That probably is about as close as it gets. Close but no cigar. If the rudeness is so extreme that a reasonable person would expect it to provoke the officer, then charges could probably be brought. Otherwise, I still say that it is legal to be rude to a cop. If you find some authority that says otherwise, I would love to see it.Why do you think that I didn't already know that? Kindergarten kids know that.Thank you for that advice. At least now we are getting slightly beyond the kindergarten stage.

It's what makes America great. ;)

I should have added---that I am darn proud to be an American!:D

I guess, in that respect, none of them did anything really illegal. Gates legally was rude to the cop and the cop was legally entitled to slap him with a disorderly conduct charge, drag him down to the station and make his life difficult. ASSUMING, and I am not sure, that was the motive behind the charge, I would say it is well justified and have a hard time feeling sorry for Gates. After all, it is not like the cop came behind your car, broke your tailight with his nightstick and said "Busted tailight". In this case, Gates gave him the behavior to charge him with disorderly conduct especially when he was warned 2 times in front of witnesses.

Perhaps so but obviously, this geriatric scholar who needed a cane to walk and was educated apparently didn't know that, did he?

Police Union is about to have a live news conference in Cambridge.
Film at 11:00.;)

Watch for Obama to criticize the PU if they slam on his buddy. ;)

Well the black officer backs the cops 100% and says Gates was acting weirdly. It appears the police are not backing down and may bring a defamation suit against Gates. The President's remarks today were kind of rambling--he doesn't sound good w/o the teleprompter/script. He has stepped into it bigtime, and has to find a face-saving way to back off.

President Obama said Friday he spoke with the police officer who arrested a Harvard professor and told the officer he did not mean to malign the Cambridge Police Department when he said police acted stupidly.

I would love to see what he meant by saying the police acted stupidly. Kinda like me saying "MS Fowler, you acted stupidly. But wait! (Vince Schlomi) there's more. I didn't mean to malign you.". Yep, we have a politician there. No doubt about it.

in Mass they can and have in the past drop charges and then they have 30 days by state law to bring the corrected charges

i hope they do just that -- jz

Obama has invited Gates and Crowley to the White House for a beer.

I was right, got a problem with that? :cool:

40's all around no doubt!!
 

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^^^Now, that's the funniest thing I've seen on this forum in quite a while.

That's right! And when we get CAUGHT and CUFFED for being A**HOLES, we have to pay the price...otherwise, where would the "stupid lawyers" get their seed money from, in order to keep their fledging offices open for more "BS Cases" that have to be defended?

Disorderly Conduct charges can be applied in many cases and they usually involve very innocuous events...even the officer that cuffed me back in '91 said the same thing...it's when you get to court and find that the DA "stacked" other charges to "help with the negotiations" to bring it back down to a misdemeanor level of DC...the DA gets a mark in his column for "closing a case" and you get a petty record...

But, I digress... :rolleyes:

Back to the subject at hand...Gates didn't cooperate...period.

Crowley acted the way he should have...showing no PREFERENTIAL TREATMENT due to class or stature...and he showed restraint. He didn't go "Rodney" all over Gates...he could have taken him to the sidewalk and performed some of that "artistic" athletic prowess that you see on "COPS" where they "neck-step" the suspect 'til the cuffs are secure...but, you didn't see any of that crap...you have a black man being led out of his house for being an a**hole to the authorities and regardless whether he was a Billy Graham, an "O" supporter or a Lifetime Member of the NRA, he needed to display a modicum of respect to the people his tax dollars help to support and pay for...those same folks he'd expect to protect his life and property should he ever need that service.

I only hope, for Gates' sake, he doesn't get targeted by nar-do-wells, now that the criminal element in the area is aware that he now has some "beef" with the Police...

Sometimes, it would be a GOOD thing not to be an A**HOLE at all, as opposed to what some would say you have an absolute right to be able to do...

But then again, isn't that the trait of people that open mouths, insert their feet, then think about the consequences of their actions later...as if they ever manage to get THAT far to the thinking process... :rolleyes: ;) :D

Gates cried "FIRE!" when, in fact, there was no smoking match. IF we want to argue whether he has the right to yell "FIRE!" or not, have at it...I'm done trying to point out the fact that GATES invited Crowley and crew in, then Crowley tried to get out of the house and Gates decided he had a right to be an idiot outside of his house and got cuffed for it...

