August 1, 2009

Ouch

Here's the letter from police officer Leon K. Lashley that James Crowley presented to President Barack Obama at the Beer Summit:
Dear Jim,

Would you be so kind as to mention the following to Mr. Gates and President Obama during your meeting with them:

One of the major problems stemming from the events of July 16 is that I, now known as 'the black Sergeant', have had my image plastered all over the Internet, television and newspapers. Subsequently, I have also become known, at least to some, as an 'Uncle Tom.'

I'm forced to ponder the notion that as a result of speaking the truth and coming to the defense of a friend and collegue, who just happens to be white, that I have somehow betrayed my heritage.

Please convey my concerns to the President that Mr. Gates' actions may have caused grave and potentially irreparable harm to the struggle for racial harmony in this country and perhaps throughout the world.

In closing, I would simply like to ask that Mr. Gates deeply reflect on the events that have unfolded since July 16 and ask himself the following questions:

'What can I do to help heal the rift caused by some of my actions?; What responsibility do I bear for what occurred on July 16, 2009? Is there anything I can do to mitigate the damage done to the reputations of two respected Police Officers?'

Thank you in advance,

Your friend,

Leon K. Lashley

This really didn't work out so well for Obama, now did it?

I imagine that David Axelrod's postmortem to his client went something like this:

1. Never again let slip the truth about how you feel about race.

2. When you violate Rule 1, make a really long and completely incomprehensible speech, like the one you gave after the press finally noticed Rev. Wright. Aim for inducing Total Zen Trance State in the media.

3. Whatever you do, don't put yourself in position where some stubborn bastard like Crowley gets to make a really short speech on national television about you.

4. Your "I Have Understood You" magic only works on people when you start off with it. When you instead start off by insulting some unknown individual, and then try to fob him off with IHUY, then -- if he keeps his cool and doesn't apologize to you -- you are, in effect, admitting you were wrong.

5. "I Have Understood You" only works on people who don't understand you. Crowley is a cop in Cambridge. He's met dozens of guys just like you around Harvard Yard, and he's not that impressed. Don't mess with guys like that.

My published articles are archived at iSteve.com -- Steve Sailer

23 comments:

Aaron B. said...

It's interesting that Officer Lashley criticizes only Mr. Gates, when it's the President's words that really made this a big deal. Until Obama stepped in, this was a story about a tired guy who felt hassled by a cop and went into a "I'm being repressed" rant. Sounds like Mel Gibson's rant against Jews. Big deal. People say dumb things when they're upset.

But Obama wasn't jet-lagged or under pressure. He had the opportunity to investigate the case before speaking, and he could have kept his mouth shut if he wanted to. That our "post-racial" president instinctively took one side based on race is what really got people excited.

The Anti-Gnostic said...

Whoa. That's running over the guy, then putting it in reverse over his still-twitching corpse just to make sure.

Kind of like how Clinton never really got that a President has to respect martial culture, particularly if he's going to order the military all over the place saving the planet. So when Obama's shiny-faced, mostly white, CCC traipses into the 'hood, he better hope tough cops will agree to protect them.

Which leads me to this: hopefully Obama will stifle his twitchy, social-engineering urges in dealings with the military so it's not totally emasculated by PC.

Anonymous said...

Post-mortem: Never let Obama off the teleprompter. He's not smart enough to ad lib.

Michael Carr - Veritas Literary said...

That's a terrific letter. It says everything it needs to and yet comes across as mature and not petulant, and whiny, like these things often do.

As for Obama, one thing that he seems to do better than the last guy is learn from his mistakes. He also seems capable of genuine self-reflection. Let's hope he learns a real lesson here, instead of merely pretending to do so as Clinton would have done.

Red Lepond said...

Crowley seems a good guy and he's handled himself well, but conservatives have projected so much hope and expectations upon him that it gives a whole new meaning to the White Man's Burden.

AmericanGoy said...

Haha, like this letter will be shown on TVm newspapers or talked about on radio.

Can you fathom Nina Totenberg on NPR talking about this letter on the air?

Me neither.

Therefore, this never happened.

SKT said...

Sailer 1, Rahm Emmanuel 0.

Anonymous said...

Have you seen this photo?

A picture is worth a thousand words.

Who is an aloof prick?

Anonymous said...

good Q. the best thing for Gates is to STFU. but that's probably the hardest thing in his life. the guy made a career out of saying racially divisive things, badmouthing whitey and being a loudmouth.

