My Presidential-Sounding Statement on the Arrest of Henry Louis Gates
Let me be clear. I do not know the facts of the Henry Louis Gates arrest.
But my understanding of the facts is that the officer once gave a black man mouth-to-mouth resuscitation; that the officer is an expert on avoiding racial profiling; that he spoke to a witness who had seen two black men attempting to break into Gates’s home; that the officer talked to Gates, a black man inside that home; that Gates did not explain to the officer that he had been shut out of his own home — and that Gates decided that the police officer, a man apparently trying to do his job, was a racist, and started screaming at him.
I think it’s fair to say, No. 1, any of us would be pretty angry if we were called a racist for trying to do our jobs.
No. 2, Gates acted stupidly in not explaining to an officer who said he was investigating a possible break-in: “Oh, I understand what’s going on here. My door was jammed and I was trying to jimmy it open. Someone must have seen seen that and assumed I was breaking in!”
No. 3—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 complaining about being stopped by law enforcement disproportionately. And that’s just a fact. Yet, when they are being stopped because they fit the description of a criminal, that means someone with their skin color committed a crime. And maybe they could reserve some of their outrage for those criminals — because if the criminal hadn’t committed the crime, they wouldn’t get stopped.
Knowing nothing about what actually happened, I just thought I would nevertheless pop off and express a bunch of opinions that make it seem like I do know what happened.
All part of my effort to appear presidential.
OK. Now how about this Health care mess you’re making?
jcw46 (a0c012) — 7/23/2009 @ 7:49 pmStanley Kurtz had a pretty prescient article about Obama last August in the Weekly Standard. He’s got long sections in it about how Obama is anything but a post-racial President. Obama had an annual crusade to pass anti-profiling legislation while he was a legislator in Illinois, completely buying into the false connections between population statistics, traffic stops and implied racism. He also hooked up with his usual buddies Ayers, Dohrn, Meeks and Pfleger in his pursuit of “reforming the criminal justice system.”
http://www.weeklystandard.com/Utilities/printer_preview.asp?idArticle=15386&R=13BA318AF5
daleyrocks (718861) — 7/23/2009 @ 7:56 pmIt would be more impressive if you read that off a teleprompter.
SPQR (26be8b) — 7/23/2009 @ 7:57 pmGreat post – Iowahawk-worthy!
Regarding the teleprompter, anyone else notice that Obama for the first time didn’t even bother trying to act like he was looking at anyone in the room and was just straight reading it off the ol tely?
Then again, why should he look at sheep?
harkin (f92f52) — 7/23/2009 @ 8:07 pmAll part of my effort to appear presidential.
Well, if anyone wants to appear presidential in today’s upside-down America — thanks in part to the brilliant electorate that decided the election last November — one actually needs to display a knack for being ass-backwards time and time, and time, again.
So to fit the agenda, one has to give a million benefits of the doubt to Jeremiah Wright (not to mention Bill Ayers) while cheering the firing of radio personality Don Imus.
Or one has to be a big softie to Iran while displaying the heel of one’s shoe to Israel.
Or one has to be a big pushover to Hugo Chavez, Fidel Castro and Manual Zelayo while scolding the good people of Honduras.
Ass backwards.
Ass backwards.
Ass backwards.
The very essence of Barack Barry Obama.
Mark (411533) — 7/23/2009 @ 8:14 pm“I don’t know the facts of the case. Henry Gates is a friend of mine and I’d like to think that he wouldn’t have acted improperly. While I don’t know this particular police officer, I have a lot of respect for those who are, and I’d like to think that he too wouldn’t have done anything inappropriate. And that’s all I will have to say on this issue. Thank you.”
steve sturm (3811cf) — 7/23/2009 @ 8:16 pmThis is a great post.
DRJ (6f3f43) — 7/23/2009 @ 8:24 pmOMG – I lost count of the racist codewords at 583.
JD (f303d4) — 7/23/2009 @ 8:25 pmExcellent philosophical examination by Henry of Crooked Timber of the Gates arrest.