If he was allowed to go back into his residence AFTER HE WAS CUFFED to get a personal item or to leave it behind in secure hands, is subject to debate...it seems that some here feel that he was cuffed before he was led from his residence...it doesn't matter...

Even Gates mentioned that he was tired and cranky...any officer is trained to be aware of any person they are confronting, for any reason, to be aware that the person you least expect could be the one you should have expected...and as part of that training, they have EVERY RIGHT to cuff you if you're showing signs of poor judgement...both for your safety as well as theirs.

To argue anything different is to show ignorance of reality in the real world...

Academics is not real life. Gates needs to be part of reality, not imagine it.

The Fat Lady has sung. This show's ovah!
 

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Barack Obama calls cop to mend fences
Brews plan to pull both sides to table
By Hillary Chabot & Laura Crimaldi
Saturday, July 25, 2009 - Updated 7h ago


Beer and bonding is on tap at the White House after a contrite President Obama yesterday invited a Cambridge cop and Harvard professor over in an effort to bring them together after a week of hard feelings over charges of racial profiling.

The invitation for a cold one was quickly accepted last night by both Sgt. James Crowley and professor Henry Louis Gates Jr.

Crowley, through his union, said last night he was “profoundly grateful” for the president’s national mea culpa and offer to pick up the beer tab.

And Gates’ lawyer, Harvard Law professor Charles Ogletree Jr. said the cocktail hour could happen before Obama, a personal friend of Gates, takes his Martha’s Vineyard vacation in the last week of August.

“I think it’s hard to imagine anyone refusing an opportunity to have a constructive dialogue with the president of America,” Ogletree said.

The invitation came as Obama scrambled to clarify and soften his stunning statement at a nationally televised news conference that Cambridge police acted “stupidly” in arresting Gates.

Crowley, 42, cuffed Gates July 16 after investigating a break-in at the professor’s Ware Street home, charging him with disorderly conduct in what the 58-year-old Gates called racial profiling. The charge was dropped but Gates demanded an apology, which Crowley refused.

Obama called Crowley yesterday afternoon and told him he should have “calibrated those words differently,” when talking about the incident at the news conference.

“My sense is you’ve got two good people in a circumstance in which neither of them were able to resolve the incident in the way that it should have been resolved and the way they would have liked it to be resolved,” Obama said.

Before Obama reached out to Crowley, the sergeant stood with union officials and members of the Cambridge Multicultural Police Association who lashed out at remarks from the president and Gov. Deval Patrick.

“The supervisors and the patrol officers of the Cambridge Police Department deeply resent the implication and reject any suggestion that in this case or any other case that they’ve allowed a person’s race to direct their activities,” said Sgt. Dennis O’Connor, president of the Cambridge Police Superior Officers Association.

But, according to state Sen. Anthony Galluccio (D-Cambridge), Crowley emerged from the five-minute phone conversation with Obama ready to “do anything to help the citizenry move forward. He was open to the idea, but he was obviously pretty worn out and he needed to catch his breath.”

Police union officials also welcomed the president’s move. “He extended an olive branch, and that means a lot,” said Steve Killion, president of the Cambridge Police Patrol Officers Association. “It was very presidential. I think he realized he made a mistake.”

Patrick didn’t respond to union demands for an apology, but said in a statement that Obama’s comments, “should allow this conversation to move forward in a positive, constructive and level-headed manner.”

Local Democratic consultant Michael Shea called Obama’s “acted stupidly” comment, “the biggest political mistake I’ve ever seen him make.”

But Obama recovered with yesterday’s phone calls and impromptu press conference, Shea said, adding, “He took some blame and then moved forward to try and bring something positive out of it.”

Beer on tap for cop, prof:


Now, lets argue over which beer should be served.
http://www.bostonherald.com/news/regional/view.bg?articleid=1186929

I think they ought to have a beer tasting party. Get totally trashed and see what happens.