I would suppose that the first thought for some Americans when hearing “Gates” and “Harvard” in the same breath would be to think, “Didn’t Bill Gates drop out of Harvard?” But the talk of the town today is the imbroglio surrounding the arrest last week of Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates. The disorderly conduct charge was quickly dropped. The arrest report is available at The Smoking Gun.
http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/years/2009/0723092gates1.html
This story is such a big deal here in greater Boston that I’ll weigh in with a few points.
- I don’t think it’s the job of police to know who every “somebody” is in their town. In fact, it’s better that they don’t know.
- President Obama, after saying “”Skip” Gates is a friend, so I may be a little biased here. I don’t know all the facts,” should not have said “that the Cambridge Police acted stupidly.”
- I think Gates should have stopped making reckless accusations of racism against Cambridge Police Sgt. James Crowley, and when he didn’t I think Crowley should have let it drop.
- If Gates pursues a lawsuit against Crowley, I wouldn’t be surprised if Crowley sues Gates for slander.
- I would like to see Gates and Crowley appear together, shake hands, and say the whole thing ends then and there. Neither has to apologize personally, other than to say they’re sorry it happened, and leave it at that.
Yes, Barky is a nickname for Obama that is very popular around here. Don’t know why, but as you can guess, very few people here like him. I don’t guess you’d remember Ricardo, as I only dated him for six months.
Tom and I are both disillusioned with Obama, but it’s a no-win situation for anybody walking into the presidency right now. Still, I don’t think Barack was ready to be president. Sure, he’s slick, speaks well, and is uber-laid-back, but that doesn’t make a great president.
Obama has done himself no favors. Any cops who were supporters no longer are. And that’s nationwide. Also, by taking sides Obama has fallen right into the Right’s talking point about Sotomayer as the empathy justice.
Sorry, but I don’t remember the Harvard guy ay-tall. Is Barky yet another slang for Barack?
I totally agree, Dougie, both sides should swallow their pride, back down and shake hands. Leave Barky out of it. Why does racism have to rear its ugly head again? And remember! Klatuu … I mean, Obama is only half-black! SHEESH!
Remember how I dated a Harvard professor years ago? HE had a run-in with the SAME Cambridge police. He was not drunk, but was being a hot-head Spaniard over a minor traffic violation in front of a restaurant (I wasn’t there at the time) Nobody would back down. In the end, all was forgiven, but it left a bad taste in his mouth. Somehow, TPTB at Harvard got wind of it and it probably cost him his job. Silly, silly, silly.