The Gifts of Gaffes

[Beacool]

By Michael Kinsley
Friday, July 31, 2009

Isn't it great to have a president who says something foolish or impolitic from time to time?

With his remark that the Cambridge, Mass., police acted "stupidly" in arresting Henry Louis Gates Jr., President Obama managed to extend the story by a week or more and to turn a nice little summer amusement for the political opinion industry into a "teachable moment," which means something everyone must get serious about. Obama also solidified his reputation as a foot-in-mouther almost as accomplished as his vice president. Before Gates and the police, there was his joke about Nancy Reagan conducting séances in the White House, and then an unfortunate (though very common) use of the Special Olympics as a punch line, and so on.

But Obama's rhetorical goofs usually are different from Joe Biden's momentum-mouth, just as they are different from the empty-headed nonsense of George W. Bush and the bizarre country-club-bar chatter of Bush's father. They are also different from the standard political "gaffe," which, as we know, is when a politician accidentally tells the truth. Obama's goofs are generally not a result of speaking the truth. They come from thinking things through incompletely. It turns out that the police officer who arrested Skip Gates was not necessarily acting "stupidly" and that Gates might have been doing just that. The president ultimately came up with a typically elegant formulation, describing the episode as a misunderstanding between "two good men." Wouldn't it have been better if he had just kept quiet until all the facts were in and all his thoughts were in order?

No, it would not have been better. The media, in their ill-fitting role as guardians of civility, now lecture the president on the special responsibilities of his office. His own aides no doubt shake their heads and tell one another that this is what happens when the man goes "off the reservation" -- that is, when he fails to follow the script they have written for him. And of course the Limbaughs and Gingriches of the world are so upset that they can barely contain their delight at having this stick to beat Obama with.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/07/30/AR2009073002820.html?hpid=opinionsbox1

[Schema Thing]

1. The cop acted stupidly. end of story.

[Fire1]

2. +10

[Beacool]

3. The professor shouldn't have been shooting his mouth at a cop

and making racial accusations. End of story.

:shrug:

Two stupids don't make a right.......

[Schema Thing]

4. wtf does that have to do with anything?

Last I heard, it wasn't illegal to "shoot your mouth off" at a cop.


Did I miss some new amendment to the constitution?

[marshall]

5. Under some circumstances that is debatable

"Shooting one's mouth off" can be construed as disturbing the peace, threatening an officer of the law, impeding the duties of an officer of the law, etc.

[Beacool]

8. Exactly!!

I think that both parties were wrong. Gates for shooting his mouth at a cop and Crowley for losing his cool and arresting him for it.

I don't see this incident as a black & white issue, it's more about social class than race.

[Schema Thing]

12. but one guy was 'wrong' and couldn't arrest (ie; fuck up your life) the other guy

[marshall]

15. That's the conclusion the two men seem to have come up with

They haven't said they were wrong, but they have stopped blaming and bad-mouthing each other. As the report says they "agree to disagree".

[zonkers]

35. One is a cop who is held to a higher standard. The other is a citizen. End of story.

And it is not illegal to yell in your own house. Yet.

[pipi_k]

25. It may not be illegal, but it sure is stupid.

And this is coming from a white, middle-aged female.

I've never shot my mouth off to a cop...ever...and I wouldn't do it now.


Doesn't have anything to do with race or gender. It has everything to do with showing a little bit of respect for the person holding the badge and the gun who may be having a bad day.

Even I know better than to mouth off in a situation like that. NOT mouthing off can sometimes be the difference between being viewed as "threatening" or not.

If you think you're being treated unfairly, report it as soon as possible. Don't be an ass and then complain because you're treated like one. I'm using the collective "you" here...not you personally... ;)

[nyhuskyfan]

40. And...

The police officer should show a little respect for the man who is standing inside his own home. This wasn't a guy acting up at a bar or after a traffic stop.

[SoxFan]

60. Dropping "yo mama" lines is what you expect from an Ivy League academic?

Gates copped the old "I'm a Harvard faculty member, and you're just lowly Irish trash" act. Crowley shouldn't have taken the bait.

[SemiCharmedQuark]

6. Only *ONE* of those two abused his authority.

[Beacool]

9. But it was not about race.

Shoot your mouth at a cop, and even if you're lily white, you'll be asking for trouble. The few times that I've been stopped by a cop I always "yes sirred" them to death. It tends to go better that way.

[SemiCharmedQuark]

10. That doesn't change the fact that the cop acted stupidly. Abusing your power is stupid.

[Schema Thing]

14. exactly. And Obama framed it accurately: with so much going on in the world

can we afford to have our police acting stupidly? It's time for our Police to start following the law.