Fritz (09dc28) — 7/23/2009 @ 8:31 pmOh that the sergeant carried a recording device. I’d love to hear Professor Gates on tape.
Obama: “That is not the Henry Gates that I knew.”
I presume if there was a recording we’d have heard about it by now. But perhaps the sergeant is waiting, waiting…
ManlyDad (060305) — 7/23/2009 @ 8:46 pmObama had nice things to say about Mark Buhrle’s perfect game. He told Mark to buy Dewayne Wise a steak for his circus catch in the 9th. I don’t care what other dumb things Obama does today; he is representing sox fandom well.
I ran a race by the lakefront tonight, and traffic was stopped for miles on Lake Shore Drive, with Obama taking off by helicopter from Lincoln Park. People were getting out of their cars, but they mostly weren’t really mad.
The USA soccer team beat Honduras at Soldier Field to make it to the finals of the Gold Cup. In the race, we ran past lots of Mexican fans in sombreros (Mexico played Costa Rica at 9PM).
I’m sure that President Obama is not improving my life tonight, but I can’t be bothered to care. It is a beautiful night in the best city in the world.
carlitos (f6d565) — 7/23/2009 @ 8:48 pmCominskey Field, carlitos. He is a poser.
JD (b09e6a) — 7/23/2009 @ 8:55 pmWhy can’t I escape the feeling that this was a “hey, look over there” moment?
The President has committed his whole legacy to passing some sort of “health-care reform.”
But, really, isn’t this some ginned-up crisis? It’s more about getting votes than actually changing how people receive health care.
I would venture to say that everything wrong with health care today is because of government meddling.
There is a role for government in regulating health care. We really don’t need phrenologists examining the bumps on our heads for diagnoses.
I do know that our family doctor wanted my wife and I to have our son’s tonsils out. We weighed the advantages and risk factors and decided against it. He never mentioned it again.
Were we right? I don’t know. He’s about to turn 18 and is in good health. I’m about to turn 52, with my tonsils, and I’m in good health. My two tonsiless brothers, 55 and 47, are also in good health.
My point is this: Doctors make decisions based on the best information they have at the moment. Sometimes they are wrong. Sometimes drastically so.
But, I would rather bet my life on their intelligence and training than on some bureaucrat looking at actuarial data.
Nonetheless, I’m just an old, racist, a-hole. What do I know? I’m not a doctor. Outside of their lobby, what do they think?
Ag80 (a71b80) — 7/23/2009 @ 9:02 pmThis has the potential to be Obama’s Waterloo. I hope he weighs in early and often. After all, you never want a serious crisis to go to waste.
SCLAW (a94dbf) — 7/23/2009 @ 9:02 pmI know JD. That particular quote was brutal, but I know for sure that he is a big fan.
carlitos (f6d565) — 7/23/2009 @ 9:02 pmAnd, oh crap, I posted this in exactly the wrong thread. Sorry.
Ag80 (a71b80) — 7/23/2009 @ 9:04 pmMrs. carlito reminds me to mention that she had to deal with socialized medicine in Scotland, and she does not recommend it.
carlitos (f6d565) — 7/23/2009 @ 9:05 pmYou are far more generous than I. That would be the equivalent of someone claiming to be a Bears fan calling their home Military Park.
JD (b09e6a) — 7/23/2009 @ 9:05 pmChicago best city in the World?
Need to get out of the Mid-West more often.
I LOVE Chicago but hey now!
HeavenSent (01a566) — 7/23/2009 @ 9:10 pmChicago is a sensational town, to visit.
JD (78ecba) — 7/23/2009 @ 9:14 pmI’ve been to Stockholm in July, Sydney, New York, etc. I prefer my hometown.
carlitos (f6d565) — 7/23/2009 @ 9:14 pmI’m not convinced it isn’t racist to assume a white person is racist.
Why is it not utterly and unacceptably racist for Gates to assume this officer was after him for a racist reason?
Soledad O’Brien was trying to explain to me tonight why black people are so wary of white police officers. Because the officers have a habit of questioning black people, she said. But I wonder if Gates had been so questioned in the past. Has he been asked if he had broken into his home before? Had his neighbors?
And I wonder if they sat down with a white person and talked about it, if their experiences would be so different. I know the few times I’ve had to break into my house/car, I’ve joked that some onlooker would call the cops. It happens.
At least I know I would be called racist if I were automatically suspect of a black youth. So being suspect of a white cop is ok? Why?
MayBee (3ea00e) — 7/23/2009 @ 9:21 pm“I’m not convinced it isn’t racist to assume a white person is racist.”
I will take that one step further. I am convinced it is.
JD (1517ae) — 7/23/2009 @ 9:27 pmShouldn’t the question be, what the hell was the cop doing in the first place?
Seattle Slew (4dff28) — 7/23/2009 @ 9:30 pmI really like Chicago but I do find it a bit townish for my tastes. I am not a town type person.
Great memories. Have great friends there on the Gold Coast and Lincoln Park (I think that is what it is called).
When I used to travel, Chicago, Vegas, LA, Miami were common stops. Rome, Madrid, Paris and London in Europe. Sao Paulo and Mexico City in SA. Tokyo in Asia.
God, those were some fun times. Young, no kids, money in my pocket, intellectually great job and girls girls girls girls.
But New York is home. Nothing tastes like it in the world even with the Disney-fication of it in the last 15 years.
HeavenSent (01a566) — 7/23/2009 @ 9:30 pmAt first I was going to tell Patterico “Bravo” for this post. Then I realized that doing so would make me a racist.
I denounce myself!
GM Roper (d53336) — 7/23/2009 @ 9:31 pmI will take that one step further. I am convinced it is.
Yeah.
I once worked with a woman who insisted she was justified in hating black people because black youths killed her sister. I thought it was tragic, and those people were horrible, but I didn’t see how that made all black people horrible. So I don’t see why the reverse is ok.
I think it is completely unacceptable to paint the many with the few.
MayBee (3ea00e) — 7/23/2009 @ 9:41 pmI also think it is a huge burden to go through life assuming other people have horrible thoughts about you.
Seattle Slew – The cop was responding to a 911 call of a reported break-in.
JD (3ab713) — 7/23/2009 @ 9:41 pmIf that makes the cop the hero in your world, go with it buddy.
Seattle Slew (4dff28) — 7/23/2009 @ 9:42 pmSo, you do not think that the cop should respond to a 911 call? You were the one that asked what the cop was doing there in the first place.
We really need better trolls.
JD (e6edba) — 7/23/2009 @ 9:47 pmWhere did I say the cop was a hero, Seattle Slew?
JD (8f6877) — 7/23/2009 @ 9:51 pmThe psychology on these types is fascinating.
JD (1762b4) — 7/23/2009 @ 10:05 pmAnytime a cop goes to a house what’s got people in it he’s either going to arrest people or he’s not going to arrest people. Plan accordingly.
happyfeet (c75712) — 7/23/2009 @ 10:10 pmNailed it, Patterico.
Beldar (c94cbf) — 7/23/2009 @ 10:13 pmI am curious, Seattle Slew, what your actual point is. Should not the police officer investigate the reported break in?
JD (3b62be) — 7/23/2009 @ 10:18 pmKnowing nothing about what actually happened, I just thought I would nevertheless pop off and express a bunch of opinions that make it seem like I do know what happened.
My God, Patterico! This qualifies you for both a radio and television talk show on Fox! Watch our, Billo!
DCSCA (9d1bb3) — 7/23/2009 @ 10:25 pmActually, International Man of Parody, by your standard, it qualifies him to take over for Baracky.
JD (3b62be) — 7/23/2009 @ 10:26 pmNah. Too much to wish for.
