Thursday, July 23, 2009
‘Cambridge police acted stupidly’
Circumstantial evidence that President Obama reads Hub Blog can be found here and here. ... He's probably quaking in his presidential boots after reading my thunderbolt arguments against various health-care proposals floating around Washington. If I've lost Hub Blog, I've lost the nation. ...
Bottom line: I was impressed with the way the president deftly tried to "separate" the Gates incident from racism -- and yet circled back to talk about racism. The "fact" is that Gates had two reasons to be upset: 1.) He was arrested in his own home on a silly charge that would have infuriated most everyone else. 2.) He's a black American highly sensitive, and even overly sensitive, to past police treatment of blacks. Officer Crowley's actions were stupid and insenstive for those two reasons. But they don't make him a racist. ... Can we all agree that Gates and Crowley are two very proud and stubborn men? I hope they reconcile their differences. I have a hunch they could become good friends if they both swallowed their pride and privately hashed out where both are coming from.
P.S. -- Have I ever mentioned that "stupid" is one of my favorite words? I once tried to explain "stupid beers" to some French friends (i.e., those late second-wind beers that you know you'll regret the next morning). The friends loved the phrase "stupid beers" and agreed there's no equivalent French word that sounds as stupid as "stupid."
Update -- The Globe also has a quick profile of Crowley, in addition to the Herald account. He sounds like a good guy caught up in an unfortunate controversy.
Circumstantial evidence that President Obama reads Hub Blog can be found here and here. ... He's probably quaking in his presidential boots after reading my thunderbolt arguments against various health-care proposals floating around Washington. If I've lost Hub Blog, I've lost the nation. ...
Bottom line: I was impressed with the way the president deftly tried to "separate" the Gates incident from racism -- and yet circled back to talk about racism. The "fact" is that Gates had two reasons to be upset: 1.) He was arrested in his own home on a silly charge that would have infuriated most everyone else. 2.) He's a black American highly sensitive, and even overly sensitive, to past police treatment of blacks. Officer Crowley's actions were stupid and insenstive for those two reasons. But they don't make him a racist. ... Can we all agree that Gates and Crowley are two very proud and stubborn men? I hope they reconcile their differences. I have a hunch they could become good friends if they both swallowed their pride and privately hashed out where both are coming from.
P.S. -- Have I ever mentioned that "stupid" is one of my favorite words? I once tried to explain "stupid beers" to some French friends (i.e., those late second-wind beers that you know you'll regret the next morning). The friends loved the phrase "stupid beers" and agreed there's no equivalent French word that sounds as stupid as "stupid."
Update -- The Globe also has a quick profile of Crowley, in addition to the Herald account. He sounds like a good guy caught up in an unfortunate controversy.
