Thread: Obama Should Have Chosen Words More Carefully

It's very hard to hide what is in your heart.

Obama Moves to Dampen Uproar Over Comment on Race
After his comment about black professor's arrest, Obama seeks to dampen uproar and move on

By NANCY BENAC Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON July 25, 2009 (AP)

President Barack Obama concedes his words — that a white police officer "acted stupidly" when he arrested a black university scholar in his own home — were ill-chosen. But, while he invited both men to visit him at the White House, Obama stopped short of publicly apologizing for his remark.

The president personally telephoned the two men, Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. and Cambridge, Mass., police Sgt. James Crowley, in an effort to end the rancorous back-and-forth over what had transpired and what Obama had said about it. Trying to lighten the situation, he even commiserated with Crowley about reporters on his lawn.

Hours earlier, a multiracial group of police officers had stood with Crowley in Massachusetts and called on Obama to say he's sorry.

It was a measure of the nation's keen sensitivities on matters of race that the fallout from a disorderly conduct charge in Massachusetts — and the remarks of America's first black president about it — had mushroomed to such an extent that he felt compelled to make a surprise appearance in the White House briefing room to try to put the matter to rest. The blowup had dominated national attention just as Obama was trying to marshal public pressure to get Congress to push through health care overhaul legislation — and as polls showed growing doubts about his performance.


"This has been ratcheting up, and I obviously helped to contribute ratcheting it up," Obama said of the racial controversy. "I want to make clear that in my choice of words, I think I unfortunately gave an impression that I was maligning the Cambridge Police Department and Sgt. Crowley specifically. And I could've calibrated those words differently."

The president did not back down from his contention that police had overreacted by arresting the Harvard professor for disorderly conduct after coming to his home to investigate a possible break-in. He added, though, that he thought Gates, too, had overreacted to the police who questioned him. The charge has been dropped.

Obama stirred up a hornet's nest when he said at a prime-time news conference this week that Cambridge police had "acted stupidly" by arresting Gates, a friend of the president's. Still, Obama said Friday he didn't regret stepping into the controversy and hoped the matter would end up being a "teachable moment" for the nation.

"The fact that this has garnered so much attention, I think, is testimony to the fact that these are issues that are still very sensitive here in America," Obama said.

Obama, who has come under intense criticism from police organizations, said he had called Crowley to clear the air, and said the conversation confirmed his belief that the sergeant is an "outstanding police officer and a good man."

White House press secretary Robert Gibbs refused to say whether Obama had apologized to Crowley.

Asked repeatedly about that, Gibbs said if Obama "doesn't want to characterize" his remarks to Crowley, "I'm not going to get ahead of him."

The story had taken on a life of its own, and the White House scrambled to keep up.

Gibbs said just Friday morning that the president had probably said most of what he was going to say, and that the only problem was media "obsession."

Hours later, Obama showed up to try to put the issue to rest.


There were signs both that Obama's statement had helped to ease tensions and that his critics were not about to let that be the end of it: A trio of Massachusetts police organizations issued a statement thanking the president for his "willingness to reconsider his remarks." The statement said Crowley was "profoundly grateful" Obama was trying to resolve the situation. But a Republican congressman from Michigan, Thaddeus McCotter, said he would introduce a House resolution calling on Obama to apologize to Crowley.

Obama tried to lighten his tone in his public remarks about his phone conversation with Crowley.

He said the police officer "wanted to find out if there was a way of getting the press off his lawn."

"I informed him that I can't get the press off my lawn," Obama joked.

President Barack Obama pauses as he talks to the media in the briefing room at the White House in Washington, Friday, July 24, 2009. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
(AP)In his conversation with Gates, aides said, Obama and the professor had spoken about the president's statement to the press and his conversation with Crowley.

The case began on Monday, when word broke that Gates, 58, had been arrested five days earlier at the two-story home he rents from Harvard.

