How much lower can the president go?

[FishermanTim]

Can someone please explain why, with our country heading straight down the crapper, why does our "beloved" president need to comment on the Prof. Gates issue during a press conference that was SUPPOSED to be related to the healthcare fiasco?
As I've learned, the president screens and pre-apporoves ALL questions beforehand, so this was planned from the start.
Why does he feel the inexplicable need to interject anything into this LOCAL issue? He makes his asinine comment even after admitting that he doesn't know all the facts!

As V.B. from Fox25 news read during the morning email segment, it looks a lot like the president pulling a "tail wagging the dog" moment.

I have lost all remaining respect I had for the man, when he drags the nation into what WAS a local problem.

Rant over.

[Raven]

to the cops from the passer by lady....
who called
and exactly what she said....

it's a common problem tho...

the guy has been away in CHINA
and during that period....

it had done nothing but rain here
with 100% humidity which caused
his front door to swell- tight as hell.

[Travis]

I still can't believe this knucklehead is ruining our country...I meant running our country. He is a joke, it is funny to watch his approval rating plummet...hate to say it, but I told ya so...

The fact that some people still cannot admit fault or wrong doing by Obama makes them look all the more ridiculous, why won't they just fess up, call "uncle", and admit they made a poor decision?

[PRBuzz]

Sounds like an act of "stupidity" by the Office the the President? To be clear, I am not calling Obama stupid in a manner similar to Obama not calling the Cambridge Officer stupid.

If it were a Black/Hispanic officer arresting a white guy (Harvard Prof or not), this wouldn't even be news!

[Cool Beans]

yeah, that whole fiasco was assinine! Who do they expect the cops to arrest after a call comes in reporting 2 black men forcing open the door?

And because it involves race Obama has to chime in.

WHY THE HELL DON'T WE EVER HEAR FROM HIS WHITE 1/2?

[buckman]

It appears to me to be a case of race baiting. Obama's more of a racist then the cop. IMO

[Slipknot]

What bothers me about the whole thing that nobody has brought up is, that Gates is a smart enough man to realize how it must have looked as they shouldered in his door that was stuck, so when the police arrived he should have come to the realization that a passerby may have called concerned about a break in, he than could have quickly explained his door was stuck and he owns the property, but no he had to escalate the whole thing immediately bringing race into it because he was irritable from a long flight. well boohoo, he is the one who should suck it up and apologize not the officer who was sent there to do his job. Obama says cooler heads should have prevailed, well they didn't, (not a time for monday morning quarterbacking but I guess after calling the police stupid, I guess that's what ya do)and Gates' head was not cool, Crowley gave him more than one chance to calm down.
Sounds like it was a freakshow to me. Now the guy is trying to ride this thing for all he can, pathetic if you ask me.

[buckman]

Originally Posted by Slipknot

What bothers me about the whole thing that nobody has brought up is, that Gates is a smart enough man to realize how it must have looked as they shouldered in his door that was stuck, so when the police arrived he should have come to the realization that a passerby may have called concerned about a break in, he than could have quickly explained his door was stuck and he owns the property, but no he had to escalate the whole thing immediately bringing race into it because he was irritable from a long flight. well boohoo, he is the one who should suck it up and apologize not the officer who was sent there to do his job. Obama says cooler heads should have prevailed, well they didn't, (not a time for monday morning quarterbacking but I guess after calling the police stupid, I guess that's what ya do)and Gates' head was not cool, Crowley gave him more than one chance to calm down.
Sounds like it was a freakshow to me. Now the guy is trying to ride this thing for all he can, pathetic if you ask me.

Gates was race baiting. The cop teaches racial profiling classes. I don't know the facts of the case but Gates acted stupidly.

[JohnR]

Originally Posted by buckman

I don't know the facts of the case but Gates acted stupidly.

I KNOW you said that on purpose

[Fly Rod]

Slipknot most highly intelligent, educated people do not have common sence, nor can they tye their shoes.

The President, Mr. Barack Hussain Obama did not have all the facts and should not have commented about the incident. He did not mention that there were two callers that called 911 to report a break-in, two people trying to force a door open. Also in 2008 there were approximately 60 break-ins in that area.

Even tho the professor became biligerant in his house or on his property does not give the officer the right to arrest.

In Massachusetts it is not a crime on your own property to be biligerant to a policeman and be arrested for disorderly conduct. If you are off your property then that is a differant story.

