Mass. police unions ask Obama for apology

[Roon]

Source: MSNBC

BOSTON - A multiracial group of police officers stood with the white officer who arrested a black Harvard scholar and asked President Barack Obama and Gov. Deval Patrick to apologize for comments union leaders called insulting.



Read more: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32122967/ns/us_news-race_and_ethnicity/

---

If obama apologizes, I am through with him.

[BlooInBloo]

1. I'll write it: "I'm very sorry you are worthless pieces of shit who arrest black men in their homes.

fuck you, cops."

[ananda]

2. Cops do it just because they can.

They get some shouting or verbal abuse, totally non
life threatening, and they just arrest their asses.

They do it just because they can.

There oughta be a law...

[cliffordu]

3. Yep. Precisely.

[saigon68]

24. Thugs and Racists behind the Badge

I saw how these Fuckers busted up anti-War Demos in the early seventies.

Many of them are scum with their US vs THEM mentalities.

[DeSwiss]

18. Yes....

...and you can sign my name onto that "apology" as well.

[katsy]

41. +++++

I'd sign to that.


:yourock:

[WriteDown]

4. The men in blue always stand behind each other....

It has its good and bad sides to it.

[BlooInBloo]

5. It is very helpful to know whose side a cop is on.

[No Elephants]

34. Without getting into the merits of the Gate's incident, standing behind racism is never good.

Nor is standing behind police brutality or corruption or domestic violence.

I am not saying all police fit one or more of those categories. I am just saying standing behind wrongdoers indiscrminately is not good.

[WriteDown]

47. Agreed. nt.

[marshall]

54. True, and regardless of the color of their skin

The black policeman is standing behind the arresting officer "100%".

This isn't as complicated as it first appears, once the facts start coming out. Everyone who is involved from the top down would be best served by keeping their opinions to themselves and let the facts (and the tapes) speak.

Of course that doesn't mean those of us on the internet can't speculate.

[MessiahRp]

6. Boy you'd think for being supposedly "tough" cops they'd stop whining about this...

Did the President hurt your feelings? Suck it up tough guys.

Just curious, did they whine this much when Bush cut the COPS program?

Rp

[zonkers]

7. Bluster.

[JTFrog]

8. I'm sorry Crowley acted like a stupid asshole.

Will that do?

[Robb]

9. O's comments were perfect.

Good enough to reproduce again. :)

"But I think it's fair to say, No. 1, any of us would be pretty angry," Obama said. "No. 2, that the Cambridge police acted stupidly in arresting somebody when there was already proof that they were in their own home. And 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 being stopped by law enforcement disproportionately, and that's just a fact."

God forbid we have a thoughtful President. :eyes:

[MaineDem]

10. Mass Police Unions haven't always been friendly to Dems

This doesn't surprise me.

[Justitia]

12. Yeah, that came thru loud & clear from those guys. And I knew nothing about them before this. -eom

[Tesha]

14. 'zactly. Didn't they endorse a Bush or two? (NT)

[No Elephants]

20. Democrats are concerned about things like racial profiling and police brutality. Pubs

exploited that. Badda boom, badda bing. Police tend to go GOP. Firefighters, too, I think.

[liberalhistorian]

32. They haven't always been friendly to non-whites, especially

blacks, either. In fact, Boston was an incredibly racist city, and there are still many vestiges of that.

I was in my early teens in the late 70's, during the whole school desegregation attempts in Boston; we lived in Ohio. But my family and I one summer ('78 or '79, can't remember which, since we went both years),went on vacation in New England, which included substantial time in Boston. We got lost walking around one time and found ourselves near one of the schools. The horrible racist graffiti on the outside walls was just unbelievable. Besides the usual "white power" nonsense, you also had such lovely sentiments as "smash the niggers where they sit", etc., etc. Nice. I was very naive at that age and that was a real eye opener for me. I began to learn that just because I had parents who weren't racist and who had non-white friends didn't mean that everyone else was like that.

Then you have the Charles Stuart/Roxbury fiasco, where the scumbucket Stuart drove to a "bad" area of town, shot his pregnant wife and then himself, then called police, claiming that a black man had tried to hijack them and had shot them. Police immediately began rounding up black men in Roxbury, without even questioning his very questionable story at all.

[No Elephants]

45. One of the most shocking and iconic photos in

the long sad story of racism in America was snapped, not in the South, but in Boston.

It was during America's bicentennial year, which was also the height of forced school busing in Boston, which was practically America's birthplace. A young white man lunges to stab an African American attorney in a 3 piece suit with our nation's flag, while a couple of others hold the attorney.


Photo and Story: http://www.digitaljournalist.org/issue0803/the-photograph-that-shocked-america-and-the-victim-who-stepped-outside-the-frame.html

A book, Soiling of Old Glory, was written about it.

And, as I posted elsewhere on the thread, I believe the Boston Celtics were the last pro basketball team to integrate.

I am not trying to bash Boston. It's a great American city. But this country's racism is this country's racism.

(For those who may not know, Roxbury, mentioned in a post upthread, is an area within the City of Boston, but Cambridge is a separate, but nearby city. Cambridge, being the home of both Harvard and MIT, tends to be more liberal than Boston.

[fascisthunter]

43. yet they love their union paid jobs, don't they

lot's of republicans become cops because they are authoritarian in the first place. What's really ironic is not that their position is union paid, but that they bitch about liberals and socialism yet have no problem taking socialized funding for the work they do.