JD (d55760) — 7/23/2009 @ 10:36 pmJD – Olbermann fill-in actually, except the facts in Patterico’s post disqualify him from the start.
daleyrocks (718861) — 7/23/2009 @ 10:39 pmSeattle Slew doesn’t have a point. It’s just more performance art.
daleyrocks (718861) — 7/23/2009 @ 10:40 pm“Good evening Comrades: Leading the news tonight, a hardworking member of the proletariat was accosted by a capitalist classist thug as the team-leader comrade policeman was attempting to aid the capitalist. Upon arriving at his unnecessarily opulent and grossly-excessive-for-his-needs mansion, the capitalist discovered he had locked himself out. Rather than take responsibility for his actions, the parasitic theoretician petulantly demanded workers from lower class-ranked departments drop everything to attend to his incompetent needs. When another capitalist neighbor called police, the hapless “professor” (who of course only condescends to teach the hand-picked veal offspring of his friends and class equals) not only challenged the blue-collar comrade police officer’s attempt to do his duty, but then attempted to turn a profit on the entire venture by casting it as an example of the very subject “Herr Professor” foists upon the feeble minds of his inbred charges. Naturally the President immediately came to the defense of his class comrade – it should come as no surprise to the workers listening to this newscast that money and power-linkages trump any platitudes about “the people.” When it comes to justice, President Obama made it clear such a concept is for “Just US” – meaning he and his friends.” And now, on the the President’s plea for Healthcare “justice”…….
Californio (f32f25) — 7/23/2009 @ 11:07 pmOh, and great post, Patterico.
MayBee (3ea00e) — 7/23/2009 @ 11:15 pmAs a cop who spent most of his 30 years on the job as a street cop either in uniform or working under cover assignments, I caught dozens of burglars. Mostly out of longevity in the profession, not superior police work.
In my considerable experience, burglars rarely if ever when confronted in the act by the police say, “I’m the burglar, you caught me in the act officer.”
They either flee or when cornered, act with subterfuge claiming they are the resident, a friend of the resident, an employee or some other ruse. I’ve personally had a number of suspects react just like Mr. Gates.
Whether Gates was black, white or Latino, it makes no difference. Under these circumstances all would have been treated the same. Gates could have easily and immediately defused this incident by calmly providing the officer with proof that he, Gates, lived there. To the contrary, Gates was hostile, uncooperative and began race baiting which escalated the situation.
Gates behavior is shameful. He is an elitist that could not stand the thought of a police officer with half his education and half his pay giving him orders.
As for Obama, I am outraged by his comments. He may be president of the USA but he is not my president. My regret is that I will never have a chance to tell Obama to his face what I think of his comments. Law enforcement should never forget this insult.
Stan Switek (b2907a) — 7/23/2009 @ 11:21 pmActually, International Man of Parody, by your standard, it qualifies him to take over for Baracky.
Comment by JD — 7/23/2009 @ 10:26 pm
Patterico went to a madrassa until age eleven? And then to a Black Liberation “Goddamn America” Cult for twenty years? Say it ain’t so, Patterico.
nk (834afc) — 7/23/2009 @ 11:31 pmWhat kind of president calls any group of people “stupid” while commenting on an incident where he doesn’t have the facts or know the circumsances? Aside from demonstrating his judgement and temperment, it demonstrates his biases very clearly.
But we’ve all seen them before. Obama is the worst president ever.
Thomas Jackson (8ffd46) — 7/23/2009 @ 11:42 pm#29
Seattle slew:
I’m sure all the readers here would like to know what bail bondsman you use.
Thomas Jackson (8ffd46) — 7/23/2009 @ 11:45 pmThis is a great post, Patterico. What a shame it’s come to this.
Professor Gates determined the outcome of his situation, had the power right there in his hands, and unfortunately made a really bad choice. He pulled a Cynthia McKinney (do-you-know-who-I-am???), and lost. As #33 noted above, he should have planned accordingly.
Keep it simple: Be compliant and always say thank you. But maintaining a preconceived notion about others can be an arduous taskmaster and every opportunity to obey the narrative must be taken. Exhausting.
Now he’ll shamefully milk the narrative, keep the racial divide wide and alive in some people’s eyes while keeping the anger percolating because without the anger, there is no business of racism. It’s a necessary component. Special thanks to our post-racial president, too, for reminding us that some things to some people, never change.
