Of all the right-wing commentary I’ve read about the Gates incident, I’ve yet to see a single cogent argument demonstrating why his arrest was appropriate — legally or otherwise. Fortunately, on "This Week" this morning, the Anchor Baby cleared up the whole matter for us.
Look, you’re supposed to respect the police.
There you have it.
She forgot to mention that, after you’ve already produced identification and proven that you’re in your own house and have done nothing illegal, you’re obliged to smartly click your heels and say "Jawohl, Herr Insepktor!" and do whatever the officer commands.
Yes, in the Anchor Baby’s little authoritarian mind — and presumably most of wingnuttia — dissing the police is a crime.
Makes their torture fetish a bit easier to understand, though it is odd coming from the crowd that screams "police state!" when the government undertakes a census.
Related posts:
- FreedomWorks Makes Shit Up, Michelle Malkin Uncritically Repeats It, Wingnuts Uncritically Link to Malkin — Then Blame Media
- Right-Wing Bloggers Come Out in Favor of Arresting Henry Gates
- Michelle Malkin’s Still Got Her Google Alerts Set to “Black Teenagers”
- Gates and Crowley Need to Lead in Wake of Big Media Failure
- DADT: Gates Open to Opening Gates?
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Malkin?
” . . . And the whorse she rode in on!”
Harumph.
But I bet Malkin applauds the following!…
http://www.nypost.com/seven/08…..182423.htm
Notice what the right wing is saying? They’re saying we must be scared of the police, scared of our government, scared of black people, scared of the black President of the United States…..but welcome with open arms the armed right wing fringe militia of America!
Unfreakingbelievable.
In related news, the awful Lurita Doan capitalizes on her father’s own fight with racism at Harvard to claim that Gates was asking for preferential treatment.
What a fucking moron. Aside from the fact that–in getting tenure about a jillion years ago at Harvard, Gates has proven he does compete equally there. His issue, of course, is the simple request he not get arrested for entering his own house.
Malkin got a nice platform to spew her warped view of reality. No interruptions and plenty of airtime.
And she was equally ridiculous on the health care debate.
What a fooltool.
Michelle Malkin is a Dou*#*@bag… and should be just discarded into the trash heap of history…
Remember, she’s also the person who wrote a book praising the internment of Japanese-American citizens during World War II. Of course she loves authority (except when a Democrat is in charge).
MIchelle Malkin should be in prison.
Not really, once you accept these folks are from Bizarro World where George W. Bush was a intellectual giant among men.
Unless, of course, you live at Ruby Ridge or Waco and have a large stockpile of guns, a subservient wife, and a few dozen children to abuse…
Why are we supposed to respect the police, because they carry guns and can kill us? That’s why gang members carry guns. Brings to mind the scene from Grand Canyon where Danny Glover as a tow truck driver saves stranded motorist Steve Martin from gang bangers:
Cops should be respected when they are doing their job properly. It’s obvious to anyone who ponders the ramifications of what Crowley did that it was improper (if not illegal). And his fellow cops are to blame as well, for going along with it, like a common street gang. But it was never a simple issue of race, it’s grounded in notions of power and class. He abused his power and shows no remorse for it. He seems to think the badge means he has to keep society under control instead of what he’s really supposed to do, which is serve the people.
BT, I think you misunderstand. BLACK people are supposed to respect the police unquestioningly.
In a Police State, Malkin & her ilk get to be in power … stupidity posing as intelligence !
I think the cliche is that respect is earned, not given.
Bmaz had it right when he called it “contempt of cop.”
Would a smidgen of psych screening be out of the question for a profession that carries deadly weapons? It seems to me the job description attracts a fair number of power trippers.
It is never a good idea to yell at someone who is carrying a gun and has the power to arrest you. I do not give a damn who you are. It always winds up as he said/he said and the weight of the law seems to make the police officers’ side the one that is right/correct.
True story. While getting gas I observed a state cop(Mich) hand out tickets to a bunch of kids for not wearing seat belts, fine, except they were parked and getting gas, not driving. This cop was well known for pushing the envelope. However this time it did not work. The kids lawyers got the security tape which clearly showed the truth. Which is why dash cams are very useful. What people see/hear, even 2 sides of a conversation can give 2 completely different statements on what the conversation was about. Eyewitnesses lie or do not remember exactly what happened, this has been proven many times including in law school classes. Yet the govt still uses eye witness testimony as objective truth.
My belief is that both were wrong, both got up on their hind legs and spouted off. The cop however should never have arrested the man in his own home. Which brings me back to this one true maxim when dealing with the police. Be polite no matter what, he has the gun. Be polite, he has the entire govt on his side. Be polite, it can not hurt. Be polite, no matter what the provocation because he is the govt and never forget he not only has a gun, he can shoot you. and finally, be polite because the court will believe the cop over you almost every time.
He didn’t arrest him in “his own home”.
“Napoleon is always right.” – George Orwell
Are you saying that because Harvard owns the property, and maintains it, that it isn’t Skip Gates’ home?
I like it when Michelle Malkin starts to squawk about the woman who reported the crime being harassed and called a racist after her name was revealed. You can almost see the words “Graeme Frost” flit through her beautiful mind.
If there had been a hidden camera in Gates house- what makes you so sure Gates “mouthed off” before his identification was shown and the cop’s provocation. Excuse me, but one doesn’t expect to have to use non-violent demonstration training when in your own house. You are saying Prof. Gates should have gone limp and allowed the policeman to pull him into the back seat of a patrol car and enjoyed a night in the slammer!
On the other hand. The MSM has become a complete and total whore because in a rational world Malkin would never ever be on any TV “news” program. News programs are now entertainment programs. The corporations that own the news tell the producers who to book and what to talk about. Finally, the village people(the hosts)are neighbors of those who guest on their programs, they have a totally incestuous relationship. The corporate states of america. The meritocracy is long gone. All hail the idiotocracy.
Is there not a patriotic cop somewhere who will mistake this woman for a street walker and tape her reaction?
or wrote with ghost writer/husband Jesse Malkin…she can’t talk and write as much as they say she does
Malkin is supposed to respect the president… especially during war time.
Is it just me, or is Steffy looking more and more like Mickey Mouse, his Master?
And the recent NYT article about the behind-the-scenes dealing Fox and GE pulled in the matter of Olbermann and O’Lielly proves your point about our so-called independent press.
BTW, totally agree with you on your remarks about dealing with police. There is no way you can control how another person acts in a situation no matter how “professional” both parties may be, but sure as hell you can control how you deal with a situation. And in situations where one party has a gun, someone most definitely needs to be in control.
.
If only professor Gates had been a young Cuban boy, the rightwingers would have bristled at the intrusion of jackbooted stormtroopers into his humble abode.
-G
I’m saying he was outside.
I wonder how many times Gates has been accosted, trailed, stopped, or questioned by officers for no good reason. Then I wonder how many times members of his family, friends, acquaintances, and students have been.
Then I wonder about the cumulative effect of a series of these events happening to the point where part of a parent’s introductory speech about civics, right and wrong, and respect for the law also includes the warning that you will be stopped for no reason, but just keep quiet and obey the officer or you will be incarcerated (using the code phrase, “”get into trouble.”)
I am now a middle-aged white male. I have had two instances of being pulled over without reason in 55 years. I remember them quite clearly. My recourse in the first case was to fight a ticket for bald tires written at 3 am with nobody else on a NJ freeway. I did and I won. Had I been black, would I have won? Would I had even contested the charge?
The other was when I was stopped in the town I lived in for having red eyes. The officer gave me a sobriety test on the side of the road which I passed easily since I had no drinks that day. He did not write a summons, but I told him I was amazed at his eyesight. I’m suspect I would not have made that comment as a black man.
Then I wonder If instead of 2 events in 55 years, there had been 2 events in a year? A month? A week?
There are many differences between the left and the right, but the main one is progressives can always picture themselves in another’s situation and wonder how they might react. Thugs never have the guts to look because it clouds their resolute, but shallow view.
