White House: Obama Did Not Call Cambridge Police Officer Stupid

Yes, he did. Obama said the Cambridge police acted “stupidly”. Why didn´t Obmana say the guy in the house acted “stupidly”, which he did.

Only in Obama’s world can he actually say something, have it captured on national television, and then reported by every major news outlet in the country …. then the next day, his spokesperson can go out and say he never said what he said. Unbelievable! Obama really does believe he is some higher power doesn’t he …. that he can just say anything and everyone will just believe him, and forget what they know as the truth just because he told them to. Who here is really fooled by this?

“there is a long history in this country of African-Americans and Latinos being stopped by law enforcement disproportionately, and that’s just a fact.” – BHO
Is there a disproportionate relationship between the commission of crimes by these minorities and the “stops” to which the Prez refers? Just how large is the correlation between crace and crime? What are the facts??

Once again, Gibbs’ get handed the shovel and is told to start digging; on behalf of Obama.
But enough, please; already; with the insulting of every listener who heard Obama demean/degrade the Cambridge Police Department; not for their arresting Gates because they doubted it was his house; but because once he was safely inside; Gates – rather than thanking these policemen for responding promptly, so as to protect his home – chose instead to attack them with abusive, screaming, racial insults.
The ‘race issue’; clearly the log in the eye of the Professor who makes his living; viewing the world from a skewed racial prism. . .and one that serves him well.

Yeah Bill, let’s judge people by how they look. Is that the new talking point.
The cop valiantly tried to save Reggie Lewis’ life many years ago – probably because he is stupid – right?

This debate is what’s stupid. And Obama would get slammed for ducking the question if he refused to legitimately comment.

Spin-maker, spin-maker,
sing me a spin,
tell me a tale,
say it aint so.

Obama flat out opened up his mouth when he should have kept it shut. He clearly stated that he didn’t know all the facts, therefore he shouldn’t have said a word. It was wrong for him to do so and the fact that he brought racism into the case, as if Gates wasn’t doing enough of that, is also wrong. According to abcnews, Boston Herald, NECN, and couple other sources I’ve seen, Gates was uncooperative when the police arrived at his house after the Cambridge Police received a burglary call from one of Gates’s neighbors. It was dark out and two men were trying to break a door down! The neighbor did the right thing for those of you saying, “the neighbors should know what Gates looks like” The neighborhood has had very recent break ins these past few months and it was dark out. Back to Gates, he kept up his yelling and arrogance as to why the cops were questioning him (mind you, Officer Crowley was just doing his job), and finally presented his license. I would not doubt at all if Gates started almost immediately calling Officer Crowley a racist when he showed up at his house to investigate the call. Now we have this arrogant Harvard Professor demanding that Officer Crowley “beg for his forgiveness”! Are you serious!? I applaud Officer Crowley for refusing and stand by him. Note to Gates: “stop playing the race card”. If he just cooperated with the police, their never would have been a problem. But no, he had to yell and call him racist. I’d arrests him too if I were a cop!

From the Boston Globe:
The police report said Gates was arrested after he yelled at the investigating officer repeatedly inside the residence then followed the officer outside, where Gates continued to upbraid him. “It was at that time that I informed Professor Gates that he was under arrest,” the officer wrote in the report.
==============
If any of us (regardless of color) did this, would we not get arrested as well?

There are two main people that have behaved stupidly.
Obama and Gates.
If Obama is worried about anyone destroying his presidency he should go look in the mirror.

Last night 40.4 million Americans heard the “acted stupidly” comment on TV. Now the police record of the event is online, available at DRUDGE and many other places. The American people can judge for themselves what the truth is. To me, the event and ensuing comment by POTUS suggest the race card was played in a blatant way that is clear.
Maybe the time has come for our “conversation on race in America” to happen. And maybe we non-blacks may now come to the table sans our “white guilt.” That would be refreshing.

I was raised that telling someone they’re acting stupid is different from telling them they’re stupid. And that the difference is important.
For instance, posters on here often make posts that are really stupid. Doesn’t mean the poster is stupid, but rather that they made a stupid post.
Police (and politicians) are just as capable of doing stupid things as anybody else.

Obama does not need to clarify his comments. Crowley really is stupid and insensitive. Since he already knew Gates was owner to the house, why still arrest him ? Gates probably did insult Crowley out of agitation at the situation. But if Crowley is sensitive and smart, he would have let the matter rest as there was no crime and Gates was not dangerously out of control. But then Crowley probably felt insulted and agitated to the point that he has to do something to the guy just because he can.