I’ll go to work tomorrow, embark on new projects for my boss, have several conferences with her, shoot the breeze, all the things we do, and never once throughout my day (or hers) will it ever even remotely cross our minds that she is as black as midnight and I am as brown as a walnut. In most circles, it is that simple. In academia, in the world of the left, in politics, they just can’t allow it to be that simple. If they did, what would they do with all that anger?
Dana (57e332) — 7/23/2009 @ 11:46 pmSeattle Slew is living in his momma’s basement and she sneaked some sand into his KY Jelly.
nk (834afc) — 7/23/2009 @ 11:47 pmDana, racism—multiculturalism—is indeed a business on many college campuses. I have seen arguments on selection committees about “how brown” a person need be to “qualify” as Hispanic for fellowships.
I have seen elegant, well educated people from two generations of academic families inform me of the great burden of racism in their lives—as they drive more expensive cars than I do, wear designer clothes, and live in tony neighborhoods.
It really all comes down to economic class structure. And I don’t trust any socialist or progressive who wears three hundred dollar shoes. If they cared about others the way they claim, why don’t they use their money to help others? The answer is, they want other people to pony up their cash.
Just like the number of well entrenched whites on campus who are so enamored of “underrepresented” hires—yet never offer to give up their own jobs for the Greater Good.
Nothing new about this. In the old days, it was about inherited money. Now, it is still about one’s parentage.
Of course racism still exists. So does class warfare. But notice Professor Gates’ commentary: “Do you know who I am?” Why, that is what rich white folks said years ago when they were pulled over by a pesky copper over running a red light.
Eric Blair (204104) — 7/24/2009 @ 12:11 amMemo to POTUS:
Mr. Obama:
1. Park the jet.
2. Get more sleep.
3. A little less JFK and a little more LBJ if you please.
4. Limit all nationally televised comments on race matters in America to the following:
a.- The Triple Crown
DCSCA (9d1bb3) — 7/24/2009 @ 12:36 amb.- The Indianapolis 500
c.- The National League pennant
d.- The American League pennant
when you treat people with respect, they respond likewise. when you treat people like they’re crap, they’re gonna respond in kind.
i have been discriminated against because i’m not brown enough (mexican/adopted/jewish last name). i don’t mind though. i can look at a person and not see skin color. it only matters to politicians and academics – who most of the time have never experienced negative discrimination to begin with. they’ve had positive discrimination as evidenced by the disproportionate number of african, hispanic-american scholarships.
here’s an example of the friends i hang with. friend of mine with a 10 yr old son asks his dad, ‘am i black?’ he’s blond, blue-eyed and comes from wisconsin. has many friends who are black, mexican and asian. it never occurred to him that there was any difference.
ktr (2273a6) — 7/24/2009 @ 1:27 amFritz/#8 —
You linked to the best analysis of the incident itself that I have read. For any who missed it, here’s the URL to Brandon del Pozo’s guest post at Crooked Timber, Police Discretion: A Different Perspective.
Henry Farrell’s introduction:
The follow-on comments are mostly what you’d expect at a thoughtful Gates-sympathetic site, with a few cop-friendly ones as well. del Pozo has some good responses in the thread.
AMac (d38f7e) — 7/24/2009 @ 2:00 amThis incident is more about elites then it is about race however Obama is never going to let white man get away with arresting his friend! It is absolutely amazing how animated he became on that final question I mean he was boring, boring, boring then alive “they are stupid” blah blah blah…post racial my well you know you what 🙂
You see Michelle has recently been brought up in the patient dumping at University of Chicago which is again elites against the poor. If Gates had been a poor black man the President would have said nothing because the President doesn’t know any POOR BLACK MEN he and his wife are elitests in a small enclave of elitests blacks.
Let’s focus though because we have to ensure that the elite in this country do not put their grubby hands on our healthcare!
Jaded (2dcf17) — 7/24/2009 @ 2:51 amPerhaps Professor Gates should watch this:
[object]
[note: fished from spam filter]
Dr. K (f86018) — 7/24/2009 @ 2:52 amPerhaps professor Gates should watch this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uj0mtxXEGE8
Dr. K (f86018) — 7/24/2009 @ 2:53 amDCSCA, that is solid advice in your memo.