The bottom line is, two wrongs do not make it right. It should be over and no law suite

[spence]

Originally Posted by Fly Rod

The President, Mr. Barack Hussain Obama did not have all the facts and should not have commented about the incident. He did not mention that there were two callers that called 911 to report a break-in, two people trying to force a door open. Also in 2008 there were approximately 60 break-ins in that area.

Even tho the professor became biligerant in his house or on his property does not give the officer the right to arrest.

In Massachusetts it is not a crime on your own property to be biligerant to a policeman and be arrested for disorderly conduct. If you are off your property then that is a differant story.

The bottom line is, two wrongs do not make it right. It should be over and no law suite

+1 and a good analysis. I think the officers screwed up, but it was the process and not their judgement that caused it.

-spence

[Cool Beans]

Originally Posted by spence

+1 and a good analysis. I think the officers screwed up, but it was the process and not their judgement that caused it.

-spence

What the hell were they supposed to do? Respond to a report of 2 black guys on a B&E looking for white guys?

[scottw]

apparently the only thing that this officer did to earn the scorn and berating of the racist professor was respond to a buglary call and follow procedure...this earns him the honor of having our Racist-in -Chief single him out on national television admittingly not knowing all of the facts and then referring to him as " acting stupidly"...that's fair???, the only individual acting stupidly and irrationally in this situation was the racist professor...I would call this "responding while white" to one of Obama's racist friend's home to protect and serve and in gratitude receiving a large portion of well practiced race baiting rant...but in the new Amerika, this is perfectly acceptable from an Elitist Jerk friend of Obama and the president will support you regardless....sometimes it's the little things that really trip up an egomaniac...

[Fishpart]

The beauty of the whole thing is that now no one is paying attention to Congress, under the direction of the President, stripping access to quality healthcare from the masses.....

[Fly Rod]

Lets take the black lady of African descent that recently had her dog attacked by a policeman's dog. It was a black policeman's dog, could you imagine if the cop was white, especially after the professor incident. Not a word has been mentioned about that incident.

[Raven]

has Al Sharpton arrived yet....? jessie Jackson? michael jackson?

[stcroixman]

Doesn't Obama have better things to do?
Like spending my grandkids $$$$$

[PRBuzz]

I hope MJ doesn't arrive! I would hope we are now done with MJ until the movie release entitled either "The Night the Music Died" or "Who Killed MJ".

[Swimmer]

Originally Posted by Fly Rod

The President, Mr. Barack Hussain Obama did not have all the facts and should not have commented about the incident. He did not mention that there were two callers that called 911 to report a break-in, two people trying to force a door open. Also in 2008 there were approximately 60 break-ins in that area.

Even tho the professor became biligerant in his house or on his property does not give the officer the right to arrest.

Flyrod, don't think that you cannot be arrested in your home or on the property without a warrant. There are numerous scenarios under which an arrest could and have occured.

In Massachusetts it is not a crime on your own property to be biligerant to a policeman and be arrested for disorderly conduct.[/B] [B]If you are off your property then that is a differant story.

That is not accurate at all.

The bottom line is, two wrongs do not make it right. It should be over and no law suite

If one person involved was right, then the other was wrong. Both can't be wrong. Either Gates was right or the officer was.

I think you are confusing an officers right to enter a home to effect an arrest with a warrant, when the warrant is the only rerason why an officer would be on the property.

[fishbones]

Originally Posted by spence

+1 and a good analysis. I think the officers screwed up, but it was the process and not their judgement that caused it.

-spence

The officer did exactly what he has been trained to do. In fact, he made concessions to this man that would not have been made to you or me. Crowley cuffed Gates in the front because Gates said he has a bad back, and Crowley also went inside to get his cane. He's not required to do either of those things. Gates also got to sit in a room with visitors while he was at the station. He never even saw the inside of a cell.

Where Gates was wrong was that he did not show any proof of address at any time. He showed an ID, but it was his Harvard ID. That doesn't have his address on it. He should have been thanking the officer for doing his job and not pulling the "do you know who I am act" like he's superior to him because he's a scholar at an esteemed university.

Gates is trying to get as much mileage out of this as he can. He's already said that he'll be using this as part of his documentary about racial profiling in the US. Hmmm, seems that the timing for this is perfect for him.

