How long will the racist right try to keep the Gates "issue" alive?
President Obama went a long way today in defusing the controversy over his statement regarding the Prof. Gates incident with the Cambridge Police Dept.
Gates is going to accept President Obama's offer for a beer and Sgt. Crowley is thinking about accepting it also.
http://www.boston.com/...
Officer Crowley was also happy with what President Obama said today:
Crowley was also pleased by the call, according to a fellow officer who asked not to be identified because he is not authorized to speak publicly about the issue.
"Jimmy said, 'I'd be happy to come to the White House and sit down with you and Gates and have a beer,' " the veteran Cambridge officer said. "The president said he was acceptable to that."
http://www.boston.com/...
The President of the Patrol Officers Association was also happy with President Obama's statement:
"Steve Killion, president of the Cambridge patrol officers association, praised the president for calling James Crowley only a couple of hours after the news conference where leaders from Cambridge and other area police unions demanded an apology from Obama.
"I'm sure, knowing Sergeant Crowley, it's mended the fence with him,'' said Killion, who had not spoken with Crowley. "It's gone some way toward mending the fence with the patrol officers, even though I haven't spoken with any of them yet.''
Killion said the president has admitted he erred by discussing a case without knowing the details.
"He acknowledges he made a mistake,'' Killion said. "He wasn't there. None of us have the facts. He didn't have the facts. We don't have the facts. We don't know what professor Gates said, what Sergeant Crowley said. I'm absolutely pleased with [Obama's call]. I think it was a good thing for the president to do. He's the commander in chief, he's in charge. Whether or not he should be involved in local politics, he runs the country. We all want to see this behind us.''
http://www.boston.com/...
So, Gates is happy, Crowley is happy, and the police union president is happy, and I'm sure President Obama is pleased that things are settling down. The real question is how long will the racist right keep dealing this story to the birthing crowd?