Gates and Crowley Speak About Their White House Visit

Mark this day in your calendar. A real moment in history. . . . . .and we actually witnessed it in our lifetime. . . . .Wow, what a story for the grandkids!!

I would imagine a policeman who trains others in police ethics has nothing to learn from Obama and Gates. He was gracious enough to have gone there. Jake Tapper couldn’t resist the dig there at the end, but I understand it entirely: The man was offended by the stupidity of Jake’s question. Sgt. Crowley taught police about police ethics.
Did you have to try to make Crowley look bad, Jake? You look bad, not he.

All this concern around a contrived “beer summit,” a silly, silly spin and fascination around communal beer, and yet, more truthfully, just a signature ritual when macho egos are involved.
The only real “teaching moment” in all this is Lucia Whalen. Her integrity, honesty, and courage, is something to be celebrated… with or without the beer.

What a complete waste of time.I note the parking tickets-did he blame the “stupid” Officer Crowley for them?All of this nonsense because of one ignorant statement by the president.All of the collateral damage to other innocent citizens trying to do what is right- the neighbor,the other cops on the scene,etc.I fear that the scars of racial animosity have been torn open by the POTUS statement.If he is so smart,why isn’t he a Phi Beta Kappa?

Did Barry promise Gates some stimulus money?

Crowley got no apology.
Barack Obama means never having to say you’re sorry.

“Sgt. Leon Lashley said that Gates “may have caused grave and potentially irreparable harm to the struggle for racial harmony.”
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Not so great an authority as Sgt. Leon Lashley!

“Oh heavens no, how could anybody learn anything from people like Obama and Gates.”
There is much to learn. One can learn how to try to behave like a lout and then try to turn it into a Rodney King incident.
One can learn not to shoot your mouth off without knowing the facts like Obama did.
One can learn that Barack Obama is a deviant narcissist who is incapable of admitting he made a stupid mistake.
There is a lot to learn indeed.

dr. john . . .
Those are the lessons you would take because you have prejudged the situation. Sgt. Crowley is a much smarter man . .. and Sgt. Crowley was there during the incident. You weren’t.

dr. john … .
You have read a report, and a couple of comments.
Sgt. Crowley was there, you were not.

I hope that it tought Obama to keep his mouth shut. It tought me that our president does not have the integrity to apologize.

drjohn:”And I was entirely correct. Then and now.”
You’re always Right. Rarely honest, but that’s part of being Right nowadays.

Why did the Police Sgt. bring his lawyer & a police union official? Still had some very big chips on his shoulder ? His own Police Report states the Professor was only yelling,not a crime in Mass. These cops came into a private home & arrested the owner for jimmying a stuck door,also not a crime! False arrest,and allowed his EGO overule his good sense!

Did you know that it only takes about 15 minutes to teach your parrot to say “He’s a racist,” A Parrot doesn’t have the intelligence to know what it’s saying, it’s just mimicking what it heard. In an effort to stop name calling, children in elementary schools are taught to take ownership of their feelings by using “I” messages; “I don’t like it when you cut in line, I don’t like it when it when you call me names,” etc.. This helps children to solve problems using their own intelligence and not just mimicking someone else. I think President Obama didn’t use a lot of intelligence when he rushed to judgement in favor of the Black guy by saying the Police acted stupidly? But don’t judge him too harshly because sometimes old habits die hard. Looking back on his community organizing days ,this is what he said about his crying racism, “It was usually an effective tactic, another one of those tricks I had learned.” “I found a solace in nursing a pervasive sense of grievance and animosity against my mother’s [white] race.” [Barack Obama from his book, "Dreams From My Father"]” Going to Reverand Wright’s church must have given him a lot of solace too. No wonder the term “he’s a racist!” is the favorite phrase of many Black leaders, including President Obama, Dr. Gates , Reverand Wright, Al Sharptons and Jesse’s Jacksons Maybe they need to be sent back to elementary school, And as for your parrot, to be politically correct you probably should paint it black.

