Friday, July 24, 2009

Arrest of Harvard Professor Gates in Cambridge


Did the Cambridge police act "stupidly" in connection with this arrest, as President Obama asserted at his press conference on Wendesday? Or, more darkly, was the arrest a racist act, pure and simple?

Or is this in part about two men, one a police officer and the other a Harvard professor, who are each used to being treated with more deference (and maybe obedience) than either of them showed the other during their interaction, resulting in an ego-driven escalation of the situation to an unnecessary point?




2 comments:

  1. C. I imagine it came down to a Havard Professor thinking he was being profiled and proceeding to inflate his erudite ego. And a Cop seeing some dude popping off and wanting nothing to do with it inflating his machismo.

    So, the question you have to ask is: If the cops arriveded and Gates was indeed a thief and he simply claimed he was the resident then cops left without question, would Gates sue or claim the police failed to protect a person proerty? Or even worse, further claiming it was a racial issue?

    I find it irritating the President decided to chime in with his worthless 2 cents wihtout knowing anything about the situation. I guess this fits in perfectly with him making decisions without considering any of the facts or consequences.

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  2. From what I see on cable new today, it sounds like, behind the scenes, the President and his aides may be regretting his choice of words about this matter at that Wendesday news conference.

    He seems to have inadvertently vaulted this Cambridge arrest to national prominence in a way that is now taking away media coverage away from the pending health care reform proposals, which are beginning to stall in Congress seemingly.

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