YellowLinesandArmadillos

Listen to the tape and then see, once again you are jumping to conclusions.

Mine is to the road right of way thank you very much, so technically the officer once uninvited, though initially allowed on the property with probably cause ended once the ID was produced and then if no longer required because of ID proof was given, then the officer(s) were not wanted. Therefore, that officer is trespassing and the arrest is illegal. Seems to me the officers probably cause went out the window once the professor produced his ID.

The officer may not be racist, but the President didn't claim that, he said it was a stupid thing to do arresting the professor. I agree and I think the officer was in fact stupid and not doing his job to serve and protect. The President didn't say the officer was a racist, but that his actions could easily be interpreted the wrong way and was given the police history nationally including recently in NYC against their own more than once in the last year. To not understand that African Americans are not on edge when confronted by police is ignorant and stupid and this officer should have just walked away once he discovered that the professor was legit to be there. http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/06/07/newyork.officer.killed/

Pretty incredible story. The second part though is stereo typical. I know plenty of hard working african americans who teach their children the value of hard work. I also know plenty who are lazy, the same with poor frustrated Irish in the Boston area and some other races in the Buffalo area. Ignorance and being poor seems to be the greatest factor in the motivation area in certain groups, but I am not sure the reasons why. Others work hard despite their ignorance. As far as that goes and there are plenty of stereotypical examples, but I know plenty of folks that dont' fit the bill.... So judging someone because of their race is racist. I do my best to set those aside, be aware of my prejudices and put them aside by treating each person as they are and how I would want them to treat me. On the surface many folks appear one way. Get to know someone and you find out a different angle is all I am saying.

Because Independence was about respect and power and what one could do on one's own property by a controlling authority and on a micro scale so is this. The professor appears to have acted badly and I have run in the African American's just looking for a fight... that happens. I may not be the reason for their resentment, but I am in front of them at the time. It is still my responsibility to act respectfully because that is my side of the street. Once I stoop to the level of comparing sizes of our anatomy, all is lost and nothing good can come from it. The police are there to serve and protect. That is their job and that is what we pay them to do. There are two parts to their job and if they forget the first part they should resign their appointment.

True, but if the officer isn't listening to you than protesting verbally as long as swearing is not involved is not on one's own property, against the law either. So the professor should not have been arrested. Admit it, the both the professor, despite my empathy for his motivation, and the officer acted stupidly and make no mistake about it, what this boiled down to was about pure power.... which is why we fought the British and declared Independence. Common Sense and respect goes both ways... and just because one is not respectful doesn't mean the other shouldn't be.

Understood, but as a someone who is suspicious of police because of their reputation, you don't just take their word at face value either and the police need to understand that as well.... especially with the professor being a black man of some affluence and standing. Always amazes me how arrogance and distrust on both sides can result in such a mess and you wonder why the middle east is so intractable.

Agreed, once he proved who is was: Link to 45 group article: http://www.buffalo.edu/UBT/UBT-archives/28_ubtw05/features/

On an interesting note Jesse Jackson was just on MSNBC and said that Sgt. Crowley has a decent reputation for teaching anti-profiling and so does the professor. It sounds like somehow the two pushed each others buttons, egos got involved and neither backed down. As I stated earlier, it sounds like they both for whatever reason, took theirs out to compare which as bigger and neither is backing down. Always interesting when the police and professors get their egos in a twist. There is long history of animosity and distrust between the intellectual community the the police... throw in that the professor is black and it is a guaranteed tough situation. I was a kid in Buffalo during the early 70s. My Dad was part of the professors protesting police harassment (the 45 group as they were called). He had to bail out his colleagues after they were beaten up and arrested by the police and some hack judge found the guilty of some trumped up obstruction charge for staging a protest against getting beat up by the police. The rest of the state professors stages a sympathy strike and shut the system down until Gov. Rockefeller pardoned the professors and removed the police from campus. So I can see how this could have easily escalated and neither side wants to settle down despite their words to the contrary. Each side is still blaming the other side and neither side calmly or irritatedly acted professionally IMO. Yet they need to and find a way to reach some common ground. Put it back in their pants and shake and find ways to work together. Otherwise both sides are just barking at the wind and disrespecting the other side.

Now who is race bating.... that is a bunch of crap.

Who wasn't right there when it went down, he went off to question a neighbor... nice. Why didn't the arresting office write the report?

Like I said, the police don't like to be questioned, that fact that this man was black couldn't have helped and now we are getting the he said she said stuff and it sounds like the police are trying to over embellish to justify their actions, which if what they say is true still doesn't justify their actions IMO. So... the police were in fact stupid.

I will have to look through my old Charts from 2005, The current system is no better with private insurance. Please.... This is an excuse to do nothing. Agreed it would be easier if thing were simpler, but in order to reform the system and with all the contending laws it is going to look a little convoluted. Common you are dealing with lawyers, doctors, hospital systems, state and federal government and did I say lawyers... This is an inane chart and comment.

