You'd expect someone like Maureen Dowd to come down on the side of Prof. Gates, but it seems clear from her Saturday column that her enthusiasm for him is under control. What's of interest in the column, at least for this honkey, is the following:
How can they ever reconcile their accounts? Crowley says he asked Gates to come outside and the professor replied, “Ya, I’ll speak with your mama outside.” Gates wryly suggests Crowley got the line from watching “Good Times” as a child.
You got that right, Prof. Gates. We crackers don't know nuthin' 'bout black folk but what we sees on the tv. That's 'cause we crackers don't git no black folks out here in the suburbs...
Upon reading the above, Ann Althouse noted:
Now, Gates knows there's an audio recording. I've got to assume Crowley lied, completely made up that "your mama" stuff. Because otherwise, I would have to believe that an utter fool is a Harvard professor.
That's giving Gates the benefit of the doubt, of course. The fact that he would hand Maureen Dowd a gratuitous racial insult against Crowley (and white people in general) for publication in the New York Times seems to suggest - much as the police report did - that Prof. Gates is quite the horse's ass.
Anybody who reads Maureen Dowd doesn't get enough tripe from the cablenets in their diet. I'd stay away from her if I were you, reading her stuff causes heart disease and is a contributing factor in colon cancer.
Posted by: markg8 | July 27, 2009 at 02:50 PM
Shoot the messenger?
Posted by: Dennis the Peasant | July 27, 2009 at 03:17 PM
But hasn't Obama handled the whole thing superbly? He has lifted a common or garden altercation and turned it into internecine strife,masterly!
Posted by: Peter UK | July 27, 2009 at 03:20 PM
If by messenger you mean heckler, yes.
Posted by: markg8 | July 27, 2009 at 03:53 PM
Why would Gates attribute a yo'mama comment to someone who is too young to have probably watched Good Times?
Lard.
Posted by: Guesst | July 28, 2009 at 01:21 AM
"Why would Gates attribute a yo'mama comment to someone who is too young to have probably watched Good Times?"
Because he is an out of touch old fart living in the ivory tower of academe.The police are very up to date with all the insults,from whatever quarter.
Posted by: PeterUK. | July 28, 2009 at 02:28 PM
Shorter Petey: Good Times = high brow ivory tower entertainment.
Posted by: markg8 | July 28, 2009 at 02:33 PM