Officer, Arrest Me!

I'm surprised that a large number of Americans are standing up saying "Officer, Arrest Me!".

They are saying that they feel it is perfectly appropriate for the police to show up at their house and arrest them. Why? Because a person in a passing car spots them doing something that this anonymous passerby considers to be a "suspicious".

Worse... Americans are saying that is perfectly OK by them to be arrested on a "burglery" call even if you show several pieces of photo ID identifying you as the owner of the house. OK, Gates wasn't arrested as a burgler, but the cop didn't like Gates' "attitude". Presumably when the police sneak up on you in your own house and yell "freeze!" with guns drawn, you are supposed to be courteous, not loudly protest "I own this house! What are you doing in my house! I didn't let you in." A US citizen has fourth Amendment rights about unreasonable searches and arrests. They have a right to protest loudly that the police have overstepped their bounds by taking an anonymous strangers 911 call and proceeding on the belief that there is a burglery underway. They have a right to demand that the police identify themselves so that they can file a complaint and have their complaint heard.

For most "non-stupid" police agencies this incident would end quickly. The cop would see the person's photo ID establishing ownership. Then apologize but explain "I was only doing my duty following up a 911 call, I'm sorry to disturb you, this was obviously a terrible mistake."

What a "stupid" police agency would do is ignore your photo ID, get riled up over your claims to ownership and refusal to bow to arbitrary authority, and arrest you on a trumped up charge which -- when cooler heads prevail at the precinct -- the police then drop. But in the meantime, you've been treated like dirt by these cops, hauled out of your house in handcuffs, locked up, mug shot taken, all rights and freedoms stripped, in a show of "force" by a overly aggressive police force. (And... it should be added, the whole thing is juiced up by racism.)

But the matter doesn't end there...

There are lots, and lots, and lots of irate Americans shocked, I tell you shocked, that the US President would call it "stupid" to arrest a homeowner in his own house with ID showing he owns the house.

Do we believe these shocked Americans? Let's test them. Let's see if they are honest about their belief that it is A-OK to arrest home owners in their own homes for "burglery"...

Let the games begin! Everybody, get your cell phone ready... every time you see a neighbor at their door, phone 911 and report a "burglery in progress" and lets see all these people who think it is OK to arrest people in their own homes enjoy this new game of "gotcha"!

I'm guessing there will be a heckova lot of irate people when these games get seriously underway. Now that is why Obama called the arrest stupid.

Some say Gates got what he deserved. (The unstated assumption is that Gates is an "uppity" black guy, way to "lippy" for his own good.) Are you sure he "deserved" this? If the police arrive at my home and scare the bejesus out of me, then I'm going to be mad, protest loudly. I expect them to back of and say "I'm sorry, we got a call of a burglery in progress. Obviously that was a mistake. I apologize for coming in like a flying squad ready to take you down as a burgler."

If they drag me out of my home in handcuffs after I show photo ID that establishes this is my home and therefore it is logically impossible for me to be a "burgler", then I'll be doubly mad.

But apparantly, there are loads and loads of proud Americans who demand that their police show some spine. They want them to go in with guns drawn and haul people out in handcuffs from their own homes because some anonymous person has made a 911 call.

So I say, get to your cellphones and lets start this game and get serious. I want to see you turn in your mayor as a burgler when he comes home. I want to see you call in your local bank president as a burgler when he comes back from a quick run to the corner store. I want to see you call in a "burglery in progress" on the police chief when he comes home on Sunday morning from service. I want to see how much these fine people enjoy being handcuffed and taken to jail for a few hours before the "misunderstanding" is straightened out.

Oh... wait a second... are you telling me you don't believe the police would ever haul the fine gentlemen off to jail? Really? But they just hauled a full professor of Harvard off to jail!

Wait... ah, I see... you are saying that it was because the professor was black that this "unfortunate" incident occurred.

So if you are white, this is wheels of justice turning normally.

If you are black, this is just another case of police with implicit racism assuming that because you are black you must be a burgler. That even when you show photo ID that you are a professor, that can't be because we know that only white folks are smart enough to teach at Harvard. Blacks can sweep the halls, but they don't get to teach there.

Wake up. When Obama said the arrest was stupid. He meant it. It only "seems" to not be stupid because all the folks with white skin are convinced that "their" police would never do that to them. And all the folks with black skin know that it is all too frequent that the police come at them like gangbusters because of what they "see"... they see a confirmation of an anonymous call that this is a burgler because this guy is black and in a house in the "good" part of town. It is as clear as the nose on your face or as the colour of their skin, the guy has to be a burgler. Right?

These Americans who are outraged by Obama are the same ones who apparantly want to tear up the fourth Amendment. Who needs that? These are the same red-blooded Americans who know that their police never make mistakes or abuse their power.

Let's think about the interned Japanese of WWII. These Americans are saying they want to be treated like the interned Japanese. The police show up one day, tell you that you have two hours to pack, then they take you to the middle of nowhere and dump you behind barbed wire. That's OK by them, because the "police" never act in a stupid way. Police are the "good guys".

That's what these "Americans" who are upset about Obama calling this police force "stupid" say they want their country to be. A place where authority is always honoured. Might makes right. Love it or leave it. These hot-blooded Americans show no respect for their own Constitution. The only respect they show is to an overly aggressive police force because they know -- deep down they know -- the police will always be on their side because they aren't black, they aren't latino, they are Asian-Americans. They are "good people". They are like the German-Americans who were generally not interned during WWII. Obviously the Japanese weren't to be trusted, they needed to be interned (even though there were no organized Japanese groups promoting Japanese militarism, and there were organized German groups promoting Hitler and the NAZI movement). Everybody just "knows" that the white guys are good and the police won't manhanddle them. They know this because they are racists!

Don't believe me? Watch the following video by jumping to 1:03:15 where Neil Degrasse Tyson talks about how he succeeded in science and at 1:04:00 he talks about how police stalk him at shopping malls because they are convinced he is a thief despite being one of the most high profile scientists in America today: