Keeping the Peace

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/07/27/AR2009072701907.html?hpid=opinionsbox1

The lovely Eugene Robinson has a must read column about the Gates arrest. I must admit to being stunned at the kerfuffle about what Barack had to say about the reaction to the Cambridge police and their arrest of Henry Louis Gates. I listened to the press conference about health care, and even though the question had nothing to do with the purpose of the presser, I must admit to being pleasantly surprised by Barack's answer to the question about the arrest of Skip Gates. I thought he was blunt, but accurate. I mean, come on, does anyone really think that race had nothing to do with the arrest? Please. Gates may not have been super polite, and maybe he was rude, and mabye he quoted Happy Days. I think it unlikely, but if he did indeed say something about Crowley's mother, who is the professional here? I thought that police had a mission to keep the peace. Does anyone think that what officer Crowley did defused the situation or inflamed the situation? It is his job to diffuse the situation. As the divine Eugene point out "...meeting a a Harvard faculty member who happens to be arrogant is like meeting a basketball player who happens to be tall..." If you, as part of your job, are supposed to keep the peace, what are you doing if you arrest a black cane carrying professor in his own home, who might have irritated you by being angry/superior/who knows what? It is sort of like a shrink bitching about "...all these people, they go on and on about how miserable they are...It is depressing!" ( Sad but true, I had a therapist friend who complained about her patients being so depressed.) Crowley must have known right away that he was not arresting a public menace, but more bringing in someone he found really annoying. If one were to arrest annoying people, that would bring the criminal justice system to a standstill. Crowley should have known better. But at least it appears that he is trying to diffuse the situation somewhat, by going to the White House. But I have read that the Gates flap has caused Barack's poll numbers to slip, and I find that very sad. It seems that it has given the racist right wing cover to unleash the demons of hate.