I know LBJ gets a bad rap (and deserves it to great extent), but I think he was a better president than JFK in many respects. JFK articulated conservatism and American exceptionalism very well and would have made a better John Mccain, though not a very good republican in many ways.
However, he was a rank amateur at actually doing his job. LBJ knew how to run Capitol Hill.
Juan (bd4b30) — 7/24/2009 @ 3:08 am“I don’t care what other dumb things Obama does today; he is representing sox fandom well.”
After butchering the old name of US Cellular Field, that’s the least the Ayatollah Obambi could do.
Darth Venomous (193db8) — 7/24/2009 @ 4:50 am“I’ve personally had a number of suspects react just like Mr. Gates.”
That behavior was very common in the high school I attended: Caught red-handed but screaming loudly about racism and discrimination.
pst314 (dbf8fd) — 7/24/2009 @ 5:20 am[…] Patterico Michelle Malkin Stop The ACLU Don Surber Hot Air (here and here) Gateway Pundit Jammie Wearing Fool The Other McCain Share and Enjoy: […]
Liberty Pundit | My Two Cents On Gates Arrest (0a2842) — 7/24/2009 @ 5:28 amInasmuch as Af-Ams and Latinos cause disproportionate amount of crime, I think profiling is a non-issue. I also think Mr Gates should have been more cooperative with the officer doing his job. I’m glad the cop is not apologizing.
Jack (1a3562) — 7/24/2009 @ 5:31 am[…] only! This is very well done: Let me be clear. I do not know the facts of the Henry Louis Gates […]
Amused Cynic » Blog Archive » President Patterico responds to a question about the Cambridge Police Dept…. (cc3303) — 7/24/2009 @ 5:33 amI’d be even more impressed if you just stepped aside and let the teleprompter read the statement for you.
MarkJ (42fe5b) — 7/24/2009 @ 5:37 amNice work Barack… with one comment you managed to alienate 75% of America.
And anyone who has spent any amount of time in the “higher” education system knows the Professor Gates type: bitter, spiteful, bigoted racist with a position of power who felt emboldened to make a political statement.
This is the type of Professor who would change the subject on you when you attempt to engage in a debate- or would give you a poor grade because you actually have an opinion, and done research outside of marxist texts and such. You are fooling no one, Mr Gates.
And Mr President, is this “nuance” you’ve spoke of? “the police acted stupidly”? -please
Obama is out to rip this country to shreds in EVERY way- who can question that such ill-advised statements are divisive… and NOT helpful? He has no idea what happened, he admitted it- and apparently doesn’t care, either… he’s picked his side.
But back in reality, the childish and paranoid Gates completely baited the cop, who acted with admirable restraint, IMO… all he had to do is show his ID and shut up, he was treated with respect. This guy was clearly looking for a fight… and he ought to thank God he didn’t find one.
Obama is going to destroy race relations in this country with his vengeful “get even” mentality… some messiah- Americans should have chosen a fair and sensible human being instead of this embittered nut.
http://reaganiterepublicanresistance.blogspot.com
Reaganite Republican (6836b1) — 7/24/2009 @ 5:58 amDid Obama call Crowley a typical white person as well as stupid like his grandmother? He let the mask slip again Wednesday night.
daleyrocks (718861) — 7/24/2009 @ 6:32 amLet me be clear. I DO know the facts of the Henry Louis Gates arrest and here’s why.
The sudden elevation of this cop into an “expert” in racial profiling is one of the most stunningly laughable pieces of PR I’ve ever seen. It’s just so perfect.
White America doesn’t want to hear about racism at all. Since Barack Obama is president we’re all supposed to be “post-racial” now. Of course the squeals of the so the “birthers” tell a different story, as does the life and death of that most pathetic Imitation of Life known as Michael Jackson.
Skippygate is quite a show, let me tell you. But it’s not as much fun as Mandingo — the only honest film about race ever made in this country.
