July 23, 2009 12:16 PM
Obama on Cambridge "racial profiling" - presidential race-baiting
Just when I think our Glorious Leader could stoop no lower, he pulls a cheap stunt like last night.
At a press conference summoned to give the American citizenry the hard sell on his Obamacare - kinda like those ShamWow ads - Obama wraps up the hour by calling on Chicago Sun-Times correspondent Lynn Sweet, one of his media cheerleaders, to ask an obviously planned question ("I tried to make this short so Lynn Sweet can get her last question in."):
Obama begins with an admission that he is not qualified to comment on the incident -
"I don't know - not having been there and not seeing all the facts - what role race played in that, but I think it's fair to say, number one, any of us would be pretty angry; number two that the Cambridge police acted stupidly in arresting somebody when there was already proof that they were in their own home,"
- then quickly goes beyond comment to a sweeping summary rush-to-judgment of the entire Cambridge police force.
Again, an admission that he has no business commenting - The President of the United States Before a National Television Audience!! - on this very minor incident:
and then it's off to the races with a presidential condemnation - a glaring F on the American racial report card - to the entire citizenry of the United States:
Wow. Did anyone think that because we'd elected a man the press defines as black - though his mother was white - to the highest office in the land that we could put to rest to this kind of discourse?
The facts: In a neighborhood that's seen a recent upsurge in burglaries (as has much of the nation due to the recession), neighbors called 911 to report someone apparently breaking in to a home.
Links from Drudge:
Police Officer denies he's a racist, won't apologize...
Audio: 'I know what I did was right'...
Says Obama 'way off base'...
Video...
*Full Arrest Report...
Actually, it was the resident - a Harvard professor who happens to be black and who reportedly was belligerent from the get-go when the white police officer showed up and asked to see identification linking him to the home. According to the officer's report, he was immediately accused of racism by a man who only showed him a Harvard ID.
It would seem that if anyone was a victim of racial profiling in this instance, it was the white police officer. I have an easier time believing that if a black officer had carried out his public duty by asking for identification that he would not have been accused of racism than I do of imagining that the white police officer would not have required an ID of a white man in the same circumstance.
In other words, the police officer was doing his job as would be expected. Mr. Gates, however, was not responding the way a normal person might be expected to respond. As in, "Wow. I'm glad my neighbor cared that my house was threatened and that the police responded to a 911 call. How reassuring."
You know, when I send one of my older kids to pick up a brother at the bus stop, they have to show an ID. They've never given the bus driver a hard time for doing her job by asking for it.
What exactly is going on in this country when people are not allowed to do their jobs when a black person is involved?
While we've had an opportunity for true racial reconciliation with a (half) black president in the White House, unfortunately Obama has not seen fit to use his unmatchable influence to effect this change in the American consciousness. He has sought instead, to keep stirring the pot and what we see now is the very strange outcome of people with even bigger chips on their shoulder than ever.
Make no mistake - Obama's inclusion of this incident last night was completely calculated and reveals the most cynical attempt we've seen to date to ram through his agenda through propaganda techniques involving manipulation of their subconscious feelings, fears and phobias.
By referring to black people being treated unfairly, he was leaving an emotional marker - all the stronger because it is not direct but subtle - that his health care agenda is being thwarted because he is a black man.
In other words, any opposition boils down to racism.
Just think: he could have ended his "presser" - as the Beltway Insiders have so cutesily named what we plebeians still refer to as a press conference - on a noble note. How about an acknowledgment of the US prisoner now held by the Taliban. Or some words of encouragement for his family and his town?
But, noooo. He chose to weigh in as President of the United States against a small public servant. Though admitting he was in no poaition to comment, he not only held him - but the entire population of the United States - guilty until proven innocent.
Then he probably retired to the Oval Office to high five Rahm Emanuel: "Well, that went well, didn't it?"
I guess it all depends on whether you're really interested in what's best for the country.
Posted in Obama Nation | Permalink
Comments
I read about this through the Creative Minority Report, checked it through Google to the other news stories related to it, and the police officer was in the right to arrest Mr. Gates.
For clarification, the arrest was made on grounds of disorderly conduct- NOT on grounds of home invasion. Mr. Gates was able to establish the apartment as his place of residence, and then continued to verbally attack and demean the Cambridge policeman, in front of several of his colleagues and multiple on-lookers.
My husband used to go to school in Boston and we'd often explore the city together. Cambridge is a beautiful neighborhood and pretty well heeled. It's no wonder the local residents are a little keyed up about home invasion- especially since everything in Boston is less than an hour's walk from each other. Good neighborhoods are very close and accessible to the bad. My husband's school, Northeastern, was located at the edge of the Fens and next to Roxbury. Roxbury is a troubled inner city neighborhood (not a slum, but I did not feel comfortable there after dark) and frequently his dorms would be broken into by residents of that neighborhood. If I were in the position of the woman who placed the call, I would have called the police too. It's not racial profiling, but having common sense and being aware of your surroundings.
Just my two cents on the matter!
Posted by: Sarah | July 23, 2009 1:15 PM
This is what I think: Mr. Gates (even though he is married to a white woman) is obsessed with racism...that he has dedicated part of his professional career to it. This stuff is constantly on his mind so when a white police officer comes to his house, Mr. Gates's thoughts on racism come to a boiling point.
Now President Obama plays the race card. How convenient. Make every minority angry and every white person feel guilty. This actually might blow up in his face. White people are getting angry about it. Do we really need to stir up people's anger? Do we really need groups of people so angry at each that we could have race riots over this? Just so he can get his agenda passed? Is he proud of his country yet?
Just my opinion. But a strong one.
Posted by: Sue from Buffalo | July 23, 2009 2:44 PM
I had the exact same impression last night, Barbara. That question and answer were completely calculated and for the precise reasons you gave. My mouth was actually hanging open as I listened to the blatant propaganda and manipulation being spouted off by Obama. Makes me sick to my stomach. Anyone who thinks differently should ask themselves why that question, out of any possible, was allowed to be asked during a healthcare "presser" and also asked as the final question. Just sickening to watch him prey upon peoples' legitimate emotions and experiences in order to try and ram his radical agenda through at warp speed.
Posted by: MrsD | July 23, 2009 3:39 PM
Would you be willing to explain why you wrote "(half) black" about Obama?
[because his mother is white and I for one do not understand why when someone has a white parent and a black parent they are referred to as black.
Can you explain why you asked and if I have spoken incorrectly?]
Posted by: Melissa | July 23, 2009 3:40 PM
I have to agree with you, Barbara. I can't imagine a white cop not asking for ID from a white man in the same circumstances, or not arresting a white man who was belligerent and uncooperative. I don't see how the cop would supposedly act "better" if Prof. Gates was not black.
But I sure can imagine Prof. Gates NOT screaming and throwing a hissy fit if he didn't have something (race) against the cop. Well, I don't know for sure. Perhaps Prof. Gates always screams and throws hissy fits.
Posted by: Michelle Potter | July 23, 2009 5:03 PM
Well said, Barbara. You are never afraid to step right into it, lol. I agree with you, and I'm so frustrated that I keep seeing people spreading stories about the police "invading" this man's home and arresting him there, arresting him for being black, arresting him in his own home, etc.
I tell you, anyone who follows a police officer haranguing him should be thankful he just gets arrested and not taken down. That's extremely threatening behavior, even if the guy is somewhat aged.
Posted by: Margaret | July 23, 2009 5:16 PM
I completely agree with your arguments in the post. When I read your post, though, I thought that labeling Obama "(half) black"-- though you technically are correct-- may not help your message. We are not living in a post-racial society, and no one identifies themself as "half-black" or "half-white." He strongly identifies himself as a black man and is viewed by others as a black man. Calling Obama "(half) black" strikes me as saying that he doesn't count or isn't legitimately the man that he considers himself to be. Obviously his goal is *not* racial reconciliation, but if you think that racial reconciliation is a good goal, my opinion is that, in our culture, the label that you used most likely will be unnecessarily offensive.
[Isn't that the same argument used by those pushing gender-identification: If a man identifies as a woman, we should hire him as one, use the feminine pronouns, and allow him to use the ladies' bathroom?
Isn't it really being bullied into not acknowledging the truth because of someone's preferences?
Isn't Obama as much white as he is black, regardless of how he chooses to identify? And keep in mind during his campaign, we were treated to lots of PR about his white, Kansas roots. Doesn't he expect the privilege of morphing in and out of whatever identity he wants and we are supposed to go along?
Isn't it all a bit dysfunctional? Emperor's New Clothesish?
Though I'm all for reconciliation, should we have to censor ourselves from speaking the truth in order to accomplish that? Must we become dysfunctional, like kids growing up with an alcoholic?
And even if that's what our culture expects - as in not reporting the race of criminals even though it would help identify them - is that right?
Just some friendly questions - but digging deeper.]
Posted by: Melissa | July 24, 2009 12:24 AM
