Cheney was right!

[Lsn2Mkt]

Then-VP Cheney suggested that President Obama would be tested about 6 months after taking office. Who'da thunk it was going to be 3 Cambridge police officers and a Harvard professor that provided the test?

With all that's being said, including an attempt at 'recalibration', I agree that this is a 'teaching experience'. What have I learned?

1. If I come home after a trip, and can't get into my home, what do I do? Do I call a locksmith? Police? Fire department? Neighbors? Or do I break into my own house? I'd go with the latter if I was confident I could actually break in. No lesson learned there.

2. If I see two people breaking into a neighbor's house, especially one who's away, what do I do? I'd call the police and alert my neighbors. No lesson learned there.

3. If I just broke into my own house, and a policeman asks me for identification, what do I do? I'd provide identification and be thankful that my neighbors were looking out for me. Hmmmm, a re-enforcement of beliefs, but no lesson learned there!

4. If I'm a police officer called to the scene in question, what could I have done differently? I'm not a policeman and I wasn't there in the heat of the moment. The only 'suggestion' I heard mentioned was "use of discretion." Three experienced policeman agreed there was no other way to handle the confrontation. What if they'd turned their backs and the scene had gotten more bizarre? What would the second-guessers be saying then?

5. If I'm a president and speak from the heart, then realize I shouldn't have done that, what do I do? Isn't this like bowing to a king? That was a misunderstanding. This silly Cambridge incident is a misunderstanding. Let's have a beer!

I've learned from this episode, but I don't think it's the intended lesson. I've known for 60+ years that there are racial injustices in this country. I didn't see an injustice in Cambridge. I did see a belligerent man who appeared to believe that his status placed him above the law.

I continue to see an America that works hard to combat racial injustice. Sure, we could move faster. That's not the debate.

The president's clearly stated message (I didn't misunderstand him), has set us back a step or two.

[Pineygirl]

Patrolman Carlos Figueroa said in a police report that he heard Sgt. James Crowley, the arresting officer, ask for Gates' identification and heard Gates say, "No, I will not!" He also said Gates was shouting at Crowley, calling him a racist and saying, "This is what happens to black men in America!"
-Associated Press July 24, 2009
Cambridge Police hold press conference on the arrest of Henry Louis Gates Jr.

Having been a victim of ID theft, I don't think it's unreasonable to be asked to prove that you are you. I mean, anyone could say "this is my house." Especially after you've been "caught" jimmying the door open.

[Arius]

Actually, what has set us back a step or two isn't what Obama said, but the continued prejudice and bigotry that make events like the Gates' arrest even plausible. Someday, all the bigots of the world, those who hold down others from sharing equality and justice, will be a memory that makes loving people shake their head. Until that time, we have to deal with the sensitivities of those who have faced such behavior in our past.

Obama's statements are not the cause, they are the effect, and they haven't killed anyone (unlike Cheney's). They are harmless except in the eyes of those who need to make more out of them then they are.

Bigots love such a chance to exercise their bigotry.

[oldhardhead]

Police get a 911 call. Someone sees a door being forced open by men with backpacks and suspects that a burglary is taking place.

Police respond to the call. They encounter a man who claims he lives there. At the home, police ask for his identification. Part of the police protocol is to make sure they know who is in there (the home) and legally in there.

The suspect shouts "No, I will not!" He does not produce identification to prove that he does live there. He gets very belligerent, angry, shouts with rage and does not cooperate. Neighbors watch.

Police arrest him on charges of disturbing the peace.

Police acted properly. What is the problem?

*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*

Originally Posted by Arius

Bigots love such a chance to exercise their bigotry.

You are right. The Cambridge professor got a chance to call the police officer a "racist" for no reason at all. He loved such a chance to exercise his bigotry, I agree.

statements made by Governor Deval Patrick -- the state's first black governor -- who called the arrest "every black man's nightmare."

Getting arrested for disorderly conduct... every white man's nightmare too.

"President Obama said that the actions of the Cambridge Police Department were stupid and linked the event to a history of racial profiling in America," Sgt. Dennis O'Connor, president of the Cambridge Police Superior Officers Association, said at a news conference in Cambridge.

How did Obama come to that conclusion?

Obama didn't apologize or say he was wrong. "I could have calibrated those words differently," Obama said. Obama does seem genuinely bewildered at why his remarks - saying the police acted stupidly, and were racially motivated - caused a stir.

Will the professor apologize? I wouldn't count on it.



I guess in their fantasy land, all police are bad, and black professors cannot be arrested for disturbing the peace. It doesn't matter if Gates is a world-renowned scholar and documentary filmmaker on black history, he shouldn't be treated differently than anyone else. Disturbing the peace is disturbing the peace.

Gates, 58, a world-renowned scholar and documentary filmmaker on black history, allegedly ranted to police at his Ware Street home, “This is what happens to black men in America!” and “You don’t know who you’re messing with!” in addition to verbally dragging Crowley’s mother into the fray.

*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*

The Root, a Web site Gates oversees
Cambridge Police hold press conference on the arrest of Henry Louis Gates Jr.