Tonight the Los Angeles County Museum of Art is screening Max Ophuls’ The Reckless Moment, a drama starring Joan Bennett, James Mason and Frances Williams — a friend of mine who was a union organizer for black actors of considerable import in this town. Frances plays Bennett’s maid. A traditional role. But it was made unconditional by Ophuls who not only admired Frances but understood that Bennett’s mother-in-trouble had only her maid to talk to. So he built up her part in many ways, the most significant being that in the film’s climax she drives Bennett in her car, rather than having Bennett drive as the script indicated. No she’s not being her chauffeur. Bennett is siting right next to her in the shot. It’s an important distinction. They are equal in the eyes of Ophuls.
A lesson to us all.
David Ehrenstein (2550d9) — 7/24/2009 @ 6:43 amI hope the tapes are kept safe, unlike what happened in the Duke LAX case.
I cannot help but wonder if Gates has spent all his life in “angry Studies” and interprets the events of life through that filter. That is, he has grown a particular “hammer” that has served him all his life, such that now all inconveniences look like “racist nails”.
jim2 (6482d8) — 7/24/2009 @ 7:09 amI highly recommend that article of Kurtz I linked in comment #2 because it has a lot of detail on Obama’s efforts to bring anti-profiling legislation to Illinois, as well as his efforts to install universal healthcare in the state. Obama’s agenda on a national scale was really presaged by his actions as a progressive senator in the Illinois legislature. It’s a rerun. He tried to hide his past record and stripes once he hit the national spotlight.
daleyrocks (718861) — 7/24/2009 @ 7:17 amI’ve said it from the beginning and keep saying it until proved otherwise – this man is the most cynical “post – racial” BS artist in the country right now. He sees the world in strictly black or white terms, both in the literal and figurative sense.
Dmac (e6d1c2) — 7/24/2009 @ 7:20 amOut of curiosity.. what would you advise a GOP nominee in regards to framing their message on the racial issue when it comes up? In other words what message wins over the left of center Dems when discussing this subject?
voiceofreason2 (590c85) — 7/24/2009 @ 7:32 amNonetheless, I’m just an old, racist, a-hole. What do I know? I’m not a doctor. Outside of their lobby, what do they think?
Comment by Ag80
Ag, every one of my kids has needed orthodontia and tubes in their ears for middle ear infections. I had my tonsils out at age 4 and never had another ear infection. When my middle daughter was little, her mother took her to a “new age” pediatrician who had read Jack Wennberg’s paper on excessive numbers of T&As and so she was treated with antibiotics for chronic otitis media until, at almost age three she was close to a “failure to thrive.” She was scrawny and crying a lot and had constant diarrhea from the antibiotics. I was trying to be a good husband and father (new wife) and didn’t interfere until I couldn’t stand it anymore.
I finally took her to a friend who was an ENT doc. He put tubes in her ears. She never had another ear infection, grew six inches in the next year and was the tallest kid in her classes until high school.
I had one more kid (now 19) and she had orthodontia and tubes in her ears at age 2. A lot of this stuff is genetic. Tonsillectomy was probably overdone although it is a crappy experience to have it done at age 20 like my nephew had to. The ear tube surgery has replaced tonsillectomy but the technology wasn’t there until the 80s.
If you wanted to see the real story, you would find out how many people now have tonsillectomy as adults (a lot) and how many have ear tubes (through the ear drum to drain the middle ear). I haven’t seen the data but I do wonder who would be setting the rules for Obama’s plan. Maybe that jerk of a pediatrician who became president of the local IPA/HMO and spends his days denying surgery approvals.
MIke K (2cf494) — 7/24/2009 @ 7:48 amStan Switek – As for Obama, I am outraged by his comments. He may be president of the USA but he is not my president.
I feel the same way. Obama crossed the line. No one would have voted for him if they knew that this was the kind of person he really was….a Wright clone. Obama, you are a disgrace to your office.
Obama Job Approval Below 50% for First Time
http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/obama_administration/daily_presidential_tracking_poll
I wonder how much lower it will go now…
Your job approval rating has slipped into the negative for the first time
John Henry Eden (eea288) — 7/24/2009 @ 8:10 amOut of curiosity.. what would you advise a GOP nominee in regards to framing their message on the racial issue when it comes up?
