Professor Gates and President Barack Obama - Birds of a Feather?

First, you should know that there had already been a recent break-in attempt at Professor Gates home. Sgt. Crowley responded to a possible B&E in progress. When finding the door open & a person inside matching the description given by the caller, the officer began to question the man & take control of the situation. The officer was doing his duty. The guilty party was Gates, who was disorderly from the start (homeowner or not). Plenty of homeowners are disorderly when confronted by law enforcement & the parties are subsequently arrested (rightfully so)!

I read the arrest report; from the minute officers arrived, Gates was confrontational (not a smart thing to do when being questioned by an officer of the law). And not only was Gates confrontational, he also began engaging in angry, racist hate speech. As a white woman, God forbid if a black officer shows up at my house & I confront him with anger & race speech. I'd be in handcuffs in no time - charged not only with disorderly conduct, but also a hate crime!

Obama was wrong to get involved & even more wrong to use the word "stupid" in describing the actions by Cambridge Police Department. The only mistake I see by the Department is dropping the charges. Was the man disorderly (the crime he was arrested for)? Yes! So why drop the charges?

Shame on Professor Gates & shame on the President. And shame on hateful people hell-bent on crying racism when there is none.

BTW, Sgt. James Crowley, the arresting officer in the Gates case, has taught a class about racial profiling for five years at the Lowell Police Academy after being hand-picked for the job by former police Commissioner Ronny Watson, who is black, said Academy Director Thomas Fleming. The course, called "Racial Profiling," teaches about different cultures & how you don't want to single people out because of their ethnic background or the culture they come from," Fleming said.

kenoshax, well said! I try to live a peaceful life - I work hard every day to pay my bills. I have a full time job and a part time job. I am thankful that I have a job, but it seems I work my life away just to pay bills. And I watch some people getting handouts & bailouts, and it makes me wonder why the hell I do it. I'm not young. I see so many people with the heads buried in the sand; they do not see what we 912'ers see. I do not know what it will take to wake the others up; but I do know that WE must live our lives by being grounded in our convictions till the end!

aristotle, I feel you, man. Sarah Palin stepping down last week and now this. I come here almost every day - it's been a lifeline.

Just in case this site does end, I want to say thank you to all of you 912'ers for the support, the information, the insight, and being part of the group. America needs ALL of us right now. To stand firm. To not give up. To believe that we can make a difference by living the principles and the values. As the 12-step plans say, "Help us God to have the courage to change what we can, the ability to accept what we cannot change, and the wisdom to know the difference." God be with us.

Glenn, please don't go! We NEED this site to stay connected. If you need to kick it up a notch (as Emeril likes to say), that's okay, JUST DO NOT end it.

Finally! A member of the main stream media admits to the bias against Governor Sarah Palin! Check out what Tim Graham said in a July 10 article called "'We Took Sides, Straight and Simple' Against Palin"...

"Facts matter, the man said. But they didn't in 2008, not when it came to Joe Biden (our guy) against Sarah Palin (odd outsider). The ladies and gentlemen of the press were more interested in her hair, her glasses, her wardrobe, he accent, her sex life, her kids' sex lives & her hunting habits than in whether her opponent knew anything about foreign policy, the Constitution of the United States, or the job he was running for. They still are. The relentlessly negative coverage of Palin goes on unabated -- she's the subject of a much-ballyhooed hatchet job in Vanity Fair this month -- even as Biden makes minor news from time to time by continuing his penchant for gaffes, this time while serving as the second most powerful person in the federal government." Tim Graham is Director of Media Analysis at the Media Research Center. Here is a link to the article...
http://newsbusters.org/blogs/tim-graham/2009/07/1...

justwroot, You said, "My liberal friends don't care much for her, but they couldn't explain why." You know, I find that true among my liberal friends too! Especially the females! I don't get it. What could they possible not like about a strong, powerful, educated, intelligent, attractive, down-to-earth, honest, principled, American-loving woman? I was a bra burner in the 60s & a hard working patriot myself and I know a good person when I see them. In action, she's amazing to watch. She fights for her kids like a vixen and rightfully so! And she chose (by stepping down) to spare the Alaskan people the trouble of having to defend their governor for another year-and-a-half as her attackers continued to hurl frivolous ethics charges at her. Sarah Palin will find other ways to keep wielding her sword. We have not seen the last of Lady Sarah!

In response to a poster at http://mediamatters.org/mmtv/200907020026, a poster said she was "a feminist, and personally, I would not ever choose to wear a burka, but then I am not a Muslim." The poster went on to say we in America have to accept and understand this. My response to her was this:

First, what is the definition of "feminism?" One source I found said "Feminism is a belief in the right of women to have political, social, and economic equality with men." Another source said, feminism is "aimed at equal rights and legal protection for women." Another says feminists "advocate equality for women and campaign for women's rights and interests." How can you, with a clear conscious, support a religion, culture, or organization that clearly debases its females and places men in superior power positions? And it's not just the burka; it's also the female circumcision, the Honor killings, and the “shut-up-and-do-as-you’re told” mentality operating through a heavy-handed patriarchal rule. No true, clear-thinking feminist would use the cop-out of "I am not a Muslim" so I'll stick my freaking head up my posterior cavity and repeat "I see no evil..." Come on – get real!

You also say "we have to understand other cultures and tolerate their practices." Really? If a culture allows the practice of human sacrifice, do we REALLY have to try to understand that? If a culture allows the enslavement of others, would you argue “Now, now – we must be politically correct and accept them into the fold?” If a culture allows the practice of mutilating a young girl's genitals via circumcision or the despicable practice of honor killing of young girls, are we truly supposed to understand and ignore?

Lastly, if we really DO have to understand the cultures and practices of everyone in this country, then please understand that in MY culture, some of the practices we uphold include embracing capitalism, patriotism, equality of gender and race (which means NO discrimination OR elevation), and a love of country and citizenship. It also includes upholding the Republic for which our American Flag stands, supporting the idea of country first, and the firm belief that the American Dream is still found through personal responsibility and hard work, and NOT through government control, government takeovers, or government bailouts.

This video was very nicely done! Kimbirly, you have a lovely voice and the song and the images are perfect. The only thing I would have done differently is to slow the transition speed down (the images progress too rapidly in my opinion). May God be with all of us tea partiers and all those who realize the peril our country is in right now - not only from evil from the outside plotting for America's destruction, but even MORE so from the evil in our own gov't! United we stand against tyranny.

GringoBob, I'm a fellow Floridian and I"m with ya'll. We need to keep reminding our elected officials just WHO is in charge, and just WHO got them to their seats of power! That would be us, the taxpayers. Great letter!