Bill from NC, his picture may look dumb, but if you read the police report–in his words–you’ll see the officer is far from dumb. Dig a little bit below the surface and see what you find.
:)

More from the Boston Globe:
He was booked for disorderly conduct after “exhibiting loud and tumultuous behavior,” according to a police report. Gates accused the investigating officer of being a racist and told him he had “no idea who he was messing with,” the report said.
Gates told the officer that he was being targeted because “I’m a black man in America.”
====================
Given the arrogance of Gates, it’s easy to see how he and The One are friends.

Gates saw an opportunity and he took it.
Obama did the same thing.
But the president of all the people would have been wise to stay out of it.
He stepped in it big time.
And people say Biden is impulsive.

===I’m pretty sure Obama has called many of his acts stupid in his autobiography, ===
You mean you haven’t read it?

Oh my gosh! Now he is hiding behind Gibbs? We all heard what he said, and no he didn’t say the officer was stupid, he said they behaved stupidly (which in my opinion shows the teleprompter didn’t tell him to use a better word). As to the professor, if you have made it to be that revered in acadamia, you should know that cooperation always has a better outcome than confrontation.

I haven’t looked at any sites on this but where does it say he was being accused of saying the officer was stupid?
It seems the WH is trying to make up something that was not said. I think police officials are reacting to ‘exactly’ what Obama said: that they acted stupidly.
And the lefties are jumping on board with their “oh please” reactions.

What’s funny is that the officer responded to PROTECT the professor’s home and was yelled at and called a racist for it. He responds to a call and simply asks for the man’s ID.
And, why in the world, does he feel the need to bring “Your Mama” jokes into this? Harvard should be proud…

“It was dark out and two men were trying to break a door down!”
It was 12:30 in the afternoon. Try again.
And no one is calling the police stupid for investigating the call. Even Obama said they were perfectly right to do that. They are saying, rightly, that once it was established via ID that the man was in his own home and that there was NO burglary, arresting him for yelling was stupid (as evidenced by the fact that THE CHARGES WERE DROPPED.)

Jake: “White House: Obama Did Not Call Cambridge Police Officer Stupid”
Gates: Your mama did not call them stupid”

Who you gonna believe–Gibbs or your lying eyes?

tjp612:”He was booked for disorderly conduct after “exhibiting loud and tumultuous behavior,” according to a police report. Gates accused the investigating officer of being a racist and told him he had “no idea who he was messing with,” the report said.
Gates told the officer that he was being targeted because “I’m a black man in America.”
====================
Given the arrogance of Gates, it’s easy to see how he and The One are friends.”
Just to get back on subject, do you support people being arrested and taken to jail for “exhibiting loud and tumultuous behavior” in their own homes? Is insulting a police office verbally now a crime that gets you arrested? And right wingers accuse Obama of fascism…

===Just to get back on subject===
Actually, the subject is whether Obama called the police stupid or not.

Oh my God! is this my country? is this the country I fought for in the first Gulf War? is this what I fought for? Is this what I lost my health and marriage for? –you people????

Yeah, okay. He didn’t say it; Michelle is a fashion icon; Obama hardly ever smokes anymore and has a fantastic, athletic physique, and he never heard the racial sermons given by Rev. Wright over the last 20 years nor does he believe them. None of this is about him, you know?
It’s bad when you have to send someone like Gibbs out there to “clarify” your remarks.

“…do you support people being arrested and taken to jail for “exhibiting loud and tumultuous behavior” in their own homes?…And right wingers accuse Obama of fascism…”
Isn’t it interesting? Republicans are all about “a man’s home is his castle”, etc., and are all exercised when the police overstep their bounds and intrude on that (Ruby Ridge, Waco…) but in this case, they somehow think it’s OK to arrest someone for simply yelling unpleasant things at a policeman in their own home.

“Isn’t it interesting? Republicans are all about “a man’s home is his castle”, etc., and are all exercised when the police overstep their bounds and intrude on that (Ruby Ridge, Waco…) but in this case, they somehow think it’s OK to arrest someone for simply yelling unpleasant things at a policeman in their own home.”
_____________________________________
But in this case, the guy was black and got uppity … still not allowed.

“Did Gate provide proof that he was the resident of that house? If not, police should arrest him until there was proof that he was the resident but not the intruder as the neighbour reported.”
Did you not read anything about this case? He was arrested AFTER showing both his Harvard ID (the house is on Harvard property) and his drivers license showing that that was his house. He hadn’t assaulted the officer. Even the police didn’t make any allegation that he was violent or had touched them. Only that he was “loud”. So what? It was his OWN HOME. The correct thing to do at that point is for the policeman to say “I’m sorry to have disturbed you in your home, Sir” and walked away.

“The Cambridge police acted STUPIDLY in arresting somebody when there was already proof that they were in their own home,” Obama said in his press conference on Wednesday. (my emphasis)
Kind of patronizing for the WH to try and claim he did not say what we all know he said.

“Acting stupidly” in a given situation and “being stupid” are too very different things, Jason.
Even brilliant people can sometimes act stupidly. Obama did not call this officer stupid. He said he acted stupidly in this situation.
And he did.

Let’s see how this could have turned out:
Police: “Sir, we’ve had a report of a break in at this address”, may I see some identification?
Gates: “Officer, of course, here you go…thanks for checking on my property”.
Police: Thank you Mr. Gates, are you ok, has your home been broken in to?”
Gates: No officer, I had lost my keys while on a trip and had to force the door open to get in.” “There was no break in”.
Police: “OK, Mr. Gates, thanks and have a nice day”.

“Why didn’t Gates apologize for causing the police officer to respond to a burglary that wasn’t?”
What? Apologize for letting himself into his own home? Why?
And this is actually a point Obama got wrong about the case. Gates didn’t “forget his keys” and “break in” to his home. He used his key on the front door but it was jammed or latched and wouldn’t open. So he went around to the back door and let himself in with the key. I can’t count the number of times similar situations have happened to me and my family and neighbors, whether it’s stuck doors or forgotten keys. If the police acted like this in all those situations, we’d all have mug shots.

“Did you not read anything about this case? He was arrested AFTER showing both his Harvard ID (the house is on Harvard property) and his drivers license showing that that was his house. He hadn’t assaulted the officer. Even the police didn’t make any allegation that he was violent or had touched them. Only that he was “loud”. So what? It was his OWN HOME.”
______________________________________
The other thing Lisa is that for this lot on here, the President does nothing right – so automatically this man has 2 stikes against him.
It’s called prejudice.

And, yes, I realize I typed “too” instead of “two” in a previous comment… before the typo police get on me.

The Cambridge police should put a DNR on Gates’ address. “Do Not Respond”

jhw,
“Just to get back on subject, do you support people being arrested and taken to jail for “exhibiting loud and tumultuous behavior” in their own homes? Is insulting a police office verbally now a crime that gets you arrested? And right wingers accuse Obama of fascism…”
I rarely respond to anything you post, but since you addressed me directly, I will.
First, I wasn’t there, I didn’t hear what was said (outside of what was indicated in the police report). I cannot comment as to who treated whom wrongly (my impression is both parties took things a bit too far). (BTW – this is response your Messiah should have provided last night)
That being said, anytime you pursue and mouth off to police – no matter who you are – you are taking a chance that you could be arrested. Keep in mind that according to the police report Gates followed the officer out of his home and continued to yell at him. As stated, it appears both took things too far.
Nice touch with the “right wing” moniker…very original. And yes, Obama has fascist tendencies for sure.

Jason, saying mean things to the police while on your OWN FRONT PORCH and while they are ON YOUR FRONT PORCH is not “disturbing the peace”. The police created more of a scene by converging on the house than Gates did. And I’m sure dragging him out in handcuffs created quite the kerfuffle. Once the police left, scene would be over. So the smart thing to do would be to leave. But they didn’t act smart, they acted stupidly. As the President said.

danita says: “The other thing Lisa is that for this lot on here, the President does nothing right – so automatically this man has 2 stikes against him.
It’s called prejudice. ”
I am sick and tired of being called racist and prejudiced just because I disagree with our president. It is a pathetic and childish thing to say and you should be ashamed.

“And exactly how are you the arbiter of how a Cambridge police officer should behave in the course of his duties being obstructed?”
Arresting a man for yelling at you in his own home is not the way a police officer should behave. If they thought they had a real case against him, they wouldn’t have dropped the charges. Instead, they dropped the ball in this case.

“He wasn’t arrested for being a criminal, he was arrested for being a pompous elitist jerk.”
Wow. I don’t think you even realize what you wrote there. Is this still America?

Lisa says: “The police created more of a scene by converging on the house than Gates did.”
If your house was being broken into, would you prefer one cop show up or would you like as many as are able to come and protect your family and your house?

“He wasn’t arrested for being a criminal, he was arrested for being a pompous elitist jerk.”
Wow. I don’t think you even realize what you wrote there. Is this still America?
____________________________________
The Republican right turn out to be police state lovers who make up their own laws . .. elist jerk – we’ll put you in jail. That’ll teach you.

