Obama Destroyed His Post-Racial Theme

Update 4: From ABC:

"Crowley's neighbors had a different story that tends to support the sergeant's actions. One man who says he saw the incdient (sic) said the police report that said Gates was belligerent was not completely off the mark.

Today Ogletree (Gates' Haavard academic lawyer) told "GMA" that Gates "made that clear that he'd be happy to talk" with Crowley to discuss the incident".

So, the liberal lawyer goes on TV and basically lies while another eyewitness supports the on scene report. Special, real special. Meanwhile, Gates is pleased at Obama's remarks. Gee, ya think?

Last night in his news conference, in one huge executive-level gaffe in terms of judgment, Barack Obama destroyed any notion of a post-racial era presidency by stating that the Cambridge police acted "stupidly," (Politico link) despite admitting to not knowing the facts and not being there. Anyone who has read the police report (<-- link to source) would know the facts are very much in dispute, dropped charges, or not. Click on image above to enlarge pertinent section of report.

"I don’t know – not having been there and not seeing all the facts – what role race played in that, but I think it’s fair to say, number one, any of us would be pretty angry; number two that he Cambridge police acted stupidly in arresting somebody when there was already proof that they were in their own home," Obama said in response to a question from the Chicago Sun-Times's Lynn Sweet. 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."

Updated link: The officer is refusing to apologize, standing by his report.

NATICK, Mass. — A white police sergeant accused of racism after he arrested renowned black scholar Henry Louis Gates Jr. at his home insisted Wednesday he won't apologize for his treatment of the Harvard professor, but President Barack Obama said police had acted "stupidly."

Unfortunately, this comes as questions are still being raised over a potentially troubling decision by Obama's Justice Department to not pursue voter intimidation charges against the New Black Panther Party in Philadelphia, PA. See Michelle Malkin's post from yesterday for the latest, including documents, on that issue.

As the occupant of the WH, Obama has a responsibility to speak for all Americans. He appears to be showing a pattern of not doing that, but seeing everything through a lens of racial politics, first. It is as unfortunate as it is dumb.

Not having all the facts, he should have withheld judgment, perhaps pronouncing the incident as unfortunate. He didn't term Professor Gates' alleged reaction to questioning, after apparently breaking into his own home, as ill-considered, let alone stupid, or otherwise dumb. And the Cambridge police are not the neighbor who summoned them to the scene. We have no way of knowing if they acted "stupidly," or not. However, that was a conclusion Barack Obama was prepared to jump to based solely upon Race, while admitting not knowing the facts.

He also displayed a willingness to abandon American police officers in the line of duty without a full hearing of the facts. It's impossible to recall any former president doing such a thing, at least before some objective fact finding was done. This may not be a wound he recovers from, and certainly not easily, in terms of his political career.

Meanwhile, any notion of a post-racial era in America due to Obama is likely doomed. That, perhaps, is the biggest shame of all.

Update 2: Apparently the officer was accused of racism 16 years ago for not doing enough to save an NBA players life. He denied it at the time. (Link to Jules)

It’s a date Crowley still can recite by rote - and he still recalls the pain he suffered when people back then questioned whether he had done enough to save the black athlete.

“Some people were saying ‘There’s the guy who killed Reggie Lewis’ afterward. I was broken-hearted. I cried for many nights,” he said.

Crowley, 42, said he’s not a racist, despite how some have cast his actions in the Gates case. “Those who know me know I’m not,” he said.

Comments

[lonetown]

Now we know what Obama learned at the Trinity Church.

I knew you couldn't sit there for 20 years and not absorb some of that bile.

[JWF]

I'm stunned to learn Obama's a racist.

[Bob Sykes]

Good grief! I hope IWF is being sarcastic. Obama attended and supported a virulently anti-white racist and anti-semitic mosque/church for over 20 years listening to the most obscene hate speech since Hitler/Himmler. His behavior since the election merely confirms his own hatred for whites and Jews.

[Dan Riehl]

Your assuming he ever went to curch, or took it seriously, Bob. I'm not saying he doesn't see things racially, obviously he does. But I'm unconvinced any of his so-called chruch going is legit. He joined what helped his political career the most in his black voters eyes. That alone is enough to suggest what a loser he is.