Actually it does, but I was never an a hole directly to the police and wasn't arrested because I was polite. I got my revenge later after going up the chain of command. I agree being an a-hole was the professor's mistake, still it doesn't justify the arrest and that is why the police were stupid. Racial profiling, who knows and there are two sides to what may have set this professor off. It could have been he was arrogant from the get go and or the police officer could have said something- who knows what was said initially and I am sure the professor was already pissed that had to break into his own home, but it still doesn't justify the arrest. Finally, it sounds like both sides escalated to the point of trying figure out who had the bigger rope between their legs. In this case, neither side wins, but maybe more police training will come out of it. Or are we no better than the commies run by the KGB?

What he said.

What has this got anything to do with arresting a man trying to get into his own home and then producing ID that says he lives there? Nothing. As far as I am concerned the Police were trespassing, once the guy proved that it was his property, because he certainly didn't invite them on it and his neighbor doesn't have the right to authorize them to come onto his property.

The police were stupid, one could understand why the Harvard professor could have gotten angry, but the police officer, once the professor's identity was established, was an arrogant prick too and should have let it go. Racists? Hard to say, but I have had a two police officers who didn't want to be talked back to or questioned harass me on Capitol Hill, asked for my ID rudely, once when I questioned a bus pulling up to our building and once when I was taking photos with my ID out and with permission, I had to stop till later. But both were flat out rude and I complained. I reported their asses and got them removed from their posts for some retraining. These jerks were placed on inside duty with a supervisor for six months, so don't tell me some officers don't have a clue. I have also dealt with officers in other circumstances where I was in the wrong that couldn't have been more polite and yet still firm. Everyone is human and on top of which the culture towards blacks among the working class in Boston is at best tolerant. I don't know this officer and he puts on a good show in front of the camera, but he over reached in arresting the professor for racial reasons or otherwise IMO and police temperament should be considered and this guy owes the professor an apology, but he doesn't appear to get it and that is where I think he is unfit for his position. This officer's job is too "serve and protect" He did the "protection" side of his job and once it was established that there was no crime he needed to do first part of his job and that is to "serve" This is my two cents

Nah, that is illegal in my state.... DUUUDE!

Or just tyranny of people with no sense in general.... either way it would suck worse than what we have now!

Ah get over it, it is just part of the DC rename game that Gingrich Republicans perfected in the 90s. Deficit spending doesn't matter. Lower taxes on the rich helps everyone. Lowering taxes on the rich creates economic performance.... ya da ya da ya da. But I thought the business cycle was inevitable? There is a balance to be had here.... Too much taxation stifles growth, not enough creates deficits and a drag on the economy. Too much spending same deal, not enough allows too much control of small groups at the top which also stifles growth by constraining the spreading out of wealth necessary for a health economy. There is a balance, the trick is identifying where we are on that continuum and adjusting accordingly. The only form of government that is good at this is a benign dictatorship and those have been very rare in history. So we are stuck with our mess as the best alternative.

Look a California's proposition system. You get some really messed up ideas being considered and sometimes passed until they are overturned by the courts. It raises the entertainment value of politics and I agree it annoying to have attention freaks in the House claiming credit for things that many have very little to do with. Hmm, so you suggestion would be to hire professional staff to write legislation at the whim of any individual who has an idea. Interesting, but you think budget balancing is difficult now, try and get a budget let alone appropriations that come close to any kind of sense approved. Also, this would give greater influence to special interest groups and political parties because of their organizational ability and institutional memory.

Good question, then why did we bother going in to Iraq in the first place.... The terrorists were in Afghanistan and still are.

All of you are barking at the wind... Strength or an olive branch to communicate, calling each other names is all a waste of time with these guys. They have an agenda, they don't like us and they will use whatever they to fool their people into thinking we are the bad guys. There is such a thing as keep your mouth shut and let the rest of the world realize that they are dealing folks that are full of it no matter what we say. Leadership is stepping up when we need to and not overplaying our hands. It is high stakes poker, but it doesn't mean barking at the moon nor always folding, leadership is knowing when to do one or the other, so you right right wing ninnies and left wing apologist shut it and pray Obama knows when to act when he needs to use the hammer, but not use it a minute too soon.

And not be redundant, but there are plenty of hypocrites on both sides... So other than laugh at the way he handled it and gloating because he cast stones and is being taken down by his own, I think Sanford is both not uncommon and in his arrogance pretty typical. The reason why I will never run for office except for the NY State Senate, where you can get away with just about anything.

They are turning them away in NY. Ambulance drivers have been reported taking folks to not for profit hospitals when they were in route to a for profit one. Maybe I should have made myself clearer. It is not widely reported but some hospitals have been turning away the uninsured. So I should have been more accurate, you are right, it has to do with tax exempt status but by definition a for profit hospital is not tax exempt and more and more are going that way. Private in the purest sense of the word, not privately run. Tax exempt or not for profit one could argue is no longer private.