Two Wrongs Don't Make A Right

[chris_gerrib]

I watch (and frequently get irritated at) Morning Joe on MSNBC. (It at least tries to be serious news.) At any rate, they were talking this morning about the Henry Louis Gates arrest.

As I understand the case, Harvard professor Gates, who is black, returns from a long overseas flight to find that the door lock at his house is stuck. He jimmies the lock and gets in. Meanwhile a passer-by calls the police, who show up and find Gates inside.

Gates pops wise at the cops. Stupid, but I suspect that, were it me in Gate's situation, my temper would not be very good either.

Well, the cop decides to take the insults personally, and arrests Gates for disorderly conduct. Stupid action #2.

Of course, this being America, home of the silly, we have to discuss this at length on TV, blogs and whatever.

I frequently disagree with Mika Brzezinski, the co-host on Morning Joe, but I think today she hit the nail on the head. To paraphrase, she said "we have two men who are both used to getting their own way. They butted heads, got their backs up, and the situation escalated."

Comments

[jetfx.livejournal.com]

Regardless of how mouthy Gates was, the cop should have left after Gates provided identification that he was in his own home. Most people would be understandably irritated that they are being accused of breaking into their own home.

And perhaps you should stop reading and watching the things that irritate you. ;)

[chris-gerrib.livejournal.com]

If I stopped watching / reading things I found irritating, I'd never watch / read ANYTHING.

More seriously, part of being an informed citizen is getting information from a variety of sources.

[jetfx.livejournal.com]

Pish posh. This is the internet. A quick search will find you the community you want to rationalize any bogus conspiracy theory you have. No need to read broadly or get irritated anymore now that one can circumvent the inherent moderation coming from the mainstream media.

Identification WAS the issue

[rodney-g-graves.livejournal.com]

As in Gates refused to provide same.

You have heard of home invasions, have you not?

Or are you asserting that the police should have recognized Mr. Gates as the "important person" he believes himself to be?

Re: Identification WAS the issue

[chris-gerrib.livejournal.com]

Except that Gates did in fact provide his ID. See the police report at http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/years/2009/0723092gates2.html.

Everybody is entitled to their opinion, but their are only one set of facts.

Identification WAS the issue

[rodney-g-graves.livejournal.com]

From the report he was slow to provide photo identification, and was making none too veiled threats against the career of the officer involved.

This should get quite interesting as the various court cases which will arise play out.

Heh, Chris Rock has this one figured out!

[rodney-g-graves.livejournal.com]

Re: Heh, Chris Rock has this one figured out!

[chris-gerrib.livejournal.com]

Being polite to police is always a good idea. Being slow to provide required / reasonable paperwork is not a good idea.

Neither of these events make it legal to arrest somebody in the USA. (Something about the Constitution and freedom and all that jazz.)

I stand by my original point - two hardheaded men got in a pissing match. Both got wet.

Heh, Chris Rock has this one figured out!

[rodney-g-graves.livejournal.com]

I look forward to the defamation suit by Crowley. It should be quite interesting, and will no doubt result in more gems like this: