Obama: Police Acted 'stupidly' in Scholar Arrest

[BlueJessamine]

Run time: 02:11 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LZYsW_PxWAM   Posted on YouTube: July 23, 2009 By YouTube Member: Views on YouTube: 0   Posted on DU: July 23, 2009 By DU Member: BlueJessamine Views on DU: 1641

 
President Barack Obama said during a press conference that police acted "stupidly" in the arrest of prominent black scholar Henry Louis Gates Jr. and despite racial progress blacks and Hispanics are still singled out unfairly for arrest. (July 22)

[Buzz Clik]

1. Yep.

[spiritual_gunfighter]

2. I can hear it all now

"Obama disrespects policemen everywhere", "Obama doesn't support the police" etc. I am sure the Rethugs are writing the talking points right now.

[Laf.La.Dem.]

3. No Way!!

They will be FAIR and BALANCED



:sarcasm:

[RockaFowler]

6. It started this morning

I heard it on talk radio. I have got to stop listening to that crap. I finally turned over to Bill Press and felt a little better.

[Triana]

4. Good for our President for SAYING it.

He rocks! :woohoo:

[BklynChick]

5. that made me so happy. he's had to be so mamby pamby about race, this was clearly from the heart

[bsd13]

7. This is disgusting...

President Obama should have left it at "I don't know all the facts" and that is all he should have commented on. He has every right to an opinion, but he shouldn't be speaking to a community issue as a federal official. Let the city of Cambridge and the residents of Cambridge deal with the officer if need be, but the federal government stepped way over its bounds.

[Voice for Peace]

8. ..

:popcorn:

[SemiCharmedQuark]

9. commenting is now "overstepping bounds"?

Really?

[bsd13]

28. Yes, it is.

He was at a prime time news conference making his opinion known to the entire world. And to clarify it's not disgusting that he has an opinion, or even that his opinion is what it is. What's disgusting is that he saw fit to comment at all and interject himself in an official capacity in a local matter.

[Iggo]

10. Yay!

I had 6:13am in the knee-jerk cop defender pool!

(Or was it the knee-jerk Obama attacker pool? I forget...)

Sweet!:popcorn:

[bsd13]

29. Well if the water in those two pools doesn't suit you...

there's always the knee-jerk Obama defender pool you can hop in my friend.

[Iggo]

31. Welcome to DU.

Enjoy your stay.

Friend.

[spiritual_gunfighter]

11. I love pizza n/t

[unapatriciated]

16. so commenting "over it's bounds" for federal government but..

It's ok to get involved and sign legislation if it's the "right" cause.



Bush signs Schiavo legislation
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7212079/

[polmaven]

18. You are going to need to help me here...

Where in that post did the poster say ANYTHING about it being OK for * to sign the Schiavo legislation, or anyone signing any legislation at all, for that matter? :shrug:

[unapatriciated]

20. He didn't

I was reacting to him referring to a mere comment as disgusting and his last statement.
"but the federal government stepped way over its bounds"
This has been one of the latest attacks from the right. They had no problem with the federal government getting involved in the Schiavo case yet a mere comment is stepping way over its bounds.
Maybe I could have worded it better or maybe I just see this in a different way then you.

[polmaven]

21. Your comment, though,

inferred that the poster was deeming it OK for * to have gotten involved in that issue. There is no way at all that the poster came even CLOSE to that inference.

It may not have been meant that way, but it appeared to be almost an accusation.

[unapatriciated]

24. I still think the poster was wrong in..

calling Obama's actions "disgusting". Obama has done many things I disagree with but this isn't one of them.

[polmaven]

27. Well, I think the word

disgusting may be the wrong word, but I do not think the President had nearly enough of the facts straingt to hav commented at all.

[bsd13]

30. Apples to oranges

One has nothing to do with another. I didn't agree with the federal government getting involved with the Schiavo case either, but there's a huge difference. It was a bill being debated before our National Congress. This (Cambridge incident) is a community issue that isn't a matter of national debate. Well it is now, because Obama decided he'd make it one, but it should have never been.

[Gator_Matt]

12. Dumb political move from Obama

It's one thing to voice his disapproval over the arrest, but it's another to call the officer stupid. I wouldn't be surprised if this cop and others voted for Obama last year but will not in 2011. I think this is in poor taste.

If you happen to disagree, please do so without troll/Obama hater talk. I voted for Obama and support him, but stuff like this makes me cringe.

[JayMusgrove]

13. Obama is not on the ballot in 2011, and he didn't call the cop "stupid"

he said the police "acted stupidly", there's a big difference.

