I think it was right of President Obama to say the police acted “stupidly” for arresting Henry Gates for yelling at a policeman (Jacob Sullum at Reason magazine gives a nice rundown on the reasons why here). But, as Conor Friedersdorf, writing at Andrew Sullivan’s Daily Dish points out here, the Gates case dwindles almost to nothing in comparison with the many outrages committed by the boys in blue, as chronicled by Radley Balko, also at Reason.
And I wish the President had been asked a follow-up question: “Couldn’t Professor Gates’ arrest simply be considered an instance of ‘preventive detention’—you know, Mr. President, the doctrine being pushed by you and your administration that would allow you to lock up anyone, indefinitely, forever, even after they had been found innocent in a court of law? Isn’t that rather “stupid,” Mr. President? Perhaps even unjust and involuntary servitude?”
Afterwords
Glenn Greenwald at Salon magazine has been keeping track of the endless ways in which President Obama has violated his promises to restore the rule of law to the U.S., and it’s more than a full-time job.
