Sir;...You need to learn something about the world...You know how whites are gradually being outnumbered by minorities... Think of all the places in this world where we sojourn as extreme minorities... Is this the lesson we wish to teach the world; that no Black Man is ever equal in his own land??? Do you want to teach the world, where we are relatively few in numbers, that we are some white devils who must be banished from humanity??? I know what happened there, and so do you...The man came home from a trip, and needed to drain his vein...His door was stuck and he was frustrated, and in walked the cops adding insult to indignity...The explanation is simple...The fact is not entirely clear whether the officer would have treated a white man as rudely....My money is on the Black Man...I see the way the cops treat people around here... Law enforcement is our single largest county expense by far, and while the Sheriffs department is handing out yard signs saying: I support the Sheriffs Department, they and the City Police seem to be everywhere handing out more and more tickets...Look around, cops...Everyone is hurting...Everyone is behind and trying to catch up... And I don't like it when they use my road for a drag strip, but there has to be some limit to trying to support the government, or the price of law enforcement with speeding tickets...I can't support them...I don't speed any more, or much less...I don't have any points, and knock on wood...The fact is that the more law we have the more law we need, and the higher the price goes, the higher it will go... Law makes more criminals than it cures...It is a monumental failure... Blood feuds were not much of a success either...People were happy to hand the job of justice over to others... But when the perception is, that justice is not forthcoming, or even possible no matter how much law we have if you are black; then you take justice into your own hands..Do we want every man to set himself up as the judge of his own behavior???? Law is stupid, so it is no surprise when police act stupidly... When we cannot afford health insurance we are wrong to put any money into law or defense...We need something to defend, and history shows us that the more we prepare for war the more our neighbors seem like enemies... The same is true of law, that the more money we put into law, police, and prisons the more the free society begins to resemble a prison, with no one free...The problem is not the indignant professor... The problem is that those who make the law think they can make injustice legal...Government, and business which are the soul and the purpose of law need the light of law shone upon them... If any act is not just, it cannot be legal...It does not matter what authority was given to the police in the legitimate pursuit of their goals...Not one of them has the authority to do an injustice, because no power in America can give anyone that authority...People do injustice on their own authority...As justice is a goal of our federal government it should be a goal of all governments, and each is only as legitimate as it is just...The policeman in this case does not understand his job, and he does not understand the need for the cooperation of the people in the pursuit of justice...He made trouble..He disturbed the peace...Every person is entitled to peace in his own place, and if you defend peace for the poor professor, you defend it for the worthless rich...That should be you goal...It is not mine... I do not defend peace more than I defend Justice...Thanks...Sweeney

once again pat buchannan spews his venom. get over it pat, a black man, Barack Hussein Obama, is president of the U.S. Your racist attitude is prevalent among white men across the country, who would rather the country go to hell instead of backing this intelligent, capable leader of the free world. where was all this criticism when george bush was saying dumb things everywhere he went to everybody he came in contact with. all you and your conservative cronies have done since the election of this brilliant man is to try to de-legitimize him and seemingly are trying to call forth one of the crazies of the world to assassinate him. however, what you don't understand is that Barack was ordained by God almighty. he is president because of that. it was divine, not from man. you cannot stop him. pat get over it!!!!!!!

This has nothing to do with race; this is about abuse of authority by a policeman and violating the civil rights of an American by a government agent.
The facts are these: Gates was inside the confines of his own home; there was NO probable cause to believe that a crime was being or had been committed; there was NO reasonable suspicion that Gates had committed or was about to commit a criminal act; there is no legal grounds for charging a person with "disorderly conduct" in his own home (which is probably why the cop wanted Gates outside the dwelling). Once Gates had shown his ID, the cop was trespassing on private property, plain and simple.
The cop committed a criminal violation of 18 USC 241 and ought to be summoned into federal court to face criminal charges. Will the US Attorney charge the cop? No way in hell! No cop has been punished for violating someone's rights in America since the Rodney King case. This is the essence of a police state; the Constitution be damned.
It is irrelevant what Gates's race is.

I was interested in the article but I quit reading because Mr.Buchanan wasn't there. He wrote it like he witnessed it. He doesn't know what was said on the scene because he wasn't there. The only proof what was said was the 911 tape. Both Mr. Crowley and Mr. Gates were never recorded on the 911 tape.

Re: cathy jo williams;...Ma'am, ...I surely think it was divine that the better man won...Usually money fixes the situation so that will not happen...Or the better man, who is the more moral man, does something stupid as though his brains were made for keeping his ears parted....No; I don't know if God played a role... I do know that God loves us no better than the choices we make...Thanks...Sweeney

Pat, and everybody else,
I was pleased when I heard of Obama's response to this incident, even though I do not like nor trust him. How did Gates end up outside? Was he dragged out of his own house? Would that be okay if he were mouthy?
The police also need to be monitored, whether you, Pat Buchanan, feel it necessary or not. "Because I told you so" is never an appropriate response here for a policeman. If they don't know their stuff, they should not be serving, and I mean serving, us.
I will grant you that Sgt. Crowley does not seem a bad man. Still, perhaps, this not-bad man was tested, and failed in his goal of fulfilling his duties to the letter of the law. In which case he should 'fess up, tell the truth, and apologize for his mishandling of the situation. As a servant of the people, I expect acknowledgements of bad judgement. There is no reason to believe his version over a citizen: that would be discriminating, now wouldn't it?

While one may or may not believe Gates' stances to be good or bad or right or wrong, the truth as I see it, day in and day out, is that policemen consider themselves ABOVE THE LAW. Which we must show them they are not.