I think all 3 of them were wrong:
1. Gates was wrong to get ignorant & mouth off to the cop - the cop was just trying to do his job. Cops don't it like when people cuss them out no matter what color the person is.
2. Sgt Crowley was wrong to abuse his power & arrest Gates - I think the officer arrested him just to be vindictive and teach the old man a lesson for mouthing off to a police officer. Many police officers walk around demanding respect and get quite irate when they don't get it.
3. Obama was wrong to say the police "acted stupidly" without knowing all the facts. He needs to remember he is the President of the USA now, any direct, unbridled criticism of anything or anyone is bound to piss off certain special interest groups and blow up in his face.
I'm saying this from my personal experience of numerous direct encounters with police officers in my youth - from being accused of a various criminal activities to being stopped for suspicion of DUI. I have never been arrested because I knew enough to keep my mouth shut and not get lippy with the officer even though i was innocent (most of the time
).