No, I am not saying that at all. I am a white 2nd generation american who has had several interactions with various cops in various countries. Spain, Italy, Japan, Thailand and Singapore. No boast, just fact. In some of the cases I was wrong, in some the cop was. However, I was never rude to the person with the gun. I am related to quite a few cops. All that being said the one maxim to always remember holds true no matter who you are or what race you are or what country you are in. The cop is a uniformed representative of the govt power structure. There is a time and a place to argue with the govt and it is not in a one on one with any cop. Being polite in my mind has nothing to do with folding and “going limp”
Did I state anywhere that Gates “mouthed off” to the cop? Did I say anywhere that Gates mouthed off before showing ID? No. What I did say is that it is my belief-and no one other than the 2 people involved will ever know exactly what happened-that BOTH over reacted. I did state that the cop should never have arrested the man in his own home.
My relatives who are and who have been cops have argued this a lot. The consensus seems to be that the cop should have walked away as soon as he was shown the homeowners ID. HOWEVER they also say that the homeowner should not have raised his voice to the cop. A call is made about a possible break in. A Cop responds. He finds someone in the house with indications that the door has been broken in. He has not been told-according to the 911 call-that they are black/brown/white or green. He requests/demands ID from the person, who having just returned from a trip should have ID be it passport drivers lic or some kind of picture ID. The homeowner produces said ID and the cop walks away. BUT, we will never know exactly what happened will we? What did the cop-who has been trained to testify in court-say and what did Gates-a Harvard professor hear? What did Gates say and what did the cop hear?
That is why I say I don’t care who or what you are, being polite in a confrontation between a citizen and a cop never hurts. It does not mean “folding up” or anything else. I wonder what your definition of polite might be? What it means is that you speak in a normal tone, you do not insult the person with the gun, you do not ever raise your voice. Why do you believe that if Gates had been polite to the cop he would still have been arrested? B&E was not the charge. It was the catch all, disturbing the peace. One can politely request the name and badge number of a police officer. I believe that they both placed themselves into positions that each felt that he could not retreat from. The cop should have thanked the homeowner for showing his ID and then left. Gates should not have raised his voice. It is not always about racism, sometimes it is about power. In any confrontation with the police, the police have the power. I do not give a damn who you are, the represenative of the govt who is armed has the power.
@16 – So that’s the 10 & 1/2 Amendment in the Bill of Rights, I guess –
When the police powers violate Amendments 1-10, be polite to them.
I think most people will, most often, be more polite than Gates was, but IMO it is a crock that moves the conversation where it should not go to say that there is any need to be polite to someone who is in your home, knowing it is your home, and without your permission and that is doubly so when that person is given the color of law.
An older gentlemen with a walker in his home who just have a very frustrating time getting into his home – for all the policeman knew, that gentlemen could be in pain from a medical procedure; could be suffering from reactions to medications or to a need for medications; he could have been back from travel that left him sleep deprived and with poor judgment; he could have taken advantage of being in his own home to knock back a few; etc.
If the police aren’t being trained that, once they discover they are not responding to a break in and that the person is the rightful tenant of the home, they should get out of someone’s home and leave them alone – no matter how nasty the person is to them, then they aren’t being trained properly. Yes, you are allowed to be an SOB, a cranky old “get off my lawn” guy in your own home. When the police are in your home without a warrant, everyone who makes any excuse of “they are both in the wrong” for someone being impolite to them is eviscerating the First as well as the Fourth amendments.
It may not be the nicest or best part of being a policeman, to have someone say nasty things to you. Cowboy up! Do you know how many women who don’t have guns have to deal with a helluva lot worse said to them on the public streets and without the option to just call their girlfriends up and have the guys arrested? Geez louise, if the police can’t take some disrespect without falling apart, they don’t need to be in a uniform. Fragility and firearms aren’t a great mix.
this conversation is an endless circle
Raising your voice to a cop isn’t illegal in America. It may not be nice, it may not be wise, but it shouldn’t lead to your arrest.
linky
“This Week w/ George Stepanopolus” has jumped the shark with booking Malkin on today’s broadcast.
I’m amazed every time I see Malkin on a “news” program, she brings nothing to the table except right wing bull roar. However I would like to see her and Cynthia Tucker in a one on one debate to the death. Cynthia has the best “you’d better watch what you say bitch” face I’ve ever seen!
