NBC's Today Focuses on Obama's Remarks About the Gates Arrest, Not Health Care

President Obama took an hour of prime time Wednesday to try explaining one of the most complex notions in government today -- why America needs to substantially change and expand its national health care system.

So why did the Today show -- by far TV's most-watched morning show -- spend its first segment this morning discussing what the president said about the arrest of a black scholar in Cambridge, Mass.?

The president, after admitting he didn't know all the facts in the case, said police "acted stupidly" in arresting Henry Louis Gates, one of the country's best-known African-American scholars and a personal friend. Gates was arrested in his home after an officer arrived to investigate a mistaken burglary call and, apparently, didn't like the way the professor reacted during their conversation.

I'll get to what they said about Gates in a minute. But I found it astonishing that the show, which still claims to be an arm of NBC News, would put bloviating about race issues raised by an offhand answer late in a press conference above a debate about health care that affects all Americans. Today's rival, Good Morning America, seems to have made the same choice.

It reminded me of something President Obama said during an interview last Friday, where he noted that press coverage of his speech to the NAACP highlighted his talk about black people taking responsibility over his words about the government taking responsibility for its role in black America's issues.

The press seems to be playing a game of gotcha with Obama on issues of race, cherry-picking statements he makes that will make the biggest splash, regardless of what his actual speeches are focused on.

Back to Gates and the Today show. The discussion started with a recap of the professor's arrest (including an odd camera move where they emphasized a black officer standing near the handcuffed scholar), moving into an argument between black pundit Michael Eric Dyson and white pundit Michael Smerconish.

Both men's takes were predictable, with Dyson connecting the arrest to larger issues of race and Smerconish accepting the arresting officer's account of how the incident began.

But neither man noted a couple of important issues: Cambridge police have dropped charges against Gates, calling the arrest "regrettable and unfortunate." And police have not really explained why they felt the need to arrest a man they knew was not guilty of a crime, simply because he was yelling at them.

Of course, each side has their own story now. The police report says Gates instantly made race an issue after the officer identified himself and asked the professor to step outside his home. Gates told CNN the officer didn't immediately identify himself and seemed angry even after the professor provided his driver's license and Harvard identification, which insulted him.

It seems obvious to me there were two missteps here. Gates probably could have found a calmer way of expressing his displeasure with the police, and the officers overreacted by arresting a guy they knew wasn't a criminal and wasn't a threat to them, simply because they didn't like what he was saying and how he was saying it.

Now media outlets like the Today show have pulled the president into it, further obscuring the real issues at hand just to spark an exciting TV segment.

If you ask me, the Cambridge police aren't the only people involved who may have acted stupidly.

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Comments

[GoodRead]

If McCain had won the election, would he have been asked about Gates' run-in with the Law? Highly unlikely.

The request for comment from Obama from a white "journalist" was proffered only because Obama is black. Is that not racist?

Our President is a black man - Get Over It Already!

[JimR]

Believe me, I am a BIG critic of the Today Show. That said, they were right to focus on that answer in their first segment. A better question is, why did the president make such an inflammatory remark about a racially charged situation? Especially when he admitted he didn't know all the facts, and considering he wanted to keep the focus on health care? It was an uncharacte­ristically irresponsible reply from the president.

[bookeramez]

"Especially when he admitted he didn't know all the facts..."

This statement has been used over and over and over. The only fact that was needed for the President to make such a statement was that a man (Black or White) was arrested in his own home for no logical reason.

[JimR]

The president has a responsibility to all of the people, not just his influential friends.

Gates was arrested for disorderly conduct, as evidenced by his agitated and out of control behavior (witness statements, not mine). He was WAY out of line.

[luckygeorgiabrown]

"So why did the Today show -- by far TV's most-watched morning show -- spend its first segment this morning discussing what the president said about the arrest of a black scholar in Cambridge, Mass.?"

Because the president really messed-up. You don't say police acted "stupidly" on national TV without knowing the facts.

[h23154]

Or maybe you just imagine it.

http://www.bostonherald.com/news/regional/view/20090724black_officer_at_scholars_home_supports_arrest

[weishi]

Since I was not present on the night of the arrest, I can only conjecture what occured. I'm betting it was a clash of testosterone that got out of hand. I doubt either party is soley to blame. However, that is not the focus of this article. The question is why the media feels it necessary to make such a big deal of a non-event? Because race is a social hot button that evokes a full spectrum of emotions and that gets people listening, and that's good for ratings.

Deggans' statement...