It cost us in countless ways. Ill will towards the police, race relations suffer (in cases where there are different races), the cost of litigating the "stupid" arrest, the lost opportunity of what good the cop could and SHOULD be doing while he's ego-bating, etc etc.


We've institutionalized the cops "right" to abuse their authority in this country, it's just so common. I'm sure it happens over a 1000 times per day across the nation.

We need to un-institutionalize it. We need to stop winking at it.

[Beacool]

19. I think that Obama's comments only served to heighten the situation.

He ended up boycotting his own press conference since no one talked about anything else other than his remark that the cops acted "stupidly".

As for Gates, next time he should think before starting to hurl racial insults at a cop.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

17. Why would you believe a white racist liar over a black guy?

Still?

[Beacool]

20. Are you trying to say that Gates didn't accuse the cop of being a racist?

I think that Gates profiled the cop and the cop got fed up and arrested him. They were both in the wrong.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

22. According to Gates, he only asked for name and badge number.

I think people who defend Crowley have shit for brains.

[Beacool]

23. And I think the same of people who blindly defend Gates just because he is black.

There were other cops present and neighbors who heard Gates.

IMO, they both acted stupidly.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

24. Makes sense.

Only an anti-white reverse racist would defend an innocent guy who did nothing wrong in his own house.

Oh, beacool. Is there anything you won't stick your foot in your mouth over?

[Beacool]

29. Foot in mouth?

I'm sorry, but Gates acted as "stupidly" as Crowley. Two wrongs don't make a right.

BTW, not everything is about race.......

:eyes:

[jenmito]

27. There is NO evidence Gates was "shooting his mouth off" other than Crowley's report which has

been proven false ALREADY. Crowley's report ALSO claims the 911 caller described "2 black men with backpacks breaking into a home." That's a lie. He also lied about when he discovered who Gates was:

http://crooksandliars.com/dday/actual-facts-about-henry-louis-gates-case

[Beacool]

30. Two Sides to the Story

Two Sides to the Story

Crowley offered his defense in an interview with Boston television station WHDH. The police officer said he was just doing his job but that Gates continued to rant "that I was doing this because he was a black man in America, that I was a racist."

Crowley said that while he was radioing in Gates' name to the dispatcher for record, "I couldn't hear myself say it. He was yelling that loud," Crowley said.

Gates told CNN that he complied with the police officer's request for identification, but that Crowley didn't say anything or respond back and arrested him without explanation.

As to reports of him being disorderly, Gates responded: "Yes, look how tumultuous I am. I'm 5'7, I weigh 150 pounds. And my tumultuous, outrageous action, was to demand that he give me his name and his badge number."

Gates attorney Charles Ogletree told ABC News Thursday that Gates did not violate any law.

Today, the second police officer who was with Crowley during the arrest said the sergeant did what he was supposed to do.

Patrolman Carlos Figueroa told The Associated Press that when Crowley asked Gates to present identification, the professor shouted, "No, I will not!" Figueroa said Gates called Crowley a racist and shouted, "This is what happens to black men in America!"

http://abcnews.go.com/Story?id=8163051&page=2

[jenmito]

31. Yup-Crowley's side and the truth.

But of course you choose to believe Crowley despite evidence to the contrary because you obviously have hatred for Obama because he beat Hillary. ALL of your posts back that up. You'd probably believe a KKK member over Obama. Sad.

[Beacool]

33. OK........so according to you this is about Hillary and Obama????????

According to sane people, it's about two guys who may have overreacted and are both at fault.

:eyes:

[jenmito]

37. No. That's not what I said at all!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I said YOU see everything through a lens of hatred for Obama-in part because he beat your choice-Hillary. :eyes:

[Brooklyns_Finest]

70. Get over the primaries

Your precious Hillary will never be President. You need to start accepting this and start supporting our President.

[firedupdem]

44. +1

It wouldn't matter who the other party was. It's a sick hatred of Obama.

[jenmito]

46. Thank you...

Yes. I noticed that. :hi:

[BlooInBloo]

28. Do you have any evidence that Gate did that, other than what a lying cop says?

[Lord Helmet]

49. guess not

But you probably could have guessed that from the pointy hood they're wearing.

[Beacool]

56. See my response to Jenmito.

:eyes:

[jenmito]

62. Your response to me didn't show any evidence.

:eyes:

[Honeycombe8]

38. Arresting Gates was not the right thing to do. And Gates acted improperly, too.

It was two guys who got carried away.

Would've been so different if it had been a female cop and Sotomeyer. No testosterone to speak of. Just the facts, ma'm.

