In comments, Jack left a great link to this piece by Ruth Wisse, another Harvard professor. It is her “letter” to Skip Gates. Bold and very well written. Dear Skip, My first thought on hearing of your arrest was for your welfare, so I was relieved to learn that the case against you had been…
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An article of mine, “Angels in Blue: The Virtues of Foot Patrol,” is being published in The American Interestmagazine. They’ve given me permission to spread the article around. But you have to buy the magazine to read all the other articles (seems only fair). The article is adopted from a new chapter in the paperback…
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This just in over the transom: Went to Loveland Festival in Sloterpark yesterday and a great time was had by all except [name removed] who was found by security to have two pills [of ecstasy] on him. Without saying a word, the security guy brought him to cops who took him to the station. After…
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I’m back from my whirlwind tour of southern Mexico. Yucatan, Chiapas, Campache, Tabasco, for two weeks, I ate and drank everything in sight with no ill effects. Then on my first night in Baltimore I get sick. It put me off my game slightly today at the crab feast. But I still had a good…
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Bob Herbert, a very good columnist has a powerful op-ed attacking the police sergeant and defending Gates’ behavior. It is worth a read even if–especially if–you don’t agree with it. By saying that Herbert is a good columnist doesn’t mean I agree with everything or even most of what he says. But whatever Herbert has…
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I’m in the same place for two nights for the first time in a week. So I have a little more time to write and check email and the like. I’m always amazed how different things are in Mexico from what most Americans think things are like. Maybe things are worse up in border towns…
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More Gates fallout. Police are and should be held to a higher standard. But I’m pretty much an absolutist when it comes to free speech. I don’t think you should be fired for what you do and say at home. (But on the other hand I wouldn’t want a nazi or klan leader to be…
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This one I wrote. Careful readers of this blog will have come across many of these points. Every police/public confrontation ends up in one of three ways: the suspect 1) leaves the scene, 2) defers to police authority, or 3) gets locked up. Mr. Gates couldn’t do the first option, he refused to do the…
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Is this what they really think about us? From one of my favorite comics, “Get Fuzzy,” by Darby Conley:Now go subscribe to your local paper that carries it. [And greetings from Villahermosa]
Mike O’Neil has a good article in the Huffington Post. What he hopes three well intentioned men will say in the White House. I would write more. And respond to comments. But I’m in Chiapas, Mexico, on the Pacific Coast with what must be the world’s worst internet connection. On the plus side, all is…
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