Did anyone see/hear her mention that extending unemployment benefits discourages unemployed people from seeking employment? At least the other commentators refuted…but is was a sickening moment. Does George have her on just cause she’s cute?
Larry Kudlow has been spouting that particular line of gibberish for years, long before Malkin came on the scene.
It was not Steve Martin, it was Kevin Kline. That scene captured SO much of White America’s angst regarding race and crime. Great cinema.
Another true story. A very close friend of mine stumbled beside a car at a bar just as a cop pulled onto the parking lot. He was order to stop and when the cop looked under the car he found a bag of cocaine with a few small bags in it. Absolutely not his, yet now he is facing 6 to 30 years for possession with intent to deliver. The cop and his boss both have told him they know it’s not his but there isn’t anything they can do about it. Billy Jack was right, when the law breaks the law there is no law, just guns and badges.
I can’t stretch ‘cute’ to include vitrol-spraying, teeth-gnashing, host-taunting, and juvenile mocking tones. George and This Week were really scraping the bottom of the pundit barrel. I couldn’t resist the temptation to check in at her blog to see her reaction to the reaction. She showed those lefties a thing or two. Sample:
A wider forum indeed.
WHO let MoMo out of her straight jacket??? Unlike those of us that are forced to live in reality, MoMo gets to shriek at the moon and slobber on Greta’s desk in a fit because of being out of her cage more than 10 minutes at a time…
She sure leaves a trail of something that smells REAL foul where ever she goes doesn’t she…
“He seems to think the badge means he has to keep society under control instead of what he’s really supposed to do, which is serve the people.”
That’s a common fallacy in the thinking of civilians. Cops comprise the largest street gang in America, and they aren’t under any obligation to serve OR protect regular people (according to case law on the subject). Yes, they are trained specifically to keep society under control, with all the bad that comes along with that ideal.
I’d really like to see those case law citations. Y’know, because having studied criminal law I can’t ever recall anything like that, and I’m pretty sure we would have covered it.
Who are Malkin’s supporters? The typical right-winger loathes foreigners, which Malkin definitely is; despite where she was born, she is Asian.
Is it a group of minorities — all blacks, Asians, Hispanics, etc., who are right-wing? Does it also have whites in there, who will band with any right-winger because they feel threatened by the evil Democrats?
They better hope the right-wing doesn’t take over again, because the bloodbath between the black right-wingers and the white right-wingers; and the Asian RWers and the white RWers; and the Hispanic RWers and the white RWers will put WWII to shame.
“He didn’t arrest him in “his own home”.”
If you don’t know the facts, don’t jump into the conversation. Whose home did he arrest him in, his next door neighbors? Once the officer had proof that the man was in his own home, he should have acknowledged the mistake. Gates should have thanked him for his vigilance and we would not heard of this story. Two egoes were the reason for this fiasco.
“I’d really like to see those case law citations.”
See footnotes 4, 5 and 6 here: http://rkba.org/research/kasler/protection
I used to have a whole lot more information on this but I don’t have time to look it up at the moment.
Late back to the thread but have to say: to Mary’s words, AMEN.
To timr: Polite people have been arrested, lynched people have too. Palli
Cops don’t care what color you are. Sure, cops do get a little more satisfaction out of hasseling a black guy than a white, but having the power to control and mess with people is a primary reason why cops become cops. Cops love the power and enjoy being able to beat people and call their buddies in to have some fun as well. Not all cops are a sick as the asshole Gates ran in to. However, I do not blame him for getting pissed and showing it to the cop – you have to be real and take your chances.
I have only seen her on television a few times, but she never fails to remind me of Marcus’ wife/girlfriend Lois (Lauren Tom) from the movie “Bad Santa,” and who, I believe, was headed to prison at the end of that funny movie.
I pay no more attention to Michelle Malkin than I do the occasional homeless man who shouts obscenities about the unseen person who is following him and how he plans to deal with him or her when he eventually catches up to him or her. Both are a bit scary for a few moments, but they are more to be pitied than anything else.
Thanks for the excellent summary.