But he was black in amerikkka.

Interesting as it is to speculate about Henry Louis Gates and the Cambridge Police Department, the attention the case is generating reflects an unfortunate feature of American public discourse: you've got someone like Radley Balko who spends the bulk of his career documenting the most grave instances of police misconduct imaginable -- including cases that involve the incarceration of innocent people for years on end -- and most of even the egregious cases he writes about never break into mainstream conversation, whereas a minor altercation involving a Harvard professor who isn't even being charged with a crime spawns wall-to-wall media coverage.

Isn't it notable that six months into his presidency, the most prominent advocacy President Obama has done on behalf of minorities mistreated by police is to stand up for his Ivy League buddy? Somehow I imagine that Professor Gates would've fared just fine absent help from Harvard's most prominent alumnus.

Whereas if President Obama spoke up at a press conference on behalf of people wrongly imprisoned due to "testimony" by police dogs, or advocated for those sexually assaulted by an officer, or spoke against prosecutors who block access to DNA testing, or called out the officer who choked a paramedic, or objected to the practice of police killing family pets, or asked the Innocence Project for a clear cut case of injustice to publicize...

I understand, of course, that Pres. Obama was asked about Henry Louis Gates, which is also part of the problem. Wrongly arrest a black men who happens to be a Harvard professor, release him without filing charges, and the national press corps asks the president to comment. Wrongly imprison for years on end a black man who happens to be working class and without celebrity, and the national press corps continues to utterly ignore a criminal justice system that routinely convicts innocent people. Apportioning blame for this sorry state of affairs isn't as important as recognizing that the news we get on these matters reflects a value system that is seriously flawed, and that news consumers bear blame for too.

There are two stories here, the officer's story and Gates's story. According to Gates, he let the officer in and provided ID, and the officer acted like a douchebag in the process. According to the officer, Gates was a douche, but he let the officer in and showed ID.

The truth is probably somewhere in the middle. They both probably acted like douchebags. But *both* accounts agree that Gates let the officer in and that before the officer stepped outside, Gates had been IDed as the resident and that the officer no longer believed that he was investigating a B&E.

One of the main functions a police officer is supposed to perform is deescalating a volatile situation. Cops get yelled at all the time - part of their job is to remain calm and controlled in the face of adversity. Once the residence was determined to not be an active crime scene, the cop should have apologized and left.

and have clearly not had to deal with your own home being burglarized. Hint: it's not fucking fun.

I read the police report, but it was over the weekend, and I'm in the middle of packing for a move. You're right, the accounts differ. And the police report version of any event is going to be written in the most positive light for the cops. Same for Gates.

No matter what, the truth lies somewhere in the middle. If you want to be all big blustery Fuck You about it, that's fine. Sounds like you've got the primary attribute needed to be a successful member of the Cambridge PD.

If it had been a white guy they'd have simply said 'Oh sorry to disturb you sir'. And that's why it would be a non-story.

He was arrested for 'contempt of cop'.

The fact that they arrested the man after they KNEW it was his house was stupid.

Exactly.

And as was said earlier in the thread, Obama said he didn't have enough information as to whether or not racism was involved. He obviously felt he knew enough to say they acted "stupidly." The fact that they arrested the man after they KNEW it was his house was stupid.

While his comment may not be as politically savvy as it could be, we do have to realize that this man is also a friend of the President's. I was pleased at least to see that he didn't throw him "under the bus" for political points.

And yes, at the same time I'm pissed that it's derailing health care.

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."

obama is a idiot

cop unity

Elessar,

The Cambridge PD is pretty notorious for profiling, so much so that there have been a series of town hall meetings, task forces, etc., over the past year or two to address it. Once you scratch beneath the hipster / intellectual / liberal vibe, Metro Boston is very segregated, especially at the lower to middle class level.

The thing that gets me about this case, really, is that if Gates had been white, all of the usual wingnut suspects (and by that I am *not* referring to anyone that posts here) would be going apeshit over jackbooted thugs invading the sanctity of a man's castle, agitating against the police state, etc. Instead, because Gates is black, he's not righteously defending his property rights against thugs with a badge, he's an uppity Negro who wasn't being properly deferential.

I disagree. We have collectively allowed a police state to develop over time, such that in general only the most egregious of offenses become news.

The term police state describes a state in which the government exercises rigid and repressive controls over the social, economic and political life of the population. A police state typically exhibits elements of totalitarianism and social control, and there is usually little or no distinction between the law and the exercise of political power by the executive.

The inhabitants of a police state experience restrictions on their mobility, and on their freedom to express or communicate political or other views, which are subject to police monitoring or enforcement. Political control may be exerted by means of a secret police force which operates outside the boundaries normally imposed by a constitutional state.

If this was Sarah Palin you'd be all up in her vagina yelling about the stink. And for the record, you and I are on the same page when it comes to that silly broad.

Actually, no. Palin gave an opinion against a state initiative (an initiative I supported) while in her role as Governor that ended up as a complaint. I never supported that complaint (against my other Progressive bretheren) because I don't deny public officers their opinions...especially if asked.

patriot act. government wiretapping without warrants.

We're in the beginnings of the police state, and I don't see this administration stopping that.

Government wiretapping without warrants... wasn't that discontinued and ruled unconstitutional anyways? Hard to keep track of that crap.

Unconstitutional or not, they got away with it for years.

The patriot act is the single biggest blow against liberty this country has ever seen. I see it as a huge slippery slope that needs to go. the fuck. away.

No.

Real hard to Google stuff.

Real hard to Google stuff, eh? (As an aside, I know you spend countless hours looking up every aspect of every discussion you ever have here; don't presume the rest of us are as sorely lacking in a social and family life as you.)

Tyral - would you say that Cheney's action in 2002 urging the use of military force (not police) against US citizens suspected of terrorist activity - moving towards a police state?

Take your time researching that one, I'm sure you've never heard of that, either. Here's a head start, copy and paste "Authority for Use of Military Force to Combat Terrorist Activities Within the U.S." into teh Google.

For extra credit, what is your opinion about Obama's move to permanently entrench indefinite detention, AND preventative detention? Here's a primer:

1) Indefinite = No trial, no predictable timetable of release.
2) Preventative = Arresting people who have not committed a crime.

And finally, would you say that when one administration removes rights, and the very next administration, of the opposite party, further erodes those rights - is that moving towards a police state?

ah yes, because people who spend the entire day on the internet at work are lazy, obviously!

If they're spending as much time as Joxur looking up irrelevant(to the job) odds and ends, then yes, absolutely. Well actually, to be more precise the word would be "unproductive", which studies show internet use in the workplace has led to. Doesn't mean you can't have people using the internet in a working environment(obviously if the job requires it it's another story), it just means you can't have irresponsible workers.

I haven't called it racism in any of my arguments. Both of you need to stop with the strawmen. My arguments about the stupidity of this cop don't need racism to make sense.

You didn't. Gates did.

Assuming a cop is a racist is its own form of unwarranted bias. Because a person has chosen a career in policing does not mean that person is a racist. There are certainly racist cops, but if a person truly believes in the rights and responsibilities of the individual community member, then it will ultimately be that officer’s own conduct that determines whether he is a racist or not. Reports seem to indicate that Gates made accusations of racism before he had any meaningful interaction with the officer, who was called there by an impartial Cambridge resident to protect his home. Again, this is not a way to treat a person you have just met, regardless of the role he is acting in.

At the moment I don't hold a candle to Joxur in that department.

No need to ignore reality just to make your point, Elessar. I used to post quite a bit back in the day. At the moment I don't hold a candle to Joxur in that department. I think I'm at around 4 posts this week, of about an average of 3 lines of text! =)

Stick to making irrelevant and addressed points about "exceptions to the rule" in the Healthcare Bill thread.

Your last 20 posts are more recent than my last 20 posts. You've also got me beat on total post count. Unless you're not counting posts made *about* me, which must go into some weird fetish compartment in your brain.

OMGZING!