I wish Sgt. Crowley had turn down the invitation to the White House. At least he did not apologize!
Evelyne

Why did the Police Sgt. bring his lawyer & a police union official? Still had some very big chips on his shoulder ? His own Police Report states the Professor was only yelling,not a crime in Mass. These cops came into a private home & arrested the owner for jimmying a stuck door,also not a crime! False arrest,and allowed his EGO overule his good sense!
Posted by: Sharon W | Jul 30, 2009 11:57:00 PM
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Oh please.
Gates was arrested OUTSIDE his home, for DISORDERLY CONDUCT = screaming and yelling outside to the point that passers by were stopping, gathering, and looking alarmed at what was occurring. Its the officers discretion at that point whether to arrest or not. So you are dead wrong about what he was arrested for and about it being a false arrest.
I don’t know if the Sargent brought a lawyer or not – but I sure wouldn’t blame him if he had, considering that Gates had been going off publicly ever since the incident threatening lawsuit.
Consider further that Gates also said that he was seriously considering making a documentary of the occurrence, to add to a documentary he was ALREADY making about, I believe, racial profiling, or something very much along those lines. This incident was ripe pickings for Gates from the get go, and he had a lot to gain from claiming to be unfairly treated regardless of whether he really was or not.
Consider also that the day or the very next day after the police said they were considering releasing the 911 call and tapes taken from the Sergent’s mic during the incident, all of a sudden Gates went from being oh so vocal about how he was wronged to saying how it was time to move on from the incident and let it go.
Consider also that the Sargent was NOT there alone – officers there were not only from his department, but also the Harvard police and were both hispanic and black – and they apparently support the Sergent’s actions in this incident 100%.
Meanwhile, Obama was WAY out of line in so many different ways and on so many diffeernt levels to have commented on this incident in any fashion. He is the President of the United States, and is supposed to represent us ALL. He is NOT supposed to take racial sides, he is NOT supposed to make knee jerk reactionary calls, which is exactly what he did. He is NOT supposed to use the power of his position to attack private individuals or the bully pulpit of the press that comes with his position to do so. What makes it even worse is that prior to the press meeting, they PRACTICED his response to this very question. He was NOT taken by surprise, not according to Gibbs, his press secretary. The minute Obama said “I don’t have all the facts in this case” the next words out of his mouth, the ONLY words out of his mouth should have been something along the lines of “so it would be inappropriate for me to comment on the issue.” Anything else was inappropriate in the extreme, tacky, classless, and grossly unpresidential.

Obama will be a one-term president.

Danita, what accusations did I ‘hurl?’ I didn’t make any accusations at all, I stated a number of facts which were direct quotes on the web from Dr. Gates himself. I also stated my opinions in regards to the lack of appropriateness of ANY president commenting on this type of situation, and further, President Obama’s comments on an incident which he himself said he did not have all the facts, and his comments bore that out. So what accusations are you referring to?
Check your facts. Crowley did NOT say in his police report that the 911 caller said there were two black men trying to break in. You are quite simply wrong in that claim. Further, I’ve seen nothing that supports YOUR accusation that Crowley in any way falsified his police report. If you have anything to support that, please provide sufficient information for me to find those facts.
Professor Gates could have remained in his house, he didn’t have to follow Crowley outside still yelling. He was warned several times by Sgt. Crowley prior to being arrested. Your account in this regard is accurate although somewhat misleading for the missing parts that I’ve added above.
I haven’t made a statement with regard to whether Gates, Crowley, or both are “at fault” either. I DID mention two aspects of the situation, one that isn’t being widely reported, and another aspect that also isn’t being noted in general reporting, those being; Gates saying that he might make a documentary of the supposed racial profiling by Crowley to include in his ongoing documentary; and Gates suddenly switching from being highly vocal and looking for as much publicity as possible to the ‘move along, its gotten enough attention now’ timed so oddly with the police saying they were considering releasing audio of the 911 call and Sgt. Crowley’s mic recordings.
Why do you have a problem with these statements of fact? Simply because they don’t throw a very positive light on Gates? They’re certainly not conclusive, but they are facts associated with the entire situation that do warrant consideration. Are you saying that you think these facts ought to be covered up or ignored instead? If so, why?

