Gates

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When a man can be arrested for having difficulties with his own front door it is obvious that the state of the rights of the average citizen is in deep trouble, be he white or black or any other citizen variation. When the president of the US has to apologize to a police officer who has overstepped his authority because a citizen refuses to grovel, it reveals that the USA is toeing the line at a police state. Unfortunately this is nothing new and has a long history and may be highlighted by racial difficulties but the problem is not essentially racial, it is one of a general misuse of authority and is not likely to be corrected in the foreseeable future.

That has been one of the non-stop non-issues here in the States. Along with Sarah Palin and Michael Jackson.





/sorry to beat a dead horse but it's a distraction from the real issue here of how the Healthcare reform is looking more like a government bailout for the insurance companies than it is a legitimate vision for Healthcare in the country.
//It was stupid for the officer to arrest someone who clearly showed he was the legitimate home owner/renter...even if they were being an abusive jackass about it
///I agree fully about police state...but that's also a part of the whole myth of the hero and myth of the soldier...the police officer is an extension of that.


post-script: watching tonight's daily show. the interview is with Bill Kristol and Billyboy is actually condescending ON AIR about military healthcare and nearly says "Well is that what YOU'D want for yourself?" Implying that he knows it's sub-par. It happens at roughly around 18:13 or so in the show. Holy busted criminals, Batman. Rule 1 of the republicans is to not be honest about just how badly you treat the military that you use so liberally and he didn't break in the sense of him saying fully the statement above...but he caught himself too late and that smug move he does as he's about to say it gives him away. Sorry if no one else appreciates just how rare this is but for this guy to make such a basic slip-up is HUGE!! !! ! He was basically about to say something along the lines of "Is that the kind of crap you REALLY want for everyone in America?" And Jon Stewart doesn't call him on it!! ! Stewart just plays along. Unbelievable!


"Is military healthcare really what you..."


Sorry, I'm taken aback by this because it's just so amazing to catch someone with as much political clout and influence as him to nearly make such a basic faux pas against his own political rhetoric that no neo-conservative actually believes (see: neo-conservative politicians believe the noble lie is intended for the lower classes, not for the watchmen).

I accept that this is a distraction from some of the more pressing dynamic issues but nevertheless is is an ongoing problem for most societies and basic in its relationship of the average citizen to the discrete force society utilizes in enforcing its legal directives.
The Gates case is rather classic in that the attitude of the police in general is that any concession to the force of argument of a citizen confronted with a police demand cannot be accepted without diminishing legal authority to the detriment of the police. This is something that requires close and severe examination for the general health of society. No doubt the police frequently find themselves in very difficult situations with strong emotional contexts and it requires more than normal restraint on their part to act legally and sensibly. But too often they do not meet those requirements and that is a major problem and frequent incidences have ended in huge tragedies for which the police refuse to take proper responsibility. This is dangerous to normal social living.

In addition it must be noted that a result is an inherent disrespect for the law by all parties concerned to be replaced by an over respect for the authority of the police whether or not that authority is legally founded.

Sadly, it's all too easy to believe.
And any more, almost expected.

Sensationalism.

I don't believe the man was arrested for having difficulties with his front door, he was arrested for having difficulties keeping a cool head while making slanderous accusations when being asked about a break-in. Playing the Race card is a big turnoff and can be seen as a threatening action and is often used as a first line of defense. It is kind of like "the teacher hates me and gave me a bad grade defense". And, then to follow it up with "Do you know who I am..." crap is like asking for an invitation to go downtown and fill out an arrest form to find out who you actually are.

Escalating a situation with a police officer is usually not going to make things better. And, then having your buddy the President escalate things even more by his "stupid" comments is just another chapter in the racial propaganda which the likes of Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton and now Barrack Obama live and breath.

There have been many cases of people getting arrested on their front lawns or driveways and yes even their own homes. One year the local police were pushing their arresting powers to people working on their car in their driveway while drinking. Maybe if the generation before me figured out the whole power grab facilitated by the MADD legislation then things might be a little different. We've been in a police nanny state ever since that legislation. It is federalism on steroids.

