racial background was. We are a nation of laws, not men. The Sergeant actually showed restraint during the incident, and likely knew he was being baited in front of the neighborhood. Part of me suspects that the Professor was grandstanding to cause a use of force, which would make him an instant media star and ensure years on the lecture circuit.
Instead, he got arrested without further incident because he broke the law and the responding Officers chose not to cut him a break. Sadly, as mentioned, the administration is not backing up the perfectly legal actions and responsibilities of the cops due to political pressure.
And on another note, why in the world would a man who is undoubtedly intelligent not call the police first to let them know what he was doing, who he was, and what he was wearing, in case someone did believe it was a break-in and call 911?
I’ve made this arrest in nearly identical circumstances. After I explained why the suspect was going to jail, he actually apologized for his actions and told me he understood why I made the arrest.
I guess we should do the right thing and fight stereotypes and prejudices. Let’s start by educating all of those white racists cops, huh? Er…wait a minute…
There are many cases where if a person cannot/will not figure a thing out for themselves, no amount of presentation from another person can get it across to them. Any such effort is utterly futile and is better not even tried.
What you wrote above would not be hard to figure out for any person capable also of grasping it from having it explained.
[quote]pittbulll wrote:
Demo Dick wrote:
I’m familiar with the report and I’m going to be perfectly honest. If I were in the Sergeant’s position, I would have locked up Gates as well, no matter what his ethnic or racial background was. We are a nation of laws, not men. The Sergeant actually showed restraint during the incident, and likely knew he was being baited in front of the neighborhood. Part of me suspects that the Professor was grandstanding to cause a use of force, which would make him an instant media star and ensure years on the lecture circuit.
Instead, he got arrested without further incident because he broke the law and the responding Officers chose not to cut him a break. Sadly, as mentioned, the administration is not backing up the perfectly legal actions and responsibilities of the cops due to political pressure.
And on another note, why in the world would a man who is undoubtedly intelligent not call the police first to let them know what he was doing, who he was, and what he was wearing, in case someone did believe it was a break-in and call 911?
I’ve made this arrest in nearly identical circumstances. After I explained why the suspect was going to jail, he actually apologized for his actions and told me he understood why I made the arrest.
I guess we should do the right thing and fight stereotypes and prejudices. Let’s start by educating all of those white racists cops, huh? Er…wait a minute…
Demo Dick
Not being an ass , but what law did he break?
[/quote]
The facts indicate that an obstruction charge may have been appropriate. For some reason they did not go that route.
Gates was charged with disorderly conduct…“violent, tumultuous, threatening or alarming behavior committed within view of members of the public.” That one is always subjective to a degree but his behavior seems to fit.
The question nobody’s asked yet is what would he have done if the officers were black and had behaved in the same manner? If Gate’s recent statements are to be taken into account this incident was all about a black man getting the thumb screws from a white cop.
Does this mean that black cops would have just taken his assurance that all was well at face value and left? That would be a breach of procedure and imagine what we’d be hearing if they would have just left and the guy was mugged or worse by somebody who was actually in there.
There’d be cries of shoddy police actions by white cops who obviously didn’t provide the same level of attentiveness and protection that they would have to a white citizen.
This shit is just so outta hand. Can’t people just get along already. It really is ridiculous.