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Obama's Insecure Slip
Jim Young / Reuters
What led the president to wade into L’Affaire Gates? He thought he’d blown it with America on health care.
Read other takes on Gates' arrest from Daily Beast writers.
Obama’s unaccustomed carelessness in jumping on a racial landmine at the end of his health care press conference illustrates two things. First, his vanity as a performer. And second, his insecurity about his health care arguments.
The president, after a wordy, wonky, depressingly unconvincing briefing—one that he is pro enough to sense failed to make the sale to the press—eagerly took the question from Chicago reporter Lynn Sweet about the Henry Louis Gates affair. Obama saw it as a chance to be funny, to be real, to be his charming self—and to win back the room.
Obama saw the Gates affair as a chance to be funny, to be real, to be his charming self—and to win back the room.
“The guy,” he said, referring to his friend Gates, forgot his keys, jimmied his way to get into the house. There was a report called into the police station that there might be a burglary taking place. So far, so good, right? I mean, if I was trying to jigger into—well, I guess this is my house now, so [laughter] it probably wouldn't happen. [Chuckling.] But let's say my old house in Chicago. [laughter] Here I'd get shot. [Laughter.] But so far so good.
So far so dangerous. As every late-night comedy host knows, it’s when the audience is with you, when the guest feels that heady rush of positive response from the crowd, that the moment overwhelms the outcome. Obama had fallen into this trap once before—unsurprisingly, on The Tonight Show, when, rising once again to the chance to show his humor (and human) self-deprecation, he mocked his own bowling skills as being like “the Special Olympics or something.” And all hell broke loose.
It was an index of how badly Obama felt he had fared during his lackluster presentation of health care priorities that he did not instantly pull himself up after saying, “The Cambridge police acted stupidly in arresting somebody when there was already proof that they were in their own home.”
Sitting mesmerized on a Manhattan sofa at a small dinner for a foreign diplomat hosted by a television executive, all six of us at once stiffened and groaned when that radioactive word—“stupidly”—came spilling out of Obama’s mouth (a mirror image, no doubt, of whatever greenroom sofa seated his advisers David Axelrod and Robert Gibbs).
It was baffling enough that one so practiced in media manipulation had suddenly ensured that the next day’s radio and TV talkathons would ignore his health care agenda and focus on the much more entertaining replays of his jokey, rueful, entirely inappropriate weigh-in on a local incident about which he had blithely admitted he did not know all the facts. But the way he sailed on unhesitatingly into a glib riff about racial profiling showed that Obama had, as they say in the U.K., temporarily lost the plot.
The question is, why? This president is not used to a fight in which his eloquence seems powerless to sweep everything before it. My sense is that Obama is pretty much at sea on this one. Health care needs some kind of impossibly napoleonic fiat to get the job done—or, at least, an LBJ-ish mastery of the back rooms, a veteran’s grasp of how you twist arms and offer inducements to guide the process to the result you want. Instead, he’s floundering in a political swamp where everything gets decided by collectives of compromising mediocrities. Plus, Obama just loves those teachable moments and couldn’t resist the urge to bestow one.
Obama wanted to seem as cooperative with Congress as Hillary wasn’t back in 1993. But now it all feels as foggy as pea soup and no one is happy. Did he stumble so badly because he is feeling so vexed and depressed over the way what should be his signature accomplishment is slipping away from him?
Tina Brown is the founder and editor-in-chief of The Daily Beast. She is the author of the 2007 New York Times best seller The Diana Chronicles. Brown is the former editor of Tatler, Vanity Fair, The New Yorker, and Talk magazines and host of CNBC's Topic A with Tina Brown.
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Paul Schrodt is a writer living in New York City. He has contributed to New York magazine, Radar, and Esquire.com.
Justice Clinton?
As vice chairman of Public Strategies and president of Maverick Media, Mark McKinnon has helped meet strategic challenges for candidates, corporations and causes, including George W. Bush, John McCain, Governor Ann Richards, Charlie Wilson, Lance Armstrong, and Bono. McKinnon is co-chair of Arts & Labs, a collaboration between technology and creative communities that have embraced today's rich Internet environment to deliver innovative and creative digital products to consumers.