Two years ago, I was leaving my house with my wife and son, when we heard our neighbors home security alarm going off. I knew my neighbors weren't home becaue they were away for a basketball tournament that weekend, so I told my wife I'd check on their house to make sure no one had broken in. I waked over and went up on the back deck and looked inside. Then, I walked around the back towards the front of the house and checked the basement windows. As I got to the front yard, there was a police officer getting out of his car. I said hi and he asked if I lived at the house. I said "no, I live next door. I heard the alarm and came over because they aren't home". He asked me if I could show him some ID because there have been break in's in my neighborhood in the past. I didn't start yelling at him and calling him a racist because he's Asian and I'm white. I didn't say that he was profiling me because I'm white and most arrests in my town are of white people. I simply showed him my license and told him to have a good day.

[justplugit]

Originally Posted by fishbones

Two years ago, I was leaving my house with my wife and son, when we heard our neighbors home security alarm going off. I knew my neighbors weren't home becaue they were away for a basketball tournament that weekend, so I told my wife I'd check on their house to make sure no one had broken in. I waked over and went up on the back deck and looked inside. Then, I walked around the back towards the front of the house and checked the basement windows. As I got to the front yard, there was a police officer getting out of his car. I said hi and he asked if I lived at the house. I said "no, I live next door. I heard the alarm and came over because they aren't home". He asked me if I could show him some ID because there have been break in's in my neighborhood in the past. I didn't start yelling at him and calling him a racist because he's Asian and I'm white. I didn't say that he was profiling me because I'm white and most arrests in my town are of white people. I simply showed him my license and told him to have a good day.

Ahh, common sense and respect for the law was alive and well.

[Raven]

Damn DUDE he's just Gitten Started,,,,,,,,,

[FishermanTim]

Let's see....The officer TEACHES a racial profiling class at a police academy, and was recommended for the position by a black superior officer because of his excellent ethics in police work.
He wasn't there alone, as there was other officers on the scene: A black and a hispanic officer.
He was responding to a 911 call, in a neighborhood that had had 9 break-ins already this year!
The icing on the cake is that he was claimed to have "lured" the "nutty professor" outside in order to arrest him, but in fact, he was walking outside in order to be able to communicate with the dispatcher (on his hand radio) because the "prof" wouldn't stop yelling at him. (I guess this dispells Mr. Gates claim that he couldn;t have yelled because of a sore throat, but maybe he's got that reversed?)

The final straw which will probably kill the "nutty professor"'s claim may come from the police communications themselves. It seems that Officer Crowley had the forethought to keep his mike ON while this was happening, so it was broadcast over the police radio.

How much would you bet that should this kook try and sue the police, that he tries to block the use of this transmission?
I can hardly wait, because this could give credance to the claim of "reverse discrimination, and subsequent added lawsuits.

Oh, and Officer Crowley should DEMAND an apology from Mr. Gates, the mayor of Cambridge, our clueless Governor and our "stupid" president. (It will probably never happen, but we can only HOPE for a CHANGE!)

[Slipknot]

Originally Posted by fishbones

Gates is trying to get as much mileage out of this as he can. He's already said that he'll be using this as part of his documentary about racial profiling in the US. Hmmm, seems that the timing for this is perfect for him.

Apparently he is too arrogant to realize that he himself was the one racial profiling

If Crowley was black do you think any of this would have happened?




Swimmer, thanks for straightening flyrod out.


nobody was shot or hurt, time for professor to get a clue as to what he caused and move on. It doesn't sound like the cop was wrong.

Good luck to him next time he needs a cop

[spence]

Originally Posted by fishbones

The officer did exactly what he has been trained to do. In fact, he made concessions to this man that would not have been made to you or me. Crowley cuffed Gates in the front because Gates said he has a bad back, and Crowley also went inside to get his cane.

I don't understand why he was arrested in the first place. Regardless if he was ticked off, it looks like it didn't take long for the officer to determine there was no break in. Arrest a 60+ year old man in his own home? If his behavior was that bad why were charges dropped?

And to the initial post, Obama made the comment because he was asked a question in a press conference. It's not like this was planned, which is reflected in his off the cuff remark, which I'm sure he now regrets making.

-spence

[UserRemoved1]

Are you kiddin me? By the time they indict this doctor with the next available grand jury there be a new MJ channel dedicated to this plus every news org like what you got here.

Originally Posted by PRBuzz

I hope MJ doesn't arrive! I would hope we are now done with MJ until the movie release entitled either "The Night the Music Died" or "Who Killed MJ".

[Fly Rod]

Since we now talk in trillions, I will use that word freely.

Swimmer:
A cop can arrest you for a trillion things as we all know. Some cops feel that they are above the law. There are cops that will arrest you for being in a verbal confrontation. If I am being belligerant in a verbal discussion with a cop and calling him a jerk and so on that is no reason to arrest a person but, there are some cops that will arrest you for it. Yes during that verbal confrontation he could tell me to disburse and then would probably arrest me. There are plenty of outs for a police officer. After all the law is on their side.

In no way am I saying that this cop was wrong, matter of fact as I stated I agree with the cop to a point. Once the professor proved who he was and that he was the owner it should have been over. Since we were not there we can only assume. And I assume that the professor got under his skin calling him racist etc: I probably would have arrested him also.

Scenario: A person with a registered vehicle parks in anothers driveway. The owner of property calls the police, a cop comes ask the person who owns the car to move the vehicle, the owner of registered car says no, can the cop arrest you for parking in someones driveway?

Legally he can not, it becomes a civil matter between property owner and car owner.

You park in the police chiefs driveway he calls the station to send a crusier and you would probably be locked up for not moving the car.

[Raven]

Originally Posted by stcroixman

Doesn't Obama have better things to do?
Like spending my grandkids $$$$$

Obama Has already spent your GREAT grandkids Money!

[Swimmer]

Originally Posted by Fly Rod

Since we now talk in trillions, I will use that word freely.

Swimmer:
A cop can arrest you for a trillion things as we all know. Some cops feel that they are above the law. There are cops that will arrest you for being in a verbal confrontation. If I am being belligerant in a verbal discussion with a cop and calling him a jerk and so on that is no reason to arrest a person but, there are some cops that will arrest you for it. Yes during that verbal confrontation he could tell me to disburse and then would probably arrest me. There are plenty of outs for a police officer. After all the law is on their side.

In no way am I saying that this cop was wrong, matter of fact as I stated I agree with the cop to a point. Once the professor proved who he was and that he was the owner it should have been over. Since we were not there we can only assume. And I assume that the professor got under his skin calling him racist etc: I probably would have arrested him also.

Scenario: A person with a registered vehicle parks in anothers driveway. The owner of property calls the police, a cop comes ask the person who owns the car to move the vehicle, the owner of registered car says no, can the cop arrest you for parking in someones driveway?

You should check the "tresspassing with a motor vehicle statute" Flyrod.

Legally he can not, it becomes a civil matter between property owner and car owner.

You park in the police chiefs driveway he calls the station to send a crusier and you would probably be locked up for not moving the car.

Gates didn't prove who he was by any stretch, and I didn't say you were wrong, I only said only one person could be right when it comes to the right of arrest, either the officer had the right of arrest (probable cause), or he didn't. You can call a cop a jerk and many other things, just don't get in his face to do it, so the officers doesn't feel his safety is in jeopardy. Or be able to run like the wind.

[fishbones]

Originally Posted by spence

I don't understand why he was arrested in the first place. Regardless if he was ticked off, it looks like it didn't take long for the officer to determine there was no break in. Arrest a 60+ year old man in his own home? If his behavior was that bad why were charges dropped?

And to the initial post, Obama made the comment because he was asked a question in a press conference. It's not like this was planned, which is reflected in his off the cuff remark, which I'm sure he now regrets making.

-spence

I know you have to play devil's advocate Spence, but at least read up on the story before just claiming the officer did something wrong. He was investigating a possible house break in a neighborhood where there has been several recently. He asked the person in the house for identification. The professor got agitated and started asking the officer for his name and badge number. After using the old "you don't know who you're messin' with" and the "I'll come out with your mama" quotes, Gates showed Crowley a Harvard ID. Mind you, the ID doesn't have an address on it. When Crowley tried to walk away outside, Gates followed him berating him and yelling the whole time. By all accounts, Gates was given several opportunities to go back inside and it would be over. But, he kept at it and was arrested for causing a disturbance. Witnesses have already come forward with statements that they never saw Crowley (or any of the other officers) raise his voice, while Gates was yelling the entire time and was chasing the officer down the steps to the front yard.

Why were the charges dropped? Why was Gates given preferential treatment at the jail? Because he is a public figure who has a lot of influence in the city. Don't celebrities and politicians have charges dropped for minor charges all the time?

Obama has claimed that he's a friend of Gates. I don't expect him not to support him, but to call an officer's actions stupid without having the facts or police report is at best, reckless. By the way, watch for an interview later today where Obama refuses to apologize for the "stupid" comment. You can already find it on the internet. Who knows, maybe without a teleprompter or prepared speech, he gets too unnerved to respond to questions in public. Or, maybe he just can't think on his feet. Either way, he should know better than to say something like that about police officers on his monthly national infomercial.