[LiberalFighter]

48. Police and Firefighters tend to support Republicans

Not all of them. But their leadership especially tend to support Republicans.

Part of the problem is that they consider themselves professionals. Not blue collar workers and think they are better then them.

It probably depends on the part of the country the likely political leanings of the police or firefighter unions.

[fascisthunter]

50. absolutely... sorry for sounding too general

I knew a few cops when I was a teen. They took care of us, kept us inline, but understood that we were just teens exploring our freedoms a bit. We respected those cops... others not so much because they were completely intolerant, not for doing stuff that was illegal, but just for looking at them a certain way.. those cops tended to be from outside of city, where a mentality towards all city folk was evident.

Also, firefighters I can't bad mouth, irregardless of their political affiliation, although I wish they could admit being part of a socialized service. If I see something wrong, I call it out, but I personally never had a problem with a firefighter.

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

56. Who was the last republican Presidential candidate that the IAFF endorsed?

[Justitia]

11. They looked like angry pricks in that presser. And one black dude does not make it "multiracial"

I thought that was especially funny.

[No Elephants]

22. Didn't see today's, but he may be the one who was at the scene.

At least one Hispanic guy was there, as well, so I'm guessing they'd have the two of them present at every turn.

Boston Celtics were, I believe, the last professional basketball team in America to put a minority on the team. Ya wanna think about that for a second?

[tomm2thumbs]

13. it took all this to get Michael Jackson off the front page

and proceeded to take Health Care off the front burner

insightful news media, oh insightful news media - where for art thou?

[glinda]

15. When interviewed, Police Sgt. James Crowley said right away "I didn't vote for him". Blech*

[saigon68]

26. This Fucker will soon be on the Joe the Plumber Speaking Tour

Another right wing Hate Monger

[Aramchek]

16. so the Mass. Union disavows racial profiling but stands by a racial profiler

Stupid Cops!

[global1]

17. How Much Money Are The Repugs Funneling Into The Mass Police Unions To.....

get them to do this?

Obama better not take the bait and apologize. That's all I got to say - or he'll/we'll never hear the end of it.

[Magleetis]

19. Cops

Do not like their authority challenged. There are plenty of examples on youtube. Its an ego thing.

[No Elephants]

25. Yep. Gates's only crime was not caving to a cop in his own home. If only

that were a crime, his arrest would have been incredibly easy to understand. As it is, it is a HUGH :wtf:

[harmonicon]

21. fuck them

[4dsc]

23. I 2nd that emotion..

[hedgehog]

27. The longer this story plays, the more complaints are emerging

about cops abusing authority. It started out with a discussion of racial profiling, but now people are adding their stories about how you're treated if you're poor or young. If the police unions were smart, they'd drop this now.

[No Elephants]

40. Yep. I'm guessing you're likelier to be "run in" anywhere for "disrespecting" a cop

than you are to be run in for running a drug ring.

[bluestateguy]

28. Don't do it

In the end people respect you more for standing your ground, even when it is unpopular.

[droidamus2]

29. Don't get it

Obama thought what the cop did was stupid. It's an opinion just because you become President doesn't mean you give up the right to have an opinion. He has no reason to apologize. We are so used to Presidents that pussyfoot around any kind of controversy that when one steps out and actually gives a candid opinion we can't handle. Another thing, to all you asses that keep demanding that Democrats apologize every time they do something you don't like you can kiss my... well you know what part of the anatomy I was going to refer to.

[ro1942]

30. don't waffle

please stand firm for once

[AzDar]

31. No. Fucking. Way.

:grr:

[BumRushDaShow]

33. Say NO to thuggery

MA police have many many issues and it's time they start addressing them.

Starting with their so-called "Racial Profiling" training "class".

[Dappleganger]

35. Blue suits run thicker than skin color.

[Zorra]

36. The cops blew it, they know it, and if they were adults they would apologize

and admit their mistakes.

The President does not need to apologize for being right.

[2Design]

37. the media is enjoying this - its called UPROAR - lets watch you and him fight

it is a typical sign in dysfunctional families - the media plays this a lot

[Jefferson23]

39. Every time, they have no interest in what the conflict is about, the interest

is in the fact that conflict exists. Salacious driven faux news, that's the MSM.

[Jefferson23]

38. Oh wow, what a shock, cops sticking together.

[fascisthunter]

42. nah... I think you all should apologize

for being so deliberately obtuse!

[d_b]

44. silly piggies

[high density]

46. So by all means, tell us what wasn't "stupid" about the way this went down?

The charges were dropped pretty quickly, so I'd say what the officer did sure was pretty stupid.

[Libertas1776]

49. Obama chose his words

poorly, but he shouldn't have to apologize to these police unions. I wish he had never gotten involved in the first place.

[kirby]

51. No he didn't choose them poorly...

He was very careful to say that arresting a man in his own home after identifying the man as the lawful resident was stupid - it fails the common sense test.

Obama did not step into the specific claim of racism that so many others are throwing around.

[ro1942]

52. don't waffle

stand fast for once

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

53. He called the Officer and made an apology of sorts.

Obama calls white policeman who arrested scholar
Source: AP

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama has called the white policeman who arrested black Harvard scholar Henry Louis Gates Jr. The president says he believes the sergeant to be an outstanding police officer.

The president said Friday that he continues to think both the officer, Sgt. James Crowley, and Gates overreacted during the incident — but Obama also faulted his own comments.


http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5g4TAbX5fIxkXoj9R_-Uldl6a8jygD99L06280

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

55. So are you through with Obama?