Supporters including Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson called the arrest an outrageous act of racial profiling. Public interest increased when a photograph surfaced of the handcuffed Gates being escorted off his porch amid three officers, two white and one black.

Cambridge police moved to drop the disorderly conduct charge on Tuesday — without apology, but calling the case "regrettable."

That didn't end the national debate: Some said Gates was responsible for his own arrest because of his response to Crowley, while others said Gates was justified to yell at the officer.

Obama's criticism of the police only added fuel to the racial debate.

Meanwhile, the police union and fellow officers, black and white, rallied around Crowley, a decorated officer who in 1993 tried to give lifesaving mouth-to-mouth resuscitation to Reggie Lewis, a black Boston Celtics player who collapsed at practice. Lewis could not be revived.


Crowley, 42, had been selected to be a police academy instructor on how to avoid racial profiling.

A multiracial group of officers and union officials stood with Crowley on Friday at a news conference to show support and to ask Obama and Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick, who is black, to apologize for their comments. Patrick had called Gates' arrest "every black man's nightmare."

Obama's take on the situation: "My sense is you've got two good people in a circumstance in which neither of them were able to resolve the incident in a way that it should have been resolved."

Democratic activists around the country were hopeful the president's latest remarks would quell the uproar.

Associated Press writers Bob Salsberg in Cambridge, Mass., Charles Babington, Ben Feller and Mary Clare Jalonick in Washington, Brendan Farrington in Tallahassee, Fla., and Tim Martin in Lansing, Mich., contributed to this report.

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory?id=8171177

http://abcnews.go.com/video/playerIndex?id=8167271

He didn't apologize and he wont. Still police officers acting bad in "minority commities".

The Story
http://abcnews.go.com/video/playerIndex?id=8163272

In light of this, Gates should no longer appear on the show History Detectives.

Dixie

I think it should be a punishable crime if one claims racism and is proved wrong. The professor had no basis to claim and yell racism and threw a temper-tantrum just like a three year old child. Those who play the race card are more than likely not able to sustain a viable argument and more likely to act or speak out stupidly.

Why were the charges dropped? Most likely because the state had NO case against Gates. Once it was established that he was the homeowner, the police should've left -especially if he was acting like an ass.
It seems too many folks here don't see what really happened -a bully police officer made sure he won. Did you guys not see the incident with the ambulance driver. If you watch enough of those bad driver videos you'll see several cases where white drivers talk bad to a cop, but don't get arrested. One white woman talks crazy to the police, then snatches her ID from one. They didn't do a thing to her, but there's a case where a black retired trooper or policeman does the same thing and is arrested and charged with assaulting an officer.
I certainly can't say racism was involved with any of these cases, but I do find it curious that the same pattern seems to repeat itslef...

It's the officer's duty to insure that someone is not harmful to themselves or others. If Gates appeared too angry or aggressive they will put him in custody, no matter what color he is. Just call it a time out.

I'm going to tell you one of the worst things I've ever seen in my life was the arrest of a white man by several police officers. Trust me it was horrendous. The person being arrest was screaming, spitting, fighting, trying to grab his weapon, throwing himself on the ground... not to mention the evil things he was saying to the officers. We've all seen enough episodes of COPS to know some people of all races act badly when being arrested or questioned by police.

I saw a white grandmother get arrested the other day after a traffic stop. http://www.alipac.us/ftopicp-908749.html#908749

Race had nothing to do with that. The woman acted badly and she got what she got.

Walk a mile in a cops shoes and you will understand. I suggest you call your local police department and go on a few civilian ride alongs.

If Gates keeps pushing this issue his behavior will become public because there is not a doubt in my mind that the whole conversation was caught on an open mic to the dispatcher and recorded. That's why the PD and officer association is standing up to this bull, they know what happened. The court of public opinion and the press doesn't.

