Gates At The Barbarians

So, I promised to weigh in on the Skip Gates arrest and the President's reaction to it. Being a large African-American man myself, I can relate. I've not been pulled over myself for "driving while Black" but I have been asked to leave a couple of business establishments over the years. People are jerks, what can I say.

Obama's reaction, having sponsored legislation as an Illinois State Senator to fight racial profiling, was both political and impassioned. Yes, racial profiling does exist. But blaming Obama for reminding the country that it does is idiotic. It exists. We're going to have to as a country deal with it. Was Skip Gates arrested because he was black? I don't know. My guess is he lost his damn temper and the cop said "that's enough out of you." The cop who arrested him isn't apologizing, that's for damned sure. Still, if Gates was white, would he have been arrested? Would the neighbor who called the cops still have called the cops?

And as much as I disagree (vehemently) with Don Surber on most things, this comment:

But if I were a cop, I’d wear a video camera helmet 24/7.

...actually isn't a bad idea.

I don't know. None of this is good.