Now, I have grown up entirely during this Affirmative Action stuff and I am tired of it. Institutional racism is getting old. I quit. No more. For the first time in my life I now consider myself a "White American" not just an "American". Want a job, don't ask me.

That's one possibility. Another is that he was being unduly hassled by the officer. We don't really have information to conclusively decide.

One question though - why didn't the officer leave after he saw ID proving that Gates lived there?

Also, calling a person a racist is not slander unless it is done in public, unless it causes a person harm through tarnishing their image, and unless it is false. If someone is in your home and you call them a racist, it is probably not slander.

Regardless of whether or not Gates escalated the situation, I think it was safe to say that there would not have been a reason for Gates to become upset if the officer did not jump to conclusions in one way or another. To put it in perspective, let me describe an alternate situation in which both parties would have avoided this situation:

*Gates is struggling to unlock his front door when a patrol car pulls up and hails him*

Gates: May I help you, officer?

Officer: What are you doing?

Gates: Trying to get into my house. The key got stuck in the lock.

Officer: We recieved a call about a possible break-in at this residence. You said this was your house?

Gates: Yessir.

Officer: Ok, do you have an ID?

*Gates presents his drivers license to the officer, who calls in to HQ. After a minute, HQ radios back confirming that Gates is indeed registered as the homeowner at this address*

Officer: Ok, looks like your story checks out. Sorry for the intrusion.

Gates: Not a problem sir.

*Officer gets back in his car and leaves*

And there you have it. The officer recieved a call about a break in, and when he arrives he sees a man trying to enter the front door. He immediately becomes alert and suspicious of the situation, but decides to confirm that Gates is indeed breaking in before making an arrest. He asks Gates what he is doing, and Gates says it is his house, which any officer can confirm with a quick call to police headquarters, which is usually able to quickly access public records and confirm the owners of registered homes and cars. When it is confirmed that Gates indeed lives there, the officer leaves Gates alone and moves on. Everything is conducted in a polite and civil manner.

Now this is how the situation SHOULD have progressed; unfortunately, it is rarely the case in most cities. The justice system's idea "innocent until proven guilty" SHOULD apply in situations like this where a person is SUSPECTED of criminal activity but no clear reason exists to arrest them. Unfortunately, while "innocent until proven guilty" applies in the courts, the reverse often applies on the streets.

I had a similar situation occur to me when I was living in Arlington, TN. One of the window sensors on the burglar alarm malfunctioned, setting it off shortly before I arrived home from school. I turned the alarm off but the police had already been dispatched. When the officer arrived I greeted him cordially, informed him that myself and my parents were the residents here and that the alarm was caused by the malfuction. The officer didn't even ask for my ID, he simply requested that I inform the alarm company about the malfunction, and continued on his patrol.

Now I'm not saying that Gates is completely guiltless in how the situation escalated, but the officer's attitude when approaching this situation is a prime factor in this embarrasing arrest. If he had been less accusatory in his inquiry of the situation, there would have been no reason for Gates to get upset. People absolutely hate it when they are falsely accused, this is a fact of human nature.

Why are people concentrating on the white officer and not concentrating on the three officers that were present? Pretty obvious.

Maybe a Harvard ID was shown not a driver's license which may not include the person's home address or the address was different than what was on the ID. I've had a house broken into that I was renting and the police wanted to verify that I was the rightful person. The police had to call the owner of the house for verification because my ID had a different address on it.

And, your front lawn is accessible to the public, with people walking by a nice peaceful neighborhood along with someone yelling that the police are racist might just qualify.

If you are drunk, call the police on your neighbor, then get into a verbal fight with the police because they didn't do what you wanted you'd probably be getting the same treatment. Being disorderly is being disorderly.

But, please ignore the hispanic and black cop that were also there and concentrate on the white cop. Again, pretty obvious. With dashboard cameras and audio recordings I think there is plenty of evidence to sift through.