Arresting a guy for yelling at a policeman in his own home, after ID was shown, not the best move in community relations.

That's the "stupid act".

Obama would rather police act with tact and diplomacy.

One point for you, perhaps Obama did NOT act deplomatically and tactfully with this comment, but the act of the arrest was "stupid", and Obama called it out for what it was. Probably not the best thing for Obama to say in a news conference about health care.

I agree, some closet racists will no longer support Obama, but few ever did. (And no, I'm not accusing you of anything.)

[tomm2thumbs]

14. I agree - to say 'I don't know what happened' and then say but 'Police acted stupidly' has no logic

You can't say you didn't know what happened but then give judgment about those actions. Seems like he missed the boat here.

[SemiCharmedQuark]

15. he didn't call him stupid. he said he acted stupidly

Big big difference. Not every person on the planet is stupid, but every peron on the planet has acted stupidly at least once. And the cop did act stupidly. Arresting an old man because he yelled after being accused of robbing his own home is not an act of brilliance.

[knixphan]

17. zactly.

[mlevans]

19. I agree with you, but

unfortunately there are an awful lot of folks who don't seem capable of making that distinction. Likewise, there are those who are quite capable of doing so, but will deliberately tell the story the way they want it to be heard (i.e. "that uppity Obama calls police officers 'stupid'"). When has the GOP ever let truth, literal or otherwise, stand in its way? Republicans are great manufacturers, and despite setbacks of late, there are still entirely too many consumers of their shoddy product out there.

[swifty32661]

22. I agree with you Gator_Matt

Matt,

Just so everyone understands up front I am BIG supporter of Obama. I was almost physically ill the night before the election last year by the thought of McCain possibly winning. It was just sickening to me.

However, unlike republicans with their elected officials, Obama will NOT get a free pass from me on everything he does or says. He is accountable, and it is in my opinion that he majorly screwed this one up.

The president has NO business commenting on local police affairs. He should have been neutral on this. At the most he could have mentioned that it was a friend so he'll be interested in how things pan out and he hopes that when the facts get told everything will be ok...something like that. Bringing race into it is WRONG WRONG WRONG. A white president shouldn't say that NOR should a black president say that. He can of course think what he wants. The president represents whites, blacks, spanish, oriental, ALL races. What if the cops were oriental and the professor was spanish? Would Obama mentioned anything about race?

I know we have a ways to go with race relations in our country. But Obama is not helping by "fanning the flames" insinuating that this may have been a racial issue when he is not sure that it is.

Thanks for listening.
Mike Swift

[SemiCharmedQuark]

23. Did you even watch this last night? Obama was ASKED about this by a reporter.

He said he was not sure this was a race issue. He said the police acted stupidly and they DID. NOT because they were or were not racist, but because it is NOT illegal to yell at an officer in your own home. We know this is true because the charges were dropped and the mayor apologized.

"Richard Weinblatt, director of the Institute for Public Safety at Central Ohio Technical College, said the police sergeant was responsible for defusing the situation once he realized Gates was the lawful occupant. It is not against the law to yell at police, especially in a home, as long as that behavior does not affect an investigation, he said. "

No fanning of flames.

And if the cops were asian and the professor was spanish, guess what? Obama wouldn't have been asked the question at all.

[swifty32661]

25. Sorry, you do not know if this is a race issue

You're just assuming it is because you see white police officer and black person living there.

Even it WAS, the president of the UNITED STATES (not the president of Cambridge) has no business giving his OPINION on a local matter, especially when it comes to race.

So, you're wrong, I'm right, and that's that :)

But seriously, it is my opinion that the president of the united states should never comment on local police action (or any local action). I don't CARE if he was asked directly. He can side step it like I mentioned.

[SemiCharmedQuark]

26. The stupidity of the situation has nothing to do with race and everything to do with the fact that

it is NOT illegal to yell at a police officer. Therefore, the charge was dropped because he shouldn't have been arrested in the first place.

We place an immense amount of power in the hands of police officers. We trust them not to use it lightly. Using it because someone hurts your feelings is an abuse of power.


I haven't assumed this is a racial issue and neither has Obama. In my post above you, I had a different title which I changed. This left "sure this is a race issue" in the first line of the message with no entry. The entry was "Obama said he was not sure if this was a race issue." I corrected that.

Obama specifically said that he was not sure this was a race issue. Which is exactly right. Nobody is sure if this is a racial issue. But racial or not, it doesn't change the fact that it is not illegal to yell at cops and to arrest someone for that is wrong.

And no, it is not a local issue. it is has been dominating the airwaves for the last week. By your standards, no issue other than policy should be discussed by anyone but local stations.