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Obama backtracks from “stupid” statement against a white Cambridge police officer

7/27/2009 | Posted by mesiamd | Edit Post

Without knowing the circumstances between in the altercation between a white police officer and a black Harvard professor, Pres. Barack Obama, jumped in siding with the black professor----only to learn later he should know better. The police officer wasn’t stupid and he was just doing his job.

Sgt. James Crowley, the police officer responding to a break-in report in the home of Harvard teacher Henry Louis Gates Jr. found himself dealing with a belligerent acidic professor who didn’t want to show his identification. It boiled down to Gates’ unfounded paranoid suspicion that he is being “racially profiled’ by Crowley.

Pres. Barack Obama who is a friend of Prof. Gates reacted quick without knowing the facts:

"I think it's fair to say, number one, any of us would be pretty angry," Obama said. "Number two, that the Cambridge police acted stupidly in arresting somebody when there was already proof that they were in their own home. And number three -- 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."---http://wb.tv (07/23/09,

In truth, the Cambridge police officer was there to help black teacher----but Gates probably expected that people like Crowley should first know him because he is a “Harvard professor(?)”. Call it hubris in the academe's ivory tower, a demand for respect or an overreaction, but in the police report, Gates was described as tumultuous, uncooperative, and upset.

It is disgusting that this happens in America on people who are supposedly educated. This kind of “Do you know me?” challenge by people of influence and arrogance commonly occurs on simple folks who need to deal with the “VIP’s” like fragile porcelains. Self-importance and inappropriate reaction are most likely operant here.

People like Gates are absorbed in their self-awareness and that a simple showing of identification to a police officer becomes a race issue or a contention to start an argument. The black professor is said to be an “expert” on racism---and in my opinion he has carried his expertise too far.

I am amazed, a US president went down so low to quickly comment erroneously on an issue that is parochial and least deserving of his attention. This split second decision to defend a friend by the president offers clues on what goes on the way he thinks of race relations. Is the preferential option for friends becoming common in the Obama administration?

As a consequence of Obama’s rushed response, he has to patch up,---short of an apology, admitting that he could have used a "calibrated" response. He is correct that the police disproportionately arrest blacks and hispanics more than other races. The reason is obvious--- Blacks and Hispanics have high rates of criminality than other races.

Sgt. Crowley could have over-reacted in arresting this black teacher, but the officer isn’t pleased by the president’s partisan reaction---and so are his colleagues in the police force who try to do their duty as officers. The irony of it all, Crowley, in his career, has been a resource person on avoiding "racial profiling" and in the past, tried to revive a black guy in an emergency, by mouth to mouth resuscitation. (PHoto Credit: WBZ.com) =0=

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Labels: Barack Obama, black box, Cambridge, discrimination, Harvard, Hispanic, Latino, political correctness, race, race relations, Sgt. James Crowley, Totie Mesia

Sonia Sotomayor nominated to the US Supreme Court

5/27/2009 | Posted by mesiamd | Edit Post

Pres. Barack Obama nominated Sonia Sotomayor, a hispanic federal judge to be the replacement of Justice David Souter in the US Supreme Court. The 54 year old daughter of Puerto Rican parents with humble beginnings, Sotomayor grew up in a housing project in Bronx and studied in Primceton and the Yale Law School with the help of her mom, a nurse by profession. She married when she was a student, but was subsequently divorced without children.

Prior to her nomination on May 26, 2009, she worked as a NY assistant district attorney, a commercial litigator, and later a federal judge of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York upon the nomination of former Pres. George HW Bush. Sotomayor will be the first Latina to sit on the bench of the US Supreme Court if confirmed.

"As Majority Leader, I will do all I can to ensure Judge Sonia Sotomayor receives a fair and respectful hearing and the Senate's quick confirmation." — Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev.

"Senate Republicans will treat Judge Sotomayor fairly. But we will thoroughly examine her record to ensure she understands that the role of a jurist in our democracy is to apply the law evenhandedly, despite their own feelings or personal or political preferences." — Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.

"She must prove her commitment to impartially deciding cases based on the law, rather than based on her own personal politics, feelings and preferences." — Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, member of the Judiciary Committee."

As the confirmation process of Sotomayor proceeds, she will be under deep scrutiny from all sides of government and politics. Obama thinks she is well-qualified for the job and praises her as an “inspiring woman,” but conservative groups, reviewing her past, have started thinking if she is a liberal activist whose decision may be based on feelings rather than on constitutional ground.

With a clear Democratic majority in the senate and barring any serious issue against her, Sotomayor is likely to be confirmed in office.(Photo Credit: White House/ Pete Souza) =0=

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Labels: Barack Obama, Democrat, Hispanic, Justice, nomination, politics, Republicans, Sonia Sotomayor, Totie Mesia, US Supreme Court

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Obama backtracks from “stupid” statement against a white Cambridge police officer

Sonia Sotomayor nominated to the US Supreme Court

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