Andrew Young's Revenge
Tina Brown is the founder and editor-in-chief of The Daily Beast. She is the author of the 2007 New York Times best seller The Diana Chronicles. Brown is the former editor of Tatler, Vanity Fair, The New Yorker, and Talk magazines and host of CNBC's Topic A with Tina Brown.
Introducing Beast Books
Tina Brown is the founder and editor-in-chief of The Daily Beast. She is the author of the 2007 New York Times best seller The Diana Chronicles. Brown is the former editor of Tatler, Vanity Fair, The New Yorker, and Talk magazines and host of CNBC's Topic A with Tina Brown.
Politicians Gone Crazy
Tina Brown is the founder and editor-in-chief of The Daily Beast. She is the author of the 2007 New York Times best seller The Diana Chronicles. Brown is the former editor of Tatler, Vanity Fair, The New Yorker, and Talk magazines and host of CNBC's Topic A with Tina Brown.
TravisStark
Interesting conjecture without basis, but completely wrong. I believe, with possibly slightly more foundation, that the President said what he did because it was true. The police had acted "stupidly" in arresting a man in his own home after he's proved he lives there. The problem is more that the President didn't have his political filter on at the moment. Perhaps he was tired, or perhaps the topic was just too close to home, but he spoke from the heart instead of his political calculator.
OHNOTAGAIN
I also believe that the statement was true. Why are we not focusing on the false police report which showed in writing what Sgt. Crowley had on his mind when he entered that house. Yet know one wants to be honest and say that this police officer was wrong. Filed a false police report and defamed the character of the 911 caller!!
anghiari
Sorry Tina, but I suspect the President was thinking like a lawyer, one who specializes in the Constitution and civil rights law. Lawyers don't normally think about things for how they look to the public, they usually deal with whether the act was legal or illegal as the basis of their thought process. I think Obama was speaking as a lawyer. But whatever drove his reaction, he hit the nail on the head. Give Ms. Whalen's released 911 call alerting the police which confirms she never identified the two men as black. At her press conference she announced she and Officer Crowley spoke only a few words> She said Hi, I am the person who called the police and he replied, wait a minute and went up to the front door of the house. She stated never did they speak about the identity or race of the two men seen entering the house. Thus how does Officer Crowley explain his statement in the official police report that Ms.Whalen told him on the scene in front of the Gates home that the two men were black and had backpacks? And why would she change her identity from the one that she gave to police dispatch in her original 911 call? Just askin!
Natural-Selection
What happens when he wanders from his teleprompter....he can't handle free thought without turning into a punk or a dullard.
kipmartin
he doesnt use teleprompters at the news briefings. you just parrot the same stuff everyone else does. do some thinking and post something original, accurate, and maybe of merit?
hfb1053
or, maybe as a guy who has been racially profiled himself, he had a moment of lucidity and spoke the truth in an unguarded moment. As Freud famously said, sometimes a cigar is just a cigar. I don't think he failed at his speech, or he can't speak w/o a teleprompter, or any other bogus reason. I think he put himself in Gates' position and spoke what he felt.
pclayton
I agree with you; he seemed to be speaking candidly and if the public cannot accept the fact that the president of the United States is also a man with experiences and opinions, then what we needed was a robot for a leader. I saw nothing wrong with what he said.
Wildean
I totally agree. I keep hearing his presser was lackluster, that he's not selling the American people on health care reform. The numbers are clear that just about everyone is on board with reform, except the posturing criminals in Congress who are being bribed by the insurance and pharmaceutical co's. And I don't mind Obama's teachable moments, it's about time we had somebody in the WH who can speak intelligibly about big issues.
lorijen
I agree with this comment. I winced when the president used the word "stupidly", because using that word in a comment about something he hadn't been briefed on, seemed...well, stupid. But I thought his press conference went well, and I appreciate his occasional candor. I think he wanted to "leave 'em laughing".
