The President Acted Stupidly
Obama conceded his words had been ill-chosen, but he stopped short of a public apology.
Obama should live up to his image as a post-racial president and different kind of politician and apologize. He said he didn't have all the facts in, yet stupidly offered his presidential opinion, anyway.
Obama said of the racial controversy. "I want to make clear that in my choice of words, I think I unfortunately gave an impression that I was maligning the Cambridge Police Department and Sgt. Crowley specifically. And I could've calibrated those words differently."The president did not back down from his contention that police had overreacted by arresting the Harvard professor for disorderly conduct after coming to his home to investigate a possible break-in.This is what happens when you hang out and bring your family to a racist church for 20 years.
Instead of doubling down with calibration, he really should just flatout apologize and admit he was wrong to weigh in. Yet, he is what he is, and can't help being who he is.
Thanks, in part, to those carrying chips on their shoulders and reading racism into everything.
"The fact that this has garnered so much attention, I think, is testimony to the fact that these are issues that are still very sensitive here in America," Obama said.
I've been engaged in a debate on my earlier post that you might be curious to check out.
Labels: American Exceptionalism, American History, Barack Obama, Founding Fathers, Racism, slavery
posted by The WordSmith from Nantucket at 7/24/2009 07:35:00 PM
14 Comments:
Not only did he not apologize, he didn't actually retract the statement. If you look at his words, he was more:
-expressing surprise that it is a big story
-attempting to repair the damage he did with his relationship with the nations law enforcement.
If you read the comments there are a lot of "buts" "stills", etc
"Yet, he is what he is, and can't help being who he is."...
Sparks- ..a Chicago Thug?!!! or a Commie Thug?!!
C-CS
..or Both!
C-CS
Since they can't make the charge of racism stick on Crowley and the Police Dept, let's blame the good samaritan neighbor of racism.
Well, of course he acted stupidly. He's above his pay grade, remember? And he has proven it's really true: Stupid is indeed as stupid does.
Obama should have kept his mouth shut until he the facts surfaced. Crowley and Gates should have honored the constitution and decorum, respectively. If Gates wasn't Black, Crowley would not have barged into Gates' home, in all probability. If Gates had tempered his outrage, Crowley would not have enticed him to exit his house and bellow from his porch, where he was arrested.
If Gates wasn't Black, Crowley would not have barged into Gates' home, in all probability.
Can you substantiate that, please? I've not followed this story to a "T", but where do you get this "barging in" because "he's black"? FA's got a number of posts and discussions going on. You might be interested in checking them out.
As far as I can tell, the only ones injecting race into this whole deal are Gates Jr. and the President.
Word:
FA has given me the finger for my slavery, ethnic cleansing remark. I'll have to rely upon you to keep me up to speed.
Cops can't enter someone's home without cause. A smart cop would have sized up the situation quickly and asked if everything was OK, and departed. Just common sense, Word.
The anger on the right is palpable, frightening. I have a feeling that something terrible is about to happen if this rage continues to be nurtured.
FA has given me the finger for my slavery, ethnic cleansing remark. I'll have to rely upon you to keep me up to speed.
What? Were you banned? Or just treated harshly? What thread was that? I recall responding harshly to one of your comments there, but don't recall the context.
I apologize if that caused you to not return to the thread.
Cops can't enter someone's home without cause. A smart cop would have sized up the situation quickly and asked if everything was OK, and departed. Just common sense, Word.
Cops had reasonable cause. Curt (who's in law enforcement) argued this point with blast.
Gates carries a racial chip on his shoulder and knee-jerked a reaction to Crowley answering a police dispatch to come and risk his life to investigate a possible burglary.
There's nothing at all unreasonable in Crowley seeking to verify identification and make sure Gates wasn't speaking under duress. Had nothing at all to do with his skin color.
Gates has no one to blame but himself for his initial arrest.
I still don't think you are looking at "the facts", as they've been detailed to the public.
Here's part of the transcript of the police report.
The anger on the right is palpable, frightening. I have a feeling that something terrible is about to happen if this rage continues to be nurtured.
Gee...now you know how we on the right felt about you lefties when Bush was in office.
Word:
The tone and potential consequences of the expressed anger are different. Gates has had to change his public email and cell phone # since the "incident" became public because of death threats and racist emails and phone calls.
You know as well as I do that righties are more prone to use the threat of violence. You might be able to uncover instances where Bush was threatened with violence by lefties, but I can't recall any.
Regarding the legality of Crowley barging into Gates' home, check out Ron Kuby's analysis.
Your comments on FA re my slavery/ethnic cleansing remark were not why I was cut off. It was unnecessary for you to apologize; you merely put in your two cents. Thanks for your consideration.
The tone and potential consequences of the expressed anger are different. Gates has had to change his public email and cell phone # since the "incident" became public because of death threats and racist emails and phone calls.
That's a shame, but really not uncommon when one hits the national spotlight and are the center of controversy. He's not the only one "victimized" with harrassment by haters and hecklers.
Since her press conference, since the release of the 911 call that exonerates her of the accusations of racism, she's probably experiencing more support than further harrassment ('cept by those nutbags who might not be up-to-date and well-informed). Crowley, I wouldn't be surprised if he's not getting as much negative reaction either, given that I think it's quite obvious that the one who stepped out of line is Gates Jr. himself. Doesn't mean he should be threatened, harrassed, etc. But he's responsible for his own predicament. A reasonable person would have simply thanked the officer and cooperated.
You know as well as I do that righties are more prone to use the threat of violence. You might be able to uncover instances where Bush was threatened with violence by lefties, but I can't recall any.
I really don't see how you can make that claim with a straight face. Maybe we both simply live in two different universes.
"Your side" even made a movie whose premise dealt with the assassination of George W. Bush.
Have you seen how violent and vitriolic "peace" protesters can get?
Civility is not exclusive to either side of the political spectrum.
Regarding the legality of Crowley barging into Gates' home, check out Ron Kuby's analysis.
How did Crowley "barge" in? Got a specific link? Why not prosecute, if Crowley overstepped his authority?
Your comments on FA re my slavery/ethnic cleansing remark were not why I was cut off.
Did you get banned? Do you know by whom? I can probably "correct" the situation.
I used an administrative search function and found a comment here by Curt that suggests he thinks you are posting under "Alan Walters" as well as "rockybutte". If that's the case, then I can explain to you that one of Curt's pet peeves is sock-puppetry. We've had a few problems where a commenter would use different aliases and basically have conversations with himself, as if other commenters are lending support to his position. Quite funny, actually.
If you're banned at the moment, I can probably talk to Curt about reversing that decision. It's dissenting opinions that make a place interesting; not amen choruses.
Word:
Thanks for taking the time to check that out with Curt. I have a hard time keeping track of my poster names/passwords. I'd appreciate it if you'd tell Curt I'll just post under rockybutte.
BTW, I heard Kuby's explanation of Crowley's blunder on Air America yesterday while he was subbing for Ron Reagan. It sounded authoritative to me but I have no link to it.
With my face straight as can be, I really don't recall anyone threatening Bush, but maybe that's just me.
I'm not sure what movie you're referring to, although I do remember hearing about a movie dealing with Bush negatively (not that godawful W).
You can pop Curt an email, if you go over to FA. Try commenting, first. He might have figured out your IP # to unban you, already.
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