Who “Acted Stupidly?”

>UPDATE: Read the Police Report from Cambridge Police Dept. (.pdf) – HERE

By now we have all heard of the foot in mouth moment for President Obama at his Wednesday Press Conference. While responding to a question at the end of the conference relating to the arrest of well known Harvard black scholar Henry Gates Jr. President Obama said that Cambrige Police “acted stupidly” in arresting Gates, accused the men of essentially being racist, and impugned police officers everywhere. All this, as with much of what Obama has done in his 6 months in office, without all of the facts.

Gates was arrested July 16th by Sgt. James Crowley, who was the first officer to respond to the home which the renowned scholar rents from Harvard University, after a woman reported seeing two black men trying to force open the front door. Gates said he had to shove the door open because it was jammed.

He was charged with disorderly conduct after police said he (Gates) yelled at the white officer, accused him of racial bias, made insulting remarks about the officer’s mother, and refused to calm down after Crowley demanded Gates show him identification to prove he lived in the home. Gates responded firstly to these requests with “Why because I am a black man in America?” It was Gates who became beligerent and began throwing around charges of racism, when it appears racial profiling had nothing to do with this situation. There was a report of two black men breaking into the house. JUST FYI, Professor Gates is BLACK! He wasn’t profiled, he fit a citizen’s description of someone who was thought to be breaking into a home! The charge was dropped Tuesday, but Gates has demanded an apology, calling his arrest a case of racial profiling. But it was Gates who is responsible for reverse racial profiling. He assumed that a white police officer was only asking him these questions because he was black.

Obama was asked about Gates’ arrest at the end of a nationally televised news conference on health care Wednesday night and began his response by saying Gates was a friend and he didn’t have all the facts.

This is Obama’s response from the press conference on Wednesday (and I will respond individually to certain aspects in bold), “But I think it’s fair to say (a), No. 1, any of us would be pretty angry. No. 2, that the Cambridge police acted stupidly (b) in arresting somebody when there was already proof that they were in their own home (c). And No. 3 — what I think we know separate and apart from this incident — is that there is a long history in this country of African-Americans and Latinos being stopped by law enforcement disproportionately, and that’s just a fact.” (d)

• A – “It’s fair to say that any of us would be angry.” Obama thinks that anyone of us would be angry if a police officer was investigating a break-in and asked us for identification to show we lived at the house. All Prof. Gates had to say was, ‘this is my home, here’s my ID that shows that.’ If it were me I would perhaps feel it to be awkward but would give the Officer a chance to explain and not accuse him of racial profiling.
• B – Is it stupid to arrest a man who essentially verbally acosts a police officer? Is it stupid to ask someone if they live at a home when it is reported that people are breaking into it? Lest we forget that someone reported to police that two BLACK men were breaking into Gates’ home. When the officer responded he saw Gates, who is a BLACK man. So one of two thoughts, this is either the homeowner and there two people in the home that he doesn’t know about, or this is one of the men who is reported to have broken into the home! How is that stupid, Mr. President?
• C – There was no proof the Professor Gates was in his home. Why? Because he initially REFUSED to provide identifcation to the officer. He could have been arrested for failure to identify himself to the officer. When he later identified himself, he began a tirade against the officer following the officer out on to the porch and lodging accusations of racism, making disparaging comments about the officer’s mother, and using foul and abrasive language. Remember, Prof. Gates was not arrested for trespassing but rather for disorderly conduct. He was warned that his behavior was disorderly and he could be arrested, yet he continued his tirade toward the officer. Race had nothing to do with it… in fact there are photos (which I will post links to here when I find them as I saw them on television) that shows black officers present as Prof. Gates was being arrested!
• D – Yes there is a history of people being pulled over for DWB or DWM (driving while black or mexican), but to assume based on what you’ve heard that the police are automatically at fault is just as wrong. Again I point out that the report was that two black men broke into this home and Prof. Gates is black. The officer wasn’t trolling the neighborhood looking for a black man going into a home … if he was I would say he was wrong. Gates was arrested for verbally acostive behavior not for trespassing. He was arrested for his actions after the officer realized he was the occupant of the home not based on race. The President is wrong, not because he’s black, but because he is simply wrong.

This afternoon, the President stopped short of apologizing. He said that through his words, “I gave an impression” that the Sgt. or the Cambrige police were wrong. Well, refer yourself to his statement from Wednesday. The Presient plainly said, “the Cambridge police acted stupidly.” You didn’t give an impression, you SAID THAT! All this based on what you heard, not what you knew. You could have read the police report Mr. President, but you didn’t.

The President also said that race is still a troubling aspect of our society. I myself am a minority, and I have never felt maligned or profiled against. However, what appears to be a continued antagonism by high profile black activists (i.e. Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson) have led to a culture where some blacks automatically assume any questioning of them by police is “racial profiling.” Does it happen? Yes, that can not be denied. However, at times some are too quick to rush to that judgement. This can even be seen in the statement from Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick (D), who said that what happened to Prof. Gates was, “every black man’s nightmare.” I would say to Gov. Patrick that any policeman’s nightmare is likely being publicly accused of “stupidly” acting racist wether it be by the public, or by your President and Governor.  

Another interesting take is found here from a Professor at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York City. It is a good read!

U.N. Sec. General Ban Ki-Moon Calls U.S. a “deadbeat”

This from breitbart.com and the AP:

WASHINGTON (AP) – The White House objected Thursday to U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s description of the United States as a “deadbeat” donor to the world body.