My son was pulled over for being white in a black Chicago neighborhood. The police said the only reason white kids drive through that neighborhood was to buy drugs.
My son explained they were going downtown for a show and that his girlfriend needed to use a bathroom and he pulled off the highway. He is not that familiar with driving to Chicago as they usually take the train.
The police took everything out of his car, they kept asking him if he or we had a FOID card. He politely and repeatedly said no neither he nor we had a FOID card. (That has since changed.)
They lined his girlfriend and another couple up against a wall and kept them away from my son. They put my son on the hood of his car and handcuffed him.
They pretended to take a gun out of his glove compartment and asked again about the FOID card. He said the gun was not his. He told us later it looked like the guns on the officers belts.
My son remained calm (but scared) and kept telling the truth as more police cars were arriving. The police said that his kid would sure like my son’s iPod. My son said nothing. They kicked his soccer ball around while he sat in the back of a squad car. My son said nothing unless he was asked a question.
My son had mapquest directions to the show in his car and that, they said was the only reason they were letting him go.
They then called me (even though my son is over 18 years old) and threatened to take him to the Cook County jail but then said they were releasing him.
My guess is that they were trying to scare him (and us) just in case he had gone there to buy drugs.
What would have happened if my son had yelled at the police and acted indignant? He would have been taken to jail quicker than you can say ACLU.
My 19 year old son knew instinctively that when you are under suspicion of a crime, especially if you are innocent, you do what you are told, you cooperate and answer the police’s questions politely and respectfully. Why didn’t Gates know this?

“Arresting a man for yelling at you in his own home is not the way a police officer should behave. If they thought they had a real case against him, they wouldn’t have dropped the charges. Instead, they dropped the ball in this case.” – Lisa
Sorry Lisa, we have laws in this country that are designed to make the work of the police as efficient and productive as possible. When someone exhibits what could subjectively be regarded as aggressive behavior to an officer in the course of his work, that aggressor is liable to be detained. That is what happened here. Gates trivial little visit to the police station was his own fault.
What is truly sad is that rather than accept responsibility for his own bad behavior, he has elevated his trivial case to a national civil rights incident…in some people’s minds.
All of this while the country teeters on the brink of a depression, while Gates’s buddy Obama runs two wars that cost the lives of American men and women on a regular basis, and while people in the next town over from the elitist, self-entitled Gates are being raped and murdered in their own homes.
But his story is vastly more important than that of normal people like myself and the men and women dying in Irag and Afghanistan…well to other elites it may be.

So is Obama guilty of stupidity for getting involved in this? Gibbs says that someone can do something stupid without being stupid.

Too funny.
Now Gibbs is having to do damage control for Obama and Biden.

Mom jeans, missed the August deadline, then insults doctors and police in his snoozer press conference…ouch!!

oh really. thanks for the clarification.

President Obama will go down in history as “the great divider”.
He couldn’t give a coherent answer on health care but he could say an officer “acted stupidly” without having all the facts.
Obama DID sit in Reverend Wright’s church for TWENTY years listening to how awful white people are and how guilty America is…
It is clear Gates “acted stupidly” and was trying to get press but Obama defends him based on his RACE.

Honest mistake by the police officer and rightfully concerned citizen. In fact I wouldn’t even call it a mistake. It’s proper procedure, and Gates should have just cooperated like any citizen should have in that situation.
Why Gates and his idiot friend decided to escalate the situation is laughable at best. I can only describe it as a desperate attempt at drama.
Gates got what he asked for, and Obama is an idiot for commenting on something he knows nothing about. He should keep his personal feelings out of it and stop with the assumptions.

The arresting officer is an Obama supporter, has a history of being race friendly, and is even the lead officer for training officers how to NOT profile racially. In addition, there was an African American officer at the scene. Why is anyone playing the race card here? There is obviously no evidence of any action taken for any racial reason. Why is the race card played? Because that’s all this President has left when he runs out of ideas! It’s his defense mechanism. And it was on full display last night …. and boy, does he have egg on his face now that more facts are coming out!

So the only moment of coherence last night was not on health care but when the President of the United States, admittedly not knowing the facts, says that the Cambridge police acted “stupidly” and then today to make things even worse his is idiot spokesperson says the president wasn’t calling the police officer stupid. Really? Well just who was the president referring to because you know I could have sworn I heard the president say the police acted stupidly. Was I imagining that? Please explain. I’d love to hear this. Our Dear Leader is showing himself to be the great divider.

