The news that Prof Henry Louis Gates Jr was arrested by a white cambridge Police Officer was already big news up here in Jolly Old New England. The accusations of racial or racist motivations had sent the region into an uproar, where the debate at every bar and every water cooler was about who was right and who was wrong. The philosophical questions have been flying and are being debated.
If this was racially motivated, is this a setback to the progress that everyone hoped would change the landscape of racial relations?or
If this is another Tawana Brawley like false claim of racism callously used to excuse the bad behavior of an individual, can we ever achieve racial harmony?It was already a big deal here. Then the bomb went off. While I was watching the President of the United States perform his infomercial for Intergalactic Health Care he ended the presentation by taking the last question and the only question, not related to health care, from a Chicago reporter Lynn Sweet who is also a long time associate. In his last question he changed the national conversation from health care to race relations. Probably a good thing considering the reviews of his attempt to sell his plan. It's almost like this was the self destruct plan.
OK, that didn't go well. Execute plan B. Release the hounds of racial arsonists.!
Hardly anyone was talking about the failure happening to the health care effort today.
Maybe it was a good short term strategy, but I think long term he may get backed into a corner and have to throw another proclaimed friend under the bus.
