BET News: Don’t Get Mad. Get Honest about Pres. Obama’s Comment

[rucky]

Don’t Get Mad. Get Honest about Pres. Obama’s Comment
July 23rd, 2009

By Pamela Gentry, Senior Political Analyst

President Obama has stirred up a firestorm with his criticism of Cambridge Police officers who 1arrested a friend of his, Harvard Professor Henry Louis Gates Jr., in his own home. Obama said, the police “acted stupidly” – and the comment has dominated headlines over health care reform ever since.

I think the president gave his “opinion” and I wasn’t aware that was not allowed by the commander-in-chief. He made every attempt to say his opinion may be biased because of his friendship with Dr. Gates – not to mention he repeated that he wasn’t there – but felt the officers could have moved on once they determined it was not a robbery in progress.

Understanding that Gates was pissed, I bet the officer was as well. Sgt. James Crowley, the arresting police officer wasn’t letting Gates off easy. It was his power play once he discovered who Gates was, and neither wanted to lose face. Crowley defends his actions, and I’ll defend Gates and the president.

This story was national news before Obama spoke out because the arrest of Gates was unnecessary and seemed a bit harsh under the circumstances. Now all of a sudden the Cambridge Police are the victims?

I know race is always a touchy topic, but why can’t we discuss it?...

: http://blogs.bet.com/news/pamela/2009/07/23/dont-get-mad-get-honest-about-pres-obamas-comment/

[FrenchieCat]

1. Exactly how I feel!

Exactly!

[DefenseLawyer]

2. It is race, but it is more than race.

There is an absolute refusal in many segments of society to ever criticize a police officer. There seems to be this pervasive idea that to criticize the actions of one officer or the policies of one department is to disrespect all police officers and to be "soft of crime". The result is you have otherwise reasonable people rationalizing the irrational. Whether it is Amadou Diallo, Abner Louima, Rodney King or a host of other acts of misconduct, overreaching or gross negligence, there are always those who demand that the officers get a pass. We have to get past our "with them or against them" mindset when it comes to police behavior. Yes we know being a police officer is a hard job. Over worked, under paid- might get killed. We don't fail to acknowledge that by admitting when a cop fucks up. If an airline pilot gets drunk and flies a plane into a mountain, there is no outcry to cut him some slack because of how difficult and stressful it is to be a pilot. It does a disservice to the many hard working honest cops out there when we insist that bad behavior by police officers is acceptable.

[rocktivity]

3. CUE THE VONAGE THEME!

I'm glad Obama didn't duck the issue last night, and didn't backpedal today: he, of all people should know that trickle-down diversity doesn't work. Once Gates proved to the cop that he lived there and had not committed a crime, it should have been over. And the DA's office agreed, or they wouldn't have dropped the charges.

:woohoo:
rocktivity