[jenmito]

39. Arresting Gates was not the right thing to do. Gates only acted improperly if you believe Crowley

who lied for a fact about things on the record.

[Honeycombe8]

41. No. Check your facts, ma'm. Lawyer for the caller-in said that....

her client said, when asked if she heard the exchange between Crowley and Gates, that she'd heard yelling inside the house, and only Gates' voice.

This is what apparently prompted Crowley to go overboard and slap the handcuffs on him. Which he shouldn't have done. Like GAtes shouldn't have yelled at the officer. (Where i live, I don't care who you are...you yell at an officer, you're going to be arrested.)

Testosterone run amuck. Gates was tired, in a bad mood, thought he was being racially profiled. Crowley was properly responding to a call, following procedure by asking for ID and asking the man to come out on the porch (protocol for when an officer responds alone).

[jenmito]

45. Got a link? I have one which refutes the claim that Gates' voice was heard in the house:

"In later parts of the released recording police are heard to describe the suspect -- Gates -- as "non cooperative," but the voice of Gates himself can not be clearly heard."

http://rawstory.com/news/afp/US_caller_did_not_say_blacks_in_rac_07272009.html

[Honeycombe8]

51. I saw the lady lawyer on TV. What you are speaking of is a police recording.

They were hoping some of the exchange could be caught on tape, but it turned out that it couldn't.

The lady lawyer - this was where, and by whom, it was first revealed that the caller-in had not mentioned race in her call-in, that she was calling for an older lady neighbor, and that her exchange with Crowley was simply something like, "I'm the one who called," and Crowley told her to stay there. That the caller-in had not mentioned race to Crowley, either.

The lady lawyer was then asked by interviewer if her client had heard the exchange between Crowley and Gates. Lady lawyer says that her client, who was standing in front of and outside the house, heard yelling inside the house, and heard only Gates' voice.

Sounds like a factual recount. If you believe caller-in's account that she had not mentioned race, then there is no reason to believe that she heard Gates yelling. Plus, it makes sense. Why else would the officer get upset? You think he just what, wanted to arrest an old man for the heck of it?

Also, that famous picture of Gates on his porch in cuffs with the black and hispanic cops nearby.....you can see Gates with his mouth open, looking like he's speaking loudly and his body language supports that. Of course, that's AFTER he was cuffed. But if someone were to say that Gates' demeanor that whole day, or in general, is one of passivity or not yelling...that picture goes to show that that would not be the case.

Both guys let the situation get out of hand. Gates should've just complied with the officer's request to get his id and come out on the porch and show him. And after Gates finally showed his ID, Crowley just should've walked away and let it go, no matter what Gates was yelling at him.

Like I said, if you'd had two females (who are, IMO, better at verbal communication), the situation wouldn't have gotten out of hand.

[jenmito]

61. Yes. And I'D say a police recording trumps your account of what the lady's lawyer said.

I still haven't seen a link showing that's what the lady or her lawyer said. And Gates sent her flowers for his appreciation. I doubt he would've done that if she lied about him.

Crowley's report differs from the 911 caller's report. Until you show me proof to the contrary, I have no reason to believe it, ma'am.

[Beacool]

57. Thank you, you are the voice of reason.

I wish there were more like you. I stayed away from all the posts about this mess because people tend to react with their gut and not their head, depending on their own background.

To me, it was more about two guys overreacting to an incident and not about race. There's plenty of real profiling and racism out there, but I didn't think that this was one of those cases. We had profiling in NJ with State Troopers some years ago. They cracked down on them and I haven't heard anything for some time about any new incidents.

I just know that, even though I'm not black, it won't go too well for me if I mouth off at some cop if he stops me for something. Even if the cop is a prick I rather be humble and curse at him mentally than ending with an expensive ticket, or worse yet, in jail. Common sense......

;-)

[SemiCharmedQuark]

7. ANYWAY, this is a neat article. I like this part:

"We complain about politicians who talk in pre-tested and rehearsed sound bites, but we punish anyone who strays too far into his or her own thinking. "

[Beacool]

11. Yeah, I thought that it was amusing and even handed.

:D

[Captain Hilts]

16. BINGO. Keep it real 'Bam and Biden! nt

[hileeopnyn8d]

13. Good article

Thanks for posting it.

I liked this part -

But even when the remark at issue is genuinely unfortunate and the offense taken isn't completely imaginary, the fuss is usually excessive and damaging. The people who declare that a president has a special responsibility not to say anything offensive have it wrong. The president has a special responsibility to address important topics and to say important things. That can't be done in a thin-skinned political culture obsessed with gaffes, and with a citizenry overly quick to take offense.