Anonymous said...

Crowley is a cop in Cambridge. He's met dozens of guys just like you around Harvard Yard, and he's not that impressed. Don't mess with guys like that.



LOL. The Obama magic is even wearing off in the German press. And that’s saying something. Till now the Krauts were all starry-eyed about the imposter. Now they call him "Mr. No, I can't!". Ha ha ha. I always overestimate schemers like axelrod and soros. It was so obvious that the Messiah status would wear off eventually. But then maybe they are slyer than that. Maybe they calculated on O. losing Messiah status and figured that the intermezzo would be long enough for them to plant their cronies in all the important jobs and get the rules changed in their favor. God knows what else they have been up to in the meantime.

Baloo said...

This seems too good to be true. It's not on Drudge yet.

Concerned Netizen said...

I'm quite impressed with Lashley's writing skills. No question he wrote it: the word "colleague" is misspelled. Or perhaps it was a typo. Otherwise it is a first-class piece of writing, heartfelt and sincere.

About the racial harmony thing, look, the truth shall set us free. But I understand where Lashley is coming from.

testing99 said...

Gates was not jet-lagged. He spent the previous night at a friend's apartment in NYC and drove up to Cambridge the next day, according to the NYT.

Mr. Anon said...

"Red Lepond said...

Crowley seems a good guy and he's handled himself well, but conservatives have projected so much hope and expectations upon him that it gives a whole new meaning to the White Man's Burden."

Quite true.

Most of the time, when he's not getting in tangles with people the President claims as friends, Crowley is a voice of authority - an officially diversity-trained member of what is likely one of the most PC police forces in the nation.

I bet he wouldn't stick up for any of us here.

Anonymous said...

"A picture is worth a thousand words."

Is that Crowley lending an arm to assist an old grouchy black man who'd just tried to get him fired?

Now, THAT's nobility and class.

Makes Obama look like white trash.

Truth said...

"I'm quite impressed with Lashley's writing skills. No question he wrote it:"

Very nice of you to go over this (black) man's heart felt letter to a friend for niggling spelling and grammar errors (pun highly intended).

"Even though he's 'on our side' (this time) and he's a nice guy (for a black), we all know he's AA anyway; and that his lovely white secretary wrote this letter for him, but hey, good job Lashley, you only made one spelling error."


I think some of you guys sit at your computers wearing red white and blue rainbow afro wigs and red latex noses.

Truth said...

"Is that Crowley lending an arm to assist an old grouchy black man who'd just tried to get him fired?

Now, THAT's nobility and class."

I would agree.

Makes Obama look like white trash.

I would not.

Anonymous said...

I think some of you guys sit at your computers wearing red white and blue rainbow afro wigs and red latex noses.

Curses! You have uncovered my secret!

But how?

Anonymous said...

Gates was not jet-lagged. He spent the previous night at a friend's apartment in NYC and drove up to Cambridge the next day, according to the NYT.

Testy's never been overseas. What a shock.

Concerned Netizen said...

"Very nice of you to go over this (black) man's heart felt letter to a friend for niggling spelling and grammar errors (pun highly intended)."

Now here's a niggle: "heartfelt" is one word, not two.

Anonymous said...

Barry: So what did you think of that letter from the black cop, Skip?

Barry: Unfortunate, man: I don't think he grasps the issues at hand any more than that SOB Crowley. He probably doesn't know who I am either. He hasn't read any of my books, that's for sure.

Barry: He seems to think that black people should just forget who they are and work with white people. Like that is more important than being black. He must not have read my book, either.

Skip: These people just don't know their places.

Barry: That's ok: let them have their crappy jobs. Hey, wanna join Michelle and me in Costa Rica? She's been on me to go someplace warm with a beach, and this Honduran sh*t gives us a great excuse to go down there.

Skip: No, thanks: I've got to get back to Martha's Vineyard and work on my screenplay about this. Morgan Freeman's been bugging me for the part. Besides, I guess I'm going to have to get that door fixed.

Anonymous said...

I'm glad that Crowley is such a good man and cop that he was able to tarnish Obama a little but I do take away one very sad thought from this matter. Instead of Crowley, what if an avg joe cop had been involved. Someone that didn't have anything bad in his record but nothing to defend himself from the racist charge. It is very likely that Gates, Obama and the media would have ruined his life.

Eric said...

Sigh. I missed the "I Have Undressed You" days of Bill Clinton. Those were such innocent times.