That's a good police report, my Conservative friend. Thank you for sending it to me. I hadn't seen it before.
According to the police report, Sergeant Crowley acted very professionally. He has an exemplary record. I have a very high regard for this excellent police officer.
But Professor Gates is a fine man, too. According to the police report, he got a little too hot under the collar and flew off the handle without real provocation. I must admit that I haven't seen Professor Gates' statement as to why he got so incensed. Maybe he has a different version of what actually happened that day. I haven't seen his version of the facts.
However, we all have our bad hair days. These two guys have now talked things over, and I'm sure the situation between them has calmed down.
As for Obama, the question from the reporter specifically asked if he felt this incident reflected "racism" by the Boston police. Obama's response was that he didn't think it showed "racism", but rather that the Boston police had acted "stupidly". In saying that the Boston police had acted "stupidly", Obama was already trying to tone things down from the initial charge of "racism". Probably, he should have toned things down even further, particularly in light of the police report.
However, since then, Obama has retracted the word "stupidly", and he has taken a number of steps above and beyond what a typical American president would do to reconcile the two parties.
No one expected that the Right-Wing Attack Media would get its tits in a wringer over the word "stupidly", especially since Obama said it in virtually the same sentence in which he tried to tone down the rhetoric by saying he didn't think the Boston police were guilty of "racism" in this situation.
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"No one expected that the Right-Wing Attack Media would get its tits in a wringer over the word "stupidly""
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Wonder why the cons are so sensitive to the word "stupid" and its derivatives? And why does the other side use the word "stupid" so often when cons/fascists are involved?
"However, since then, Obama has retracted the word "stupidly", and he has taken a number of steps above and beyond what a typical American president would do to reconcile the two parties."
-CJP
I still dont see why he hasnt come out and simply apologized for his remarks about the police officer and his department. He has publicly humiliated them and privately apologized for it.
"No one expected that the Right-Wing Attack Media would get its tits in a wringer over the word "stupidly", especially since Obama said it in virtually the same sentence in which he tried to tone down the rhetoric by saying he didn't think the Boston police were guilty of "racism" in this situation."
-CJP
Why was there any negative words used against the police? The only details he had were from professor Gates. Maybe next time he will open his eyes and look at the big picture.
So do you admit he made a mistake yet?
Actually, Brandon, I've now read Professor Gates's statement for the first time and, based on that, it looks as if Obama was correct the first time -- Officer Crowley did act stupidly.
When Officer Crowley first arrived at the house, he saw Professor Gates sitting at his kitchen table, talking on the phone with Harvard, trying to get them to repair the front door of his house, which Harvard owns and services. When Crowley asked Gates for ID, Gates immediately got up from the table, went to get his wallet, and showed Crowley his Harvard ID and his Driver's License showing that he lived in this house. That should have been the end of the story.
Yet, for some reason, Crowley pressed Gates further and kept asking him to go out on the porch. At that point, Gates asked Crowley for his name and badge number several times, and Crowley did not give it to him. Instead, Crowley become irate and indignant, and things between them became more heated.
I know that Crowley says in his statement that he did give Gates his name and badge number immediately. But that can't be true because Gates started asking the other officers on the scene for Crowley's name and badge number. There would have been no reason for Gates to ask this question of the other officers if Crowley had already given him that information. The other officers would have known that Crowley had already given Gates the information, if he in fact had done so.
Then, of course, Crowley ended up handcuffing this lame man, a world-renowned Harvard professor who posed no threat to anyone, and had him dragged off to jail where he spent the next four hours in a cell.
The fact that the Boston police quickly dropped all charges against Professor Gates is one more piece of evidence that Crowley was in the wrong, and that the Boston Police Department felt that his conduct had opened them up to a huge, damaging lawsuit.
No, Brandon, Obama owes no one an apology. The Boston police need to apologize to Professor Gates for putting him through six hours of Hell. And, the Right-Wing Attack media needs to apologize to all Americans for once again misleading them about the facts of a particular situation -- just as they have misled you, Brandon.
