I'M GOING TO THROW A FIT IF I DON'T GET MY WAY

Fox News
"President Barack Obama said Wednesday that police acted "stupidly" in the arrest of prominent black scholar Henry Louis Gates Jr. and that despite racial progress blacks and Hispanics are still singled out unfairly for arrest."

Fox News
"Gates has demanded an apology from Sgt. James Crowley, who had responded to the home near Harvard University to investigate a report of a burglary and demanded the scholar show him identification. Police say Gates at first refused and then accused the officer of racism.
Gates said Crowley walked into his home without his permission and only arrested him as the professor followed him to the porch, repeatedly demanding the sergeant's name and badge number because he was unhappy over his treatment.
Police say Gates yelled at the officer, accused him of racial bias and refused to calm down after the officer demanded Gates show him identification to prove he lived there. Gates denies that he yelled at the officer, other than to repeatedly ask his name and badge number, and he says he readily turned over his driver's license and Harvard ID to prove his residence and identity.
Gates said he was "outraged" by the arrest, wants an apology from Crowley and would use the experience to help make a documentary about racial profiling in the United States."

I really like Henry Louis Gates, Jr. I have enjoyed his work both in print and on television. I respect him and have found his obvious Afro-centrism to be a welcome addition to his fine historical research.

This being said, GET OVER IT!! I don't doubt for a minute that the police overreacted in this situation. The nature of their job calls for a bit of overreaction in nearly all situations. A little bellicosity generally helps to control what could always become a violent situation. I also suspect that Prof. Gates felt put upon to be questioned at his own place of residence, as would most people. Apparently, the situation got out of hand and resulted in arrest. Had everyone acted as rational adults this wouldn't have happened. I've been in situations with the police. I've found that if I acted as they wanted me to, swallowed my pride and just tried to be polite, I've never had a problem. Even when I was arrested, I saw no reason to complicate the situation by shooting off my mouth. Either way, I was going to jail. Why have a cracked skull on top of it?

Both parties need to man up and apologize, then move on with their lives. Of course, that won't happen. Too many groups have a vested interest in seeing this blown into a major civil rights knock down, drag out. This is a microcosm of the problems facing our country. Truly rational decisions are never made because competing special interests will not allow it to happen. The threat of anarchy seems to be the preferred tool to use in almost all negotiations.

As seen in this instance, even the best educated in this country are incapable of acting as adults. Why do Americans all revert to children when things don't go their way? How did we develop this singular, national character flaw?