Dixie

here are a few words that one might refer the prez as being

incompetent
arrogant
stupid
moron
dumb
imbicile
racist
illegal alien


sorry i couldnt resist the last one

Originally Posted by Dixie

It's the officer's duty to insure that someone is not harmful to themselves or others. If Gates appeared too angry or aggressive they will put him in custody, no matter what color he is. Just call it a time out.

I'm going to tell you one of the worst things I've ever seen in my life was the arrest of a white man by several police officers. Trust me it was horrendous. The person being arrest was screaming, spitting, fighting, trying to grab his weapon, throwing himself on the ground... not to mention the evil things he was saying to the officers. We've all seen enough episodes of COPS to know some people of all races act badly when being arrested or questioned by police.

I saw a white grandmother get arrested the other day after a traffic stop. http://www.alipac.us/ftopicp-908749.html#908749

Race had nothing to do with that. The woman acted badly and she got what she got.

Walk a mile in a cops shoes and you will understand. I suggest you call your local police department and go on a few civilian ride alongs.

If Gates keeps pushing this issue his behavior will become public because there is not a doubt in my mind that the whole conversation was caught on an open mic to the dispatcher and recorded. That's why the PD and officer association is standing up to this bull, they know what happened. The court of public opinion and the press doesn't.

Dixie

A traffic stop in public is different than a person cussing cops in his own home, and is no threat to the public. Just like Gates should not have talked the way he did, the cops should not have made an unlawful arrest. Why is that so hard for some folks to see...

Originally Posted by Dixie

It's the officer's duty to insure that someone is not harmful to themselves or others. If Gates appeared too angry or aggressive they will put him in custody, no matter what color he is. Just call it a time out.

I'm going to tell you one of the worst things I've ever seen in my life was the arrest of a white man by several police officers. Trust me it was horrendous. The person being arrest was screaming, spitting, fighting, trying to grab his weapon, throwing himself on the ground... not to mention the evil things he was saying to the officers. We've all seen enough episodes of COPS to know some people of all races act badly when being arrested or questioned by police.

I saw a white grandmother get arrested the other day after a traffic stop. http://www.alipac.us/ftopicp-908749.html#908749

Race had nothing to do with that. The woman acted badly and she got what she got.

Walk a mile in a cops shoes and you will understand. I suggest you call your local police department and go on a few civilian ride alongs.

If Gates keeps pushing this issue his behavior will become public because there is not a doubt in my mind that the whole conversation was caught on an open mic to the dispatcher and recorded. That's why the PD and officer association is standing up to this bull, they know what happened. The court of public opinion and the press doesn't.

Dixie

A traffic stop in public is different than a person cussing cops in his own home, and is no threat to the public. Just like Gates should not have talked the way he did, the cops should not have made an unlawful arrest. Why is that so hard for some folks to see...

Just like Gates should not have talked the way he did, the cops should not have made an unlawful arrest. Why is that so hard for some folks to see...

I do not know what the professor said,but no matter if you are in your own home,does not give you the right to treat an officer with disrespect either. So I would disagree with you on the actions of the officer. Appears the two officers were doing their job in an investigation.

Originally Posted by uniteasone

Just like Gates should not have talked the way he did, the cops should not have made an unlawful arrest. Why is that so hard for some folks to see...

I do not know what the professor said,but no matter if you are in your own home,does not give you the right to treat an officer with disrespect either. So I would disagree with you on the actions of the officer. Appears the two officers were doing their job in an investigation.

Why is it so hard to accept that the officer arrested Gates because he wanted to win the "fight". I guarantee you the other officers there regret the fact he arrested Gates, and that's because they know the arrest was unlawful. The plot only thickened when the 911 call was released and the caller never mentions "black men", and then goes on the record to let it be known she never told Crowley the men were black. I find it curious that noone here has even considered that the officer was wrong.
On Youtube there's a video of a woman suspected of DWI who gets beaten by an officer to the point she's ends up in a pool of her own blood. Before the beating she was uncooperative and giving the officer a hard time. I guess you guys think she should've been hurt, since she disrespected the officer and was already under arrest?..LOL