Obama takes sides in racism case

[ianhumphreys]

You guys have seen the news latley about how that police officer arrested that black college officer and how obama immediantly took sides and bassically said (he didnt exactly say this) "Police officers are racially biast" this has steamed me because this officer has no record of racism and and even teaches classes to officers on how not to be racially biast(the dudes partner is even black) And the only reason the offcier arested the man was because he was yelling at the police officer and the cop was doing his job. Anyway im pretty pissed that obama took sides when he should have just said "We dont know what happend so well leave it at that" or the old golden term "NO comment". And the prez has pissed cops all over the nation and screwed the pooch of his political career and probably lost plenty of support.

Thoughts?

[GrammerNaziElite]

At 7/24/09 05:12 PM, ianhumphreys wrote: You guys have seen the news latley about how that police officer arrested that black college officer and how obama immediantly took sides and bassically said (he didnt exactly say this) "Police officers are racially biast"

Want to provide the full quote?

[ianhumphreys]

At 7/24/09 05:18 PM, GrammerNaziElite wrote:

At 7/24/09 05:12 PM, ianhumphreys wrote: You guys have seen the news latley about how that police officer arrested that black college officer and how obama immediantly took sides and bassically said (he didnt exactly say this) "Police officers are racially biast"

Want to provide the full quote?

Sure,

"The Cambrige officer acted stupidly" heres a nice pic too of him thinking "Oh shit!"

There ya go, thoughts?

[Col-Sandchez]

I had this discussion with my father, it was not an intelligent move on the President's behalf. He starts by saying he doesn't know the full story to, the officer acted stupidly. What he should have done, like OP said somewhere up there, is that he should have just said "I don't fully know of this situation, I will comment on it when I know." However, he didn't stay level-headed and said the Officer acted stupidly.

It all comes back to the color of your skin, almost always a conflict between others is because of that. The President took sides and now it's a media firestorm, oh joy. haha.

[ianhumphreys]

At 7/24/09 05:26 PM, Col-Sandchez wrote: I had this discussion with my father, it was not an intelligent move on the President's behalf. He starts by saying he doesn't know the full story to, the officer acted stupidly. What he should have done, like OP said somewhere up there, is that he should have just said "I don't fully know of this situation, I will comment on it when I know." However, he didn't stay level-headed and said the Officer acted stupidly.

It all comes back to the color of your skin, almost always a conflict between others is because of that. The President took sides and now it's a media firestorm, oh joy. haha.

Same thing my dad and i talked about, bottom line is: i don think barrack's getting a second term(not just from this but from many other things) I also think that many police departments will not be supporting him for a while and even bill cosby said he was shocked at what obama did (I heard somewhere that cosby was racist to whites but i dont think its true)

[fli]

link?

[SuperDeagle]

Googled obama cop stupid and found:
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/07/2 3/national/main5182185.shtml

[MultiCanimefan]

"But Mr. Obama added that he has 'extraordinary respect for the difficulties of the job that police officers do' and that it is his understanding that Crowley is an 'outstanding police officer.'

How did he take sides again? Just because someone says something negative about another person, does NOT mean that person took the opposite side. If I call you fat when you clearly are, I'm not taking the side of thin people, you see?

Obama simply called the police officer out. Should he have done that? No, but he didn't take sides.

[fli]

Obama didn't take sides. He talked about it, but taking sides? Here's the quote:

"I think it's fair to say, number one, any of us would be pretty angry," Mr. Obama said. "Number two, that the Cambridge police acted stupidly in arresting somebody when there was already proof that they were in their own home. And number three - what I think we know separate and apart from this incident - is that there is a long history in this country of African-Americans and Latinos being stopped by law enforcement disproportionately, and that's just a fact."

[SuperDeagle]

The actual comment is,
"I think it's fair to say, number one, any of us would be pretty angry," Mr. Obama said. "Number two, that the Cambridge police acted stupidly in arresting somebody when there was already proof that they were in their own home. And number three - what I think we know separate and apart from this incident - is that there is a long history in this country of African-Americans and Latinos being stopped by law enforcement disproportionately, and that's just a fact."

At 7/24/09 06:01 PM, MultiCanimefan wrote: "But Mr. Obama added that he has 'extraordinary respect for the difficulties of the job that police officers do' and that it is his understanding that Crowley is an 'outstanding police officer.'

This is a follow up comment some time after the above quote.
Taking sides or not, there was no reason for him to even remark on the whole long history of african americans and latinos thing.

[scarneck]

At 7/24/09 06:11 PM, SuperDeagle wrote: Taking sides or not, there was no reason for him to even remark on the whole long history of african americans and latinos thing.

From a political point of view your right, he shouldn't have mentioned that. Quite frankly it made me smile when I saw this because I'm kind of happy that we have a president who is willing to have an actual opinion that isnt just what voters want to hear

[DiaLady]

At 7/24/09 06:11 PM, SuperDeagle wrote:

Taking sides or not, there was no reason for him to even remark on the whole long history of african americans and latinos thing.

Why? Because racial and ethnic discrimination doesn't happen in the USA anymore? CNN just did another large report on African Americans, and for MANY people of color, the issues surrounding prejudicial misconduct are a very real part of their lives.

[SuperDeagle]

At 7/24/09 06:19 PM, DiaLady wrote:

At 7/24/09 06:11 PM, SuperDeagle wrote:

Taking sides or not, there was no reason for him to even remark on the whole long history of african americans and latinos thing.

Why? Because racial and ethnic discrimination doesn't happen in the USA anymore? CNN just did another large report on African Americans, and for MANY people of color, the issues surrounding prejudicial misconduct are a very real part of their lives.

Quit jumping the gun and sticking words in my mouth. In this case Obama had zero reason to bring this up, he's injecting race into something that has nothing to do with it. It would be different if he started a whole new subject about it, but instead he has it in a list directly commenting on the situation.

[DiaLady]

At 7/24/09 06:24 PM, SuperDeagle wrote:

Quit jumping the gun and sticking words in my mouth. In this case Obama had zero reason to bring this up, he's injecting race into something that has nothing to do with it. It would be different if he started a whole new subject about it, but instead he has it in a list directly commenting on the situation.

The issue of race in this story was interjected LONG before Obama got around to it; in fact it was central the moment Gates was arrested. The only reason why Obama made these comments was because people were already discussing the issue of race, he was asked a pointed question about the issue, and all he was was acknowledge an incredibly sad fact about the state of race relations today.

[fli]

At 7/24/09 06:11 PM, SuperDeagle wrote: This is a follow up comment some time after the above quote.
Taking sides or not, there was no reason for him to even remark on the whole long history of african americans and latinos thing.

There's an elephant in America.
Obviously there's something wrong when a highly educated and successful Black professor gets arrested. And he asked for a badge number, and the police says he's misbehaving.

I don't think the officer is racist (he does teach how not to not profile.)
But the police hide behind the solid blue wall.

Not all police, but we need to police the police. We really need to put cameras on them so that they record things exactly for both civilian and police.

[Buffalow]

I don't see why this became a huge sensationalist story. In fact, I don't understand how this could've even happened. Why, when confronted by the police, (who in fact, WERE DOING THEIR JOBS) the BLACK HARVARD PROFESSOR didn't simply take out his I.D., show it to the police, and then request for assistance into his home, simply astounds me.

Instead of doing the ladder, he proclaimed that the police wouldn't be doing this to a white man, EVEN THOUGH IT WAS DARK OUT AND THERE WAS A STRANGE MAN LURKING OUTSIDE A WEALTHY HOME TRYING TO BREAK IN. The police did not make this into a racial issue, the BLACK HARVARD PROFESSOR did.

[SuperDeagle]

At 7/24/09 06:39 PM, fli wrote: There's an elephant in America.

If that's directed towards me think again.

But the police hide behind the solid blue wall.

Not going to say some don't, just in this case I think a lot of this is unneeded bs.

[Achilles2]

This whole news story is incredibly stupid and shows how so many Americans are too dumb to overlook the fact that his neighbor has a different skin pigmentation than himself.

[The777Demon]

At 7/24/09 05:31 PM, ianhumphreys wrote:
Same thing my dad and i talked about, bottom line is: i don think barrack's getting a second term(not just from this but from many other things) I also think that many police departments will not be supporting him for a while and even bill cosby said he was shocked at what obama did (I heard somewhere that cosby was racist to whites but i dont think its true)

Bill Cosby has my respect and has had it for a long time. Obama and Gates don't have my respect.

[Korriken]

At 7/24/09 06:17 PM, scarneck wrote:

From a political point of view your right, he shouldn't have mentioned that. Quite frankly it made me smile when I saw this because I'm kind of happy that we have a president who is willing to have an actual opinion that isnt just what voters want to hear

except, that is exactly what the liberals want to hear, the president reaffirming that minorities are still being oppressed and that only the democratic party can keep them safe, so vote democrat.

[The777Demon]

At 7/24/09 06:52 PM, Buffalow wrote:

Instead of doing the ladder, he proclaimed that the police wouldn't be doing this to a white man,

I hope the cop responding by saying you wouldn't be saying this to a black man. The guy even had the charges dropped and still wants to start shit. He is a Harvard professor who has it better than most people and he is still whining about discrimination. This is not the 70's and he is no Martin Luther King.

Martin Luther King spoke for everyone not just blacks. Martin Luther King sacrificed a lot for his cause. Martin Luther King did not do what he did for himself. Gates is a fucking bigot and he is pulling this shit for himself. He is bitching about oppression when he has it better than the cop who arrested him. I'm tired of assholes who play the race card when they are being treated just like anyone else would be. Some people don't want equal rights, they want a get away with everything pass.

[MultiCanimefan]

Obama just invited the professor and police officer to have a beer and talk things over at the White House. Thoughts?

[Memorize]

At 7/24/09 06:29 PM, DiaLady wrote:

The issue of race in this story was interjected LONG before Obama got around to it; in fact it was central the moment Gates was arrested. The only reason why Obama made these comments was because people were already discussing the issue of race, he was asked a pointed question about the issue, and all he was was acknowledge an incredibly sad fact about the state of race relations today.

Well then, he certainly is one bright individual with a statement like "I don't know what happened and I don't know the facts... but the cops acted stupidly..."

[RazorHawk]

Obama is just being incompetent. He's got bigger issues to take care of, why is he wasting time on this?

Well, don't blame me, I voted McCain.

[aviewaskewed]

At 7/25/09 10:57 PM, RazorHawk wrote: Obama is just being incompetent. He's got bigger issues to take care of, why is he wasting time on this?

Because this has become a big issue and the police department got embarrassed and he's trying not to duck the question. He got asked, he continued to be asked, he made a statement about it...and because he's president everyone wants to talk about and dissect it vs. talking about the issues we really should focus on.

But those issues are complicated, this one is simple; it's either you think what Obama said isn't that bad and the cops were in the wrong, or that Obama's skin color effected his opinion on this issue. That's much simpler then the research it takes to competently argue economics, or health care, or even Iraq.

[adrshepard]

I think some people have misconceptions about the case and Obama's statement.
Gates was not arrested for burglary or trespassing, but for disorderly conduct. Read the arrest report: http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/yea rs/2009/0723092gates1.html
If this is to believed, then the policeman was leaving when Gates started being disorderly, which will likely be confirmed in the official investigation.

Secondly, Obama didn't hold a press conference or issue a special statement on this matter. He was specifically asked about the case and its racial implications by a (douchebag) reporter.

Focusing on this event and Obama's remarks is not making something out of nothing. Sure, we can all say that we've said stupid things spontaneously, but remember that Obama built his career through public speaking. He must be held to a higher standard than what we would apply to ourselves. This isn't a simple Bush-like gaffe, but an indication of how he thinks. It's the same way Gates thinks. A supposedly smart and educated man, when confronted by police he immediately concludes it's exclusively because he's black.

The "redistributive change," "spread the wealth around," his bow to the Saudi king, and now this remark are too consistent with his policies to be simple gaffes or misstatements. They may be mistakes, but only because through them Obama revealed his true beliefs, ideas not as resounding to the public as "hope" and "change."

[SeraphimFalling]

He really didn't say anything other than state facts. Also what about what the entire rest of the conference was about? I find it funny people don't seem to care about the other 99% of what he talked about. i.e. healthcare.

[joshhunsaker]

Why the hell was Obama wading into some meager local police issue in the first place? He doesn't have anything to do but call up a press conference because some black dude had a domestic altercation? WTF? Who cares?

Not like there's tax dollars out there that could have been better apportioned than to cover Obama's personal stance on some retardedly unimportant event in U.S. history. Really.

[SeraphimFalling]

At 7/26/09 01:06 AM, joshhunsaker wrote: Why the hell was Obama wading into some meager local police issue in the first place? He doesn't have anything to do but call up a press conference because some black dude had a domestic altercation? WTF? Who cares?

Not like there's tax dollars out there that could have been better apportioned than to cover Obama's personal stance on some retardedly unimportant event in U.S. history. Really.

You obviously don't know the story at all.

1. The press conference was about something completely different.
2. He waded because we was asked to.
3. Obama only stated facts about the situation.
4. What is unimportant about racial discrimination?

[joshhunsaker]

At 7/26/09 01:14 AM, SeraphimFalling wrote:

At 7/26/09 01:06 AM, joshhunsaker wrote: Why the hell was Obama wading into some meager local police issue in the first place? He doesn't have anything to do but call up a press conference because some black dude had a domestic altercation? WTF? Who cares?

Not like there's tax dollars out there that could have been better apportioned than to cover Obama's personal stance on some retardedly unimportant event in U.S. history. Really.

You obviously don't know the story at all.

1. The press conference was about something completely different.
2. He waded because we was asked to.
3. Obama only stated facts about the situation.
4. What is unimportant about racial discrimination?

"Acted stupidly" is a fact? I don't know that that type of statement is ever not subjective.

I don't think the president has to formulate an opinion about every possible scenario/person involved in a unfair situation where the other person does not have the same color skin. I think the people "acting stupidly" are the ones bringing up all sorts of "what do you think about this? And this? And this? And this? And what do you think about that? And that?" type of questions.

"Mr. President, we are all so curious what you feel you will name your next pet and the color fur you would like it to have. Oh and what is your favorite breakfast cereal. Thank you."