The Republican party was well on its way to becoming the lunatic party in the minds of moderate voters. Unfortunately, the one thing that can persuade moderate Republicans to stick with their party is for the wing-nuts of the left to come out in force, and that is what is happening here.

I don't know if the officer was a racist or not, but even if he was it doesn't change the fact that Gates refused to comply with lawful instructions, refused to present identification and yelled at the officer loudly enough to interfere with his attempts to investigate the 911 report. That is disorderly conduct, and I doubt that the charges would have been dropped if Gates wasn't well known and influential.

The fact that Gates was in his own home is irrelevant. The law does not stop at the front porch and the fact that Gates was not burglar does not give him the right to break other laws.

Just as blacks resent racial profiling whites resent cynical accusations of racism, the "race card". They also resent the what they see as a "guilty until (or even if) proven innocent" attitude on accusations of racism.

It's the one thing that will make Republicans seem like the lesser of evils to moderate whites.

No. Gates may have acted like an idiot, but he did not act unlawfully. He was in his home when he was given these instructions, and he has a constitutional right to not obey them under those circumstances.

In a perfect world, when the cops came to his front door explaining they were investigating a call of a break-in and asked him who he was as part of that investigation, he should have immediately said, "I live here. Yes, here's my i.d. to prove it. Thanks for the good work in protecting my home, officers. Good day."

He didn't need to do any of that, however. It was perfectly legal for him to rant like an idiot and slander the cops as racists. He's a high strung idiot, but he wasn't a criminal.

It was illegal, however, for the cops to arrest him.

The officer's demands were not lawful or consititutional, you moron. Cambridge PD is going to pay quite a bit of money for unlawfully infringing on this professor's civil rights.

You do know you responded to the wrong person, right?

It happens when people read the flat view.

EarlyBird:

No. Gates may have acted like an idiot, but he did not act unlawfully. He was in his home when he was given these instructions, and he has a constitutional right to not obey them under those circumstances.

In a perfect world, when the cops came to his front door explaining they were investigating a call of a break-in and asked him who he was as part of that investigation, he should have immediately said, "I live here. Yes, here's my i.d. to prove it. Thanks for the good work in protecting my home, officers. Good day."

He didn't need to do any of that, however. It was perfectly legal for him to rant like an idiot and slander the cops as racists. He's a high strung idiot, but he wasn't a criminal.

It was illegal, however, for the cops to arrest him.

I agree with you right up until the last line. There was nothing illegal about the arrest. Charges like disorderly conduct often come down to the judgement of the officer. In this the DA disagreed. Gates should be glad he is black and knows the President. No one else would have had the charges dropped.

There is an actual objective, legal definition of disorderly conduct. Regardless of the policeman's ability to use his best judgement in the field, ultimately that judgement must pass muster and if it doesn't the person must be released and the charges dropped.

Smartly, that is what Cambridge police did. Now, whether or not they would have had the wisdom to do that had the arrestee not been a famous professor with connections in high places is another thing.

As far as all known reports go, Gates was obnoxious, on his own property, but didn't come any where near the level of disorderly conduct. I think the cop was pissed off that he was being slandered as a racist for no good reason and wanted to teach the guy a lesson. Bad move.

Earlybird, you have a detail wrong that I think is pretty crucial. Crowley did not show up and explain who he was. He showed up and demanded that Gates step outside of his house. That is what set Gates off. Under the circumstances, I can see how Gates would have interpreted that demand as racist. He assumed that a cop who showed up on one of his white neighbor's porch would treat that white neighbors with a bit of deference. Was Crowley consciously acting in a racist or rogue manner at this point? I doubt it. But had Crowley begun by explaining who he was and why he was there, this would not have happened.

He was in uniform. And he did explain why he was asking Gates to come outside, right? He didn't just bang on the door and demand he come out, did he? Wasn't it clear that he was investigating a supposed breaking and entering? Do I have this wrong?

No he asked Gates to step outside first, without explanation. Both accounts agree on this. Gates didn't like his tone and felt chills down his neck or something, and said "no I will not." This is also undisputed, although the chills part only comes from Gates obviously. If an officer came up to my house and asked me to step outside without any other kind of explanation, I would be a little taken aback as well. If I was a minority, I would probably be more wary.

Then Crowley identified himself and explained why he was there, but by then Gates was already set off. Now one could argue at this point that Gates should have recalled busting down his own door a few minutes earlier, but he was probably already supremely pissed about (a)his door being broken, (b) being on China time still, and (c) having just been treated like a common criminal at his own front door, even if for a brief couple of seconds.

On the other hand, I also understand that Crowley probably didn't like being called a racist, after all he was just there to help, and here's this pompous Harvard professor going off on him. So he lost his cool and cuffed Gates.

(But on the other hand, if you don't want to show deference to Harvard professors with massive egos, don't. work. in. Cambridge.)