ElLamer
I agree too, well put
nickatdabeach
skippy gates is the personification of the term nigger.. with or without his educational achievements. when prisons stop being filled with blacks and they begin acting like a civilized society and not still in the jungle only then will race relations improve. sign me 'whitey' -- right skippy??!!
djanimaequeen
Wow. You and your mom need to stop making babies together.
clubed60090
nitatdabeach
I know you do not feel shame in making such a statement, but you should. If you even remotely think that your statement is 'acting like a civilized society', then you are a sad and stupid person, living a low and hateful existence. I pity you. Signed, also white.
Valkyrie607
I'm not going to listen to some two-bit racist like you tell me what constitutes "acting like a civilized society." Obviously you have no idea.
Signed-- also white.
ElLamer
@nickatdabeach
the cool thing about Buddhism is people like you get reborn as discriminated lower casts or even objects.....
Seriously the ability to picture ones self walking a mile in someone else's shoes is part of what makes one human, I just don't how your mind works...
ElLamer
I just don't [get] how your mind works...
and to save you a comment I'm white and not Buddhist.
Dearly
Id had been thinking that Mr Gates had probably been "uppity" with the officer but the tapes tell a different story than the officer. If you listen to the tape of the police officer talking to the dispatcher, it doesn't fit with the officer's description of what happened at the scene or what he wrote in his report. He said Mr. Gates was not cooperative, but very quickly after he reports he is at the house he reports he has the id of Mr. Gates and he asks for dispatch to call the Harvard Police. From the tape, it appears Mr. Gates cooperated and provided his id without hesitation. Also, the officer says in his report that he was told by the witness that there were two black men reported breaking into the house. The tape of the 911 call as well as statements of the caller shows that she never said there were "black men" breaking into the house. Why did the officer's version differ so much from what actually transpired? If you've ever been stopped and falsely accused by a police officer, you know the answer.
OHNOTAGAIN
So you are okay with false police reports? This is why America is embedded with corruption, it starts with the folks in positions of power. What if the 911 caller never came forward. No one was listening to Prof. Gates because he was Black? What now the 911 caller was white and was hurt by what the police officer wrote in his statement.
minn125
I wish the media would do a better job of summarizing the number of times the police have responded to an incident using more force than was really necessary. These are the instances that cause the individual to question the motivation of the police. For example, there was that college student outside of Houston who was shot by police in front of his own home. In Minnesota, recent trial of policeman who shot a teenager because he thought he had a gun( policeman was acquitted- but now facing spouse battery charges). Need to be careful that we don't unilaterly side with the police force always - that is a sure way to beome a facist society. I know the police have a tough job to do. However, there is a right way to do it and a wrong way to do...and if you cannot do it the right way...you should not be doing it.
Maezeppa
You commented 'stupidly'.
menckenlite
In addition to his failure on the facts Obama violated the Hatch Act, which prohibits use of his office for personal and political, purposes. When Gov. Palin spoke about the state trooper who threatened her family the mindless conformist journalists attacked her. But the Cambridge Mayor, the Governor of MA and the President all black and "friends" of Gates, openly abused their power contrary to law and there is silence in the press. Is there no shame?
kipmartin
because the republicans never do?
hfb1053
Get a grip - Palin is basicallly illiterate and can barely string a sentence together, quit her job for bigger $$. Mr Obama was answering a question not trying to explain away his failure on the job as Palin was.
menckenlite
Why do Obama lackeys call others stupid? Why do they fear a woman who they say is stupid? If she is so stupid why not show compassion for the less intelligent? Are all Obama supporters bullies? Obama called the Cambridge police stupid. With all of their book learning the pointy heads from Harvard lack common sense. Gov. Palin has more common sense than all of the Obama kool-aid drinkers. Obama's lack of depth is frightening.
clubed60090
menckenlite - Obama's lack of depth? Compared to Sarah Palin? LOL ! Oh, I'm sorry, you obviously don't really understand what 'depth' is, which also explains why you don't recognize the appropriate use of the word 'stupid'...
djanimaequeen
menckenlite
hfb didn't call anyone stupid. Palin IS barely literate and can string a sentence together. And the police officer DID act stupidly else why were the charges immediately dropped? And why is it okay for you to bully and insult but others are subject to your narrow scrutiny? All I ask is for you to take what you dish out. It makes no sense to be a jerk with your heart on your sleeve.
