Did mrmillcity Challenge LiL?
I just read mrmillcity’s post on the Gates/Crowley incident. And this is what The Mark has to say (I think about us):
Cambridge Police take up for one of their own, oh and this cop doesn’t plan on voting for Democrat in 2012. Any one else wonder why the local left has been silent on this issue? I mean Sgt. Crowley DOES teach at the Lowell Police Academy and it was the #1 news story in America for almost a week. Weird.
No, The Mark, not weird. We are busy with our work (need to pay the mortgage), Festival volunteering, non-LiL political stuff and our personal lives. Lynne and I have not discussed the Gates arrest, so I am not sure what she thinks.
What is there left to say? Anytime Attorney Wendy Murphy gets involved in a case, I keep my thoughts to myself. And if this “beer diplomacy” works, we may try it here in Lowell. 
July 28th, 2009 at 9:05 pm
Maybe a duel?? A sissy slap fight at dawn? I’m game!
Right now, I am busy trying to facebook my wired self to sleep. Also, I might have had tequila. Also listening to my new Niamh Ní Charra CD I picked up this weekend. Mm, Celtic music…also, realizing Irish jigs, not so relaxing.
As to the thing between Gates and Crowley, it’s way blown out of all sense of proportion. I think the big issue that some have hit on is that this really should be a discussion on the concept that police should not have the power to arrest people who annoy them. Threaten them, yes, of course, but insulting them is not a crime and that power situation is a little unfair.
Other than that, I really honestly have no interest. It’s not about the local election so I care not.
July 29th, 2009 at 8:09 am
Frankly, it’s been so over-posted on in BMG, I didn’t see the use of talking about it here.
July 29th, 2009 at 10:16 am
I think Mark has been chumming the water now for a while now in hopes of goading you ladies into a righty/lefty duel…as well as the crazy nut cases that have been sending us hatemail since we posted those blogs. And by crazy, I mean CRAZY.
July 29th, 2009 at 1:08 pm
We don’t get “hate mail.” Everybody loves us.
July 29th, 2009 at 6:32 pm
I’m with Lynne on this one.
I don’t think that the arrest of Gates had to be racist to be wrong.
The power of arrest is accorded to only a very few members of our society; those being law enforcement personel.
It should be treated as the extreme measure that it was always meant to be. Far too often, officers resort to the arrest as a means of getting back at someone who has done nothing to warrent an arrest. They know that they most likely will not see a prosecution but do it anyway to make the life of those arrested a temporary living hell.
An older, dapperly dressed, well groomed individual who showed his ID in his own home. And now we find out that Crowley made clear in his communication to the station that Gates had proven that he resided there. So why arrest him?
I just hope that the internal investigation into Crowley’s actions as an officer of the law is unbiased and not a whitewash. If so, I believe that the findings will show that the arrest and booking of Mr. Gates was unjust and without merrit.
But I really doubt that this will be the case.
July 29th, 2009 at 10:21 pm
Mimi, Our hatemail could provide weeks of blog material. I can only imagine what Shallots inbox looks like.
As for observant ones comment…I do agree with you on just about every level, but the police report is very telling, and hasn’t been disputed by either party. I recommend reading it. It details very clearly that Mr.Gates behavior in his home had no bearing on the arrest, and it wasn’t until it carried on outside the dwelling in view of the public that justified officer Crowley’s action. (I still believe the arrest was unnecessary, but not unjust.)
As for being a dapper dude, I know that getting mouthy with a cop (justified or not) will likely lead to a cop’s knee in my back and a fitting for handcuffs…even when I have my hotshit chinos on and sharp looking polo.
July 30th, 2009 at 4:51 pm
Here’s the Police report being mentioned:
http://docs.google.com/gview?a=v&q=cache:6f7988yYH1QJ:www.thebostonchannel.com/download/2009/0720/20120754.pdf+gates+crowley+police+report&hl=en&gl=us
July 31st, 2009 at 8:26 am
Beer Summit…
I loved the idea…I mean loved it. I believe in the power of conversation. But did it bother anyone that we were able to see pictures and video feed of the event? Can’t they just do it in private, and share some tidbits afterwards?
Why propose a meeting to end a dispute in such a natural way, but make it so unatural by staging the media moments?
July 31st, 2009 at 9:48 am
Seemed kind of “damned-if-you-do, damned-if-you-don’t” to me.
Too public/it’s all PR vs. too secretive/what are they hiding?
I think allowing footage but not audio was a decent compromise.