The One Goes Biden

I commented on the saga of  poor oppressed Henry Gates, earlier.   What happened to Professor Gates wasn’t “racial profiling” then and it isn’t now.   Even if the accusation comes from the chief law enforcement officer of the nation, the one, a/k/the President of the United States, a/k/a Barack Obama, via Mark Silva, Swamp :

“I should say at the outset that Skip Gates is a friend, so I may be a little biased here,” Obama said tonight. “I don’t know all the facts. What’s been reported, though, is that the guy 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?” he said. “The police are doing what they should. There’s a call. They go investigate.

“What happens? My understanding is, at that point, Professor Gates is already in his house. The police officer comes in. I’m sure there’s some exchange of words. But my understanding is — is that Professor Gates then shows his ID to show that this is his house, and at that point he gets arrested for disorderly conduct, charges which are later dropped.

“Now, I’ve — 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. And number three, what I think we know separate and apart from this incident is that there is a long history in this country of African-Americans and Latinos being stopped by law enforcing disproportionately. That’s just a fact…

“That doesn’t lessen the incredible progress that has been made,” said Obama, the first African-American president. “I am standing here as testimony to the progress that’s been made. And yet the fact of the matter is, is that, you know, this still haunts us.”

William A. Jacobson, Legal Insurrection:

Gates wasn’t arrested for being in his own home. He was arrested after police reacted — maybe overreacted — to Gates’ verbal assault on the police. Obama’s statement did not leave open the possibility that Gates caused the problem not by being in his home, but by overreacting to police officers investigating a complaint of a burglary in progress

Ferentz  LaFargue, Puffington Post:

Unfortunately, in Gates’ lifetime, the quest for elitism has become intertwined with the quest for celebrity. That so many people are simply famous for being famous makes people like Gates and the aforementioned Christian Bale vulnerable to the engines propelling these vapid strains of elitism. In this particular instance, like Bale in his infamous encounter with a stagehand, Gates felt that his space had been invaded by the police officer. The officer was wrong for arresting Gates, but not for investigating the incident for which he was called to the scene, just as the stagehand was not wrong for being on set. Gates was inevitably flexing the same muscle, the same power that I found alluring in that Vibe photo when he shouted down the officer, and Bale’s intensity dressing down the stagehand likely correlates with why he is now the star of two blockbuster movie franchises, Batman and The Terminator. Neither Gates nor Bale were willing to concede that what they saw as an intrusion on their space, their antagonists saw as simply doing their jobs, and in both instances these stars were left to piece back together their shards of celebrity

Obama admits to not knowing all the facts of the case, yet while adding some new ones.    While pleading incomplete knowledge, Obama still sees fit to slander the police officer.   Obama refers to the actions of the police, but not Professor Gates as stupid.   Funny when I got stopped last week, I never yelled the officer nor did I get arrested.   Yet somehow Gates did both.  Coincidence?

It seems clear that Professor Gates was angry at the police officer.  Yet Obama seems to defend anger at police officers and abusive treatment police officers as expected behavior (for all of use, or just blacks?).

Obama conflates the circumstances of Professor Gates arrest.   Gates wasn’t arrested for breaking into his own house.   He was arrested for rowdy behavior.   Can professor of constitutional law tell the difference.

Finally, Obama refers to the arrest of Professor Gates as a incident of “racial profiling” when it certainly was not.    The police did not question Professor Gates because of race, but because he was seen breaking into a house. albeit his own.

Yesterday Barack Obama had an opportunity to act like the President of the United States, the so-called leader of the free world, or like a mere community organizer.   Sadly for both Obama and our nation, Obama took the low road. and did the latter.