Originally Posted By Mr X <a href="http://rawstory.com/blog/2009/07/boston-cop-calls-gates-jungle-monkey-in-mass-e-mail" target="_blank">http://rawstory.com/blog/2009/...s-e-mail</a> Gee, if the President claimed THIS guy acted stupidly, I wonder if he'd get grief from the usual suspects all over again!?
Originally Posted By Hans Reinhardt This story just gets stupider and stupider each day. And to think that these are adults behaving like this. Shame on all of them.
Originally Posted By barboy "Jungle Monkey" really? That's pretty bad!! I've heard the racial slurs "Jungle Bunny" and "Alabama Porch Monkey" but never "Jungle Monkey". If this cop did this while being "clocked in on a shift" he needs to be terminated at once.
Originally Posted By mawnck Every day or two we hear something worse. This isn't going to stop, you know. It's just going to come further and further out into the open. One more set of things that "can't possibly happen now - this is 2009!": Actual lynchings hit the news within 6 months. Talk radio maintains the victims deserved it. Republican politicians give mealy-mouthed tut-tut statements without actually condemning. And out-in-the-open KKK members start winning state elections in 2010.
Originally Posted By Sport Goofy << Every day or two we hear something worse. This isn't going to stop, you know. It's just going to come further and further out into the open. >> Of course. This is a great distraction from the real issues of the day. Meanwhile, in Congress, a "compromise" is being worked on for health care reform that will elimnate any public option from the forthcoming bill. Essentially, the pharmaceutical and insurance industry get their way as we rearrange the deck chairs on our Titanic health care system. We wouldn't want that to be exposed in the news would we? Let's keep talking about stupid and meaningless rhetoric from Cambridge.
Originally Posted By Mr X This is apparently the entire quote... ***"(Gates') first priority should be to get off the phone and comply with police, for if I was the officer he verbally assaulted like a ... jungle monkey, I would have sprayed him in the face with OC deserving of his belligerent non-compliance."*** I have no idea what the censored part was. Actually, I'm thinking "Jungle Monkey" is hardly the worst part of this rant. Cops really do think they are mini-gods, don't they? Respect My Authority!
Originally Posted By Dabob2 The censored part is in the story on the original link now. It's "banana-eating jungle monkey." Also this lovely quote: "He (Gates) is a suspect and will always be a suspect." A suspect? Of what? Being in his own home? Being "too mouthy" is his only real (non)crime - what in the world could he be a "suspect" of. But this tells you something about the mindset of this cop, (which, to be fair, is not necessarily the same as the mindset of Crowley, who doesn't seem to be anywhere near this kind of idiot - more likely just a guy who got macho when he should have gotten professional). Oh, and the story's been updated. The quoted cop is suspended, possibly fired.
Originally Posted By mawnck >>Let's keep talking about stupid and meaningless rhetoric from Cambridge.<< Might as well. You got anything that would actually help the Congress situation? Neither do I. I guess I could call up my birther Congresscritter John Campbell and give him a piece of my mind, but somehow I don't think that's going to cause any seismic shifts in anybody's policy. And really now, you don't think the return of blatant racial hostility in this country is one of the "real issues of the day"?
Originally Posted By Kar2oonMan I like that he claims to be a former English teacher, writing a letter filled with grammatical, punctuation and spelling errors. I guess we know why he is a 'former' English teacher after reading this hate mail.
Originally Posted By ecdc >>Meanwhile, in Congress, a "compromise" is being worked on for health care reform that will elimnate any public option from the forthcoming bill.<< Fortunately, the latest news is the House has come up with a compromise that includes a public option. Hopefully the Senate will follow. As far as I'm concerned, the Democrats should just ignore the Republicans there. But then, the Democrats are almost (not quite, but almost) just as much in the pocket of big healthcare. So that's tough too. But it's made great progress this week, after a tough time last week.
Originally Posted By Mr X On the negative side, apparently included in the bill is a secret plot to prematurely kill senior citizens. Or so I heard.
Originally Posted By wahooskipper It wouldn't be a story outside of Mass. if the President hadn't ignited it. The meeting today at the White House doesn't happen for that matter.
Originally Posted By Mr X Stories about scumbag racist cops certainly SHOULD make the news outside their home states. I suppose we have the President to THANK for making sure such stories get told (and this is a whopper!).
Originally Posted By wahooskipper Perhaps they should make the news...but they don't unless there is a better "lead". In this case, the President turned it into a better story from the media perspective. Not something, mind you, the President intended. If he had his choice of addressing this for the last week or putting his undivided attention on health care...which would he choose?
Originally Posted By Mr X ***Not something, mind you, the President intended. If he had his choice of addressing this for the last week or putting his undivided attention on health care...which would he choose?*** Here's my perhaps off the wall take on things. I think he took the opportunity to answer in a perfectly clear manner. In fact, I think he chose the term "stupidly" very purposefully. Just my 2 cents.
Originally Posted By wahooskipper I thought about that for a minute...I really did. But, I think his health care goals are so significant that he would not have intended to overshadow a 45 minute news conference with a one minute answer.