Javelina13
Wait -- did that state trooper cuff Palin in her front yard and arrest her? Y'know, I don't think Obama should have made that "stupidly" remark either, but the duty of an officer in a situation like the Gates deal is to de-escalate the situation -- once the burglary call is investigated and settled, and as long as the homeowner is not raising a ruckus on public property, the officer needs to leave the man sputtering and insulting on his front porch, say Good evening, Sir, and head back to the cruiser. I don't see the parallel with the Palin situation, either.
clearthinker
I am always amazed at how many idiots think they know the "duty of an officer" and justify somebody who yells and screams at a police officer. All everyone wants to talk about is the color of the participants and not the actions taken. If these were two white people involved in this and a white guy is yelling at a cop, the white guy will get arrested for disorderly conduct. You don't yell at a cop. If you don't know that, you know it now.
OHNOTAGAIN
Please.....and the entire police industry in America are backing a false police report!!
Jstyxx
Tina,
Normally, you write concise and well thought out articles however in this instance I disagree. In 1991, when the beating of Rodney King was viewed by the nation, then President Bush commenting on "this local issue". So, what's the difference between then and now.
Was it Obama's choice of words? Was it the fact that again America does not want to confront the less than equal policies that are practiced today? All I ask is that you be fair in your assessment and look at history before you write a piece on a subject as volatile as this. If you don't then your no better than the columnist Jason Whitlock.
harlemita
I agree. Which is to say, I disagree with the article, and agree with the above comment. He is human, and I want a human president. The fact that he came back to the subject as he did the next day is also reassuring to me. I don't want another president who sticks by his guns no matter what nonsense he's just said. Obama's words were okay with me. Yes, I was a little surprised. But no, I am not going to jump on him and call him insecure. He reacted in a very natural way. You try being a non-white for a while, Tina.
clubed60090
I'm with you harlemita - Tina Brown is inferring too much in this article. And, I thought his reponse was human and personal, the way he talked about it the next day was responsible.
This comment has been removed by The Daily Beast's editors.
DKJamal
And how do you know Tina Brown didn't think President Bush shouldn't have kept his mouth shut also back in 1991?
Jstyxx
DKJamal,
I don't know if Tina Brown felt Bush should have kept his mouth shut. However, if she had similar feelings, reference them in the article for historical completeness which refers to my initial reason for disagreeing with the piece.
Autopilot
Tina,
If our president can make a mistake in analyzing a situation, then you should be able to do so as well. You both are usually solid, consistent, and tend to add a dash of fun for good measure. So an occasional detour is eminently forgivable. Carry on. This whole business has been much ado about nada.
Autopilot
clearthinker
Oh yeah, liberals were very forgiving of Bush weren't they?
onlinesavant
The President DID NOT make a mistake in analyzing the situation. If anything, the mistake came from slightly walking back from it the next day. Here's the deal for the unitiated. There was NO justification whatsoever for Crowley to arrest professor Gates. NONE. The professor was well within his rights to berate the officer, or talk about "his momma" in his own home after he showed his ID and was proven to be the occupant of the house. There is no other spin or perspective that can change this.The officer arrested Gates because his feelings were hurt. Sorry, this is what he took an oath to deal tolerate. For all you regressive hacks who once again are showing your hypocrisy in defended this agent of the "guvmint" in his wrong-headedness, then this is a time when you just gotta deal with the facts. If Gates sues for wrongful-arrest he will win handily.
FactsTravel
I agree with you Jstyxx. Let us not forget that police officers are empowered to take away one of the most precious commodities an American posseses, our liberty. In one singular moment a police officer can decide to place our wrists in hand cuffs. Put us in a car, voluntarily or involuntarily, and take us to a jail cell. They do this with various weapons on their belt. They make the arrest based on what they perceive and think, as well as the impulse of their intuition.