[Krystal]

I agree that he attended that "church" for political ambitions, but amongst the dregs of society, those who race bait and hate. It's why the media should be ashamed of itself for deliberately misleading the public. Chicago with it strong black power center has a high crime rate so obviously those black power brokers are not all that interested in the black community. This renowned black scholar Gates is renowned in his own mind and in those liberals who love to pat themselves on the back. He could have simply shown his ID and explained the situation instead of causing chaos and name calling. The mask once again has fallen off another liberal who claims to want peace and harmony but really is a bully. He screams about a black man in America? If it is so bad here for a black man, then please leave and give your spot to someone who actually acknowledges reality and wants to be here.

[Mrs. Peperium]

"He also displayed a willingness to abandon American police officers in the line of duty without a full hearing of the facts. It's impossible to recall any former president doing such a thing, at least before some objective fact finding was done."

Bill Ayers must be proud.

[glennr]

So, you're saying that all black people are dumb.

If Obama was white, you wouldn't be saying that.

[Mary Contrary]

You try to gloss over it, Dan, but the question remains. If Gates was guilty of anything, why did they drop the charges?

Obama was absolutely right. This was stupid on the part of the Cambridge police. The smart thing to do would have been to apologize, leave discreetly, and hope that was the end of it. Instead, they let the situation get out of control and now have a firestorm on their hands because of it.

By even conservative standards, that has to be considered the wrong move.

[Paul Mosley]

I can't believe an alleged potus said what obama said. 2012 can't come fast enough folks!

[Dan Riehl]

Let'ssee, Mary - friend of Obama, black friend of Obama, or not - prominent liberal academic making noise, rallying the race troops, as it were, - gee, I wonder why?

[notapundit]

Mary Contrary is right.

The cops have walked right into the "racist trap" that Obama helps set up by his premature bullying of a white cop (a black cop would never have come under such criticisms).

No matter what the cops did, they're racist.

If they don't show up quickly - and the house was actually being robbed - then of course they're racists for not responding quickly only because the homeowner was black. If they show up and the house isn't being robbed and ask for ID - of course they're racists for assuming every black man bashing in the front door of a house is a burglar.

This cop's career is done with because he's not paying attention to how to be white in the Brave New World.

This story is such a nothing. Gates was rude to the cop who was just doing his job trying to ascertain why this guy was bashing in the front door of a house in Cambridge. Gates became abusive, so they arrested him.

That happens to punk kids of every color every day in this country and it's why you call a cop "sir" whether you're black or white or purple.

Gates has a narrative that all cops questioning any black person are automatically racists until proven otherwise. It's what the teach at Harvard, so is it really any surprise when you witness what passes for a decent education in Massachusetts?

[Hiroshi]

Obama is a freaking racist IDIOT. Impeach this sack of crap.

[Lala]

The DAs drop charges all the time. It's not worth the hassle to go to court on a 'disturbing the peace' type of arrest.

[volfan]

Mary:

Charges are "dropped" all the time - doesn't mean that there wasn't a violation of the law by the defendant. Ever heard of someone getting out of a speeding ticket because they "knew" the judge or PO? Doesn't that mean that they're not guilty? Nope - just means that the authorities choose not to pursue it. Also, look at the vast majority of criminal cases that are pled out - doesn't mean that the perps were innocent? Nope, just that the DA used their discretion to allow the perp to cop to a lesser charge. The charge for Gates was disorderly conduct, something akin to yelling in public - so the DA chose to kill the charges in an attempt to keep Sharpton and Co. from coming to town and causing a riot. Just b/c they dropped the charges is not enough evidence to conclude that the officers were out of bounds in arresting Gates. Obama should have kept his mouth shut or after "I wasn't there" stated that he couldn't offer an opinion as such. A big mistake on his part for not doing that.

[Lala]

More on the story

http://www.bostonherald.com/news/regional/view/20090722cop_who_arrested_henry_gates_im_not_apologizing/srvc=home&position=0

[GregMan]

Shocked! Shocked, I am, to learn that Obambi would see ANYTHING through thr lens of racialism. Next people will be saying he'd nominate a racialist affirmative-action grievance-monger to the Supreme Court.

[Xerocky]

The fact that the officer, in this day and age, considering who he arrested, still refuses to apologize, to me is proof that the good professor was acting like a spoiled child. The fact that the charges were dropped is obviously because the police want this to go away asap so they can get back to work, responding to potential break ins and what not.

[Astroturph]

I blame George W. Bush.

[megapotamus]

Gates is a race hustler like Sharpton, Jackson and their numberless ilk. I am as familiar with the facts as President Obama so I can confidently state that Skip acted stupidly. Above it is declared that once Gates identified himself the cop should have apologized and head on. Of course that is exactly what he claims he did it is only the word of Gates, a man who profits mightily from inflating every parking ticket into a race riot, that is contrary. It was the promise of post-raciality that wooed many a youngster into the voting booth when they would otherwise be on the Xbox and Obama dissappoints most profoundly on that score. Check up with the default-left twenty-somethings and see how THAT change is working out...

[Mrs. Peperium]

The good professor was acting like Marie Antoinette in her shepherdess gown frolicking with her bathed and scented lambs. Marie and her friends played shepherdess and shpherd did this to relate to the common folk. But anyone who has spent time on the hallowed grounds of Harvard, being the leading black scholar there is something far different (dare I say elitist?) than being a young black man born a to an unwed crack-addicted teenage mother in Detroit. For a starter, the Detroit public school sysyem won't teach the young man to read.

Henry Louis Gates, like President and First Lady Obama or Kofi Annan, have had nothing but all the elite doors thrown wide open to them in this country. Sure Obama's mother was on food stamps but not because she couldn't work but because she was in school getting her doctorate. That is completely different and I'm shocked all the nuanced minds on the Left cannot grasp this.

Obama stepped in it big time with this as many people voted for him hoping a black man in the White House would finally put to bed our racial problems.

[The Ace]

Obama was absolutely right. This was stupid on the part of the Cambridge police

What, exactly was "stupid"? Responding to a 9-11 call?
Given you, just like this embarrassment we have in the Oval Office, were not there, how could you possibly know this?

[T]

Cambridge police Sgt. James Crowley...

Joe the Plumber

Jim the Cop

Enemies of Obama..

[Ran]

You try to gloss over it, Mary, but the question remains. If Gates was the point of the blogpost, why did Dan make it about Obama?

Because the blogpost isn't about Gates, it's about... (wait for it) ... OBAMA! Ta Dah.

As TH said... "Bloody public schools."

[jesme]

In defense of the prez, it seems obvious to me that the arrest was unjustified. No matter how rudely Gates behaved, he was on his own property and should have been left to stew on his front step.

That said, I am skeptical that the cop was acting out of racial animus. FWIW, I'm a black guy who used to get hassled by cops quite a bit as a young man. Even then, I don't think they were racially motivated. It was just a rough neighborhood and I looked sorta like a suspect. In the same way, this cop was told somebody was breaking into a house and showed up ready for trouble. He can hardly be blamed for that, or even for behaving brusquely. In my view, though, he clearly crossed the line when he snapped on the cuffs. But does that make him a racist? So far, I've seen no proof of it--just the words of an aggrieved professor.

[harvardboy]

"That said, I am skeptical that the cop was acting out of racial animus."

He wasn't. The cop was acting out of "asshole animus." Happens with punks all the time.

Gates is Harvard asshole (they're a dime a dozen in Cambridge).

Harvard assholes get themselves booked every day for disrespecting the police.

You can't be a race "victim" if you don't every now and then have a confrontation with "the man."

[JD]

Mouth off to cops, expect to get arrested. I wouldn't be happy about being arrested for yelling at cops in my own front yard either, but that's the way of the world. If cops let themselves be verbally abused every time they responded to a 911 call, things would get out of hand. The cops did the right thing by arresting him and the right thing by dropping the charges afterward.
It's ASTONISHING that Barack would say what he did last night. Not that he thinks it, but that he would be stupid enough to say it in a prime-time press conference. Of course he's a racist, but thus far he's been a fairly clever racist. That was just pure stupidity.

[The Ace]

Who knew we elected Quincy!

"If there's a blue pill and a red pill, and the blue pill is half the price of the red pill and works just as well, why not pay half-price for the thing that's going to make you well?"

—President Obama to Jake Tapper of ABC News

But remember, Bush is the dumb one!

I weep for America.

[Mary Contrary]

If charges are "dropped all the time," if it's not "worth the hassle," then why make the arrest in the first place? Why even have the law?

Still a stupid move on the part of the police. Proven by the fact that they have a gigantic deal going over what could have gone away with a simple apology at the point of the incident.

[John Calomiris]

Why all the froth re BO and his rascist background.Did you need any more than his membership in the black caucus?
Gate was repremanded by Harvard for spending most of his time keepimg the rascist pot boiling and not teaching his subject.His answer was to take his entourage to prinston where the climate was more conducive to his "hate the white man".BIg question,How in the hell did the brain dead idiots at Harvard take him back"

[apodoca]

Gates has an overinflated sense of his own importance. Like Obama, a legend in his own mind. Jesme, I'm like you, but I don't expect the president to take sides, not even for friendship sake. I expect that he will wait to have legal events run their course, get both sides of the story, before he comes down against the cops. Gates has set himself up to be burglarized now. He's pretty much told the cops that if something bad is going on at his house, don't bother cuz they'll be abused as racists. So when a brotha breaks into his house—and you just know it will be a brotha—Gates will have got what he deserved. He ought to have thanked the police officers for responding, explained the situation politely, presented ID, and smiled. Police are people too. Politeness doesn't cost a dime and it comes with no pain.

[Dan Riehl]

"a simple apology"

Oh, I didn't realize Gates wanted to apologize, as he should for what was likely his pathetic behavior. What is that, liberal thinking? APologize even if not wrong to make it go away because you're white, and a cop?

Yeah, that'll work. Geesh, what a dumb suggestion, Mary - sorry but it is.

[The Ace]

If charges are "dropped all the time," if it's not "worth the hassle," then why make the arrest in the first place? Why even have the law?

------------------

Um, you do understand police don't prosecute crimes, right?

[Shari]

Get over it Obama....I'm so sick of your stupid race card. Check the stats on those in jails and see why people automatically think the way they do! This guy probably copped an attitude, which it sounds like he did. You may be equal but you're NOT superior and that's how you all act now! They had just cause to stop him and ask for ID. If it had been a real burgler, and they didn't do their job, than you'd have something to say about that too. Make up your minds. You can't have it both ways.

[HMI]

Amazing the amount of vitriol sloshing around here, from people who don't know the facts any more than Mr. Obama did, but who all know that race played no part in some guy getting arrested on his front porch. After all, this happens regularly to white guys where they live. But everybody just laughs it off: no harm, no foul.

[Mary Contrary]

Last time I looked, it wasn't against the law to be impolite to the police. Regardless of what you may think, this is still America.

And you do understand police have this thing they call "discretion," right? It's what keeps them from arresting jaywalkers all day long.

[Mary Contrary]

"This guy probably copped an attitude, which it sounds like he did. You may be equal but you're NOT superior and that's how you all act now!"

NOW, I think we're getting to the nub of the problem...

[Dave in SoCal]

The Boston Herald has scrubbed the police report from their website, but Jules Crittenden reprints it here:

http://newsbusters.org/blogs/p-j-gladnick/2009/07/23/boston-globe-scrubs-henry-louis-gates-arrest-report-website

Reading the report, it sounds like Gates is a race-mongering, self-important assh*le who was extremely abusive to the police officer investigating the break in report and DESERVED to be arrested and hauled off.

Sorry Mary, there's a difference between being "impolite" to a cop and being verbally abusive. I give Sgt Crowley huge props for maintaining his cool in the face of such awful treatment.

[bill-tb]

Hello Rev Wright is that you? What do you think was being learned in the 20 years sitting there listening to Rev Wright's sermons?

[Rob Crawford]

Gee, a guy who teaches race hate for a living turned a minor misunderstanding into a racial incident, and a politician who built his career by playing off of race hate and race guilt is going along with it.

"After all, this happens regularly to white guys where they live. But everybody just laughs it off: no harm, no foul."

If I were breaking into my own home, I'd be relieved if the police showed up to check things out. I wouldn't scream at them, I wouldn't refuse to talk to them. I'd explain what happened, laugh at my own stupidity at getting myself locked out, and get on with my life.

Oh, and I'd thank the neighbors who called 911 for keeping their eyes open and being willing to call for help. That doesn't happen everywhere, ya know.

[John Henry Eden]

Go to hell, Obama. Your attacks on private citizens disgraces the office you hold. You are miserable failure.

[Lala]

Gates was asked for ID. He refused to show it. How was the police officer supposed to know that he was not a burglar?

Liberals are so ignorant.

[Mike2Cents]

Man, you guys are coming off like a pack of hyenas racing to fresh road kill.
Some cops are arrogant power tripping mf'ers, and some cops are incredibly skilled at using courtesy and respect as tools to diffuse situations. It seems the police officer in question here is neither of these. I think race played a role here, but it's more about 2 guys swinging their dicks around.
But how convenient and predictable that DR believes the cop's version over Gates'.
Obama should have stayed out of it.
But at the end of the day, even if this had never happened, y'all seriously wanna make a case that black men aren't treated differently by law enforcement? If you wanna make some racist case that they deserve to be, then at least you're being being honest. But to ignore the reality of this issue is just beyond stupid. I won't bother giving examples, there's too many.
I lived in Boston for years, and race is a much more complicated issue there than it is south of the mason dixon line.

"Oh, I didn't realize Gates wanted to apologize, as he should for what was likely his pathetic behavior. What is that, liberal thinking? Apologize even if not wrong to make it go away because you're white, and a cop?"
Dan, do you even have any idea you're talking about? I understand you're excited, but this is incoherent blather. Ease up a little, and at least accept the possibility that the cop was out of line....do you just know he wasn't?

[Mike G]

Obama torpedoed his own press conference with his remarks about the Gates incident. After all, what are we talking about today? Didn't he also say something about his healthcare plan? What an idiot.

[anon]

The cop should not have arrested Gates even though he was within his 'discretion' to do so since there are now at least 3 independent witnesses that have admitted Gates was yelling and causing a scene. That makes the great Professor not only an asshole, but a liar who is now bent on destroying the life and career of a police officer who came to his house becuase of a 911 call of a break in in progress. Nice guy.

The President should NEVER have called the Cambridge Police stupid, even if they were, becuase it is unseemly to have the president calling the police stupid when he admits he's biased and doesn't have the facts, it makes him look like a cop hating racist. Of course, he is a cop hating racist, but its not good to let this slip and let ALL law enforcement know that you don't have any faith in them or their judgement.

But, since DOJ is now investigating the PA country club for cancelling the membership to the black school group...this is what we should expect from now on in 'post racial' America, or to put it antoher way 'whites are always wrong America'

[Dan Riehl]

The cop may have been - all I said in the post was wait for some fact finding. My comment was responding to Mary who wanted an apology. From who? WHy not ask her, instead of me?

And Mike G is 100% correct. The really really dumb move by Obama was giving people something to talk about today - and it ain't health care, or his weak sales pitch. He screwed himself coming and going. The guy is pathetic on his feet. In the big picture, he makes Bush look great. Obama can't keep from shooting himself in the foot the minute he goes off the teleprompter. Where is this genius of a communicator we've heard so much about? He isn't in the WH, that's for sure.

[John Henry Eden]

"But at the end of the day, even if this had never happened, y'all seriously wanna make a case that black men aren't treated differently by law enforcement?"

Gates was treated no differently than other racists who scream at police officers during investigations.

[JD]

Mike2Cents,
I'd say the black guy that was running away from cops at 2am outside my window the other morning was treated differently by cops than I (white) am treated. Then again, I'm not a criminal and he was. I wouldn't have gotten arrested for breaking into my own house either, but then again, I wouldn't have flown off the handle being a huge asshole and yelling at the cops for doing their job. Here you have a black man who makes gobs of money for telling young white kids how racist they are, publicly belittling and berating a public servant (who's salary surely barely pays the bills) for simply doing his job.
Should cops always simply take people at their word when responding to break-in calls? How long would it take burglars to simply throw on some PJs, break into an unoccupied home, and then act like the cops are crazy, stupid, and racist for asking for their ID?
By the way, you're right, race isn't very complicated south of the mason dixon line. I have never done anything to any black person, yet the vast majority of them here hate me on sight. Forgive me for not caring when cops arrest them (or anyone else) for acting like enraged idiots over misunderstandings.

[Fen]

Its the same pattern as when an affirmative action admit can't handle the course load of a tier one college. He blames the system, he blames whitey. Wait for it, Obama will continue down that path.

[Xerocky]

"The guy is pathetic on his feet. In the big picture, he makes Bush look great. Obama can't keep from shooting himself in the foot the minute he goes off the teleprompter. Where is this genius of a communicator we've heard so much about? He isn't in the WH, that's for sure."

Could it be that because at the heart of it, he really is weak and kind of pathetic on health care, that he decided to have us all bla bla bla about this, just for the sake of changing the subject?

Obama on health care makes Bush look like a genius by comparison. He doesn't know what's in his own bill, he has not a clue on how to pay for it, he's for a number of things that he said he was against, and he wants it done by August 1st for some reason. The reason to be sure isn't principal, he just wants it done because he wants to WIN. If he truly cared he'd be able to articulate his position to his OWN PARTY, and he hasn't!!!

So, call the po po stupid, and at least it changes the subject for a little while.

[rod mizer]

why don't you just go back to kenya, you're not my president, you might be kenya's leader, not mine!!!!!!!