http://motorhomediaries.com/ohhhhh-canada/

Switching gears a bit, the overzealousness of Police is almost a double standard though. If someone was breaking into my house, I would probably want the Cop to execute all force necessary to capture the suspect. However, if said suspect was unjustly brutalized or even killed, I don't know if that would sit as well with me. There must be balance.

Dr. Gates is unequivocally African-American. Dr. Gates was entering his house in an unorthodox manner “wedging his shoulders in the front door” which tipped off a neighbor that something was awry. The neighbor’s involvement begins and ends when she calls the Police. Now I would imagine that even before the Police were called, the neighbor would take some time to identify the “suspect” i.e., older African-American man or even call out saying, “Hey Skip is that you?” Unfortunately Cambridge, MA much like other cities are becoming less neighborly.

Once Sgt. Crowley arrived, both he and Dr. Gates overreacted and escalated this incident. Dr. Gates pulling from his historical context of Police Brutality against African Americans, may have been justifiably angry, but was his conduct enough to warrant Disorderly Conduct? As Disorderly Conduct is enforced, oftentimes it is at the officer’s discretion to make an arrest. What Dr. Gates did via inciting remarks demonstrates a sincere bit of anger, hyperbole, and to some point privilege, but was it worthy of arrest? That I don’t know. It depends on the temperament of the officer. Some can take it, some can’t. My own personal experience with being pulled over or accosted has LESS to do with the offense, but moreso their temperament. Since you can’t determine what side of the bed they woke up on, it is best to keep outrage to a minimum and when they react unjustly, file a complaint.

What else would you apply that standard to? Would you apply it to the word "poor"? The poorest Americans are much, much better off than 99% of Haitians. Would you apply it to health care? Congolese parents can't walk into an emergency room when their kid comes down with food poisoning, so the American uninsured don't actually have a problem?

Everything happens on a scale, MN.

And for the record, I never claimed to be oppressed. But the millions of Americans who will spend decades of their lives in jail for nonviolent crimes--many of those sentences longer based on the color of the offender's skin--those people are oppressed.

Put down the Kristof column and look out your fucking window.

People in Burma are opressed, people in Tiawan are opressed. You are doing fine. Put down the books by that Texas ob/gyn and read a Nick Kristof column or two.

Cops are trained to arrest anyone who objects to or says anything about their actions. Add to that the fact that weak, insecure people have a psychological need to obtain power & so often become cops, it's a dangerous mix.

Cops are just power mad & power hungry. Cops are pigs.