Speaking loudly, or even yelling in your home is not a crime if it is not connected to domestic violence. Raising your voice after proving identity and ownership of your home is not illegal. The police officer should have walked away. The police officer could have shared his state of mind as he walked back to his car, but he should have walked away. The moment he reached for the hand cuffs; the moment he clasped them on Gates wrists, the moment he took Gates by force from his home and property and walked him into the visible path of Gates neighbors in restraints during the light of day to the police car, the moment he supervised the photograph of Gates as he was booked and placed in a cell, he stopped being a person in the personal - private sense of the noun.
He became an agent of the state, an agent of all of the laws and statutes of the state and municipality, he became an agent of the Constitution and Bill of Rights of the United States of America. He became an agent that terminated Skip Gates liberty... The question really is "how important is liberty these days?" It appears that liberty becomes less important when it is someone else's liberty. If you are arrested in your home, for simply being there, or entering in a slightly unorthodox manner, and and are arrested for a bad attitude after proving identity and ownership, perhaps the value of liberty uncreases radically at that moment.
Police officers are trained to handle tough situations. When people are afraid they can appear aggressive. I used to have a German Shepherd and walked her twice a day. Little dogs would bark and growl at her because they were afraid, veterinarians call it fear aggression. Now I have a miniature yorkie, her name is NuNu, she simply trembles when she is afraid. No doubt, the officer would have behaved differently if Gates trembled. Thankfully, Sadie, my German Shepherd, handled her size and power with more grace and restraint than the sergeant. Sadie understood the difference between an eminent risk and barking...
GPatton
Tina: You're on the money. He blew his Obamacare pitch. And then stepped in it by calling an honest cop who was just doing his job, stupid. In any case, what's going to pass is something that will cost more, and won't be any better than what we have now. It'll make the porkulus bill look like a wonderful piece of legislation. Maybe the electorate has "stupidly" elected Obama president. George Patton
isabelle8787
I really think that the fact that the President commented only proves that he is a human being. Mr. Gates is a personal friend of his and President Obama actually attended school at Harvard Law and knows full well what he endured as a black student. The racial problems between town and gown are legendary. Also, Obama racial profiling is one of Obama's political platforms - so for him to have been quiet on this issue would have really fed into the press's usual comments that he is "a professor" or "he's a vulcan"
Speaking as a "white, Independent voter", as an American I like to feel that at the end of the day I can go home and feel safe, I wouldn't have responded well to a police offficer ordering me around in my own home when I was tired, sick and aggravated by having lost my house keys as well. The police officer escalated this incident. He'll never make me believe that he was actually "afraid" of that 60 yr old man on a cane - it's ridiculous.
harlemita
Yes, and what the press keeps failing to point to is even if Crowley were truly not racially motivated, he was motivated by hubris. He should not have used his power that way. That is what gives cops a bad name. I can't tell you the horror non-whites have of cops. You think, huh, you never know with them, Anything is liable to set them off. You're afraid to say anything to them, because you know they might take you in just for appearing to have "attitude" or something. And, by the way, "having an attitude" isn't a crime.
North49
harlemita, you sound like the poster child for a paranoia campaign. Did you forget that President Obama is a black man who has been elected President, albeit, perhaps after being "selected", no?
Jstyxx
North49,
So because Barack Obama is President racial/cultural relations are OK? The reason minorities react with loathing when stopped by law enforcement is simple: 50 years ago it was OK to kill a Black man and justify it. Look at recent history, Oscar Grant (San Francisco), Sean Bell (NY), Amadou Diallo (NY) and that's within the last 18 months.
As far as Gates not drinking beer, I'm sure there other beverages to choose from. The point is those men will be meeting and to discuss their differences.
DKJamal
"Yes, and what the press keeps failing to point to is even if Crowley were truly not racially motivated, he was motivated by hubris. He should not have used his power that way."
Exactly, this is really all about male ego and power, not race. Gates's ego was bruised and he responded in a rude and racist manner, which is ugly but not a crime. The cop's ego was bruised and responded by arresting someone for disorderly conduct in their own kitchen, which is an abuse of his professional power. They're both wrong, but the cop moreso for not walking away once his investigation was over (and it was over the moment he learned Gates was in his own home).
North49
Now that a beer in the White House with President Obama is on tap the good professor up and say he doesn't drink beer. What kind of goody-two-shoes "Harvard scholar" gives that sort of attitude - and this when Obama has said that Gates is his "friend".
