RSSObama Almost Gets It Right on Gates’ Arrest
John Lillipop | July 22, 2009
By John W. Lillpop
Following his unpaid political announcement on behalf of the Democrats’ grotesque proposal for health care reform, President Obama turned his attention to the arrest of Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. earlier this week by the Cambridge Police.
For a brief moment, Obama appeared to “get it right” on the issue when, as reported in part at Politico.com, the president said:
http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0709/Obama_Cambridge_police_acted_stupidly.html
“”I don’t know – not having been there and not seeing all the facts – what role race played in that.”
“Gates, Obama allowed, “is a friend, so I may be a little biased here. I don’t know all the facts.”
“However Gates, he continued, “jimmied his way to get into [his own] house.”
“There was a report called in to the police station that there might be a burglary taking place – so far so good,” Obama said, reflecting that he’d hope the police were called if he were seen breaking into his own house, then pausing.”
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Therefore, the president at least had the good sense to admit that:
* He was not there and was not familiar with all the facts
* He might be biased because Gates is a friend, a black friend
* Gates Jimmied his way into his own home, and
* Obama hoped that the police would be called were he seen breaking into his own home.
Obama’s common sense went out the window with his next statement, from the same source, which was as follows:
“Separate and apart from this incident is that there’s a long history in this country of African-American and Latinos being stopped by law enforcement disproportionately,” the president said, eagerly engaging the issue of racial profiling, a concern earlier in his career that has seen little White House attention to date.
“That’s just a fact,” Obama said of profiling.”
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What in the world does a long history of racial profiling have to do with a man who jimmied his way into a home, an act which caused someone to call the police?
What does any of it have to do with the police arresting the man who broke into the home, and whom seemed like a criminal at the time?
Are police and law enforcement authorities supposed to back away from crime suspects just because they happen to be black or Latino?
Wouldn’t that be racial profiling as well, and even more stupid than the actions taken by Cambridge police?
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3 Responses to “Obama Almost Gets It Right on Gates’ Arrest”
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Well, I think the main thrust of the President’s objection to the responding officer’s conduct was not the fact that the officer arrived at the scene – which I think we can all agree was legitimate – but the officer’s conduct in light of Gates’ insistence that he was who he said he was, that he was he was the rightful homeowner, etc. From there, it seems the whole episode just degenerated into a shouting match.
Soooooooooooom what burglar suspect would NOT claim it was his home?
Again, the officer did thge right thing–profiling was not involved. Obama;s remarks were stupid!
Phil,
So far the reports are much different than what you are hearing and reguritating. By any account I have heard, it was the prof that was beligerant and escalated the situtation even before the fact of him being the homeowner was established.
More facts I am sure will come out. But to this point your version and trying to poo poo this and deflect blame from where it appears to belong may be a bit of spin.