Sgt. Crowley Did Act Stupidly.

So did everybody else involved in this mess. Dr. Gates apparently acted even more stupidly. But perhaps most stupid of all was President Obama for calling Crowley stupid after saying he (Obama) knew nothing about the issue. But talk about the perfection of stupidity will lead you to swoon in admiration over the brilliant stupidity of the nation’s press, no longer a contender for any mythical “Joe Friday Award” for patient questioning and keen observation, but now the clear winner of a “Headless Chicken Award” for most spectacular flapping and running around wild while your head lies in the dust unseeing but still screeching.

Originally, I even thought the most stupid of all was Lynn Sweet for wrapping up the press conference with her dumb question which just lay there for a moment before slowly unfolding into a Harry Potter-like death-eater, and flying with the speed of the internet through the minds of the civilized world. EVERYbody involved with this now looks stupid. Even the lady who called the initial 911 call was made to look stupid by some in the press before she caught on and started acting stupidly on her own. I’m sure I look pretty darn stupid for having even noticed it, even more so for writing about it.

But. Beer heals all. Too bad Gates didn’t offer Crowley any that night. Too bad Crowley didn’t bring any with him. It would all be different now. We all know beer will calm disagreements. Ask any bartender. Or bouncer. What will they serve? My recommendation is a beer from the Oskar Blues Brewery in Lyons, Colorado. It’s the one they call “Mama’s Little Yellow Pilz”, a smooth pilsner which makes all other things seem irrelevant.

Still, questions remain. This was presented as a pretty simple breaking-and-entering thing, right? So why did Sgt. Crowley along with an unknown number of Cambridge and Harvard police officers botch up this nonevent so badly? The police Incident Report doesn’t say how many police officers were called in to back-up Crowley but it indicates that Crowley called them all out to take care of administrative matters only. According to the report, the Cambridge police were just to question Ms. Whalen (the 911 caller)! The Harvard University police were called only to verify that Dr. Gates Harvard University identification card was valid! (Apparently Sgt. Crowley did not call the Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles to verify that Gates’ drivers license was actually legitimate - at least that is not mentioned in the report.)

One More Thing - Let's remember that Dr. Gates was still in the act of returning from China. So you could make a pun and say he was dis-oriented - and I have never returned from China - but I do know that whenever I return from Europe, I am also disoriented for a day or so - it's a big change. We schedule NOTHING for the first day back. Dr. Gates might have handled the incident differently had he had not just come from the other side of the world.

Now let the blame fall where it may, but this much is to be remembered - Incidents such as this can be expected more often as police increasingly trade in their traditional constabulary role for that of the military assault team. Look out. It could be playing in a theater near you soon.

(The bottom photo - the police Incident Report will enlarge if clicked upon)