Did Obama step out of bounds as POTUS when
 

he made his comments regarding "his friend Gates" and call the Cambtidge Police "stupid"?

In my opinion there is no way a local incident needs to be glorifies and raised to a national level by a sitting POTUS.

On national television to boot. Once again showing his true colors (no pun intended) regarding his inability to rise above what would normally be a trivial incident....ONCE ALL THE FACT ARE KNOWN. Enough has already been quoted by neighbors (also black if it adds validity of any sort) that it was Gates' mouth that got him into the predicament. That of course was not taken into account in the media.

Obama said and I am paraphrasing....while racial progress has been made blacks/latinos are still singled out and unfairly arrested....."this still haunts us..."

Without knowing the facts of the case he plays the race card. He certainly knows that blacks and lations make up the majority (in excess of 80%) of the criminal element. That shall we say SHOULD influence approach...eh. Add to that the alleged mouthiness and refusal by Gates to show ID....what would an intelligent conclusion be....no answer it is rhetorical!

So another question; is the POTUS still campaigning (for the black vote)?

He stepped out of bounds telegraphing an inability to prioritize at the level of POTUS. Such a tactical error did not do much to help his rating slide by doing so. Where were all his lofty advisers on that blooper? Also rhetorical.

Some things apparently cannot be untrained.

btk

Quite the coincidence, as I am listening to a Boston talk show on the radio this very minute. The consensus...Gates was itching for a fight. He even admits he has never been discriminated against in his 58 years.
The police have refused to apologize as they followed proper procedures.
That being said, The press asked a prepared question and Obama answered with a prepared answer. For Obama to say to the Nation that the police were racists...is a disgrace to the office.
I have lost what little respect I have had for this president...to say such racists remarks about a police department that was only doing it's job. To use that office for a bully pulpit is shameful.

I don't think he should have commented about the incident at all as he was not a witness to the event---certainly should not have called the police "stupid." I cringed when I heard him utter those words.

Me too, that's what happens when you stray from the script. Of course the WH tried to justify the remarks.

Imagine being a cop and having to deal with elitist vermin like Gates, who think that neither laws nor the rules of common courtesy apply to them because they are "oppressed" and therefore higher beings. All he had to do was show some ID like everybody else does.

Also, I think his house was broken into in the past.

Edit: Polls taken in Boston say that Gates should apologize to the Cambridge Police. Ya, right....I doubt you will see that.

Sharpton and Jesse Jackson will be grandstanding there shortly.... they can't miss this photo-op.

Obama was colossally wrong to prejudge and indict the Cambridge Police without hearing the facts from both sides. I heard the Sergeant's entire report on radio this afternoon and it is articulate, plausible and credible. I saw a video of him declining to apologize. He seemed intelligent, even tempered, articulate and a man of some conviction and principle. I would like to hear the professor's version. There is also a neighbor of the professor that said he appeared belligerent. I would like to hear the professor's account of the events.

I am saddened that my president continues to apply the race card as a foundation for accusations of alleged police abuse.

Well,I can tell you with authority, that many Bostonian' s will not be voting for the First Teleprompter in 2012.

Every once in awhile, President Obama will have a lax moment and if you listen you will hear his true agenda based on years of training, and training ONLY AND EXCLUSIVELY in one idealogy.

I believe Obama went a long way in fueling the racist fire by commenting at all about the Gates affair and shame on him for commenting at all without having all the facts. His responsibility is to unite our nation, not tear it apart.

He really ought to stick with his prepared script. "Stupid" He owes that police department an apology. He could have tailored his response a little differently. His response to that question could have been more Presidential.

He certainly did not win any points for his healthcare plan last night, and I think someone ought to take a poll to see how far his ratings slipped after his speech.

He must have had one hell of fight with Michele before 8:00PM last night.

He put himself in the character of Sharpton and Jackson
 

by playing the race card....and with about as much thought and integrity as they do not!!!!
And to make it worse to try to sell the listener he tried to ask how would you feel if this happened to you in your home.
If you or I got caught trying to break into our own home in the evening and the police came upon us and if we gave them a rash of :cus: raising :cus: and being un cooperative we would no doubt be handled in the same manner. We just wouldn't have a racial supporter like the POTUS to "stupidly" spill it over a national news broadcast.
Now some other black politicians are siding with Obama and the professor stating they might have said or done worse if it were them.

