Obama surprised at reaction to his comments on police officer in Gates' arrest

Friday 24th July, 06:18 AM JST

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ca1ic0cat at 02:59 AM JST - 25th July

Surprised? To call somebody "stupid" in a race relations charged context is going to start a controversy. Especially when it's the freaking president. D'oh! It might have quieted down a bit by now if Obama hadn't stuck his foot in it but now it will roll on for the weekend at least. The cop officials and officer's union are both demanding an apology from the president! Surprise!

Of course the press is loving it. They'll stir this pot for all it's worth.
grafton at 03:26 AM JST - 25th July

How many of you have read Tom Wolfe’s “Bonfire of the vanities”? Once in the hands of the press & the politicians race becomes a football. Gates comes across as an arrogant self opinionated jerk who lost his temper & is now holding Crowley responsible, a hard enough corner to have back himself into & back out of but it has since been added to by fast mouth Obama. Gates is now in a position where to back down puts his friend Obama in an even worse position. And have you noticed how the local politicians are now looking for cover because nobody wants to be caught out in the open on this one. Backing Crowley might just lose them some black votes next time they run for re-election. As a policeman Crowley is finished, however good he was before isn’t going to save him from the politics of this. Gates will now get well paid for lots of nice speaking engagements.
amerijap at 03:27 AM JST - 25th July

The police officer has witnesses, the neighbors.

Sure he has. But it's not enough to give him the right information about Professor Gates in the first place. It didn't give the police officer an assurance that professor Gates was NOT one of the two unidentified black men who attempted to break in his own house. It's not enough to convince him that Professor Gates is well acknowledged by the neighbors in the community, either. If the local police insist that there's nothing wrong with the officer's action, then why did they have to drop the charge against the professor?
grafton at 03:52 AM JST - 25th July

amerijap at 03:27 AM JST - 25th July

"If the local police insist that there's nothing wrong with the officer's action, then why did they have to drop the charge against the professor?"

The obvious, politics.
amerijap at 04:31 AM JST - 25th July

For those interested in this issue, you can check out the updates at www.msnbc.com.

The police unions demanded the President Obama apology for his remark this early morning. Obama just made a statement about scholar's arrest as a "teachable moment."
bushlover at 05:28 AM JST - 25th July

[I tend to believe that Crowley was the ass.] -- Of course you do even without a recording of it. All assumtion. And you know what they say about ASS U ME.

[They have a documented history of racism towards minority groups.] -- No doubt you don't mind lumping all cops into one group but one of your in group gets dinged and people lump all of that group then you have a fit about everyone lumping into one group. That's Hypocrisy in my books.

Obama made a remark and took his mate's side just because they are mates and brothers. So this makes Obama look a racist when he jumps on the "Black men are never wrong when it comes to a white guy because all whites are racist" bandwagon. His true colors start to show.
amerijap at 06:59 AM JST - 25th July

just because they are mates and brothers

How so?

when he jumps on the "Black men are never wrong when it comes to a white guy because all whites are racist" bandwagon.

No, that's not what he thinks. That's what the conservative media and anti-Obama folks attempt to make us believe that Obama is of a kind by highlighting his remarks.
OssanAmerica at 07:22 AM JST - 25th July

Enough noise from the media on this will create sufficient flack that Obama will have a word with Gates telling him to stand down, hell maybe even apologize to the police for losing his cool. Otherwise Obama is in the way of the proverbial fan for his "stupid" comment.
bushlover at 07:27 AM JST - 25th July

amerijap? You mean the way the liberal crowd did about Bush? What a parallel.
Wolfpack at 08:34 AM JST - 25th July

pawatan says:

Please. You must have the lowest possible standards for calling someone a racist.

My standard for what constitutes racism is clearly higher than Liberal professors like Mr. Gates. Sotomayor stated that she has better judgement than any white male judge just because she is a Latina. She also likes to use muddled legal concepts such as disparate impact to justify denying a citizen their 14th Amendment right to equal protection under the law.

Prof. Gates was clearly seeking to gin up a racial confrontation for his own reasons. He stated that he was going to make a documentary about the incident at the very time of his arrest. The man makes his living by the study and practice of racial grievance.
sfjp330 at 08:46 AM JST - 25th July

Being a President, when reporters asked regarding about, Mr. Gates arrest, he should have said "I don't have all the facts in yet, and I will get back to you when it's available", and this should have been the end of it. Obama shows lack of experience.
LFRAgain at 09:57 AM JST - 25th July

" . . . because they are mates and brothers."

"Brothers"? What the hell is that supposed to mean?

"No, I'm not a bigot. I've got plenty of "brothers" for friends."

Sheesh...
hworta269 at 10:28 AM JST - 25th July

sfjp330

Ever heard obama speak without his teleprompter? He never knows what he is talking about why should he start now?
rei307 at 03:59 PM JST - 26th July

The neighbour(s) will think twice before calling the police again. An unfortunate situation for everyone!
cleo at 04:19 PM JST - 26th July

The neighbour(s) will think twice before calling the police again.

And next time it might be a real break-in.