Barack Obama has done an exceptionally rude, arrogant, uninformed, and just plain amateurish thing in saying the Cambridge police “acted stupidly” in the arrest of academic Henry Louis Gates Jr.
Note that Obama made this claim, as yet unretracted, despite admitting twice that he didn’t have all of the facts of the incident.
- As an attorney, he should recognize and respect the prudence of keeping his mouth shut under such circumstances.
- As the President of the United States, he should recognize and respect the tremendous attention given anything emerging from his open mouth.
But nope, he still doesn’t get it. The presidency is just the latest little project for the eternal community organizer, who looks awfully good in his suit and gives a polished speech. Talented college student, remember?
The president of the city’s police union is now calling on Obama to apologize. I say good luck with that, buddy. There is now much in evidence to reasonably conclude that our esteemed president is an obstinate prick for the sheer hell of it, and he’s not going to apologize without a lot more unrest than a bunch of irritated cops. (If an apology does ever come, it will almost certainly be of the smarmy “I’m sorry you were offended” variety.)
Incidentally, arresting officer James Crowley isn’t backing up a millimeter. He claims no wrongdoing of any kind, and says an apology is neither necessary nor forthcoming. I hope he’s got the gumption to stay with that. It’d be nice to have at least one principled principal in this situation.
Indeed. Post-racial idealism my ass.
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I may not agree with all of your opinions about Obama, but with this one, we’re on the same wavelength. I cringed when I heard his comment on the matter. It’s an off the cuff, ill-informed comment that is embarrassingly un-presidential. Now I also say this as someone who does not have all of the facts as to what happened during that arrest (only the police and Mr. Gates know for sure). But this is exactly why I’m not going around crying racial profiling or for that matter, questioning Gates’ character or motivations. Let it play out, Mr President, and keep your beak out of it until the facts are sorted, folded, and in the linen closet.
Obama has apologized many times. What about all of his “apology tours” where he apologized for everything the USA had done in the last 200 years? From the WSJ:
Oh wait. You meant apologize for the many “stupid” things he has done. Silly me.
I cannot wait to use his apology in real life. Next time I need to simply say “I’m sorry” I’ll use this “I should have calibrated my words differently” Shmuck.
Wait until I post my next “Just Another Random Monday” installment on 7/27 and refer to this issue…
For your reading pleasure, the original police report(s): http://www.amnation.com/vfr/Police%20report%20on%20Gates%20arrest.PDF
The most interesting thing to me is that the Boston Globe had this on its website, but has since taken it down.
Jeremy: I have you pegged, my friend. You’re definitely a libertarian in training. 🙂 Glad we found some common ground on this. Maybe we’ll find some more sometime.
BB_FAN: What’s amazing about this approach to foreign policy is how little it’s gotten us. It’ll be interesting, and hopefully not too damaging, to see how it progresses.
Susan: Use it often. I’ll do the same. It’s a slimy (non-)out that deserves to be in the vernacular.
NHFalcon: Will do. Comment at length. Perhaps it’ll get more interesting this weekend. The one thing you should not expect is genuine humility.
‘seester: Thanks. I went ahead and pulled that local, just in case it disappears from there too.
“Jack Dunphy” is the pseudonym of an LAPD officer who writes pieces for National Review from time to time. Here are his thoughts on the matter, presented with his usual insight and wit.