And Atlas . . ..
“Crowley did NOT say in his police report that the 911 caller said there were two black men trying to break in. You are quite simply wrong in that claim.”
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I’m afraid it is you that have the facts wrong.
Lucia Whalen is the name of the 911 caller . ..
This is directly from Crowley’s police report . . .
“Whalen, who was standing on the sidewalk . . . went on to tell me that she observed what appeared to be two black males with packpacks on the porch of . . . Ware Steet.”
Whalen absolutely and categorically denies she said anything of the sort to Crowley or to 911.
So Ms. Whalen’s statement clearly indicates that Crowley falsified his police report when he wrote that SHE told him there were 2 black men with backpacks attempting to break into the house.
Thems the facts here.

Danita, when I first read your post, I took it to mean you were saying that Crowley was claiming that she had said they were black in the 911 call itself. That was what I was taking issue with – but I can see on re-reading your post that you could have meant either, so my apologies there if I misunderstood you.
I have seen where Ms. Whalen denies mentioning ‘black’ in her 911 call. I have NOT seen anywhere where she denies saying something about race outside the house – where she could very well have seen the person inside the house while waiting for the police and therefore mentioned it to Sgt. Crowley outside the house.
Regardless, there are two issues here.
First, if she did deny saying anything about race outside the house, it would be a he said/she said issue that neither of us would have any way of know who was right – and it could easily be that BOTH believe they are right without either meaning to lie. Either way, it certainly doesn’t ‘prove’ that Crowley falsified his report as you claim it does.
Second, you provide zero way for me to verify your claims on this issue, zero references.
Furthermore, you fail to address any of the other issues in my post replying to the one you first addressed to me accusing me of ‘hurling’ accusations.

“Either way, it certainly doesn’t ‘prove’ that Crowley falsified his report as you claim it does.”
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I have absolutely seen Whalen with her lawyer saying she did not say anything of the sort to Crowley outside the house or during the 911 call. She just gave a news conference the other day. You can find it online in a goojle news search.
And I’m sorry, but putting untrue information in a police report puts the credibility of Crowley’s information in question.
If its’ a mistake, then we know Crowley is capable of making a mistake and putting it in an official police report as if it were true – not good. If it’s something he made up because it helped his cause to have a report of ’2 black men’ – even worse.
Neither of those options is very good, but it is what we are left with.
AND – it is after all, JUST Crowley’s report that left us with the impression something had been called in about ’2 black men’ breaking in. There was NOTHING about this in the 911 call. It is Crowley’s report that contained this information, nothing else.
Again, I cannot judge Crowley on this because WE don’t know all the facts, but there is more here than what initially met the eye – after some careful examination – and since the 911 tapes were made public and Whalen has presented her statement.

“Gates has made a career out of studying race history, not of being a racist.”
Yeah, the racism thing is more of a hobby.

I wonder ir Obama really chose his own beer or if he let Pelosi and Reid decide for him.
The man has no backbone and voters should have figured that out by his record in the Senate. Voting present 129 times and along party lines 98% of the time.
Which explains why he can’t pass health care, even though Dems control the House, Senate, WH–he has no control over his own party. He can’t lead.
Being president must be a blast for him. Travel, spend our money, make speeches and let others do the hard stuff.
He gets the glory when things go well and if it doesn’t just blame Bush, Repubs, or the media.
He’s spineless.

The President should invite his former mentor, the Rev Wright, and Mr. Gates over for an official White House portrait.
Three peas in a pod.

Well, Obama and Gates were able to get away with no apologies. We have all learned we can completely disregard any requests from our police officers. We have also learned that throwing out a racial phrase gets you a beer with the president. I wonder one thing, If I, an educated white man, treated Crowley the same, would I have ended up downtown? Answer, you bet, but I was brought up to respect the law. Every encounter I have had I treat them with respect and honesty and they return the favor. Gates treated Crowley like a child and got what he deserved. Obama, next time you open your mouth on a subject, do a little research first!

Let’s see, if I had to break into my house, leave the door open and make a call on my cell phone and the police show up, my conversation on the phone can wait. If a cop asks you for ID, give it up! If he asks you to step outside, don’t answer “with your mama” or “why because I am a black man in America”? Don’t continuously scream at a man that has been summoned to your home in order to protect it. How about this, “Officer, I am a professor at this university and this is my home. Here is my ID, please confirm with your dispatcher. Thank you for your vigilance and keep up the good work”.

After making his remark [disapproved by people 41% against 29% according to a poll by the Pew Research Center] over the Gates-Crowley incident during a news conference where an important issue – health care plan – was on the table, President Obama said later that he could’ve calibrated those words differently and stated fairly that both Crowley and Gates had “overreacted” during their confrontation. As a President, this is an impressive action and beyond that, the two men were invited to the White House to have a drink: an effective and simple way to put all together, to discuss and understand one another on the issue and move forward in a constructive manner.
This action solved more than just one case. Any sensible person to human values who watched the meeting and listened from both men on TVs or read in News papers would turn this matter into what Crowley called “frank discussion, cordial and productive discussion,” in which they agreed to move forward rather than dwell on past event; and what Gates stated in his web site: “Let me say that I thank God that (I) live in a country in which police officers put their lives at risk to protect us every day, and, more than ever, I’ve come to understand and appreciate their daily sacrifices on our behalf”.
I am deeply touched by the outcome of this event and wish that the apology from Massachusetts police officer Justin Barrett after referring to Gates in a mass e-mail as a “banana-eating jungle monkey” could be heard and accepted. We all learned lessons from this teaching moment. America is continuing to grow up with a new spirit to fight credibly against irregularities and injustice in services regardless of race and culture. I believe that this requires a contribution of all to maintain a strong and powerful America on all fronts.

And Atlas . …
“I just listened to her entire press release. In it she does NOT say anything specific regarding her statements to Crowley outside Gates house.”
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And Atlas, your whole argument falls to pieces because Whalen DID make a statement on what she said to Crowley. She specifically says . ..
“The ONLY words I exchanged were ‘I was the 911 caller’ and he pointed to me and said ‘Stay right there’. NOTHING MORE THAN THAT.”
Crowley then puts in his report that Whalen told him there were ’2 black men with backpacks”.
If Whalen said nothing about ’2 black men’, we are left to wonder why did Crowley put this in his report since it isn’t true?
Putting untrue information in a police report puts the credibility of Crowley’s information in question.
If it’s a mistake, then we know Crowley is capable of making a mistake and putting it in an official police report as if it were true – not good. If it’s something he made up because it helped his cause to have a report of ’2 black men’ – even worse.
Neither of those options reflects that well on Crowley’s reliability.
Again, not to condemn Crowley – all the information is not in. But there are questions that arise in this situation and it’s not as clear cut as some would like to portray it.

–Again, not to condemn Crowley – all the information is not in. But there are questions that arise in this situation and it’s not as clear cut as some would like to portray it.–
Luckily, nobody took the easy way out and said cops acted stupidly or screamed racism. Cooler, more thoughtful heads prevailed.

Posted by: danita | Jul 31, 2009 1:18:26 PM
Like I said, we’re lucky that nobody was accused of acting stupidly.

“Accusing the police of acting stupidly might have been stupid, but not as stupid as the police acting stupidly in the first place.
Facts are still emerging. The only verdict that is in is the rush to judgement on the part of those who are condemning Gates and exonerating Crowley.”
Ah yes, now we have degrees of stupidity…Now if the facts are still emerging how can you be sure the cops did/did not act stupidly? How about the rush to exonerate Gates and condemn Crowley?
Your words:
“And I’m sorry, but putting untrue information in a police report puts the credibility of Crowley’s information in question.”
Emerging facts indeed.

Barrett and the 911 Call (“suitcases,” “maybe they live there”) prove “acted stupicly” was the correct choice of words.
Obama: correct yet again.

First, I’m with DrJohn — why wasn’t Whelan invited for the beer fest? If ANYONE deserved it, she most certainly did and more than anyone else. Is Obama into boy’s only clubs or something?
And why did Biden wind up involved unannounced and last minute, and in that particular seating order, I wonder? Hum…. (someone else actually had to point that one out to me, I was blind so to speak, and it hadn’t even occurred to me!)
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Danita writes: And Atlas, your whole argument falls to pieces because Whalen DID make a statement on what she said to Crowley. She specifically says . ..
“The ONLY words I exchanged were ‘I was the 911 caller’ and he pointed to me and said ‘Stay right there’. NOTHING MORE THAN THAT.”
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Yet again, Danita, you fail to provide any reference to this statement or any way for me or others to verify your claim.
And, no, even if she DID say exactly what you claim, my argument stands quite solid.
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Danita writes: Crowley then puts in his report that Whalen told him there were ’2 black men with backpacks”.
If Whalen said nothing about ’2 black men’, we are left to wonder why did Crowley put this in his report since it isn’t true?
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Atlas replies: IF. That’s a big IF Danita. The fact is that neither you, I, nor anyone else but the two of them know exactly what was said right then. Yet you jump to ‘why did he put it in his report since it isn’t true?’
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Danita writes: Putting untrue information in a police report puts the credibility of Crowley’s information in question.
If it’s a mistake, then we know Crowley is capable of making a mistake and putting it in an official police report as if it were true – not good. If it’s something he made up because it helped his cause to have a report of ’2 black men’ – even worse.
Neither of those options reflects that well on Crowley’s reliability.
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Atlas replies: Now you regurgitate your original argument, which is logically flawed and based on speculation. Not to mention that unless Crowley is God, he, like all the rest of us, is bound to make mistakes sometimes. I’m NOT saying that he has in this instance — I AM saying that an occasional honest mistake doesn’t ‘call into question his credibility’ or anything else – especially when its in trying to recall, probably hours later, the exact words/occurrences of what can be very stress situations. I’m saying he’s clearly human – at least I’d hope he is!
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Danita writes: Again, not to condemn Crowley – all the information is not in. But there are questions that arise in this situation and it’s not as clear cut as some would like to portray it.
Posted by: danita | Jul 31, 2009 12:51:06 PM
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Ah, but therein lies the rub. You ARE condemning Crowley, repeatedly. You keep claiming that he falsified a police report when you have ZERO basis to do so. IF Ms. Whelan has actually said that Crowleys police report is incorrect with regards to their initial conversation outside the house, then its a perfectly legitimate point to mention. I’ll say it yet again, however — even then we all have no way of knowing if her recollection of that moment is accurate, or if his is. NO basis for slandering or judging either of them on that issue alone. Yet you keep makin’ out like it does, AND claiming that my argument falls apart on that basis, all without even bothering to give us information regarding where we can find the quote you claim Ms. Whelan has made. How about you at least provide that? By the way, did you ever bother checking on some of those egregious Gates historical comments that we’ve mentioned?
p.s., Thanks Notanobamafan. (Posted by: notanobamafan | Jul 31, 2009 9:21:27 AM) I haven’t read the back posts, what’s Ryan C or jhw said that’s particularly bugged you that you’d like me to address? They’re all three into the blind Obama defense without much supporting fact type of posts.

“I’m sorry it’s uncomfortable for you to have to face information that seems to contradict the rush to judgement to condemn Gates and exonerate Crowley.
If Marcia Whelan’s statement is true, then there is false information in Crowley’s report. And it involves the racial profiling of ’2 black men’.
Plain and simple.”
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And I will stick by the following as true . . .
“And I’m sorry, but putting untrue information in a police report puts the credibility of Crowley’s information in question.”
If Whelan’s statement is true (and it is new information within the past fews days) then so is what I posted.
Again, sorry this is so difficult for you to understand.
Whelan’s statement calls into question the validity of Crowley’s report.
All the information is not in – the rush to judgement to condemn Gates is appalling, and it is viscously and repeatedly presented here as confirmed truth. It is not.

For anyone interested, the police radio interchanges with dispatch etc have been released a day or two ago now also. You can find them on examiner, under the title:
More Henry Louis Gates tapes released this time police radio calls; listen to audio clip here
Its hard for me to tell, but does sound as if there are communication difficulties, at least one request for repeat, that sort of thing. I’m not good at deciphering exactly who’s saying what on police band that way, however, but suspect that was the communication problems Crowley noted that prompted him to tell Gates that if he wanted to talk more they needed to do so outside the house.
Anyhow, I haven’t seen links to that audio anywhere else, (tho I haven’t been online much today) so I thought I’d let you all know that its available if you’re interested.

Gates wrote the information on his Yale application 40 years ago, at the height of the divisive 60s political turmoil in the United States. Martin Luther King had been assassinated, there were protests in the street over civil rights and the vietnam war. Police were attacking and beating protesters in Chicago at the democratic convention.
It was a very heated and divisive political time in the U.S. Racism was common in the south.
Gates was still a TEENAGER when he wrote on his Yale application. A teenager! Good grief you’ve seen some of the immature comments on this blog and supposedly they come from so-called adults.

“Regardless, that doesn’t begin to excuse the comments that he’s made over the years SINCE then — and its pretty notable that you chose to totally ignore that far more important aspect of the entire thing.”
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I found the Yale application and posted my comments already regarding something done when he was a teenager at a time of very divisive political turmoil in the United States and overt racism still very evident in the south (and elsewhere).
Please direct me to these more recent comments you find racist.

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This Whitehouse Beer bash caused more damage to race relations.
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If you ignore color but instead, as MLK would suggest, look at content of character, it’s clear that Gates behaved like he was above the law and had no obligation to respect law enforcement. The outcome of this beer bash proves, not only that Gates still thinks he has a right to disrespect law enforcement, but that Obama did not take the position of respecting law enforcement.
:

You hurl accusations at a man for being a racist and a race baiter . . . and THAT is the best you can come up with.
Seriously, you should be ashamed.
Posted by: danita | Aug 1, 2009 12:05:52 AM
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Get real Danita. You asked me to direct you towards some examples. Off the top of my head I gave you a few bits of information to get you started. I think you know that full well and prefer to play games and try to make it look like something its clearly not. Surely you’re able to read back thru this thread, and I gave you enough to find the legal case fairly easily. You can work from there yourself if you choose to.

And Atlas . …
You gave Gates EVERY benefit of the doubt but you label him a racist and a race baiter . .. and can’t even post any decent examples showing that.
I think that speaks for itself.
Posted by: danita | Aug 1, 2009 5:11:57 PM
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Did you bother to read back thru the thread for the other reference? Did you bother to look up the vulgar rap lyric court case? Why not??
I bet you haven’t. You’d rather sit here trying to play gotcha and ‘hurling accusations’ (h/t Danita) at me instead, because you don’t care about the issue, only about trying to make it seem as if you were right regardless of what the actual facts might be.
I said I’d run across examples of his statements made on various years – I never said that I was willing, a week or two after I’d originally run across the stuff, to go back and research and dig them all back out of the internet for your benefit. You are perfectly capable of doing a little of the legwork yourself. I’ve pointed you in the right direction with a few examples and given you plenty to start with. Go to it. This is particularly true in this case, where the abc blog won’t even let posts with the titles or quotes of Gates actual words thru its filters. To even get you to individual examples, I have to try posting multiple times to figure out how to word things clearly enough that you can find it but that it doesn’t trip the blog filters. I don’t have the time or inclination to play that game when you aren’t even honestly looking at the issue yourself.

And Atlas . ..
“I said I’d run across examples of his statements made on various years – I never said that I was willing, a week or two after I’d originally run across the stuff, to go back and research and dig them all back out of the internet”
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Fine. Too much work to actually get any proof, even when challenged – it’s a lot easier just to brand the man with accusations he made ‘blatantly racist or race baiting’ statements.
Fair enough .. ..

“Pathetic, you won’t even go to those two, but you’ll harp on me to provide you with more.”
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I had already found and checked out those two. Please outline to me what about those items makes them racist or race baiting or rants.
And anything else you have that is more convincing?

“Pathetic, you won’t even go to those two, but you’ll harp on me to provide you with more.”
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I had already found and checked out those two. Please outline to me what about those items makes them racist or race baiting or rants.
And anything else you have that is more convincing?
Posted by: danita | Aug 2, 2009 4:13:31 PM
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Outline to you what makes them racist or race-baiting? Its VERY SIMPLE. Look in a dictionary under Racism. Then Race-baiting. You’d be hard put to find anything that matches the definitions better.