Kevin,
I didn't go to Harvard, but...
your commentary brightens my day. With enough of the people ready to pass judgement on either side. There has been an effort to 'reprogram' the thoughts of Americans to think only the worst of the police. Cell phone clips, media reports all support these efforts.

Believe me, enough 'jackass' cops exist out there and this guy might very well be one...we really don't know.

However, to have the President accuse him of any wrongdoing without the benefit of having any real details, is slanderous.

Did I mention I didn't go to Harvard.

This scenario could have played out just as you have described.

Thanks!

Apparently Prof. Gates never paid attention to Chris Rock's public service video, "How not to get your a$s kicked by the police!"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uj0mtxXEGE8

-Laurie

Right On....right on. No doubt many blacks experienced horrible treatment, racism and demeaning behavior from cops (and others) before and including the 50's, 60's to the present. No question there are racists cops just like there are racist politicians, doctors, lawyers etc. But my people you CANNOT tell me (a black woman) that the same is going on today at the same rate it did in the past. Yes it should not happen at all...Mr. Gates lives in a state that has a black mayor, a black governor and a country with a black President. Stop using race as a crutch, don't blindly follow ANY political party. Get educated and stay informed.

@Uncle Dave - Thanks for the visit and the great comment!

@Laurie - TOO funny!

@Lilith - Spot on L! LOVE the comment!

Lillith,
"Get educated and stay informed."

Couldn't have said it better myself...

I had a conversation with some friends of mine, you know the type...love the argue but never with any real substance, blame, blame, blame and more of the same. Finally, when posed with fact, they get scared and resort to the name calling and run off in a huff. Especially, when I say..."Go educate yourself and come back when you know what you're talking about"

Really pisses the 'lemmings'off!

"did I mention I didn't go to Harvard"

Dave

Without having the race card to play, what would become of people like Prof. Gates..(and Al and Jesse for that matter)? Would there be Black Victimology classes to teach at Harvard?

BTW, Cambridge's mayor is a black female lesbian. And now Obama's calling her police dept stupid. Tch!

Kevin:

My first thought when hearing about this arrest , Obambi's response, and Gates' response, was, this guy Gates is another Reverend Wright. And Obummer is friends with both!!

You are known by the company you keep.

BTW, I love your rants. Keep them coming.

Andrew B.

Kevin-
I am so glad you brought this one up. I was just completely amazed at BO's comment about this situation, even after he stated he didn't know the facts. All I see is he keeps dividing this country more then I've ever seen in my life time. There's a great article on American Thinker about this too, "Dear Mr. President".

I agree completely and it's nice to hear an "intelligent and clean" black person say it. You would make Biden proud, that is if he wasn't such a racist himself.

I have come to distrust anyone who has an alphabet soup of letters after their name. I call it "educated beyond their intelligence."

So glad you got the hacking problem solved. We need to keep hearing your voice. I did find it suspicious that it happened right after the town hall meeting where you were ignored. Just sayin'....
;-)

I'll be linking ...

Ordered your book today Kev--looking forward to the read.

Maybe there are two reasons for the brown underwear.

@Laurie - Interesting tidbit on the mayor!

@Andrew B - Thanks for the visit and comment!

@Lilly - Obama the Uniter!

@Adrienne - Clean...priceless!

@BlackFemaleConservative - Thanks for ordering the book. I think you will enjoy it!

Why did Gates have to make a scene? If he would have acted like a normal person in this situation, we wouldn't be having this discussion. If he was going to make a case about race, acting like that sure doesn't help him because ANYONE acting like that in that sitaution is getting cuffed. You can only push a human being so far.
But I am really mad about Obama's comment because he made a judgement before knowing the facts. That's like me saying, "I don't know what Kevin said, but the comment he made was stupid". I'll bet Axelrod was doing something with bricks and I don't mean laying them. It is ok for people to have their own views and prejudices but, as POTUS, you have to show you are leader of all people. That's what happens when you throw someone in who hasn't been the leader of anything. The voters just failed to read the fine print.

Make no mistake, lets be perfectly clear, I do not know the facts, but I have a strong opinion. Works for Gates, Honduras and the health care bill. Wow!

Kevin,
As a punk teenager (just a few years ago...;>), I learned quickly that you usually get treated as well as you treat others, cops included. My record of 11 traffic stops in one month w/out a single ticket issued still stands in the 'Teenage Driver Hall of Fame.'
I am not saying that all cops are good, there are a few over the edge ones out there. But then again,there are plenty of those from EVERY profession.
It appears that the gild is coming off the lily now...one can only pray that his political demise begins to accelerate as quickly as I used to...

@Curt - Gates made a scene, because he believes he is above the law. Pure and simple.

@Doug - TOO funny! I have to remember those!