The more concerned you are to avoid saying anything wrong or offensive, the less likely you are to say anything inspiring or true.

[Beacool]

21. You're welcome.

:hi:

[lame54]

18. what he said was correct...

but by saying it he scrubbed his whole press conference on health care - politically he acted stupidly

[NatBurner]

26. freakydeaky

[jenmito]

32. From Sgt Crowley's police report regarding a conversation with Ms Whaley:

She went on to tell me that she observed what appeared to be two black males with backpacks on the porch of Ware Street," the report says. "She told me that her suspicions were aroused when she observed one of the men wedging his shoulder into the door as if he was trying to force entry." http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/07/27/gates.arrest/index.html

<snip>

Crowley's police report is an official document and would be included at trial. Shouldn't there be a clarification of this apparent discrepancy?
If Crowley's report is in error, can we trust his version of the conversation at the door to and inside Gates' house?

http://tpmcafe.talkingpointsmemo.com/talk/blogs/rmrd0000/2009/07/crowleys-police-report.php?ref=reccafe

[Beacool]

34. Is the other cop lying too?

Are the neighbors?

Why does everything have to be about race? Couldn't it just be about two guys who overreacted?

:eyes:

[jenmito]

36. The other cops did not confirm his account of the story.

And I have no idea what the neighbors reported.

Ask CROWLEY why HE made it about race. It's a fact that he lied when he made his report about how the 911 caller described the men. HE said she reported "two Black men with backpacks" were trying to break into a house. She said she didn't KNOW the race/color of the men but one MAY have been Hispanic.

:eyes:

[Beacool]

50. Obviously you see only what you want to see:

"Patrolman Carlos Figueroa told The Associated Press that when Crowley asked Gates to present identification, the professor shouted, "No, I will not!" Figueroa said Gates called Crowley a racist and shouted, "This is what happens to black men in America!"

http://abcnews.go.com/Story?id=8163051&page=2

:shrug:

[jenmito]

63. The police audio tape does not back that story up. n/t

[DefenseLawyer]

42. Former host of Crossfire lectures the president on proper discourse.

That's rich.

[Rosa Luxemburg]

43. OK, when will you stop criticizing the President and Vice President?

I think that you are disrespectful.

[jenmito]

47. +1

[Beacool]

48. Oh please, some of you are just too amusing.............

Disrespectful........LOL!!!

:7

[Autumn]

52. I enjoyed that article. I liked this part,

"But Obama's rhetorical goofs usually are different from Joe Biden's momentum-mouth, just as they are different from the empty-headed nonsense of George W. Bush and the bizarre country-club-bar chatter of Bush's father. " Thats cutting up a character,:rofl: Of course, the hive will buzz about you "disrespecting" the President.

[Beacool]

55. I know, I know...............

How dare I and blah, blah, blah.......par for the course; but it amuses me to read their reactions.

:eyes:

Others who do have a sense of humor found the article funny.

:D

[CakeGrrl]

53. Another inflammatory op-ed brought to you by...no surprise!

The author sounds pretty bitter about the President's skill in defusing media frenzy, to the point that he tries to put Obama in the Biden category of gaffes. A two-fer slam against the ticket!

He doesn't get many points for trying to recover it with a counterslam against Bush. Pretty passive-aggressive style. I guess that makes it attractive to some...

[Beacool]

54. Inflammatory only to people with zero sense of humor.

To others, it was an amusing article. But keep attacking me Cake, it's highly entertaining.

:7

[DefenseLawyer]

58. Still wearing pumas I see.

Well, whatever gets you through the night.

[Beacool]

59. Honey, I got better company than that at night.

;)

[CakeGrrl]

68. Happy to entertain!

:party:

[hileeopnyn8d]

64. Did you read the whole article?

It really wasn't inflammatory to anyone but the media itself, and people who fake outrage over every alleged gaffe. I know some have issues with Beacool and the types of articles she posts, but as far as this op/ed goes, she deserves the benefit of the doubt.

Really, read the whole article, it wasn't bad.

[CakeGrrl]

69. I do agree with the author's larger point that

hyper-criticism wrongly inhibits the ability to discuss important topics, but I don't think the core framing of the author's argument that it was a gaffe was accurate.

[depakid]

66. It's the Post- what do you expect?

Why people cite the paper after all that's gone on just boggles the mind.

[Life Long Dem]

65. I could see the misunderstanding in what the President said.

When Obama said the word "stupidly" he was saying a cop arresting someone in their own home for burglary is stupid.

[Beacool]

67. I hadn't seen that toon.

:rofl: