Maureen Dowd: Bite Your Tongue

[babylonsister]

Bite Your Tongue

By MAUREEN DOWD
Published: July 25, 2009


Being obnoxious isn’t a crime.

As we reflect on the arc of civil rights dramas from Jim Crow to Jim Crowley, my friend John Timoney, the police chief of Miami, observes: “There’s a fine line between disorderly conduct and freedom of speech. It can get tough out there, but I tell my officers, ‘Don’t make matters worse by throwing handcuffs on someone. Bite your tongue and just leave.’ ”

As the daughter of a police detective, I always prefer to side with the police. But this time, I’m struggling.

No matter how odd or confrontational Henry Louis Gates Jr. was that afternoon, he should not have been arrested once Sergeant Crowley ascertained that the Harvard professor was in his own home.

President Obama was right the first time, that the encounter had a stupid ending, and the second time, that both Gates and Crowley overreacted. His soothing assessment that two good people got snared in a bad moment seems on target.

It escalated into a clash of egos — the hard-working white cop vs. the globe-trotting black scholar, the town vs. the gown, the Lowell Police Academy vs. the American Academy of Arts and Letters.

Crowley told a Boston sports station that Gates “seemed very peculiar — even more so now that I know how educated he is.”

Gates told his daughter Elizabeth in The Daily Beast: “He should have gotten out of there and said, ‘I’m sorry, sir, good luck. Loved your PBS series — check with you later!’ ”

Gates told me Crowley was so “gruff” and unsolicitous “the hair on my neck stood up.” Crowley says Gates acted “put off” and “agitated.” But the strong guy with the gun has more control than the weak guy with the cane. An officer who teaches racial sensitivity should not have latched on to a technicality about neighbors — who seemed to be outnumbered by cops — getting “alarmed” by Gates’s “outburst.”

From Shakespeare to Hitchcock, mistaken identity makes for a powerful narrative.

more...

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/26/opinion/26dowd.html

[tomreedtoon]

1. The Dragging Lady does love to run her mouth, doesn't she?

Does anyone care what publicity addict Mo Dowd says any more? Give her a mirror and maybe she'll go away.

[BlueMTexpat]

6. Did you bother to read what she said before dissing her?

I am not a MoDo fan, but this piece is one of her better ones.

[tomreedtoon]

7. I've read her before. She's a hypocrite and an egotist.

I read her for a long time, back when I would contaminate myself with the New York Whore Times commentary page. SHe was witty, she was sarcastic, she was a hoot.

And then I recognized that she attacked anyone, even good people, as long as she could stand above them and sneer.

She is a worthless human being. As Bartcop so nobly said, "She hates EVERYBODY."

[BlueMTexpat]

8. I basically concur with what you say ...

and almost never read her columns anymore for exactly those reasons. But in this situation, her column is more balanced than I have generally seen and, for that at least, it is worth a read. Just sayin' ...

:hug:

[Kind of Blue]

2. Good read. Thanks for the post & link. n/t

[Buzz Clik]

3. It's amazing how many cops agree with the Miami police chief.

All the cops who don't work in Cambridge seem to agree -- when the matter was settled, it was time to leave.

[Jade Fox]

5. Handling people not at their best....

without taking things personally or over-reacting, is basic to police training everywhere. It comes with the job.

[nolabear]

4. She brings up a point I haven't heard before

that there are egos involved. With considerable respect for the accomplishments of both of these men, they are both, I think, invested in being respected and special. That's not a bad thing per se, and certainly I know Gates deserves respect. I imagine Crowly has done a lot to earn it as well, and has the added investment in the uniform, which I guarantee will make you think you're respectable the way a Corvette will make you think you're cool. Throw in the fact that both of these men have had enough disrespect to last them a lifetime in spite of their accomplishments, and that confrontation was not just between men, but, as Gates alluded to, forces of history and nature. These are men, and men freak out, and when you're in the positions these two men are in the freakout can get interesting.

But, uncomfortable as it is, this is a conversation that needs to happen, over and over, for things to get better.