"The press seems to be playing a game of gotcha with Obama on issues of race, cherry-picking statements he makes that will make the biggest splash, regardless of what his actual speeches are focused on."

I find rather naive. This is not a new phenomenon. The media has been doing this for decades. Spinning, slanting and twisting words to entice interest from the consumer. The news is no longer just information, it is a product that is manufactured, packaged and marketed to the public for a profit. Of course, they will only sell us what we're willing to buy.

[Trotline]

For the most part, the media doesn't report anymore. It panders.

[luckygeorgiabrown]

That's a fact!

[LiberalForever]

NBC did this for two reasons.

First, the American public is brain dead and force fed krap that passes as "news" and most don't even care what the news is if they have a few bucks and some cold beer.

Two, NBC as to compete with all the cable krap that takes stories like the Gates thing and elevate them above all the REAL news.

That's the media of today, and it's here to stay fueled by ratings and money.

[JimR]

The Today Show sucks, there is no question about that. But this is a legitimate story. The president chose to use inflammatory language when describing a racially charged situation even after he admitted he didn't know all the facts.

[Beefcake]

Probably the most obvious sign the judicial system and law enforcement is messed up is that the Department of Justice is blatantly lying about the racial composition of drug-related prison data:

http://www.tremblethedevil.com/my_weblog/2009/04/even-without-lies-the-damage-is-already-done.html

[Gritty2]

Come on libs. All the man had to do was show a picture ID. The cop is not a mind reader; give me a break. Many people in Mr. Gate's position think they are above the law. Our law enforcers have enough problems without them being added to by arrogant, high and mighty people like Gates. The cop got a report that a house was being broken into. What if this police office had taken his word that Mr. Gate’s was who he said but really wasn’t. Then Mr. Gates would have really been upset.

[DALevit]

I applaud our President. I appreciated his candor and loyalty to a friend and a great man. Anyone could see what the situation was. What was wrong with that cop, anyway?
DAL

[paulb777]

He was doing his job professionally and properly in an atmosphere where everyone could not wait to play racial politics. That's what was wrong with him.

[popfolly]

My admiration for your president is approaching outright love as a result of his perfectly natural response to the handcuffing of the professor in his own home. "Stupid" is absolutely the perfect adjective for the insulting behaviour of the officer so insistent on proving his oh so correct spit and polish in a totaly unecessary way towards the professor whom he probably recognized on a subconscious level as being far superior in understanding and intelligence to himself. Yes, It probably wouldn't have happened if he had been white.

i suppose they will have to get together and be friends while waiting for the rest of the crowd to get a little more educated on community as opposed to military type policing.

[JimR]

The cop acted properly at all times. What was wrong with Professor Gates? Why did he inflame and escalate the situation?

[Jay Lewis]

Many seem to think that the president's greatest error was in using the word "stupidly."

Not only did he use the wrong word, he addressed the wrong person.

He should have addressed the officer, who arrested a black man in his own house, and used the word that is the elephant in the room--"uppity."

"Uppity" perfectly explains the crux of this whole matter--just what it was in the professor's demeanor that caused the officer to conclude that he must be cuffed and humiliated.

[paulb777]

If you would take the trouble to read the actual police report, which is posted on the Web, and to learn something about the police officer involved and police procedures, which are intended to protect both the police officer and the professor, instead of carrying your own baggage into this, you would not say the police officer perceived the professor's demeanor as "uppity". The professor's language was provocative, disturbing, and racist would be more accurate. The policeman could have arrested him for assault based on Gate's verbiage. If you don't think so, you do not know the law or the facts.

The BEST description of this episode is that it was an unfortunate confluence of events that set up the professor, the President, and the media to look stupid. The police officer is actually the only one in this case who acted professionally and properly.

[ARBOC2]

As a world class liberal and retired federal law enforcement official who voted for Obama and has supported him theough thick and thin I am sad to report that as a result of his"stupid" remarks concerning police "stupidity" I have lost respect for the man. Any objective police authority knows pretty much what happened at the Gates residence and who was at fault..

Obama has continued his uncalled for interference in this matter by refusing to make an outright apology and insisting that the cop and the professor were equally at fault and had been invited to visit him in the White House for a beer. I should hope that the cop refuses to let Obama and his professor buddy off the hook by declining to go along with the " let's all get together for a beer" baloney. Hopefully Obama will learn a lesson from his own "stupidity". I hope so.

[JimR]

Gates was not arrested inside his house. Please stop spreading lies. It doesn't help the situation.

[greeneink]

Part V - The End

This is one they shouldn't be allowed to win - EVER; especially not by playing these same-o same-o Jim Crow "D&C" games from the past. It's an old racist tactic and one that we should all be able to easily see through by now. Pres Obama chose to answer, he could have told her to keep her eye on the ball, but he didn't. And it was a darn GOOD answer, considering everything. We can't allow these detractors and anti-reformists to push the ball into the race court--that's another discussion for another time and place.

Now, we need to get back to the business at hand: Public Health Care Single-Payer Option. Period.

[JimR]

Wrong. It was an incredibly irresponsibly answer by the president.

[greeneink]

Part IV

That officer's behavior was atrocious, considering that he was in a man's home where he obviously was not welcome: A man who was committing no crime. When he saw the mistake, he should have left immediately. Instead, he stayed behind and decided to incite Dr. Gates to behave in the manner in which he was being treated.

I don't blame him.

He had every right and every reason to behave that way--he was in his own home and being accosted by an officer who had no real right to be there once it was established that it was his house. No matter how reluctantly he did it, he was then basically charged for "being home while black," when a white person would not even have been asked for ID in the first place. The officer would have just left. It was highly racist for a police officer who was supposedly trained in diversity sensitivity.

But, if this kind of dialogue changes and opens the door for the anti-reform activists to get in the way, which it was intended to do, and with a bullet, they win.

Let's get, and keep, our eyes on the ball, people; and get this PHCO passed in Congress NOW.

[paulb777]

The police officer was responding to a report of a possible crime in progress. When he entered the house, he did not know who was in it, the professor who lived there or an armed burglar. If you would read the police report which is posted on the Web, you would know that the professor initially refused to produce identification. Even after producing identification, police procedure dictates that the professor be told to go outside the house for his own safety because it is possible the report of a crime in progress did not concern the professor, but there might still have been an armed burglar somewhere else in the house without the professor’s knowledge. The professor refused to step outside, and instead continued to berate the officer in racial terms.

You should really get your facts straight before jumping on the bandwagon to criticize the officer, who was doing his job professionally and properly. To say that the police officer would not have asked a white person for ID, should have left immediately, or that he stayed to incite the professor reflects your own personal opinion, not the facts.

[fjegrih37]

Okay Mr. Wizard. Police protocol dictates that the officer, when in doubt of a situation, is required to call for backup. And how come no ones ragging on the neighbor for causing all this to begin with?

[luckygeorgiabrown]

paul,

I think you will find most people here do not care about the facts, they only want to use this to bolster their own feeble thinking.

[greeneink]

Part III

These paid detractors and anti-reform lobbyists are the same ones who planted "Mickey Mouse" registrations and "funny money" into ACORN and then tried to pin it on Pres Obama "stealing votes." They should know all about vote stealing. They wrote the book on it to hear my aunt tell it, who remembers vividly all the lowdown things whites did in the south to make things go in their favor at the polls, which is why Georgia is still a "red" state.

They are the same ones who have used Wilie Lynch 'divide and conquer' to make the masses go ballistic and to stalemate any kind of progress whatsoever. They're trying to paint this up as a 'black v white' issue, when it's an issue that concerns every single American in this country that pays for health care that they don't benefit from or who can't afford coverage at all.

As he said, it's not about him. He's set for life, as are his wife and kids. It's about what happens to US, and these people are paid BIG money to keep it from happening...more money than they will ever hand over to you to save your life or the life of someone you love and care about.

They will let you die to keep profits in their pockets.

[greeneink]

Part II

People, get your eye back on the ball. Pres Obama didn't say anything wrong, BUT I hate that he even bothered to favor the female detractor with an answer--especially since he made it clear that -she- was well aware of racial profiling herself. I really wish he had told her to keep her eye on the ball about what's important to America instead of what was personal to him. But he chose to answer. It was a VERY good answer, but it accomplished what they wanted if we didn't get back to the real topic at hand: Health Care.

The same people who have $1.5m dollars PER DAY to pay for advertising to stop health care reform and who pay lobbyists $40m every three months also let a 12-year old child die over an $80 tooth infection, and then some. They are making a profit off the Death Care Industry, and if we don't demand the passage of this bill NOW, someone else will be sent in for the final kill. They will not give you a dime of that advertising and lobby money to pay your doctor bills or send you to the dentist. They've got THAT kind of money and people are dying?

[luckygeorgiabrown]

If you were to use some common sense, you would know that what the president said was waaay outta line!