President Obama has shown he is a media manipulator not above playing the race card when it suits his agenda. He used the race card during the election campaign to pretend that any white person who did not or would not vote for him was either because of his funny sounding name or because of his of his race. To his way of thinking it could have nothing to do with idiotic failed socialistic ideas to which he clings.
If the policeman, Crowley, comes to the meeting he is walking into a prepared trap where he will be screeched at by two proven racists including one snob who says he doesn't drink beer anyway - should be good for a few serious yuks anyway.
newswoman
North49. you really sound like a racist or just a blind person who can't see things as they are. Obama NEVER played the race card as he didn't want to scare white voters and he wanted to tbe the president of ALL Americans. You don't realize what a tightrope black people have to walk in this society. (By the way, I am white). That whole thing with Dr. Gates was a misunderstanding on both sides and should never have gotten so out of hand in the media. Especially because people like you want to blow it out of perportion. Get over yourself.
Bunx05
North49, here is a black response to your post:
There is no such thing as "the race card". If there were, there would be no trees in the world because they'd all be used up for paper to make the cards. Minorities (particularly black people in America) cannot play "the race card" as you mean it. We ARE the race card in this country. More often than not, everything a minority person does in this country is shadowed by race.
Cornell West wrote about how that cloud of race and racialism is so prominent that Black Americans lose their ability to see themselves as people over time. They begin to see themselves as the role they are supposed to play in our mostly white hegemonistic society. This is a direct result of institutionalized racism as opposed to any act of personal racism.
Obama is aware of this. If you actually heard his complete answer (and cared enough to listen), you'd have noticed that he said, "I don't know if race played a part." He then moved the conversation away from race and then commented on the act of arresting an old man in his house. Remember, he is a lawyer.
The officer was not threatened nor was any neighbor. The minute Gates stepped out of his own home, he was arrested. None of his actions (beyond his protest at being arrested) happened outside the home. Therefore, under the law, his actions could not be deemed disorderly. The action of the officer (who I honestly believe is not a racist, but does succumb to the albeit small abuses of power that many officers do), therefore, was indeed stupid. Not because of race or any racial implication, but because it was an unwarranted police action. This is what Obama said (not in so many words). And I agree with him.
North49
Well, you've got me there, Bunx05. You state there is no such thing as the race card and then say "We ARE the race card" - how does that all work?
I'd say that regardless of an individual's skin color when an individual uses race or skin color they make race the issue. It was ugly when white crackers did it decades ago and it remains just as ugly when black people do it today.
Whatever happened to the idea expressed by Martin Luther King that a man should be judged by the content of his character not the color of his skin? That seems to be lacking in President Obama, Professor Gates and those that reach for the "racist" label to argue their point since apparently they know that using that label causes most people to leave the argument to them and back off apologizing, I guess.
crymeariver
North49: Now that a beer in the White House with President Obama is on tap the good professor up and say he doesn't drink beer.
---------------------
I'm sorry, you are killing me with your non-joke joke. Are ALL people who don't drink beer snobs? Do ALL blue-collar workers drink beer? What about recovering alcoholics, are they snobs if they don't drink beer with you?
You are trying to tell us all not to play up to stereotypes by USING a stereotype? Hilarious!
North49
"You are trying to tell us all not to play up to stereotypes by USING a stereotype?"
crymeariver, I'll try to clarify just for you - wasn't it President Obama who suggested getting together to discuss the matter over a beer. That is inviting the officer to sit down to a beer with his "friend" the so-called Harvard Scholar. You should be LOLLING at the fact that he didn't know that his "friend" didn't drink beer, IMO.
