From the "Black People Arrest Themselves" files

[CountDeMoney]

Even with the lack of a decent pension and a deferred retirement plan, I am so glad I got out of police work when I did.

[CountDeMoney]

or who give money to the IRA.

THEY SAID IT WOULD GO TOWARDS MEDICAL SUPPLIES

[derspiess]

What do you expect derspiess?

From someone like Gates, I guess that is exactly what I should expect.  But from a true scholar/academic/whatever, I would expect a certain measure of objectivity, not rationalization of an empowering myth.

[Malthus]

Heh, I like the "I could have calibrated those words differently" from Obama.

Do all politicians *have* to employ such euphemisms?   

[Sheilbh]

Actually, I have a bit of sympathy for the Prof, at least initially. He's a hot-head no doubt, and who hasn't said stuff they later regret in the heat of annoyance?

I agree.  I think a lot of this is actually class.  And I think it's especially difficult for the black middle class to deal with this sort of thing which is why I think Obama said what he did, Harold Ford Jr. got as annoyed about it as he did and John McWhorter wrote a big article about the interactions of the black community and the police.

I don't think there's anyway the arrest can be justified.  It shouldn't cost the guy his job, by any stretch, but it shouldn't have happened and it was stupid. 

From someone like Gates, I guess that is exactly what I should expect.  But from a true scholar/academic/whatever, I would expect a certain measure of objectivity, not rationalization of an empowering myth.

What do you know of Gates's work?  The guy's no Cornel West, he's a genuine academic and one routinely attacked by radical African-American intellectuals as an 'accomodationist'.

[Caliga]

Heh, I like the "I could have calibrated those words differently" from Obama.

Do all politicians *have* to employ such euphemisms?   

All of the hotheads who are involved in this non-incident are way too prideful to admit error and/or apologize.

[Caliga]

What do you know of Gates's work?  The guy's no Cornel West, he's a genuine academic and one routinely attacked by radical African-American intellectuals as an 'accomodationist'.

How DARE YOU slander Cornel West 

[derspiess]

What do you know of Gates's work?  The guy's no Cornel West, he's a genuine academic

Not sure what point you're trying to make.  I was speaking specifically about his silly conclusion in his Timbuktu documentary.  Are you saying I should have expected less from him, based upon him being a 'genuine academic', or more?

and one routinely attacked by radical African-American intellectuals as an 'accomodationist'.

That may just speak to how far "out there" the radicals are, rather how rational/objective Gates actually is.

[Berkut]

I don't think there's anyway the arrest can be justified.  It shouldn't cost the guy his job, by any stretch, but it shouldn't have happened and it was stupid. 

The more I hear and see about Gates actions, the more I back away from my original feeling that the arrest was an over-reaction.

I don't care what his academic achievements are or were - that day he acted like a infantile child, and I am surprised you would go to such lengths to excuse his behavior.

[Malthus]

Gates' legal team argues that authorities are misrepresenting the professor and the officer, and Gates has said he is determined to keep the issue alive despite the charges being dropped.

"This is not about me; this is about the vulnerability of black men in America," he said this week.

Ogletree said Gates may bring forward people who say they've had similar experiences with Crowley.

When asked for examples, Ogletree said only that they may come out in time depending on how the police department handles the situation moving forward.

"I think you will be hearing much more complex and different perspective on him [Crowley] in the coming days and weeks," Ogletree said, alleging that Crowley "is well-known among people, particularly young people, for some of his police practices."

Gates has no immediate plans to file a lawsuit against the department, the attorney said. Ogletree had said earlier Gates might sue the police

Classy.

Heh.

To paraphrase:

'I got nothing - but I sure hope that some pissed-off students out there have something I can use to tar this guy!'

[Malthus]

What do you know of Gates's work?  The guy's no Cornel West, he's a genuine academic and one routinely attacked by radical African-American intellectuals as an 'accomodationist'.

From what I've read of Gates, his serious scholarship is undoubted and in many ways he's a highly sympathetic figure whose views I in many ways agree with (though anyone involved in "theory" is of course somewhat suspect!  ).

http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2002/jul/06/internationaleducationnews.highereducation

Which makes it all the more regretable that he's putting all that in jeapardy by acting the ass in public (by that I don't mean being a hot-head in an angry confrontation with the cops - anyone can do that - but by pursuing it after the fact).

[grumbler]

It's very odd - here, it's the absolute norm to ask for an ID if you're not sure who someone is (even if in uniform) and then it's expected that they wait quietly outside while you close the front door and 'phone to check.  It's only the naive who let someone they can't identify 100% into their home.

Here, it is different when a crime is suspected.  Around here, criminals would use your system to vanish out the back door while the police waited quietly outside for the criminals to "confirm the identity" if the police.  Criminals may be massively more stupid there, though.

[Jaron]

It's very odd - here, it's the absolute norm to ask for an ID if you're not sure who someone is (even if in uniform) and then it's expected that they wait quietly outside while you close the front door and 'phone to check.  It's only the naive who let someone they can't identify 100% into their home.

Here, it is different when a crime is suspected.  Around here, criminals would use your system to vanish out the back door while the police waited quietly outside for the criminals to "confirm the identity" if the police.  Criminals may be massively more stupid there, though.

[grumbler]

He  could then 'phone to check the ID.  But the policeman followed him into his house when he knew the guy was annoyed.  it's very odd.  Would you allow someone into your house you didn't know?

Where are you getting these "facts?"  Crowley didn't "follow" gates into the house, Gates was inside the house and the front door was broken and unclosable.  Nothing odd in the US about a policeman getting a report of a break-in, arriving on the scene to find the door broken in, and entering the premises to investigate.

Remember, we aren't talking about wherever you are from here, we are talking about the US.  Cops here are not nearly as naive as they are there, and criminals not so moronic.

[Eddie Teach]

Remember, we aren't talking about wherever you are from here, we are talking about the US.  Cops here are not nearly as naive as they are there, and criminals not so moronic.

She's British, either a friend or sock of Mongers.