Skittles . ..
I read the report – and your comments don’t address what I noticed.
The home owner is yelling at the police officer inside his house, so the police officer invites him to come outside to continue the exchange – and then arrests him for yelling outside.
Sounds stupid to me.

Sounds stupid to me.
Posted by: danita | Jul 23, 2009 4:43:28 PM
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
No, it sounds smart. There was a crowd gathering outside and based on Mr. Gates’ aggressive behavior and unfounded accusations, it was probably a good idea to have as many witnesses to the exchange as possible

Come on big media–Isn’t it time to look into the arresting officer’s unpaid tax issues on state computers, and to question his real name. You’ve got the Joe the Plumber scenario to go on. Get with it.

Excerpt from ABC News:
The president said he understands the sergeant who arrested Gates is an “outstanding police officer.” But he added that with all that’s going on in the country with health care and the economy and the wars abroad, “it doesn’t make sense to arrest a guy in his own home if he’s not causing a serious disturbance.”
===========================
So maybe all of us should just stop what we are doing in our jobs and our lives and wait for The One to nationalize healthcare, spread the wealth around, and bring peace on Earth (?)

To me this story is not about race. However, if the report and eyewitness accounts are accurate it IS about an elitist Professor showing a tremendous lack of respect towards a police officer and the law. Oh but he must be too smart and important to have to worry about how he talks to people – let alone Police Officers! It’s amazing anyone wants to be a police officer given the amount of disrespect they endure. How dare they try to protect the public and respond to a break-in call?! And on top of it all our President basically calls the police stupid and his press sec says he does NOT regret those words. Serve and Protect us but please don’t offend anyone for asking them to show ID after breaking into their house.

===Yeah, it would have been nice if Obama had thrown in the part about Gates escalating the situation last night===
It would have been really nice if Obama had said he couldn’t comment on it. Period.

24.7 million. That’s how many people watched the big O last night. I suspect we will be seeing a lot less of him from here on out.

“Serve and Protect us but please don’t offend anyone for asking them to show ID after breaking into their house.”
He didn’t “break into” his house. He tried the front door, which was jammed, and then let himself in the back door with his key.
And he was arrested AFTER showing his ID to prove he lived in the house. At that point, the smart, professional thing for the officer to do would be to say “Sorry for disturbing you in your house” and leave. It doesn’t matter if Prof. Gates was yelling. All the officer had to do was leave. There was no need to act stupidly and arrest him on a trumped up (subsequently dropped) “charge” of “disorderly conduct”.

“Law enforcement sources tell ABC News that the conversation between Gates and Crowley was transmitted over Crowley’s open police radio and Gates can be heard yelling.”
Interesting. I would love to hear that tape.

This Smart And Very Important Professor,
after telling every body who he is, and
screems racist, and sue the police department, and after all that, if he looks in the mirror, he will be still black, and he is just not comfortable with his own skin color and that is what is showing in all this.
I think the first time Obama was wrong to even comment on this matter.

Again, if I was the Cambridge PD, I would never respond to another call at the address as long as Gates lives there. He would be on his own because I wouldn’t want him to think responding to a call was racial profiling.”
That’s because you are a truly pathetic human being who has no sense of duty.
Cops can be wrong but they do their job to best of their abilities.

“And Ryan, of that 16M how many do you really think were undecided?”
Someone else here reported the total figure to be over 24M.
I happen to think its important for the President to answer questions and share that with a large audience.
You prefer marking a backwards B on your cheek.

For Obama to believe his friend was treated unfairly is completely understandable. Mr. Gates is surely a fine and decent man in his day to day life.
Unfortunately Obama’s choice to comment publicly on this situation, after admitting to not having all the facts, was blatantly irresponsible. One would think that his confusion at the controversy of his statement would spur him to examine the facts more closely, but no, he chooses to stand by his incorrect assumptions that the police officers acted inappropriately.
It’s fortunate that the Sergent at the center of this issue had already established himself as an upstanding member of the Cambridge police force during his years of service. A newer officer’s career could have been quite negatively impacted by the allegations raised by Mr. Gates and our President.

Does Gates OWN the residence? If not, why is he not charged with malicious mischief or vandalism? When I rented I was not allowed to break in doors! When I was at University I was not allowed to damage university property. Ok, if the university, or the owner, discussed the incident with Gates and decided not to press charges that is fine. The other charges against Gates should stand. Maybe “failure to identify”, “hampering an investigation”, and “assault on a peace officer”. He should be charged. What kind of professor is this guy! No spare key? Yelling at the police? Trying to break in doors? Great example to students everywhere. Obama has some odd friends. Wonder how Rev.Wright feels about this situation!

tjp …..
The President gave intelligent and incredibly detailed answers last night. I’m totally impressed by the man’s intellect and his commitment to knowing as much as he can about these issues. The last guy would have grunted and cracked jokes – or more accurately – not have given any news conference at all, just photo ops and issued statements.