Crowley said in his statement that professor Gate did ask repeatedly for officer Crowleys name. Crowley stated the he gave it to him twice, but he still continued to ask for it. So that tells you that maybe Gates wasnt thinking clearly enough to get his facts straight.
Again, that isnt the point! You are trying to justify the actions of a man that didnt have all the details. Obama clearly couldnt have known the entire story when he claimed the police acted stupidly.
As for the police department dropping the charge, it was probably a good faith gesture. Prosecuters do this all the time simply because they dont want to hassel with a petty charge like disorderly conduct on a "lame man" who isnt really hurting anyone. Did officer Crowley need to arrest professor Gates? Probably not, but that doesnt mean his actions were stupid.
Why do you continue to believe every word that come from professor Gates? People lie and I am not taking a side here, simply saying we dont have all the facts yet to make an informed judgement. It would be nice if our president would think about that!
Obama has known Professor Gates for many years. Obama knows that Gates is a law-abiding citizen who never did anything in his whole life to justify his being hand-cuffed and thrown in jail. Obama knows that there are many other ways to handle a police investigation like this without throwing a life-long, law-abiding citizen in jail, and he felt the Boston police should have used one of those other ways.
He felt it was "stupid" for the Boston police to drag someone like Professor Gates out of his own house and put him in jail.
The Boston Police Department apparently agreed. They want to get away from this case as fast as they can.
So then you agree that Obama allowed his personal relationship with professor Gates to clowd his judgement.
"...without throwing a life-long, law-abiding citizen in jail, and he felt the Boston police should have used one of those other ways."
-CJP
He isnt a law-abiding citizen according to officer Crowley.
RCM 45-8-101. Disorderly conduct
http://data.opi.state.mt.us/BILLS/mca/45/8/45-8-101.htm
According to officer Crowley, professor Gates is guilty of disorderly conduct. Officer Crowley was justified in arresting him. So, again, according to Crowly how did he act stupidly?
Officer Crowley's charge of Disorderly Conduct against Professor Gates has been dismissed by the Boston Police Department. So, how did Crowley act wisely?
"He isnt a law-abiding citizen according to officer Crowley."
But he is a law-abiding citizen, Brandon, according to the Boston Police Department, which dismissed the charges against Gates. So, Officer Crowley has been reversed.
How come when Judge Sotomayor had a couple of Supreme Court reversals in her record, the Conservative Media was all over her like flies on honey? But when a police officer is reversed, and his charges are dismissed, he remains a pillar of rectitude and his charges still stand.
Whatever happened to "You can indict a ham sandwich" and "A man is innocent until he's proven guilty"?
That used to be a Conservative mantra. Now it's gone with the wind.
Apparently, Conservatives are not Conservatives anymore. They are Wolves in Sheep's Clothing --- Radicals in Conservative masks.
"But he is a law-abiding citizen, Brandon, according to the Boston Police Department, which dismissed the charges against Gates. So, Officer Crowley has been reversed."
-CJP
No, he wasnt reversed. The police department decided that there wasnt a need to prosecute professor Gates.
"A man is innocent until he's proven guilty"
-CJP
I am not saying he is guilty, just that officer Crowley acted within his discretion. When charges get dismissed, it doesnt mean your innocent.
I dont see the connection between Sotomayor and Crowley. Crowley charged someone for a crime because he felt Gates fulfilled the elements of the crime and the charges were dropped. Sotomayor made a judgement on a case that was found to be incorrect.
Just because someone gets a speeding ticked dropped because they have a good driving record, does that mean they werent speeding?
Beanie cameras. There would not of been any issue. This would not be in the news.
Most police departments have cameras on the dashboards mostly for drunk driver rebuttals. And they're are still lots of videos surfacing of police misconduct, even when they know the cameras are rolling.
"A man is innocent until he's proven guilty"
-CJP
I am not saying he is guilty, just that officer Crowley acted within his discretion. When charges get dismissed, it doesnt mean your innocent.
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