I didn't watch the press conference last night. He's had so many that I've really been "Baracked" out and can't take it anymore. Now that we know that he plants questions at the end from certain reporters it kind of ruins the possibility for spontaneity.
But all over the papers and all over the radio was the President telling us that the racially motivated and "stupid" police of Cambridge, Massachusetts have proven that racism is still alive. This was in response to the story of Louis Gates, Harvard professor of African American studies, who allegedly was treated in a racially motivated fashion when he was arrested at his home.
The story suggests that Mr Gates was unable to enter his home through his front door. He and his driver, also an African American male tried to force entry by trying to "shoulder" the door open. A neighbor called the police concerned that a breaking and entering might be in progress. When the police arrived Gates had made entry through the back door. The police confronted Mr Gates at the entry of his house. They asked for identification, Gates apparently first refused but then acquiesed and gave a Harvard ID. Even in Gates' own accounts he never said there was racial verbiage used by the policemen, or that they touched him or used threatening or demeaning tones.
The police began to leave when Gates began shouting "this is how black men are treated in America" and something about racism and "your Mama". The policemen returned to the porch of the home and arrested and cuffed Mr. Gates.
The policemen seemed to have acted exactly according to procedure and it was Mr Gates who could have kept this incident as nothing more than police checking in on a possible break-in. They were trying to protect Mr Gates' home. How the president decided that the police are "stupid" and racist out of the reports I've heard are curious.
He should have said, "I'm not aware of all the facts of the case, let me get back to you." Instead he took a cheap, race-baiting shot at the police. Not what I expect out of the office of the President.
3 comments:
It was stupid for the President to use the word stupid. Law enforcement officers and military personnel will wonder now whether the President will judge them guilty of any claimed injustice without his knowing all the facts. Is there a presumption of innocence for everyone except those trying to enforce the law?
This is where the press coddling this candidate and this president for the last year or more is coming back to bite him. He truly feels he has a shield of invincibility whereby any idiotic thing or lie that he says will be covered up by the press. The fact that he is losing the healthcare debate and his ratings are going down means even the overboard press has to at least feign some accountability thus the Messiah has tripped over his own tongue and the legions aren't defending him as rabidly.
Obama is even more immature, even more inexperienced, and therefore even more clueless than I thought.
And Rahm Emmanuel is to blame for most of this. He's behind the -damn the torpedoes full speed ahead philosophy, trying to take advantage of a crisis, a veto-proof legislature and an adoring press.
You're right -- Obama's inexperience is showing, as is Rahm's power-lust. You should do an entire item (not just a comment) about your thesis that Obama's current crisis (declining polls and healthcare fiasco) is a result of his having been coddled and shielded by the fawning media. It's a great point!
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