Obama regrets remarks in racially charged case | U.S. | Reuters

Obama Seeks to Clarify 'Stupidly' Comment, Praises White Policeman - Political News - FOXNews.com

Black Harvard scholar Henry Louis Gates Jr. says he's ready to move on from his arrest by a white police officer, hoping to use the encounter to improve fairness in the criminal justice system and saying "in the end, this is not about me at all." "If my experience leads to the lessening of the occurrence of racial profiling, then I would find that enormously gratifying," Gates said on The Root. "Because, in the end, this is not about me at all; it is about the creation of a society in which 'equal justice before law' is a lived reality."

'equal justice before law.' It doesn't matter if Gates is a world-renowned scholar and documentary filmmaker on black history, he shouldn't be treated differently than anyone else. Disturbing the peace is disturbing the peace.

No apology from Professor Gates?

My Way News - Gates says it's time to 'move on' from his arrest

Of course Gates says it's time to 'move on' from his arrest. He was wrong, he was pampered, let go without going to court. He was treated better than everyone else. It's clear he has no respect for police officers and the often difficult and dangerous situations they face on a daily basis. He didn't even offer an apology. He looks really bad, his reputation should be in the toilet, of course he wants to 'move on.'




.

[oldhardhead]

Originally Posted by Arius

Obama's statements are not the cause, they are the effect, and they haven't killed anyone (unlike Cheney's).

What words of Cheney's have killed people? Who has been killed by Cheney's words?

Perhaps (snicker) he "could have calibrated those words differently." HAHAHAHAHahahaha!!! ROFLMAO!!!!!

It was Biden, not Cheney that said Obama "would be tested."

"Mark my words," the Democratic vice presidential nominee warned at the second of his two Seattle fundraisers Sunday. "It will not be six months before the world tests Barack Obama like they did John Kennedy.

Is that what you are referring to?

Biden: World Will Test President TIME.com




.

[proudrepub1]

Son of a *^%$* ! I accidentally hit a key and wiped out my friggin entire reply! UGHHHHHHH!


Oh well, here I go again. (your welcome, Arius)

OHH, I believe Cheney uttered a similar line about Obama being tested too.
As for the "lessons" learned by this "mistatement", I did learn something.

Obama WAS paying attention for almost twenty years sitting in Rev. Wrights church. That lesson was made crystal clear.

You see, you can buy a really expensive, beautiful, custom TOILET, but it is still used for the same thing as the cheap Home Depot models. Lesson learned.

[Pineygirl]

Originally Posted by proudrepub1

OHH, I believe Cheney uttered a similar line about Obama being tested too.

Anyone who became president in 2008 would be tested -- unless the entire terrorism thingy is a fake. Bullies always test the new kid on the block, just to see what he/she will do.

I don't think he's really been tested yet. These gaffes were just indications of the way he could react to a REAL test....

[oldhardhead]

I do remember Cheney saying that we are less safe... I don't remember Cheney saying that Obama would be tested. I stand correct then. I was wrong.

What lesson is learned?

The world surely has too many racist cops, but by everything Woodman and others say Crowley is not one of them.

Crowley is not a racist cop.

Barack said he also is partial to Blue Moon.

Barack likes Blue Moon beer.

Obama told Crowley he regretted his choice of words and praised him as “an outstanding police officer and a good man.”

Still no apology from the Schmooze.

"I am pleased that he, too, is eager to use my experience as a teaching moment, and if meeting Sgt. Crowley for a beer with the president will further that end, then I would be happy to oblige," Gates said in a statement on TheRoot.com, an Internet newsletter he edits.

Gates said he hoped his arrest would help reduce racial profiling by law enforcement agencies.

I don't believe it had anything to do with race from the beginning. The professor is a documentary filmmaker on black history. When all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail.

Gates agrees to beer with Obama, policeman
Black Harvard scholar ‘happy to oblige’ in peace-making effort

MSNBC hasn't changed a bit.

Hello, Sgt. Crowley, its the President calling

Gates agrees to beer with Obama, policeman - Race ethnicity- msnbc.com


The police were insulted. I would be too.

Mass. police unions ask Obama for apology - Yahoo! News

He doesn't think he should have stayed away from the local issue.




So is all of this a purposeful distraction from "healthcare?"




.
.

[proudrepub1]

"Over reaction when pulling Gates from his home and to the station."

Really? The report and witnesses said that Gates "briskly followed Crowely" out side to the porch, where he used profanity directed at this "racist cop" and proceeded to use a Harvard Professor saying, "YO MOMMA......"

So Yes, I can see the "over reaction". On the part of Obies buddy, the racist Professor from Harvard.

Here is an idea. Keep your comments to a minimum, when NOT knowing all the facts. Speak only on issues you completely understand.........WE would not here from this President for months on end, if he only followed this simple "lesson".

[Pineygirl]

And he refused to provide identification -- AFTER police came and saw him jimmying a front door! I mean, how stupid is that? The police were supposed to take his word for it that he lived there? Daggone, I would try that one out on the cops, too, if I were caught red-handed committing burglary.

Does this mean everyone is supposed to actually treat African Americans differently from the way we treat white people? Does this mean we "let them" get away with more? Judge them by different standards? Walk on eggshells around "them" because "they" had a bad past?

Cheeeeeeeeze I get so confused!