Obama's Political Bravery (in re: Cambridge Professor Story)

[Pangloss]

Further... You, being a relatively well-off white male, seem to have a very rosy view of the authority of police and how far we should allow that authority to extend.

 

And you, being a relatively well-off white male, seem to feel that black people should be given certain advantages over white people as compensation for perceived disadvantages that may or may not be real.

 

Or maybe neither one of us fits into an oversimplified stereotype and in fact both of us are thinking along more complex lines.

 

 

Interesting question. It's certainly a combination of a) those who wish to delay healthcare reform,

I suppose it's possible, but you'll want to flip that cui bono. The White House is going to be thoroughly embarrassed if the current bills don't pass before the recess (because he threw his full weight behind these deeply flawed bills). A victory in the race wars would be a nice way to offset some of that damage. The opposition, on the other hand, would probably rather have health care front and center at the moment, if recent poll numbers are any indication.

 

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/07/25/AR2009072501949.html

[iNow]

The White House is going to be thoroughly embarrassed if the current bills don't pass before the recess (because he threw his full weight behind these deeply flawed bills).

I think "thoroughly embarrassed" is a bit of a stretch, as we already know it won't happen before the August deadline (in fact, Obama already commented about it).

 

 

http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSTRE56M0HE20090723

The day after Obama held a prime-time news conference to sell his top domestic priority, congressional leaders struggled to ease doubts about the healthcare plan and Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid said the full chamber would not take it up until September.

 

"I think that it's better to have a product that is one that's based on quality and thoughtfulness rather than trying to jam something through," Reid told reporters.

 

Obama conceded the bills would be delayed but said he still wanted to see the Democratic-controlled Congress make some progress.

 

 

While I like talking about healthcare, and feel it to be a more appropriate subject on which to spend time, it is not the topic of this thread.

 

 

 

 

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Merged post follows:

Consecutive posts merged

Don't you think the primary reason is that the was raised at Obama's press conference, and that Obama acted stupidly by responding without full information?

 

Politically, it was a mistake to respond the way he did, yes. However, as I mentioned on the previous page, I respect the fact that he's genuine and shares his thoughts with us as if we're adults and capable of handling his sincerity. Perhaps a better question is whether or not we, as a culture, truly are mature enough to handle such unrestrained authenticity, or if we need to be coddled like spoiled tantrum throwing toddlers. In my mind, the answer to that question is really open for debate.

Edited July 26, 2009 by iNow
Consecutive posts merged.

[Pangloss]

I guess that makes it a weapon of message distraction?

[iNow]

I think Bob Scheiffer nailed it this morning in his "final word." He gave a great deal of credit to Obama for having the leadership and integrity to admit he made an error by commenting, and then went on to share some really simple truths which apply to all sides.

 

http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=5189421n

[john5746]

After browsing this thread, I decided to take a look at the police report. I agree that Gates was the bigot in this case, assuming that the white officer was racist. He also seemed to think his Harvard badge gave him special status. I think he was the cause of all this spiraling out of control.

 

On the other hand, the cop really led this guy to his arrest. If he had just told the guy he was leaving and to remain in his house, there would be no reason to arrest the guy. It would be like leading a drunk guy out of his house, then arresting him for public drunkeness. In subsequent interviews, Crowley implied he did it for safety, but in the report, it was only because he couldn't hear/talk over Gates' yelling.

 

I agree that we should respect cops as with anyone else, but many people take verbal abuse in their jobs and don't feel the need to arrest people for it, especially if they can leave. I think they should review the situation and try to do something different to avoid arresting the home owner if it happens again. Like telling the home owner, sorry for the intrusion, remain in your house or you may be arrested, we are leaving.

[Pangloss]

That Bob Scheiffer video was awesome, thanks for posting it.

[iNow]

Since this issue seems finally to have come to an end, I thought it would be nice to bookend it with this.

 

 

 

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[Severian]

Incidentally, something similar to this happened to me once.

 

But don't you think that your story was also an abusive of police powers? From the way you tell it, it was very clear to the policeman, fairly quickly, that no harm had been done and you had done nothing wrong. His detaining you was purely to punish you for arguing with him. That is just wrong. It is not the police's place to punish.

 

Likewise in the case we are discussing, as soon as the officer determined that the guy was the home owner, and didn't want his assistance, he should have apologised for the disturbance and left. Although it was a misunderstanding, it was the police officer who was somewhere where he wasn't needed or wanted. He enflamed the situation by staying and being confrontational. This may have been deliberate, because he was offended by the guy shouting at him, or it may have just been stupidity, but either way it was bad policing.

 

My dealings with the police have always been fairly good (probably because I am a fairly calm person). I remember once in Cambridge visiting a friend in a different college with another friend of mine (I would have been about 20 at the time). It got a bit late, and we realised that they had closed the gates when we tried to leave, so we climbed a wall (about 8 feet high) and jumped out. Unfortunately we landed right next to two female police officers.

 

They of course asked what we were doing and we explained (somewhat sheepishly). They were very nice about it and there was no problem, and we even chatted and flirted with them for a bit. As we left, one of them gave me her phone number... (I never did call).

Edited August 3, 2009 by Severian

[Pangloss]

You sly dog.

 

In answer to your question, yes, perhaps so. Unfortunately finding that exact point where we transition from the normal (if uncomfortable) process of interrogation to something inappropriate and generated by emotion on the officer's part is tricky. It may ultimately not be definable as a simple set of steps in a procedure that an officer could follow.