DaSicilian - That my friend is a record 11 'no gos'! WOW! The rose is wilting, but let's remain vigilant and not water it!

Kevin - you are beyond "clean" - you look positively spotless...

I love collecting handsome young blogger dudes. You're on my list!

BO just threw Gates under the bus but didn't apologize to the cops...
The wheels on the bus goes thump thump thump

If I were a cat burglar, and if I were black, and if I were reading the news and paying attention...
I'd jimmy his front door open in broad daylight, assuming his neighbors would think I was him and be scared to call the cops again because of what happened LAST time. The lesson of the boy who cried wolf.
I question how intelligent you can be when you deliberately cultivate enemies among those whose job it is to PROTECT you and your property. I can't believe how all he would have had to do was say, "yeah, I had problems with my front door, but I do live here, here's my ID." Reeeaaaallly simple.

A news report Obama regrets his words. I'm thinking he's being honest, although I also think there's a big difference between regretting, and being sorry for your words. He regrets getting his butt in a sling, but I doubt he's sorry for insulting the police.

Hi Kevin,

I dropped your name and link on this blog: http://standupforamerica.wordpress.com/2009/07/22/tuesday-night-open-mic-for-july-21-2009/#comment-22831

I'm having a go with a lib. He disputes the 95% of blacks voting for Obama. I did see that umber on your site,correct? If you have sometime, check out the overall site. I think you'll enjoy it.

Yeah -- this one is another example of engage-brain-before-operating-mouth-gone-wrong.

I don't care what race a "suspect" is, he simply should NOT get into it with a cop, especially one who is investigating a burglary in a house where an attempted burglary had been investigated just a little while ago! I know a white chick of grandmotherly age who had the cuffs slapped on her IN HER OWN HOME for mouthing off to one female white cop (who cuffed her)and one male black cop. When she came to her senses and behaved as her upbringing would have her behave, the cops let her go. Of course, that was in New Orleans --where we NEVER experience racial strife -- and not at Hah-vahd.

Class will tell at every turn. The Gates dude certainly has none of that. Makes you wonder about the Young President's measurement on the class meter.

If he did indeed issue a statement expressing regret for his words, Prof. Gates better grab hold of an axle under the bus. It's getting crowded under there!

p.s. -- My husband beat me to your book, so I haven't gotten to start it yet!

Let me be clear...In my days of wearing a uniform, he would have one chance to produce that ID before he was eating carpet. These guys are there to stop a burglary, which at this point is still a felony, and since almost 80 of crime is drug related, law enforcement does what they do and do it how they do it to guarantee the least violent outcome. One person having their attitude adjusted beats 10-12 wildly discharged rounds in a neighborhood....

You are hilarious, Kevin. Gates failed a basic American IQ test: Don't mess with the cops. I knew cops in San Francisco. There were no grudges against any protected class. It was basically them against everybody else. In other words, a very level playing field. Back in the day, I had a Gates moment with a Bay Area cop and got locked up for my trouble. It only took that once. Americans are proud and really hate anyone condescending to us. Yet, one must let the police have their say. Then everyone can all move on.

@Robert - What up Dusty?! You clean up well in that pic! I agree with you that cops don't get the opportunity to "err on the side of caution," not even for the elite!

Just ordered your book.

Keep up the interventions.

I can't believe that you actually have family, i.e. siblings, nieces, nephews, aunts, uncles, etc..... From your description of them, you would have been dirt napped a long time ago. Straying off the reservation, so they say.

I think you were built in a bunker in Florida.

But seriously, I appreciate your openness, about your life and thoughts.

As I stated before he took office, BO is a stone cold racist and those comments demonstrate it. What's worse, Gate's front door lock was broke from a previous break in, so why didn't he go through that door? I think this was a set up to stir up racial tensions. Since he was a victim of a previous break in, did he suspect someone would phone in the activity that wasn't necessary? The woman that made the call was there with the officer and she was white, why didn't he go after her? Perhaps Gates was an elitist, as a norm of democrats and liberals are, just getting po'd for not giving the "respect" he felt he was owed, but this reeks of a set up and BO taking advantage to promote his racist agenda. This is the school that Bush went to. That would explain a lot about HIS legacy.

madmath1 - I am all for a good conspiracy theory..I think they are fun, but I don't think he tried to set this up...His actions are pretty typical of 'angry' people who have no other recourse than to lash out...If it were a 'black' officer, his only choice would have been to blame global warming or of course Sarah Palin...

Fabulous, as always! But, don't let a good crisis go to waste....... let's see how much airtime, brain drain and smokescreen the O can waste diverting attention away from cap and trade, healthcare horror, the failure of H.R.1 and hundreds of porky projects which create no jobs - other than new Federal departments. Can anyone really think of a sitting President deciding to take on a rather minor problem in one state where no physical harm was involved and playing it up while a danger like North Korea is testing nuclear missiles?