Ban used the phrase Wednesday during a private meeting with lawmakers at the Capitol, one day after he met with President Barack Obama in the Oval Office.

White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said Ban’s “word choice was unfortunate,” given that the U.S. is the largest contributor to the United Nations.

The United States pays 22 percent of the organization’s nearly $5 billion operating budget but is perennially late paying its dues.

Asked whether Ban should retract his comment, Gibbs said some recognition by Ban of the U.S. role would be appropriate.

“I think given the contribution that the American taxpayer makes, I do think it would be appropriate to acknowledge that role,” Gibbs told reporters at his daily briefing.

Ban, apparently concerned about his choice of words, issued a statement late Wednesday saying the U.S. “generously supports the work of the U.N., both in assessed and voluntary contributions.” Ban also said he enjoys “an excellent working relationship with the United States and appreciates the many ways that it supports the United Nations.

If you ask me … its time to make the UN start paying rent and taxes on its high priced Manhattan digs. The UN has been the most ineffective world body in its history.

We Surround Them on Friday

Glenn Beck, host of the Glenn Beck Program on the radio and on FOX News, is hosting We Surround Them on Friday (tomorrow). The program will air on the FOX News Channel at 4:00 PM CT.

Go to www.glennbeck.com for information on the program and for watch parties in your area. San Antonio has several, one at MoMaks and at the Lion and Rose … look for information at www.glennbeck.com

The basis of this event is the 9 principles and 12 values:

The Nine Principles

1. America is good.

2. I believe in God and He is the Center of my Life.

3. I must always try to be a more honest person than I was yesterday.

12 Values Honesty Reverence Hope Thrift Humility Charity Sincerity Moderation Hard Work Courage Personal Responsibility Gratitude

4. The family is sacred. My spouse and I are the ultimate authority, not the government.

5. If you break the law you pay the penalty. Justice is blind and no one is above it.

6. I have a right to life, liberty and pursuit of happiness, but there is no guarantee of equal results.

7. I work hard for what I have and I will share it with who I want to. Government cannot force me to be charitable.

8. It is not un-American for me to disagree with authority or to share my personal opinion.

9. The government works for me. I do not answer to them, they answer to me.

Tomorrow … We Will Surround Them.

The Inaugural Post

Welcome to this … the Inaugural post for this blog. And what a day to begin a political journey online, none other than Inauguration Day. And while today we observe what has become one of the greatest spectacles of American Democracy, the peaceful transition of power from one man to another. In an time where we still see nations struggle in thier own fight for democracy with civil wars, killings, fighting, and other controversies that plague their elections, it is refreshing and almost awe inspiring to see the American tradition of a peaceful transition. Even without taking the Oath of Office today, Barack Obama became President of the United States as has been specified by the timeline in the Constitution. We as Americans should all feel proud, not only of this historical moment, but that our nation has exercised this tradition (perhaps not on this grand of scale) for our entire history and all 44 Presidents.

Despite how I personally feel about what I know of President Barack Obama’s policy beliefs, today he is my President and I consider him to be the legitimate leader of this nation. This in contrast to how Democrats and liberals treated the now recently Former President George W. Bush upon his election in 2000. But while today is meant to be a day in which we celebrate the bi-partisan nature of this spectacle, we not only must bear witness to this historical moment, but we must also begin the period in which we question the media’s annointed messiah. Thier savior is not one, he is simply a man who has been selected by voters in this nation to fill the most powerful position in the free world. He will make mistakes, he can and will be wrong, and you might be disappointed.

But first, a look back at the best America has to offer in the way of pomp and circumstance that is a Presidential Inauguration.

This video is of the Oath of Office and Inaugural Address from now President Barack Obama

And these next videos are of the now Former President George W. Bush making his final departure from Washington

And this last video from today is just a brief amount of the now Former President’s remarks at the Welcome Home rally in Centenial Plaza in Midland. If you only got to see this portion that aired on Fox News Channel you missed even more of Texans welcoming back their ‘favorite son’ George W. Bush. If you were able to see it on C-SPAN you were able to see even more of these special moments.

And so now we arrive at the time where I explain the purpose behind this blog. First, I suppose it is proper to introduce myself to you. I am Andres Bocanegra, a senior political science major at the University of Texas-San Antonio. I am a 22-year-old conservative Republican from San Antonio, and have been interested in politics and the news of the day for 16 or 17 years. I have been heavily involved in the campaign trail for Republican candidates for at least the last 5 to 10 years. So, today I start this blog with the intention on presenting my point of view on the day’s political stories. I am a young citizen, and this is my way of staying involved in the political system while my party begins to retool and renew itself. However, as the saying goes, all politics is local. So, this blog will not only focus on national politics of the 111th Congress and now President Barack Obama, but it will also focus on politics here in San Antonio and here in the greatest state in the union Texas. Its a great time to start, the Texas State Legislature in now in session for its all too brief session. We in Texas might also have a heated Gubernatorial Race coming up for 2010. So this is what I look forward to doing as we go forward. Tomorrow perhaps I can fully begin to recap the end of the Bush presidency and the begining of the Obama Administration.

With that, I say goodnight … for now … I may make another post tonight, but likely will wait until tomorrow.

Thank you goes out to President George W. Bush for all you have done. May God Bless you and your family and may the country soon know everything that you have done for us, to keep us safe.