The American Spectator

Anna Keppa| 7.21.09 @ 3:31PM

"You don't know who you're messin' with", Gates threatens.

This is what happens to black men in America!”, he bleats.

What a clown. Someone give this gas-bag of an academic a purple cape and flouncy hat --- because he's acting like a race pimp.

Sean| 7.21.09 @ 4:08PM

I don't agree with the behavior of Gates, but this officer was way off base to arrest someone for that. He should have identified Gates as the resident and then left. Gates has a right to yell at whoever he wants on his property. This seems to me about an officer trying to save face in front of others.

Tim| 7.21.09 @ 4:18PM

AKA "Contempt of Cop"

Roy| 7.21.09 @ 6:12PM

Gates sounds like a ridiculous race-card jackass.

Aristocracy is alive and well, but it helps to be a racial minority. Then you can yell at some lower class upstart cop who thinks we are all equal before the law, not understanding that Harvard professors, especially belonging to racial minorities, are more equal than others.

To give Gates the maximum credit I can, he might be so steeped in race card horse waste that he actually believes himself that police officers have nothing better to do than run around being "racist". If I thought, like lots of people do, that Harvard professors were smarter than others that would be a bad sign; however I'm figuring that just as white Harvard professors are leftist fanatics but normal white people are sensible, the same is true with black people.

Richard Baker| 7.21.09 @ 7:34PM

Read the Police report and Gates is a tenured jackass, at best. The part I liked was when he said that the door was in disrepair due to a previous break-in. What a jerk. The Responding Officer, it appears, kept his cool in the face of this loudmouth. I guess the next time the neighbors are suspicious they should just go "Oh, it's just Gates' home. Never mind".

Alan Brooks| 7.21.09 @ 8:42PM

we feel better seeing the newsphoto of the black policeman in the other yard.

Barry "The Beast" oBambalio| 7.21.09 @ 9:11PM

After reading the police report my conclusion is that a white guy would have been arrested even sooner.

Frankns| 7.21.09 @ 10:11PM

I've always known that at some point -- having known many cops -- if I got out of line with my imperfect temper ... in just the right situation with a cop, I'd get arrested for disorderly conduct. And I've always known that it would be my fault for not knowing the rules of the game. It feels like this is what happened to Gates. He crossed a line that would put most anyone in cuffs. The line, "You don't know who you're dealing with ..." pretty much guaranteed him a ride to the pokey.

Richard Baker| 7.22.09 @ 12:29AM

Ah Sean, me lad. Why don't you try your method in a similar situation and see what happens. Please.
Center of Mass.

Patriot| 7.23.09 @ 1:48AM

Yeah, Sean; if you want to try out your method--anyone of us would volunteer to play the cop.

Richard Baker| 7.23.09 @ 3:26PM

runescape gold:
So let's see. On the off chance that one of our citizenry sees anything happening near a Black man's house, we should do nothing and if the Black man wants or needs help, whether or not it's asked for, then we ignore it and keep on walking? Remember, the leading cause of death of young black males 18-25 is another young black male 18-25. Wonder why that is? Maybe it involves a big mouth or is it just simple racism? If Gates had been hurt by a burglar, say, then he'd have cried Racism!, regardless because the cops didn't save him. That's his mindset, he's a race hustler. Doubt that, then READ the police report. Wonder what the witness and the seven onlookers thought at that time of the morning? Let's hear it for Sgt. Crowley, the arresting officer.

sri| 7.25.09 @ 3:47AM

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http://markthispage.blogspot.com/2009/07/all-about-cambridge-police-unit-demands.html

Wondercat| 7.25.09 @ 7:33AM

@Sean: During a suspected break-in, identifying someone who claims entitlement to be there as indeed lawfully entitled to be there...can be tricky. Even when residence-specific ID is shown.

Example 1: I keep my Arizona DL when I move to Wyoming, get a new one there, return to Arizona, break in at my old address. Cop arrives for report of break-in. I flash my (ex)-residence ID, the cop leaves....

Example 2: My wife / partner, via a protection order, has recently had me evicted. She is on the floor of an upstairs closet, bloodied, bound, and gagged. Cop arrives for report of break-in. I flash my (ex)-residence ID, the cop leaves....

Neither scenario has a happy outcome, eh?

Establishing that a person with a residence-specific ID indeed has a right to be inside that residence can require a good bit of radiotelephone work with the station house. And a good bit of time. Maybe that's what Prof Gates wasn't letting Sergeant Crowley have. Maybe he wasn't letting Sergeant Crowley do his job. Maybe that's why the officer asked to have Prof Gates taken out of the picture...

Prof Gates was perhaps lucky not to have the house searched, the drawers emptied. Rage evokes suspicion.

For a fellow with a lot of pieces of paper on his walls to prove how clever he is, Prof Gates sure was dumb.

Stumblebum| 7.25.09 @ 8:20AM

It it appears the self-important professor is clearly the north end of horse headed south, a typical race baiter. This guy has a huge chip on his shoulder. He was probably also upset at what he found when he got home, having to force entry into his house and was already "upset" which also most likely fed a preconditioned response to Officer Crowley inquiry. Having said all that, I don't think he should have been arrested. A report should have been filed and the Harvard police should have been notified that perhaps Mr. Gates would derive benefit from a psychiatric evaluation. Obama, he should have minded his own business!! Instead, he opened his mouth on a matter that he knew little about and made a complete ass of himself! This guy really has a messianic view of himself. He seems to think he knows everything about everything. The leader of the free world? Scary thought!

Sturzndram| 7.26.09 @ 2:14AM

As absurd and outrageous as Gates/Obama were, I think we are in the midst of a major cultural shift. Glib claims of black exceptionalism are being rebuffed as the BS they are. Maybe blacks with such distorted worldviews as Gates/Obama can start to summon the circumspection to see things as they are. Its a great big crowded world and thers is no room for the intemperance and lack of responsibility exhibited by black culture. Have I generalized? Yes.Have I over-generalized? No.

yani| 7.27.09 @ 8:48PM

It makes me angry to see this as national news at all. Just that distinctions of race are in the headlines at all adds significance to racial barriers. Whether or not it is intentional, by covering news like this rather than say the violence on the streets of Tehran, journalists are only continuing age old stereotypes. I found a good discussion of the matter here: http://www.pandalous.com/topic/how_to_deal_with

sturzndram| 8.1.09 @ 12:51AM

I hear no credible shred of evidence to say that the police acted improperly, yet Obama wants too blur any distinctions, hiding behind the mostly intellectually incontinent notion that there are always too sides to every story, This was too gloss over his intemperate remarks. I think it is unfortunate that the police diidn't hold too their principles and charge the rabid mouthed Gates. A bully on a pulpit, indeed.

Obama had the further temerity to start lecturing us about the plight of the black man.

THE biggest problem for American black males is their own anger and self centeredness. If you don't believe me then yes, I guess you might make a wild stab that the horrendous crime rate, the abyssmal educational and professional achievement rates of blacks, particularly black males, is somehow white americas fault. If you refuse to own your own failings, you can't make far flung claims of grievance. That was the 70;s, for godssake Obama/Gates/Sharpton et.al. it's 2009!