The media along with race baitors jumped on this, labeling the police officer as a racist while ignoring the fact that people are suppose to be innocent before proven guilty, but in issues like these, those rights only apply to the victim for some reason. It gets old. Sensationalism journalism is getting really, really old. And the media wonders why their numbers have been dropping.

Comrade In Arms

Our president seems to have a problem with not knowing the facts about...well...everything. I know liberal's pride swells when they have a competent liar in office and often revel in the truth bending skills of their heroes, but I would think that the embarrassment level would have been passed by now. And, remember he campaigned on being a Racial Uniter.

Police Report (Smoking Gun)

I'm done helping anyone out other than my family and myself.

Gates of Fire topic

I was not aware Skip Gates was so passionate. Whenever I saw him on PBS, he seemed so bland, so Cosby-ish, so middle America it was nauseating.

I have found a new respect for him. He is a person I want in my corner.

The sad thing is he's absolutely right about Sarah Palin and her chances as a political force on the national stage. Her populist angle and appeal to ignorance in the masses will easily make her a contender in the 2012 election and quite possibly motivate enough white trash to vote to win. Afterall, what do rednecks like more than a hot woman who hunts and what more do they hate than a black man who seemingly wants social progress.

My guess is that it is a combination of the two- this sort of situation would never have occurred had either of them acted appropriately.


Well, the cop has now been vilified across the country, criticized by the President, and was in danger of losing his job. So yes, the "racist" accusation would be slander.

Aw HELL no! After what Palin and the rest of the Republican oil kings have done and ARE STILL doing to Alaska's fragile Arctic ecosystem? If she gets elected president, she's gonna wipe out the polar bears. Call me a nature nut, but if that happens I will finally do what I have been threatning to do for two years and start a rebellion. I dont care what happens to me, I'm not letting that redheaded bespectacled planet-destroying moose-mutilating Bush-worshipping backwater BIMBO into the White House without a fight. I mean cheezus, the Republicans are almost as bad as Shinra! What's the betting that after destroying half of our planet with drilling and emissions, they'll try to make some super-soldier to fight the Middle East over what's left of their oil, that soldier will get all mindf*cked from being a human weapon, and before you know it its estuans-interis-ino-vehemeti-Sephiroth!! ! Bye-bye planet Earth (whats left of it anyway).

Quoted For Truth.

Are you the same Roxas who complained that his parents were inches away from tossing him out on the streets of a town in Wyoming where he knew no one, and that he would surely die if that happened? And YOU want to start a rebellion? Suuure. Wyoming is Palin Country,even more so than Alaska. Start a rebellion while out on the streets and starving, the cops would just shoot you then feed your corpse to their dogs. End of rebellion. I do agree that every time I think of Palin in the WH, I see that populist politician from Stephen King's The Dead Zone who gets into office and blunders into a nuclear war. But I don't think that there's any way to stop her. I almost hope that the Chinese invade just so we can see once and for all how dumb she is.

Ok, you know what, forget I said anything. I don't need to argue my ideas with you, you wouldn't understand them anyways. You can go die now.

I am gravitating towards that view - 2 alpha dogs, neither was willing to cede to the other.



But there are still fundamental discrepancies between the two stories - Gates said the officer refused to identify himself with ID name or badge number (required by Massachusetts law), but Crowley said he did. And Gates denies having said some of the statements that the officer attributed to him. So at least one of the protagonists is being dishonest; maybe both are.

And still not convinced it was slander (though Officer Crowley is free to pursue that avenue if he wishes) - the fact that the accusations were published internationally (actually, the officer's version of what Gates said) was the result of the arrest - but the charges have been dropped! Damages? Crowley will not lose his job unless a complaint is filed (a false statement there would be perjury). The SCOTUS has ruled that public figures who sue others for slander must go farther than others - they must prove actual malice. That will be difficult to do - Gates was irrate, he suspected he was being treated differently because of his race, but did he have malice for the officer, and at what point did the malice develop, and why??