I find it refreshing to see a president that states his truth exactly as he sees it. He is obviously unconcerned about his next term or partisanship and is just going to tell it like it is. The officers were stupid. Plain and simple. The charges weren’t dropped for nothing.

The fact that Obama would comment in such an inappropriate manner regarding the Gates situation without knowing the facts and admitting as much, should should not surprise any of us. The man has been pushing health care legislation he hasn’t read and has no idea what it contains. He’s a rookie. He’s out of his league. He’s in over his head. He keeps acting stupidly. Real leaders don’t act that way.

“The President gave intelligent and incredibly detailed answers last night. I’m totally impressed by the man’s intellect and his commitment to knowing as much as he can about these issues.”
Perhaps you were watching “Dave” or “The American President”.
Obama (the one with “the gift”) gave rambling, filibustering answers. Physicians make money by performing a tonsillectomy instead of prescribing throat lozenges or an antibiotic? You do realize that primary care physicians do not perform surgery, right?
“Detailed”? “Intelligent”? You forgot to include “/sarc.” in your post. The One flopped last night and is gaining momentum as he tumbles down Mt. Hopenchange.
“The last guy would have grunted and cracked jokes – or more accurately – not have given any news conference at all, just photo ops and issued statements.”
And that’s fine. The American people prefer a president that spends time working rather than the current WH resident who spends more time on TV distributing propaganda than Hugo Chavez. I am now convinced that you are either almost completely detached from reality or you are playing a big joke on all of us!

“And that’s fine. The American people prefer a president that spends time working rather than the current WH resident”
George Bush took more vacation days than any President before him.
Including the month of Aug his first term.

Ryan,
It would serve Obama well to take a vacation. He obviously needs one.

“Prosecutors dropped a disorderly conduct charge Tuesday against prominent black scholar Henry Louis Gates Jr.
The city of Cambridge called the arrest “regrettable and unfortunate”.
_____________________________________
Looks like they agree with the President, although they fall just short of calling it ‘stupid’.
YES, like I said, they stop just short . . .

I am an Obama supporter, however last night he made a mistake politically and ethically by stepping into the Gates issue. Politically it took the focus off of his strong performance in the news conference and his health insurance reform plan. Ethically, he stated that he doesn’t know everything that happened in the exchange between Gates and the officer,thus he should not have passed judgment on the issue. While Gates is innocent until proven guilty, so isn’t the officer
The more I read of the case the more I am convinced that this was not the case of a white officer harassing or profiling a black person, but perhaps an arrogant man (and yes they come in all races, religions and nationalities) who let his temper get the best of him, and an officer who reacted. Whether that reaction was correct or not I will leave for those in law enforcement to weigh in on.
Let’s face it, if Gates wasn’t powerful and influential he would have an upcoming court date,and that would be the case whatever his race, nationality or religious background. It is about money, power and influence, not race.

Wow . .. Bush went to his ranch 77 times during his presidency (average of about 8 times a year) and spent an average of over 6 days there for each visit.
Imagine if President Obama had already been back to Chicago 4 times for a total of 24 days using the government jet and so on . .. .
I wonder what the Obamahaters here would have to say?
I remember the outcry when he took his kids out for ice cream.

paul . ..
They didn’t call the man’s actions ‘regrettable’ and ‘unfortunate’; they called the ARREST ‘regrettable’ and ‘unfortunate’.
The man is yelling in his house, the police officer invites him to step outside to continue the exchange; the man steps outside and continues to yell – and the cop arrests him for yelling outside.
He’s a middle-aged man who uses a cane to walk, and he’s in his own home.
Of course the police ‘regret’ it.

BULLY pulpit is right. Bullying. That’s all you got when you have no comprehension of the facts….scratch that….when you DON’T CARE what the facts are. He did an excellent job of proving that last night. The horrible press conference followed by his statement on the Cambridge police officer “acting stupdily” while acknowleding he didn’t know the facts is precisely why the deadline on health care reform got scrapped. He’s incompetent on nearly all levels. Look for polling numbers to dive even further.

Mr. Obama and Mr. Gates want their office accorded respect. They should respect the office of others, like the Cambridge police officer. Both of them way out of line with their remarks to and about Sgt Crowley. Mr. Obama has apologized to half the planet for things he did not do, maybe he could apologize to this fine man for what he said.

Let’s see here…Obama waits over a week to say anything about what was going on in the Iran elections because he wouldn’t want anyone to think “we” were “meddling” in their affairs, yet has no problem weighing in with the conclusion the police acted “stupidly” on a local police matter while acknowledgling he doesn’t know all the facts. And he’s surprised at the attention his statements have caused? Because, afterall, there are 2 wars going on, the economy is tanking and we should all be worrying about that???? Hello, Mr. President that’s your job. How about I tell my boss I can’t meet with clients tomorrow because I have to worry about the wars and health care reform. Sheesh.

I’m unfamiliar with Harvard IDs but would be surprised if they listed a home address. So how exactly would showing a Harvard ID be proof that Gates was in his own home, particularly if it was a rental?

it would appear from Obama learned well from his “mentor” Wright! He was so quick to call the police stupid. The police who were simply responding to a 911 call and wanted to identify a suspicious individual (do you know any PROFESSORS who would break into their house instead of using a spare key, a key left with a neighbor, or calling the owner/landlord to let them in and then when confronted by the police launch into cursing and personal assault on the police officers’ “mama”?) What kind of professor is this? And why does Obama seem to have so many firebrand friends? I’m guess that, like Rev.Wright, Obama will be forced to back away from Gates also as facts are discovered!

I understand the remarks the President has made, I was raised in Cambridge, Mass, I understand the thinking of the Cambridge Police, I used to live outside of Harvard Square, as a teenager and young adult, I am also Black, This so call training that the Cambridge Police gets as to race relations leaves a lot to be desired coming from a Black prospective.
When a Police man can manhandle a Sr. citizen in his own home, what is there to to be guessing about.
Yes cooler heads should have taken command, where was the “Officer of the Day” he should have been called when things were getting out of hand. Who is this woman that called the Police in the first place, you mean she didnt know that Mr. Gates lived at this location. She was close enough to see him “so called breaking into “his” apartment. All these thing do not make sense and that is why Mr. Gates reacted like he did, and that’s what the President means that the Cambridge PD
“acted stupidly” a little common sense and courtesy would have gone a long way and would have defused a senseless confrontation.There is an old saying “Walk in my shoes before you judge me.”

The President blew it big time. He can’t condemn rogue nations who opress their people for he wants to be sensitive and yet will, without all the facts, condemn our bravest! How arrogant!

God bless our policemen and women. What a difficult, thankless, and dangerous job they have. I hope the best for this sergeant’s career and family though this horrible situation.

Obama assaults the character of the officer, then the department, then…? Who’s next Mr. President? Or can this be nuanced over the next week as being GWB’s fault? I’m shocked that Gibbs, Clinton, and other Obamapawns are still hanging in there with this guy. He’s good for a major gaffe every week and his cronies run the risk of tainting their own “brands.”

The only people taking offense to these comments are those who feel the need to whine about everything this president does, doesn’t, might or might not do. Give it a rest already.

President Obama speaks to the nations concerning changes, keeping to his campaign pledge. And Moses said to Pharoah, “Set my people free!” Please enjoy the comparison of two leaders in the world of their times and we all make mistakes that make us look foolish in the hind sight. Lucky for Moses he spoke to God in the burning bush before speaking out against Pharoah, and leading the people to the “promise land.”

He’s not getting himself out this deep doo doo. First rule when you’re in a hole, stop digging.

In my opinion, this was a planted question that the President wanted to answer because he has been getting so much flack lately from the black “community” for not doing more for them, e.g. reparations. If you leave out the statement about the Cambridge police “acting stupidly”, it was right in line with the media template, so it would have been accepted, even applauded as an insightful comment and showed that he really does care about the plight of black men in the USA. However, since he was speaking WT (without teleprompter) he overdid it a little. Also, they obviously had no idea the cop in question would turn out to be such sympathetic and telegenic person. In the larger scheme of events the entire affair does not add up to much, but it’s a self-inflicted injury the President didn’t need right now.
I would have hoped he had learned from this, yet it appears that he is now going to take on another republican, by name, over his health care program. When he does that, he elevates the republican to his own stature, a big mistake.
Someone once said: “Don’t wrestle with the pigs. You both get dirty and it angers the farmer.” Good advice for Mr. Obama.

See what happens when he does not have a script in front of him?

What is so hard to understand about A MAN WAS ARRESTED FOR BEING IN HIS OWN HOME! This police office is obviously a hothead that wanted to play tough guy. Yelling at a police officer in your home is not illegal, and the police officer should have controlled his temper.

