Your suggestion that the officer employ the strategies detailed in “Getting to Yes” on a man screaming insults about his mother was priceless. Despite your claims to have “knowledge of policing”, it is clear that you don’t know the first thing about policing–”big city” or otherwise.

The officers operated as inexperienced cops. Not that I would expect Cambridge police officers to be equal to big city cops. A NY, LA, or Chicago cop would have responded to the concerns and been on their way.

Why by the way would a black officer be embarassed by Gates? Are you implying the white officers feel shame and embarassment every time they round up some white people? I thought we lived in a post racial society.

So if you were arrested by cops, black or white, in your home because one of your neighbors thought you were breaking in, you would laugh it off?

Whether the President made a rookie mistake is debatable. In fact, many would argue its the first time he didn’t try to appear as though racism is not real in this country.

Not the “lifeline” that absentee mentions, but rather an intentionally-placed distraction.

It’s red meat guaranteed to make the rabid conservatives salivate, and in the meantime takes the pressure off Health Care for the time being. It’s pretty well acknowledged the Health Care bill wasn’t going through right now, but the deep pools of Rabid Conservative Saliva will ensure everyone will eventually place the blame on the right for derailing progress on Health Care, and placing the Health Care Bill proponents on higher moral ground for the next engagement.

Very little that happens within the messaging and agenda-setting of this administration is an accident. Team Obama learned all too well from Team Bush, and operates without the air of suspicion that (rightfully) followed the predecessors.

Just my pair of pennies…

You know so much about policing do you? The officer acted correctly as did the rest of the officers watching Gates act like an ass, including a black officer who must have been embarrassed as hell for the man.

Yelling at the police is not a crime, nor should it be, but continued yelling and harassment when officers are trying to do their jobs is against the law – obstruction of justice, public nuisance, etc.

Gates is a jerk as evidence by the whole “mama” insult alone.

And the president should have stayed the hell out of it. Talk about rookies.

The Mark Sanford school of pressers.