Gayle King also surprised by Pres Obama's choice of words: Interviews Gates

[democracy1st]

Run time: 01:14 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LFhw_wIB4NY   Posted on YouTube: July 23, 2009 By YouTube Member: Views on YouTube: 0   Posted on DU: July 24, 2009 By DU Member: democracy1st Views on DU: 1507

 

On her Oprah Radio show, Gayle King got Henry Louis Gates, Jr.s first comments on President Obamas remark that Cambridge, MA police acted stupidly in arresting the Harvard professor. Hear Gates reaction in Kings interview on SIRIUS XM.


Pres Obama should have steered clear of this bs

[ErinBerin84]

1. would the "presidential" thing to do

be to either dodge the question or give a generic, cautious answer? Probably. But so what? Obama is only human, he can't be measured all of the time. The only reason he was asked was because he's African American...it probably would have become a headline anyway just because the question was ASKED. Maybe not a good media strategy, but I'm glad that Obama didn't back down...the media expects him to be a spokesperson for the whole entire African American community, yet is shocked by his language when he gives his honest opinion. And Obama is fine with people disagreeing with him, and made it clear to me that it was his opinion. Oh well.

[ejbr]

2. Thanks for posting n/t

[GivePeaceAchance]

3. He seems a very genuine person to me. There needs to be law enforcement guidelines of some kind...

Not firm strict rules but a little advisory suggestions by congress on handling public and racial consideration.

[florida08]

4. not sure why people are surprised

Obama is a straigtforward man. Not the average politically correct player. Have been suprised by the hoopla surrounding it myself not by what he said.

[These Eyes]

5. You conveniently failed to mention that she agrees.

[Kind of Blue]

6. Beat me to it! n/t

[MrsBrady]

10. yep

[BumRushDaShow]

7. The President

was asked a question and responded from his perspective. The lunatic fringe media created a catch-22. If he dodged it, they would have complained and demanded it be addressed. If he answered it, they would have complained about ANY answer that he gave, no matter what. So he answered it and will let the chips fall where they may. With this Presidency, there is no "steer clear". It is not allowed. He will be forever damned. But I and many others expected that. There is clearly a different standard applied to this President that was not applied to any other President previous to him. That is how it goes.

[Puzzler]

11. I agree... it was a catch 22 question.

[BeyondGeography]

8. I prefer Gates' analysis

"The circumstances were so egregious, that that was the adjective that popped into his head."

You can tell he is also thrilled with the support. When first told the President said something about the case he thought it would be, "We have to wait for the facts."

It's a very positive clip. Gayle King comes off as wimpy, Gates as real.

Thanks.

[MrsBrady]

9. she says she is surprised by the choice of words, but she does agree

and Gates appreciated the straightforward answer by the president.

Did we hear the same clip?

[democracy1st]

12. we all agree but the choice of stupidly when referring to a police officers is not good

especially when you know nothing about the case

[MrsBrady]

13. well, I disagree with you.

I might know nothing of a case.
If somebody told me that my husband had been arrested, I could already tell you that whatever it was would be BS -- before I even knew the facts.

Or me. It would have to be a cop's fault if I was arrested. Why would I ever be arrested? I would never do anything to warrant that.
Especially in my own home.

Now my Dad for a DUI, that I would believe.

[democracy1st]

14. but he's the POTUS he can't show bias he has to remain neutral until the facts come in

[MrsBrady]

15. i just don't agree with you...I don't see how the cop would need to arrest

a man that was in his own home. The president is a straight forward kind of guy.
I'm not trying to change your mind. Have it your way.

[Gator_Matt]

16. Too bad there isn't a video of the incident

If Gates followed the cop out and continued to slander him and disrupted the neighborhood, the cops had every right to arrest him. Honestly, I can't imagine blowing up at a cop in that manner. If you're polite to a cop, the cop will generally be polite back. Two examples that I've had (I'm white by the way):

I got pulled over for coming to a rolling stop early in the morning. I was driving to the airport very early and was in a wealthy part of town. Perhaps the cop pulled me over to make sure I wasn't casing the place. I was very polite to the cop, and he was very nice in return. Let me go with just a warning (the cop was black by the way). If I had blown up and screamed "this is what happens to white men in America" I'm certain that I would've been ticketed and probably arrested.

Perhaps a better example was in a separate incident in college, I was driving a friend into his apartment complex. They had a cop at the gate who was extremely belligerant (white cop) and seemed to be convinced that we were trying to start a party for some reason. I could tell the guy was unstable, so I played it cool and he had to let us go on our way. If I had blown up and screamed at him, I most certainly would've been arrested. If I were black, I might have thought "he's only doing this to me because of my race," but I think this is but one example that anyone can get harassed by bad cops.

[democracy1st]

18. well the POTUS has defused the situation

[Kind of Blue]

17. Please, speak for yourself. n/t

[Thrill]

19. Why? They can be stupid too