Granted, it’s a minefield for many – but if it were me, I’d say that while of course we cannot completely ignore the reality that race is still a factor in some people’s perceptions, I choose to ignore it, since I try to judge everyone according to their own personal viewpoints and experiences. Having said that, I don’t believe that anything any GOP candidate says on the subject will be deemed anything but racist in some lefty mindsets. They just can’t imagine someone having a right of center governance style being anything else. And that goes double for the MSM – GOP politicos are never given the benefit of the doubt on this subject – ever. Remember all those MSM stories about Bush’s accomplishments in reducing the spread of AIDS in Africa, along with providing new pesticides to combat malaria, and that while Clinton talked endlessly out of his backside about the same intractable problems, he didn’t do anything about them, while Bush did?
Yeah, me neither.
Dmac (e6d1c2) — 7/24/2009 @ 8:20 amWasn’t Bush in favor of “abstinence only sex education”?
David Ehrenstein (2550d9) — 7/24/2009 @ 10:36 am#56- LBJ gets a bad rap chiefly due to Nam, (that’s as much MacNamara’s doing as his.) But his brute skill at wrestling legislation through Congress is noteworthy, given LBJ’s position on Capitol Hill before accepting the Vice Presidential spot on the ticket. Yes, he knew how to run it.
DCSCA (9d1bb3) — 7/24/2009 @ 10:57 amOh, my.
Eric Blair (0b61b2) — 7/24/2009 @ 11:02 amDmac, #67: I can’t even blame the guy. He grew up marinating in that ethnocratic academic environment.
But yes, he sure says one thing and does another!
Eric Blair (0b61b2) — 7/24/2009 @ 11:05 amEric – Its Lithium is wearing off.
JD (4fb388) — 7/24/2009 @ 11:09 am“OK. Now how about this Health care mess you’re making?” I think this statement should say just how about this mess you are making. We go deeper in debt day by day and deeper in the garbage pile day by day. This man has no idea what he or any of his Zars are doing. Even his own are turning on him. If you leave cancer alone it will consume itself and kill itself alone with the person it is in. Just a thought.
JW (e538d8) — 7/24/2009 @ 11:34 amEric, what I cannot understand is how Obama got so screwed up, since he spent his formative years either outside of this country or relatively isolated (in Hawaii). The only thing I can come up with is that he saw the antics of Rev. Wright as the easiest path to political power, and grabbed on with both hands. And if that’s true, that makes him the most cynical politico evah.
Dmac (e6d1c2) — 7/24/2009 @ 12:03 pmTo paraphrase Queen Gertrude in Hamlet, “The gentleman doth protest too much, methinks.”
Gates’ behavior seems to have been calculated to create an incident in which he could play the victim. It backfired. He picked the wrong officer, at the wrong time, to fabricate a case of “racial profiling.” His claims are too elaborate, too extreme, too insistent. To many, Gates seems silly. More cynically, Gates comes across as deceptive and dishonest.
Pat Carroll (8b7046) — 7/24/2009 @ 1:39 pmThank God President Obama is here to speak truth to power!
1. Iranian unarmed woman is gunned down in the street = Obama says..nothing (doesn’t have all the facts, wouldn’t want to judge…etc.)
2. Obama’s friend places the class card (oh, and race too) on a supervisor cop investigating a break-in – = OBAMA condemns this OUTRAGE! They acted “Stupidly” !!!!! Damn them!!
Californio (9b0d11) — 7/24/2009 @ 3:25 pmThanks for taking the time to answer.
voiceofreason2 (71a72d) — 7/24/2009 @ 7:29 pmGates is a race hustler. Obama is his buddy. Should we be surprised that they engage in racial profiling while black?
Should we be surprised that the first thing out of Obama’s mouth is a charge of police racism despite no knowledge of the case?
America had better wake up to the real face of racism in this country. Rev Wright isn’t an exception.
Thomas Jackson (8ffd46) — 7/24/2009 @ 9:02 pm