The most significant detriment the blacks have going against them about so call racism and racial profiling is the blacks themselves.

For Obama and others like him it is an abuse of position a white person COULD NOT get away with in today's environment.

Talk about stupid!:eclipsee_gold_cup:

btk

You know I am reading the posts here and everything seems to be going racists president or not we got to stop this crap about the old traditional racism you want to be racist try the illegals that come into the country that is where a large part of the deficit is. We think we are trying to stop but it wont happen its out of hand just go ahead and make them legal get the tax revenue so I can retire next ear. Yes that is just what anyone really cares about, themselves. But you know that is what is wrong with this country right now, my agenda not what is good for the country. The health plan that Obama is proposing is going to cost the next ten generations billions but who is it going to benifit not me or you. The more you let the governing bodies control your world the less freedom ,if you say you have. I saw a T shirt that said A government that can give you everything can take it away and God help us that is where it is going. I have known people that told me to go to h--- and you know I thought it sounded like a good idea. And that is where we are going if we dont do something. When it comes to racism my father told me back in the 50s that some day there would be a brown race but we will always find something wrong with the other person. We need to be for our fellow human but lets do it the legal way. Some folks say close the borders but China did that for 100 years and look where it got them.Dont close down just push the legal side. Well enough of this I'm done this is just one opinion and thats just what it is.

POTUS takes side of his friend without facts or class.

Nothing new here.

Yoda

A member of the local opposition

It just goes to show that becoming President doesn't make one immune from foot-in-mouth disease. In fact, when it comes to matter of race, his bigotry is becoming self-evident.

Steve the only modification I would make to your post is
 

his race stance is not "becoming" evident. It was there screaming loudly in capital letters in his and Michelle's activities on the subject.
They have both become so smoke headed about their new positions in life that they let their true feelings escape.

As the old saying goes one can rearrange the spots on a leopard but wen you get all done you still have a leopard.

btk

It is not politically correct to say this but he has always had an agenda that has roots in this area....read his past to see all about that !!!

With two wars and a faltering health care reform effort, maybe President Stupidly should not be bloviating about local police matters, especially when he does not have the facts.
I have read the police report 3 times and it looks to me like Gates was grandstanding. It happened at 1:00 in the afternoon and a crowd was forming on the sidewalk. Also, the phrase that Gates used when asked to step outside, "Ya with your mama" (paraphrased) was very telling of his "educated" demure.
Now imagine that a friend of President Bush was arrested in Texas by a black policeman and his friend said the same things that Gates said. Imagine if Bush said the same things that Obama said. Stupidly would only be one of the nicer words the mainstream media would be calling Bush.

I very seldom post things I get in email but this one seems to very apropos to this discussion !

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CfrR5lAxXV0[/ame]

By his own actions Obama clearly showed who is STUPID. I wish there was a tape somewhere that realy showed what happened. Perhaps Gates should be charged. :beer3::beer3:

This is exactly what I hear from people that I know, who aren't afraid to speek their mind on the subject.

I've worked around children for 20 years and I can't tell you how many times that I've heard "your just prejudice" as an excuse for whatever circumstance that arises. I agree, stop feeling guilty or let someone make you feel guilty for something that isn't real. Buy the same token, don't prejudge people, or use race as a reason to slant you viewpoint on a particular situation.

I Agree.
 

:agree:I am very disappointed in the POTUS and we all seem to agree

As my daddy used to say, "I know all I need to know about that fella."

Yoda

Rope
 

The President's rope is unraveling.

He has embarassed himself. He has surpassed Joe Biden for inappropriate comments.

What to do?---> Go to the Cape on a luxury vacation.

The smart move would have been to swallow a little pride, make a trip to Cambridge to meet with the officer at his place of employment, shake his hand in public, have a peaceful cup of coffee with the officer for ten-fifteen minutes, and go on his way.

The showing-of-support by his brother officers - from LEOS of all ethnic backgrounds in a very 'blue' city and state - indicated a major faux pas had indeed been committed by the President. His standing within the law enforcement community took a major whack.

What is even worse is that an exploitable weakness has now been made evident to those around the world who seek to put him and the nation into a negative position. As much as President Bush was portrayed as a "cowboy," President Obama has left himself wide-open to be displayed as a 21-century "Black Panther." As much as this incident being a domestic embarrassment, it also can have negative effects on foreign relations.

Like it or not, the job of POTUS puts one (intentionally) on public display at all times. As journalistic technology increases, so does the scope of public display.

Now as I am reading this story......the professor who claimed loud and clear that he was the victim of racial profiling will now meet with the President and the policeman and hopes to use this as a lesson on racial profiling.

The policeman and all others involved said it was not racial profiling in any way shape or form.

The President called the policeman and invited him to the WH along with the professor.

Great example of taking a story that was negative and turning it into a positive.....I am very disappointed in the police who said loud and clear that there was NO racial profiling to be used like this.

No sound or video bits/bites from the incident released yet.
 

Several questions come to mind.
Is it incriminating to the police?
Is it incriminating to the professor?
Maybe a little of both?
Possible embarassment to either? both?

IMHO the police were the only ones doing their job....the professor without a doubt hopped up on his elitist black horse.....and the POTUS like Jackson and Sharp took the only position viable to them and that was the race card.

On the job training continues to take it's toll.

btk

Not to worry about all of this. In a week or so it will be old news and there will be other things in the news. At election time in 2010 and 2012 it will resurface eventually.

I agree....."IMHO the police were the only ones doing their job"

BUT

This incident according to the professor and the President will be used as a learning tool on racial profiling, when we have been told by the police that there was NO racial profiling.....dissapointing if true that they would allow themselves to be used !!!

I hope that this is a wake up call to the American people. Obama has a hidden agenda and it's not for the hard working Americans. He is hell bent on bring our country to it's knee's. He backed his old friend, just as they do in Chicago politics.

My signature quote saids it all ...thanks Mr. Lincoln

Some times you just have to chuckle....

Only when it's funny...

What, may I ask, is in any way humorous ??

I'm glad cologal seems to think this is funny. I, personally, am appalled and embarrassed by the non-professional public comments the POTUS made concerning a local incident that he had no business even commenting on and obviously knew nothing about. And then, to try to smooth things over by inviting the concerned parties for a group hug and beers at the Whitehouse... C'MON!!! What in the world is this man doing in the Oval Office???

I must be getting old....

To me, you don't try to right a wrong by saying to the person wronged, "if you take a day off, go through the expense and aggravation to come to DC, go through all the security checks, I'll let you into my house into one of the conference rooms for a few minutes for a photo op. and that will make things better." That again is arrogance and self-importance.

I was raised to believe that if you made a mistake, the effort, expense and inconvenience was to be by you to right the wrong. That's how men act.

The POTUS is using this for political reasons !

The police officials have said that there was NO..NONE....anything to do with race, YET...

The President and the Professor continue to make a connection to race in every single statement !

Exactly how I feel. Just by judging this man by his actions and deeds...he leaves alot to be desired. He never admits wrong, he lies, he doesn't really like America and apologizes for her, he is arrogant and self-important. He cannot even bring himself to admit truths. He would not admit that the surge worked in Iraq yet he is implementing it in Afghanistan?
I personally think he is just a terrible leader.

One has to question what kind of advice he is getting from
 

his whiz kids when he throws out a bone like ....hey guys c'mon on over and let's have a beer...how lame is that? How much more non POTUS can one get than that?

I believe we are witnessing testimony to why the man relies so heavily on a teleprompter and notes...his off the cuff thinking is very one dimensional and shallow...and in knee jerk responses his true beliefs and positions come tripping out...demonstrating a lack of understanding of the true stature and demeanor the position of POTUS requires...a true lack of real executive polish.

So blatant even his media following could do little to make it appear other than what it was...a stupid racist comment.

btk

I think he was prepared to speak about his healthcare plan at the press conference. This question caught him off guard and he had no prepared response or teleprompter queued up to tell him what to say. He should have said nothing except that it is a local matter and below his pay grade.

Today Gates indicated he may use this to make a movie or documentary about racial profiling...! Says it will be a "learning experience". Is he nuts? The police were responding to a 911 call be a neighbor. How in the world can Gates consider that racial profiling??? I would have liked to see the police officer respond to Obama's offer to bury the hatchet over a beer be, "No thank you Mr President, I have more important things to attend to... and I am sure you do too."

Boy, I can't wait to see how this plays out in the next election.