No there isn’t. The charges have been dropped. Nothing is being investigated.
Some of you should actually read his statements again. He did not say the “stupidity” had anything to do with race.
He explicitly said that what was “stupid” was arresting the guy after they already knew he was in his own home.
He was right. I applaud him for being honest and blunt. I’m glad we have a President who’s willing to say the cops can do something wrong.
Not sure if you’re kidding or not, but I didn’t say he was a racist, and I don’t think he is.
Diogenes: I suspect there will be an investigation by the police department into the actions of the policemen.
RTFQ:
“…the Cambridge police acted stupidly in arresting somebody when there was already proof that they were in their own home…”
We don’t have to guess what he meant. He stated it clearly. There was no implication of racism.
Can anyone identify a single sentence thje President uttered that is not 100% true? No you can’t. So what’s the problem?
I doubt that, but even if that’s the case, they haven’t announced it, so Sam’s assertion is still false.
Yes, the quote you quoted. We don’t know what Gates did, and so it’s not clear whether they acted stupidly or not. Since Obama even said he didn’t know all the facts, it’s self-evident that you can’t evaluate the stupidity of the action.
And then, once the facts are in:
“We’ve gone over and over this; the matter has been addressed and it’s time to move on.”
Clearly, Obama hasn’t been in the President business very long.
None of which really matters because OMG THE PRESIDENT CALLED SOMEONE STUPID!!!1!1
To pretend this is about anything else is equally…well. He should have used a different word. He didn’t. As a result his valid point about the error of arresting a man, racially driven or not, will be completely lost in the ensuing frenzy.
Curse you and your fast posting ways, Vinyl Turnip!
Have you not read this thread? I’m not upset about his use of the word “stupid”, I think he should have kept his mouth shut on the subject.
Gates was arrested for Contempt of Cop. That’s obvious. And that was stupid.
Even if the facts are exactly as the cops allege, they arrested Gates for no reason. Which is proved by the fact that the charges against him are now dropped, that’s what always happens in Contempt of Cop arrests. The arrest itself is the punishment.
Yes, I read your response. My post was not aimed at you or really any of the posters here so much as the media and the Republican leadership, both of which have to be creaming their pants over this. It’s going to be news for the rest of the cycle this week and will likely be fodder for the Sunday morning talking heads when what should be the main focus is the actual reason for his speech: health care coverage for the uninsured.
÷1
Hannity’s gonna be on this like white on rice.
Or something like that.
Maybe you missed the part where he went on for a couple of paragraphs afterwords about racial profiling. I guess that was just a total non sequitur on his part, eh?
No. Can you identify anyone in the thread who accused him of lying?
I’m surprised he used the word “stupid,” but what blunts my outrage is that the police acted stupidly. Gates may or may not have been hostile, but there was no reason to arrest him. His worst potential crime was being rude, and it’s incumbent on the officer in that spot to defuse the situation by walking away. It should not have gotten to this point.
As far as the ‘distraction’… please. It’ll be news for a day or two and then it’s back to your regularly scheduled health care debate. That issue isn’t going away.
For those who haven’t seen it, here is the police report. As I said in another thread, I’m curious as to how much of the report will be corroborated by the other cops and Harvard security people who showed up prior to the actual arrest.
http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/years/2009/0723092gates1.html
Yes. Again, RTFQ:
:dubious:
No. Jumping to conclusions, yes.
So Obama is asserting that the “long history in this country of African Americans and Latinos being stopped by law enforcement disproportionately” has nothing to do with racism? And Gates was lying when he accused the officers who arrested him of racism.
Regards,
Shodan
Sure. You even quoted it in your post: (emphasis mine)
To my mind, the “problem” is that the President is weighing in on an issue involving a personal friend of his - something he admits up front.
This doesn’t look good, even though I happen to agree with everything the President said.
I didn’t say the health care issue is going away. I said this is distracting from it. As to the rest: you’re expecting the remainder of the country to be as reasonable as you are. Always a bad move. We’re still going on about the birth certificate idiocy. A congressman is indulging those conspiracy loons. This is going to be milked for all it’s worth.
Wait, so you think the cops were in the right to arrest Gates? Just because he was being verbally abusive to them? That they acted appropriately?
The fact is, the appropriate response would have been to apologize for the inconvenience and leave, no matter how annoying or insulting Gates was. Gates disrespected the cop’s Momma, but that ain’t grounds for arrest, is it?