Obama

[innerSpaceman]

It's just that he has said over and again it's the best way to insure all Americans, but that it's politically impossible to achieve ... all the while assuring he's going to bring change to the way politics is done.

Of course, I don't believe that ... but it would be nice to see him try with his two big-ticket items.

[Cadaverous Pallor]

Oh, I don't mean specifically Single Payer. I mean in a larger sense, I would like to see the entire insurance industry kicked out on its ass, and see employers lose the burden of paying for employee health care, which never made sense to begin with.

I'll be disappointed no matter what.

[flippyshark]

Originally Posted by Cadaverous Pallor

I'll be disappointed no matter what.

And I'll probably remained uninsured no matter what. *sigh*

[Betty]

I never really saw this as a big issue... then my husband went on disability and in a few days, we will no longer have insurance unless we pay for cobra which I don't think we can afford... because he's on disability... And we need it for him to remain on disability. What a catch-22.

We haven't been without health insurance for a long time... LONG time. Never used to seem like any big deal though but now it's really looming large and worries me. I think the kids can qualify for something through cal-something-or-other but I guess us adults will just have to die a slow death.

[Alex]

Just for the record, though he really shouldn't have said anything for political reasons, the police officer in the Louis Gates arrest really did behave stupidly. And Gates likely didn't do anything to help the situation as it escalated.

Everybody involved should probably just shut up and let it die. But answering (and then answering with his honest -- even if it was a pretty good summary of things -- view) was a silly misstep by Obama.

[Ghoulish Delight]

Yeah, a bit of an pediaintradontal moment for Obama, there was just no reason for him to have said anything.

[innerSpaceman]

I disagree. I think it was the only honest moment in the entire news conference.

I don't mean to say Obama was lying, but it was so scripted, so refusal to go off message even to the point of evading questions. Slick and kinda sickening. (appropriate for a health care news conference, though, eh?)


With the "stupid" comment (in response to a direct question, btw), at least I felt he went off script and said what he really felt without regard to propriety. And since that disregard didn't extend to anything outrageous, I applaud it wholeheartedly.

And ya know what? We want to be all color-blind about it, but let's acknowledge (as he did) he's the first black president, and commenting on race issues in this country is more than appropriate, it's laudable.

He said he did not know all the facts ... but that, on the face of it, arresting a middle-aged black man on a break-in charge who has shown documentary evidence of residence is at the very least STUPID.


Yeah, the Cambridge Police Department is upset about it. They should be. The President of the United States called them on misconduct. Now go ahead and be petty about it, and complain about the messenger. Pfft. They roughed up the wrong black man this time. Bound to happen one time out of ten thousand.

[Alex]

Like I said, I pretty much agree completely with what he said. But politically it was stupid for him to say anything because it completely undercut the entire purpose of him having the press conference (which was bolstering his health care proposal) and giving the press the excuse they barely need to talk about anything other than boring policy skirmishes.

[scaeagles]

If I recall, he was arrested on disorderly conduct, not burglary or breaking and entering.

The police officer had left the home. Gates followed him out and continued shouting at him. I personally do not believe he behaved stupidly. He answered a call from someone in the neighborhood. He learned that Gates did indeed live there. He did not escalate the situation, and in fact was leaving. Gates chose to follow him out and continue his rantings. Gates was warned about disturbing the peace and being disorderly and continued. So he got arrested and was not mistreated whatsoever. In fact, they went in and retrieved his cane (which I find funny that he was complaining about needing when he apparently didn't use it to follow the officer out of the house), and even made sure his house was secured by someone Gates new from Harvard whom Gates approved to do it and said he was comfortable with.

I don't understand what was stupid about it at all. The individual acting stupidly was Gates, shouting racism at the very sign of an officer trying to do his job after answering a burglary call. All Gates had to do was stay in his house until the officer left and stop verbally assaulting him , which wasn't even a problem until it went outside.

[Alex]

Yelling at a policeman is not even close to "disorderly conduct." If the charge was so justifiable why were they dropped immediately?

Because it was a policeman upset about not being shown proper obeisance (and I don't attribute that to racism so much as bullying) and so proving who was the one with power. The police officer also apparently may have violated state law by not providing his name when requested (the policeman disputes this saying he did give his name).

I won't deny that Gates may have also behaved stupidly (since generally it is stupid to not show the proper groveling obeisance that many police officers expect). But that is a different type of stupidity.