I was little bit bemused by President Barack Obama’s solution to the media hype surrounding his remarks on the Cambridge, Mass.- police officer (William Crowley) who arrested the Harvard professor (Henry Louis Gates Jr.). The unfortunate series of event was precipitated when a neighbor called police and told them that Gates and another man were trying to break into a neighborhood house (which turned out to be Gates’). The president declared the officer had “acted stupidly,” touching off a battle with police and union leaders upset by this circumvention of the grievance procedure.
Obama, as you no doubt have heard by now, thought it would be a good idea to invite Gates and Crowley over for a beer to head off any more controversy before it had the chance to bubble up. The usual course of events in a dispute like this would have been for all parties to lawyer up rather than agreeing to sit down and hash things out.
I am not sure if this amicable diffusion of a dispute is indicative of a trend, since one of the parties is, after all, the president of the United States. But wouldn’t it be nice? Of course, it wouldn’t do much for lawyers’ billable hours ….
This is not about reconciliation, it’s about obama trying to strong-arm Crowley into taking responsibility for this farce. I guess he thinks that will refurbish the damaged reputation of his idiotic friend. The real question is, how will obama refurbish his own damaged reputation. How will he justify the absurdity of a President getting involved is a minor squabble between the police and an arrogant nothing of a “professor”. Obamas priorities are obviously totally screwed up.
I wish people would stop complaining about Obama wasting time on this affair. Consider that every minute he spends on this is a minute he can’t spend pushing his moronic programs through Congress! That is more than worth it!!
Agree that Obama should not have waded in, and that the time he spends here could save taxpayers millions of dollars in money he would otherwise be spending during this time.
Also agree that this, like most media tempests, actually resides within a teapot.
Do not agree, however, that the blame should rest with Gates. Even accepting Crowly’s version of events as true, he acted wholly unreasonably. I doubt it was about race. It was likely more about this pervasive attitude among police that rudeness to them, in a citizen’s own house no less, gives grounds to arrest on so slim of basis.
Here’s to the right of citizens to say most anything they like to police (or anybody else) in their own home.
Here’s something I haven’t heard much about this issue:
Why are the police the enemy? Weren’t they trying to protect this gentleman’s property after a citizen called to ask for police investigation?
I look at it as a question of “what would I do” in that situation. I would thank the officer for coming to my house on the call, and would ask what else he needed me to do to assure him that everything was in order, so he can complete his job and go protect us elsewhere.
This strikes me as analogous to people that get irrationally angry when asked for ID at bars, liquor stores, cigarette counters, etc.
They are protecting my kids, your kids and our overall society from DUI, illegal use of influencing agents, etc.
Why does everyone hate cops so much or think it’s “negative” when a patrol car goes by — “Look out, it’s a cop!” ?
And no, I am not related to a cop nor do I know any. I will admit to being a “law and order” kind of guy, my wife is a prosecutor, and I would regard myself as a “rule of law” person.
Something has gone very wrong in what we teach our children and society about law enforcement officers.
“Why are the police the enemy?”
Police are certainly not the enemy, and the 75% of officers that risk life and limb to protect us should be commended. There is, however, an insideous undercurrent in the culture of our nation’s police force that sours the good name of the rest.
You don’t have to go far, especially in the inner city, to find a tale of absolutely ridiculous overreaching by the force. My personal experience involved being arrested at age 17 in a nice suburb upon returning from a debate meet because there had been a report of teenage vandalism in the area (one hour later I was released without apology).
The stories I hear from clients on a regular basis are far, far worse. While these stories are sometimes greatly embellished, just as often the police report and neutral witnesses will corroborate my client’s story.
Though I don’t have any children, if I did, I would teach them to respect police, and also respect their own right to be free from police intrusion.
I think Kyle makes a good point, certainly the police themselves have a significant impact on how we as a society perceive them, and I am sure there are power-abusive officers just like there are abusive attorneys, judges, etc.
I can understand that having a history of harassment or profiling could lead to sensitivity when confronted by this situation. I think however, that both the President and the “victim” are men of public stature with training in argumentation, negotiation and oration. I would have expected far better out of them comparative to some, if not all of Kyle’s general clientele. I think that ego and liberal foot-stomping played a significant role in this specific case.