Gates, Crowley, Obama, Drama*...

The most dangerous thing an individual can carry within their psyche is a sense of entitlement. I think entitlement is a driving force behind most of the large, and small, problems that the entire globe faces.

We all battle it, I battle it personally in the sense that I am entitled to not be pissed off by people and their lack of common courtesy. I am the first to admit that I expect a lot of out strangers, and even more out of the people I know well. An example is that I feel entitled, when at a show like "Rent" at the Colonial, to a stress free show that is void of distraction, to an extent. A sneeze isn't a distraction, I don't feel entitled to not hear a sneeze, however, I do feel entitled to have a show void of my neighbor recording the show on their cell phone.

On Tuesday, I happened to have this entitlement shoved back into my face - I was faced with the challenge of figuring out how to react, how to look at the reality (my neighbor was constantly fiddling with her effing cell phone, lights on, etc...) and look at my own sense of entitlement to a annoyance-free show, and I was challenged to figure out a way through the situation. My reaction was, at an appropriate (crowd cheering) moment, I said to her, forcefully, "can you shut that off, you are being ridiculous."

Some people struggle with entitlement in a different way, or, in most cases, they don't struggle with it all. They embrace it. Little things, like when they walk into a public building, for example, they think they are entitled to stand in the doorway, look around them, think about how wonderful their situation may be (if its something like a bakery, or something visually or nasally stimulating...Those people think they are entitled to revel in their own situation, and be damned to anyone behind them or also trying to enter the room. That's their way of dealing with entitlement, and that's where it gets dangerous.

I wrote in an earlier post that I feel like Henry Gates, the Harvard Professor arrested at his own home, may have deserved to be arrested. I also, purposefully and carefully, said that I wouldn't be suprised if, when schooled on all the (real) facts, I'd also be in support of punishment of the police officer.

It was great to see comments on this subject. Wendy, for example, raised a really good point about how did the neighbor not even know who the person in the house was, especially someone of a fairly significant profile? Trav was, as always, as balanced as possible when it came to this, I think agreeing with me that all the facts needed to be disclosed before real judgment could be passed...

Tom was the most vocal, and was angered by the fact that someone could be arrested at their own home, claiming specifically that the police should show restraint, and should be more understanding of the citizen's frustration.

Obviously, everyone is correct, and everyone is wrong. There are a few factors here to consider.

1. I was mostly trying to say this in my post, and I may have missed the mark due to the 140 character limit on twitter: We do not know the facts, we will never know the facts, and it is difficult to really prescribe guilt or blame until they are known.

2. I have become so overwhelmed with cynicism of most people, strangers and otherwise, that I highly doubt that either party acted rationally, intelligently, and more importantly, sympathetically, to the other party.

3. The aftermath of the incident is what is really fascinating, and this is where I feel like the issue of entitlement is honestly the most aggressive emotional factor at play here. The players right now are the following:

Gates
I am going to tread lightly, because at this stage I honestly don't care who is right or wrong, but in the aftermath of this incident, it seems like Gates is absolutely venomous towards the police. To an extent, it is understandable. Listen, the cops thought someone was breaking in, and you have to pursue that with force and a level of realism, you can't just take someone's word for it, and you can't just be passive about it. It was unfortunate, but that's why we have cops, honestly. They take the risks, they get in the middle of ugly situations, and if that was in fact a home-invader, the cops would have been aggressive and not taken, "This is my house" as an answer.

Gates threats of developing a documentary, and immediately dictating this a case of racial profiling is honestly irresponsible. Gates, according to the cops, and not even really disputed by himself, was arrested when he followed the police out of the home, continued his angry tirade, and was repeatedly warned. You have to remember, the cops didn't enter the house and slap on the cuffs, they asked questions, they pushed and prodded, and I think it is good they did. They only arrested him when he flat out wouldn't listen.

Speculation: Is it not possible that this guy is an asshole? Is it not possible that he is overwhelmed by his Harvard sense of entitlement that he cannot even fathom being questioned, nevermind bothered, by the police? Gates was in his own home, I understand that can be frustrating, but if the post-even attitude is any indication, I can easily be convinced this dude is simply a pain in the butt.

Crowley
A cop. A Cambridge cop. He got a call that someone, 2 men actually, were breaking into a home and he responded. He didn't care who the person was, and we will never know what was said in the home, but we have to all agree to continue this conversation that he may have been correct in arresting Gates. According to Crowley, Gates was verbally abusive, said things about his mother, his family, etc...which, of course is stupid, but when a citizen, even if that citizen is rightfully upset, cannot and WILL NOT contain themselves, the cop has the right to slap on the cuffs. Sure he does.

Now, Steve pointed out that Crowley was on Dennis and Callahan, probably the most offensive and weak minded show on Boston radio, and I mean that with all sincerity. Unfortunately, I do believe that the Harvard-Is-God mentality of the Left/Liberal media would make it so Crowley really would only be treated like a friend on a show like D&C...It's a safe place for him, despite the hosts, and I don't blame him for finding a safe haven.

It is fascinating that Crowley has been literally an expert on racial profiling, and teaching a class to fellow officers about it. It doesn't mean anything 100% either way, but it does make you think twice about tossing the racist javelin through his heart, no?

Speculation: But lets be honest here, there are few whose sense of entitlement is felt more sharply and succinctly than those who are actually in power. When you spend 20+ years being able to do essentially whatever you want, whenever you want, you get that sense. When you show up at a house, as a cop, and someone makes fun of your mother, as it seems Gates actually did, you should be able to realize that it's not a matter of life and death, and you don't have to respond. The "just walk away" gene is not something cops seem to have anymore, or maybe ever did. I speculate that he probably abused power, maybe a lot, maybe a little, who knows. I don't. You don't either.

Obama
Holy crap. In front of the entire nation, the dude actually says in so many words, "i dont know what I'm talking about here, but those cops are stupid up in cambridge, and there is no way my rich harvard professor friend could have possibly done anything wrong."

First of all, brilliant work, Obama. All I could think of were his cronies saying to him, "You need every minority vote, I'm talking 98%, in all states in 2012. You'll win Massachusetts no matter what, so don't worry about offending them. Think about Texas, if you just say cops are stupid, and they profile racially, you'll really rack in the Black/Hispanic vote. This is perfect - we can have Gibbs (Press Secretary) back of all the comments tomorrow, but this is the sound byte you need."

Obama had no clue what happened, he is completely out of line speaking about it, and the only reason he did was to bring up an issue like racial profiling, when, in reality, the issue of profiling, as Tom and others have said, really doesn't seem to be the major issue here.

Speculation: You saw my speculation above.

To Sum Up:
> To me, and this is my opinion, Gates needs to get over himself, and not forget his keys next time.
> To me, and this is my opinion, I bet I don't want to hang out with Crowley, but I have a sneaking suspicion he did his job to the letter of the law, and that as annoying to Gates.
> I really do like Obama a lot, but I feel obligated to come down on him when he is wrong, because I know that his supporters won't do it. This issue had no place on the national broadcast last night, and the only reason it was there was to bring light to the issue of racial profiling, which, if you are a critical thinker, really seems like a peripheral issue IN THIS CASE.

* "Drama" in the titled added for flair, upon the suggestion by my second cousin.