Steve0099
I am not going to weigh in on who should have done what but as an old white woman, I and I advise my adult white daughters to follow all instructions that a policeman gives them (with a spoon of caution) while the situation they find themselves in is sorted out. I have worked in a clerical position in a police department and ridden with the swat team as a citizen police volunteer and seen when a man drove his family into the river and drowned them on purpose, when a bank robber shot and killed an officer, where a traffic stop turned into a life and death situation. So, policemen like soldiers need to be ever vigilent and cautious and yes suspicious of anyone until the situation is difused and clear minds can sort the facts and solve the problem. Thank goodness this situation was resolved with all individuals safe and alive but alive to return to their loved ones another day. And, as an inspector with the Texas Department of Labor, I was threatened and told I would wind up in the Gulf of Mexico with cement around my feet if............. by an 80 year old with a cane... so, you never never know.
harlemita
Well, I don't drink beer either, and am not afraid to say so when my friends invite me to have a beer with them -- maybe because they don't overreact and call me a snob. I just drink something else while they drink their beers.
Bettie
North49, I agree with you. Mr. Crowley is going to get bashed going to the White House. The professor has said that he is going to film the whole thing as a documentary. The professor is a publicity seeking little whimp, who has wanted to be a "victim" for years. He has lived off the public tit all his life.
With the black president, black governor and black mayor all on Mr. Crowley's a**, Mr. Crowley can kiss his career goodby.
Tina, spot on analysis of the press conference, great article.
Bunx05
I have to disagree. I think Obama wants to use both of these people to start a narrative about race. I honetsly think that he's interested in Crowley because he is an example of someone whose actions aren't based on race, but were taken that way. You have to remember, Obama sees himself as a uniter on racial lines (don't forget he's half white). I think the safest place for Crowley to be is next to the President right now. That would basically make his career. Mark my words.
BasPos
I repeat (thanks) that in President Obama that we may have the first fully adult president since Dwight Eisenhower.
crymeariver
FACT check alert! FACT check alert! FACT check alert!
It was Sgt. Crowley who suggested beers at the white house.
awb2921
Tina Brown -
this is another example of your recent writing - trying to create a narrative - that isn't there and filled with psycho babble
You ignore the key point - President Obama is a black man. he reacted honestly.
Too many appearances on "Morning Joe"
You need to clear your head
sadie101
Tina nice job. You are dead on. In the end, with Obama, it is all about him. Now what is that called?? Oh, yes, Narcissistic.
He needs to be adulated by the media. If only the media had refused this we might have seen an honest picture, got an honest accounting of this man, way back in 07/08.
The funny thing is, sentient people understood this Obama weakness way back when. Why was the press so busy beating up on Hillary and Palin they couldn't take an honest look at the trouble that was brewing with Obama. I just want to eat my Waffles, guy.
DKJamal
Tina Brown was one of the original Obama swallowers who bashed Hillary in order to pimp themselves out for Obama.
Buyer's remorse much?
Formercrs
I totally agree with Tina and Sadie; enough said by me today.
newswoman
What does BETTIE mean, Dr. Gates has lived his life on the 'public tit' all his life? What an ignoramous. It's obvious she knows nothing about the person, but sure hates blacks and wanted to express that opinion. Her ignorance is so obvious.
Llplo99
Totally agree. It is clear who is racist on these threads.
rabbitb
Oh, poor dear.He's feeling bad about health care so he swipes at poor cop. Then has to compound it by offering said cop to White House for BEER. I sincerely hope the police officer declines. What elitist HOGWASH.
Llplo99
It was stupid arresting the professor. On NPR, two former police chiefs, one white, the other black, both agreed that it should never have escalated to the point where Gates was arrested.
clubed60090
'elitist' - hmm, I wonder where you get your talking points from rabbitab...
Redstateblue
As usual, the commentary of the incident has overshadowed the facts. I knew the President was in trouble when he asknowledged that he didn't have all of the facts...and kept talking. That was the stopping point.
The indisputable fact that I can't resolve is the arrest itself. Why handcuffs? Why take the man into custody at all? Disorderly conduct is a violation....akin to spitting on the sidewalk. Issue the ticket and walk away. I'd like to see how many disorderly conduct violations resulted in handcuffs and arrest. I'm betting that there are very few, if any.
StellaRay
More importantly, Gates actions are not considered disorderly contact in MA, where verbal protest of your arrest is not against the law.
So they put a man in handcuffs, in his own home, who had committed no crime, and preceded to make an illegal arrest.
Thank you.
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