Making Hay from a Very Small Local Event

There stands United States of America President Barack Obama, hawking his ill-conceived heath-reform plan, when out of the blue comes a question about an event local to Boston, and relevant to nothing in the President's international address:

The question, which I believe to be planted by the administration as an opportunity to both deflect attention from the poor bill and to rehash the race debate, asked about one of Obama's friends, Henry Louis Gates, a Harvard university professor of African American studies who was arrested for disorderly conduct after visibly breaking into what was later determined to be his own home.

Cambridge Police Officer To Obama: Butt Out of My Arrest - Political News - FOXNews.com:

Asked about the incident, Obama, who is friends with the professor and documentary filmmaker, told reporters at a Wednesday night press conference that he didn't know all the facts. But he said, "the Cambridge police acted stupidly in arresting somebody when there was already proof that they were in their own home."

A police report of the incident written by Officer Carlos Figueroa, who responded to the call with Crowley, says Crowley was already in the house when he walked in. The report says Crowley had asked Gates for some identification and Gates shouted that he would not give any information and called the sergeant a racist.

According to the report, Gates then yelled, "This is what happens to black men in America." When Crowley tried to calm him down, Gates shouted, "You don't know who you're messing with."

The report continues that the shouting went on after Gates and the officers walked out onto the front porch. When Gates allegedly wouldn't cooperate or calm down, Crowley arrested him.

Click here to read a copy of the police report (pdf).

Crowley told the radio station that he asked Gates to step outside because he didn't know who Gates was, and he was alone and didn't know if his safety was compromised.

"I had no other motive than to ensure my safety, or he could've been the homeowner who was unaware that there were people in his house unauthorized. I just didn't know," Crowley said.

The charge against Gates was dropped on Tuesday. The police department issued a statement saying the incident "was regrettable and unfortunate" and should not "be viewed as one that demeans the character and reputation of Professor Gates or the character of the Cambridge Police Department."

Crowley, however, has refused to apologize, and he told the radio station he did nothing wrong. He added he was surprised that a man as educated as Gates would start yelling epithets about Crowley's mom, part of the incident that never made it into the police report.

...Expanding on the implications of the arrest, Obama told reporters Wednesday that this incident shows that there is a long history of racial profiling in the United States.

"And even when there are honest misunderstandings, the fact that blacks and Hispanics are picked up more frequently and often time for no cause casts suspicion even when there is good cause," he said.

White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said Thursday that the president does not regret his choice of language.

California Rep. Barbara Lee, chairwoman of the Congressional Black Caucus, said she agreed that Gates' arrest was another example of racial profiling.

"It's part of the unfinished business of America," the Democratic congresswoman said.

Obama admits he didn't know all the facts; but that didn't keep him silent, did it? He called the Boston police's actions "stupid," and by extension calling the officer in question stupid. Seems to me like the offocer acted in good faith in responding to a neighbor's report of what was thought to be criminal activity.

And now, there's an official report surfacing by another officer that Gates was indeed disorderly.

Obama talks about racial profiling; yes, that Gates is black is what got him off the hook.

So, is this how a black man in America is treated? Well, it's certainly how an asshole should be treated. And since Obama injected himself into this, maybe he should be lumped into the same bin as Gates, eh - just another angry black with an axe to grind?

I learned a long time ago that, to a man with a hammer everything looks like a nail. As a professor of African American studies, Gates sees himself first and foremost as a black in America - an America that oppresses minorities. On Wednesday he didn't see a Boston police officer enter his home for a legitimate reason; Gates saw a white authority give him a hard time, and he therefore went into a confrontational stance - the thing that the civil righteous do. Logic went right out of Gates' mind.

So who's the racist? And is this the caliber of professor at Harvard? God help Academia.