So now President Obama & Professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr. want to share a beer with Sgt. James Crowley of the Cambridge Police Department at the White House.
You bet they do.
Both the President and the Professor underestimated their adversary. They also underestimated the support Sgt. Crowley has amongst his peers of all races.
After his arrest became public, Gates demanded an apology from Crowley. If Gates had received this apology he would impart his wisdom about “the history of racism in America and the issue of racial profiling.” (
Boston.com)
The only problem was that Crowley did not require Gates’ services. As it turned out, Crowley had been handpicked by Cambridge’s previous police chief Ronnie Watson (who happens to be African-American) to teach recruits at the Lowell Police Academy how to not engage in racial profiling. (
bostonherald.com)
So much for Gates claim Crowley had a “narrative in his head” of a “black guy breaking and entering.” (
guardian.co.uk)
President Obama then got into the act. During a nationally televised press conference to discuss health care reform, the President suddenly caught a bad case of foot-in-mouth disease when he said that Sgt. Crowley and the Cambridge Police Department had “acted stupidly” in arresting Gates. This despite the fact Obama admitted to not knowing all of the facts surrounding the incident. It should also be noted that Gates is a personal friend of President.
The President’s intervention did not sit well even in the liberal bastion that is Massachusetts. This was evident by the response of some Boston Globe readers when they were asked, “Should the President have spoken out on Gates arrest?”
Here’s one answer to that question:
Who made this about RACE first?? First it was SKIP (Professor Gates’ nickname) and then it was his friend BARRACK (sic).
I never voted for SKIP but I did vote for BARRACK (sic) but I wont (sic) do that again!!
Consider this reply:
When he said it, I remember thinking, the President will regret his comments. No matter what you believe happened, and no matter how strong your convictions, as President, your words carry more weight than all the parties involved. For that reason alone, the President should have deferred the question. He has added fuel to the fire, which may have burned out on its own. I am surprised he took a stand, at a press conference no less, when clearly he had the opportunity to excuse himself from commenting. For someone who is usually so cool, President Obama did a very uncool thing. ..
Or this one:
I respected the President and was so happy he got elected...Having 2nd thoughts now. He had no business interfering with a trivial issue being blown out of proportion (sic). All who have made desparaging (sic) remarks to the law should and must apologize to Cambridge Police Dept and to Officer Crowley, period.. Dr. Gates, The President and Ma Gov. Patrick. Others should think before they speak.
You can be certain the White House switchboard was lit up with comments such as the ones you see above. Law abiding populaces do not appreciate public officials berating the people who risk their lives protecting and serving the public without just cause. President Obama heard the sound of that segment of the population jumping off his bandwagon. So Obama got on the phone to make nice with Sgt. Crowley and tried to warm up to him by extending an invitation to the White House for a cold one.
Crowley has accepted the President’s invitation and it is expected the three parties will meet sometime this week. There are those who believe Crowley should have politely declined the President’s invitation rather than be used as a political prop. There is a chance either Obama or Gates could utilize this forum to grandstand. Even if that doesn’t take place there is certainly no guarantee this meeting would prevent Gates from either suing the City of Cambridge or making his PBS documentary about racial profiling.
But short of having to tend to a dying relative if Crowley were to have not accepted President Obama’s invitation he would have been vulnerable to another round of criticism. He would have been decried for not showing unity and a willingness to move forward. Besides, Sgt. Crowley has already demonstrated he can hold his own with and is not intimidated by either Professor Gates or President Obama.
Of course, the
liberal media is still trying to feverishly discredit Crowley. The latest item is Lucia Whalen, the woman who called 911 in the first place on that fateful Thursday afternoon. She claims, through her attorney Wendy Murphy, that she never identified the alleged assailants by race over the phone or in person with any member of the Cambridge Police Department. She also asserts never having spoken with Crowley at the scene.
While the assailants were not identified during the initial 911 call, whether or not Whalen identified the race of the alleged assailants on the phone or at the scene, Sgt. Crowley was still obligated to investigate if there was in fact a break in at Gates’ residence on Ware Street. Crowley determined there was no break in and that Gates indeed resided there. Unfortunately, Gates took it upon himself to unnecessarily escalate the situation and here we find ourselves.
This isn’t to say there aren’t instances of racial profiling. This also isn’t to say there aren’t instances of police abuse. But just because racial profiling and police abuse exist doesn’t mean this is what happened on the part of Sgt. Crowley in his treatment of Professor Gates nearly two weeks ago.
You see both the Professor Gates and President Obama made the mistake of judging Sgt. Crowley by the color of his uniform instead of the content of his character.
Aaron Goldstein was a card carrying member of the socialist New Democratic Party of Canada (NDP). Since 09/11, Aaron has reconsidered his ideological inclinations and has become a Republican. Aaron lives and works in Boston. 