Seems there hasn't been a week go by since Jan. 20th that B.O. hasn't committed some gaffe. The POTUS isn't a position you can "grow into", as he is (hopefully) finding out.

Now that B.O. has apologized, what will be the next move of Gates and the race hustlers that rushed to his defense?

"A Harvard professor and last remaining friend of Obama!!"

I loved that. But he still has that dog of his right? Or did it turn against his health care plan?

Love that "police transcript"! I can't believe how STUPIDLY people react to situations like these- touting someone's profession and which Ivy League they went to. Why is Gates' background relevant, unless the cops opened the door to find him in a Harvard sweatshirt, giving a lecture on whatever he teaches? Without further evidence, all they knew about him was he was some guy inside a house that had been supposedly broken into. (Yes, shame on that evil woman who called the cops to protect his house!)

I've had to break into my own car and apartments in the past, and each time was keenly aware of how bad it looked. If any cops had seen me, with my whole arm stuck inside my car window, I doubt they would've said "never mind that white girl". I knew I could be questioned, and would do my darnedest to show some respect. Because 1, there's no faster way to look guilty than throwing a fit when confronted by cops, and 2, I'd appreciate the cops following the same protocol for ANYONE sticking their arms into my car.

But I know how many people disrespect the cops, and I know that elitism + the race card is a deadly combination in that respect. Someone I know literally thought he was above the law because his lawyer parents could argue their way out of anything, and he needed to prove what a "badass" he was by speeding in his flashy car, but complained about how often he got pulled over- because of his dark skin! Every time he dissed the police I'd ask him who he'd go running to if his Mercedes (or anything) got stolen.

Sorry for the long rant, your blog makes me THINK so much!

This has been amusing watching the racist trip all over themselves recanting every racist comment. Huh, when I said, huh that I really, huh meant this. Oh yeah. Pulled that card one to many times didn't ya. I am pleased the police department is standing squarely behind their officer and not throwing them to the wolves like I have seen in the past. Oh, and I heard the house couldn't be secured due to a recent break in. Another good reason for the officer to be cautious.

@Julie - It's because cops have ethics, unlike Kenyan-born Harvard-degreed politicians!

@ADL - The cops taught Gates that he is not above the law. Hopefully Obama gets a lesson on that soon!

@Subvet - Like I have said, "Biden may be the smart one!"

As an ex-liberal, I am starting to curl up with Ayn Rand books these days. What's happening to the left is despicable. Gates, a man of privilege, is not as victimized by racial profiling as he is from academic-hubris. Does he know how to accept personal responsibility? And, of course, Obama is a trained lawyer who doesn't bother with the facts until AFTER he renders an opinion. Amazing.

Your blog is an oasis amidst the full-scale assault on intelligence and common sense going on these days. I hope to read your book once I plow through the Rand material.

And now he wants them to come to the white house for a beer? Wtfudge?
Obama is now indicating that all police officers drink alcohol? That is so slanderous in itself. What if Bush had mentioned ANYONE coming to the white house to drink a beer? We would be still hearing about it now.

BTW-Where is MADD? One would think they would be condoning this type of behavior by Obama, since he just advertised that one can settle any disagreement over a couple of drinks.

Wtfudge, our America is really getting crazy!

Loving the book Kevin! It is so revealing of your true nature...and yes, you were 'suckered' by that employee of yours. I think you learned a good lesson from that, which is the enemy will leave the plantation only to find your weakness so they can drag you back to the plantation. LOL

Actually, we should all be celebrating that:
- the economic crisis is over and unemployment is at an historic low
- Iran and North Korea have abandoned their nuclear ambitions
- peace has finally come to the Middle East.

Obviously, all of the above has happened, since the President of the United States has so much time on his hands that he can wade into a local dispute and now try to mediate that dispute over beers at the White House.

P.S. I love your blog.

One of the first things I learned when I was old enough to hang out was, alway be polite to the police. It seems simple enough and it is.

I am not black, but I getting arrested is as much my worst nightmare as a Black man's worst nightmare. Who wants to go to jail?

I as I grew up I extrapolated that bit of wisdom to being polite to everyone I meet and every one I know.

That has gotten a lot further in life than wearing a racial or any other kind of chip on my shoulder.

Obama is a fool and a fraud and Gates has log on his shoulder and it's starting to look good on him. I am sure he suffering as he should be.

Hi Kevin, I found your blog over at Adrienne's Catholic Corner and I am SO GLAD that I did! You are right on the money in your words and I'm following you from this day forward. Thanks for your honesty about Harvard arrogance! Roz

Great response Kevin to a storm in a tea cup from the alleged Harvard graduate in law, who does not even know how to analyze facts before opening that big yap.