If a police officer harassed me for being in my own home, I would yell too. Once again, yelling is not a crime and any kind professional should know to disregard these things. A man using a cane to walk is not a threat! This officer was obviously not being professional, and needs to be suspended–at least!

For all the talk about the professor not supplying an ID, this cop COULDN’T EVEN GIVE HIS NAME AND BADGE NUMBER! This professor pays the taxes that pay this police officers salary–the officer needs to learn his place real quick.

Fact: Report of someone breaking into a house. Fact: Police officers ordered the person to exit the house. Fact: Person in the house refuse to exit the house at first and when he did was yelling at the police claiming racial harassment. Fact: The police officers were there to protect this man and his property. Had this man thanked the officers for doing their job there would be no story.

I am a 56 year old BLACK WOMAN who have had two encounters with the police — one leading to an arrest just so that the police can teach his observing colleague on how to arrest someone. I had definitely been profiled when I had stopped in a parking lot for more than five minutes and decided against going out of the tinted jeep. The police followed me, checked info on me and found out that I was driving on an expired licence. They could have only given me a ticket — but no. They actually arrested me.
After calling my former boss who had just laid me off, he had called 911 to check on me.
They banged at my door — Asked me to step out. I did. Asked me if they should look inside my house. They did. Asked me what I was holding in my hands. “My cell phone”. O.K.
Six of them were facing the door of my town home. I knew that if I resisted or acted weird they could “SHOOT”.
I had to protect myself. I was not upset with the police or even the boss who called them.
Sometimes whether we are BLACK or White, we act stupidly — I mean if you forget your keys and start behaving like a robber, someone is going to call 911. If you don’t respect the police officer, he is only human and may use “arrest” as his perogative.
The police is not your “son” the police is the law and maybe, the “father-in-LAW”.
As for Race — People in this country may treat those who don’t look like them differently — It’s a FACT. Whether Prof. Gates does his DOCUMENTARY or not. Until the cake mix is really mixed up — it may take some decades even a century before people of all professions act truly and honestly fare with each other.
In conclusion, the POLICE is authority and they have the right to arrest, shoot, etc. I would be more careful than be messing with them just because I am a professor in a “free country”. Everyone should protect their lives – the suspect and the police officer.
Just leave the president out of this. He answered the best way he could. If the police officer was correct, why was the case thrown out?

I thought Obama was suppose to bring about CHANGE? What was it “Change you can believe in”?? Or “Yes we can”? So this is the change he promised? This is the togetherness he spoke of? OMG what a liar he is! I cannot WAIT until his time is UP!!! He is the WORST president we have ever had. I thought Jimmy Carter was bad but man.. Obama is horrible and STUPID!

Next time the man needs a police officer maybe he should call obama. He is a political failure in my opinion so Rush had it right after all.

God, what an idiot we have for a president, even worse than W. Maybe we should get the Saudi Prince (which he bowed to) to take over….

A few simple questions to all of those who think that the police are so wrong in this situation…
1) Was the man arrested for being in his own home?
2) Would it really have inconvenienced him to provide identification?
3) If a burglar was in your home would you want the police to just take the burglars word that the individual belongs there?
4) Was this really a matter of race? (I would like to hear from the African American officer that was there at the time)
So with those questions I would like to add my personal opinions to the mix:
The president of the United States of America holds a very serious position in the world and in our country. Should he really be calling anyone stupid on national television?? Seems like yet another faux pas to me. I know that in some cities you would be comanded out of the house at gunpoint and asked to lay on the sidewalk in a similar situation (been on the receiving end of that one before), so I guess that asking him for his ID is a lot less of an issue. Do I hold my experience against the police? Absolutely not, they were just protecting themselves, you have to remember that whether you agree with the law or not they are people with families to go home to. If you have so much to say about the way they do their job, most major cities are in need of police officers.
In the end I think that the issue got out of hand and has been overblown. Do I think that the police officers could have handled it differently, perhaps; Could the professor have handled it differently, absolutely; Could the president have handled it differently, of course and we need to hold him accountable as the people he represents. With comments like these it is no wonder his approval rating is dropping, stupid is not a word that the president should be dropping in a public setting.

Paraphrasing the words of Jed Clampett:
I reckon Sgt Crowley done what he done because he didn’t know Gates was who he was. And if Gates hadn’t been who he was, he’d have been much obliged to Sgt Crowley for having done what he done.

Obama made a racially based remark, defending a friend from his race… Unfortunately, he picked the wrong person to defend. The most ethical cop was involved along with his fellow black officerse. Some call Obama racist, I don’t believe that, but their is racial bias.