Stupidity In Black And White

Henry Louis Gates Jr. is a distinguished professor at Harvard University, specializing in African-American culture. Until recently, he was best known as a commentator on PBS documentaries having to do with African-American history.

Now Gates is making history of his own, whether he likes it or not. Trying to force his way through a jammed door outside his Cambridge, Mass. home, Gates was arrested by a white police officer on charges of disorderly conduct (which has since been dropped) because a woman across the street dialed 911, thinking she was watching a robbery in progress.

That police officer, Sergeant James Crowley, has refused to apologize for the incident.

Then President Barack Obama, who says he is a friend of Gates, decided to get involved. At a nationally-televised news conference otherwise devoted to pitching his health care policy, he said that the Cambridge police "acted stupidly" during the incident. (He later backed off of that comment when he realized that politicians are supposed to support the police 100%.)

Actually, everybody acted stupidly in this case: the professor for losing his cool, the sergeant for violating his civil rights, and the President for inserting himself into a local issue.

African-Americans aren't the only ones who have problems with the police for misinterpreting normal behavior as criminal acts. Others of various races (including whites) have been victimized by holier-than-thou cops who think they can push people around just because they wear a badge. It just seems to happen more often to African-Americans.

Thursday President Obama, Professor Gates and Sergeant Crowley met outside the White House to settle their differences over bottles of beer. We have no idea if this worked or not. But if it did, perhaps the President might be tempted to get the Israelis and Palestinians together with a case of Budweisers.

This is now being billed as a "teachable moment" in race relations, whatever that means. We've had quite a few of those "moments" over the years, ranging from "Can't we all just get along?" to "O.J. Not Guilty" to "Don't tase me, bro!", without anyone ever really learning anything. If nothing else, this incident should serve as fodder for Gates' next TV special.

Thanks For Wasting Our Time. Brett

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Brett Favre will not play quarterback for the Minnesota Vikings this season, sticking to his decision to remain retired.

According to the Minneapolis Star Tribune, Favre told Vikings coach Brad Childress that he didn't think his soon-to-be 40-year old body could take the rigors of another season.

Thus, the ESPN-fueled soap opera of will-he-or-won't-he has reached its conclusion. And it's about time.

Favre has had a remarkable career with the Green Bay Packers and the New York Jets, winning several divisional titles and appearing in two Super Bowls. But all the months of indecisiveness while the Vikings have been going through off-season team workouts have tarnished his reputation, because he couldn't just walk in and become the starting quarterback without getting to know his new teammates first.

As training camp opens in Mankato Thursday, the competition for starting quarterback between incumbent Tarvaris Jackson, Houston Texans import Sage Rosenfels and John David Booty (who now gets to keep his jersey number 4) will go on as if Favre weren't there. (Well, he never was there. But still . . . )

Or the Vikings could always go after Michael Vick, who was just reinstated conditionally by the National Football League after having been released from prison. Do they really want to bring in another potential PR liability, after working so hard to clean up its act following the "Love Boat" scandal? Imagine PETA protests in front of the Metrodome on game days.

We're glad Brett Favre finally made a decision that made sense for him, his career and family. Now if he could only give us back the time we spent wondering whether he should have been in a Vikings uniform or not.

Been There, Done That

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Forty years ago, the world stopped to watch two men walk on the moon. Most saw it as the awesomest thing they've ever seen. Others thought getting out of Vietnam and healing the rifts caused by the events of 1968 were more important. Still others thought that the moon landing was the most expensive TV show ever produced--funded by taxpayers, no less.

Forty years later, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is fighting tooth and nail to remain relevant. Instead of launching missions to infinity and beyond, the best they can do is to shuttle astronauts back and forth to a space station high above the Earth on aging equipment. Nothing wrong with that, considering the limited budget they're working with. It's just that no one cares unless NASA screws up or someone gets killed upon liftoff--and that's happened twice.

So far, nobody has come up with a good reason to continue space explorations that don't involve billions of dollars that are needed for other things. The Cold War, the original reason for putting an American on the moon in the first place, is over. Science has taken a back seat to "the basics" at your local school. And the term "moonwalking" has become associated with the late Michael Jackson.

There's no question that the Space Age did have its benefits. We know a lot more about the Solar System than we once did, because of more powerful telescopes and clearer pictures taken from unmanned spacecraft. And the products we use today--cellphones, satellite TV, microwave ovens, you name it--would not have been possible 40 years ago.

I think back to what President John Kennedy once said about sending a man to the moon, then returning him to Earth safely by the end of the 1960s. On that one, JFK was a prophet. Now we need a new goal. Why go back to the moon, as NASA hopes to do by 2020, when they could be exploring Mars? The easy way out is to send sophisticated robots to find out if there is any life on the Red Planet. Is that going to help our understanding any more than sending a man or woman there?

However, one look at the national budget will tell you that space exploration is way down on the list of priorities right now. If President Barack Obama (or his successors) decide that NASA isn't worth the money, then more than just dreams will be deferred. So will progress.

Now We Are All Cronkiters

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With the death of former CBS News anchor Walter Cronkite at 92, the torch has been passed. No longer do we get our news from just one person at one time of the day, as if it came from an oracle on a mountaintop.

In two decades (1962-81) as CBS Evening News anchor, Cronkite has reported on the death of one President and the resignation of another, the futility of war in a faraway place, the struggles of the civil rights movement, and the triumph of putting men on the moon.

Cronkite was considered the most trusted man in America, and with good reason. He helped set the standard for broadcast journalism with a passion for getting the story right, and for telling it in a way that reassured viewers that while the world may be going to pieces, we'll be just fine, thanks. (One wonders how he might have covered the attacks of 9/11, the war in Iraq and the election of Barack Obama as President)

Once upon a time, we might have gazed at the TV while Cronkite and his contemporaries were delivering the news, thinking that one day that might be us reporting the big story of the day. Thanks to today's technology, now we can. Anyone with a computer can describe what's happening when you put your video on You Tube, write a blog, take pictures with a cellphone camera, and use social networks. Who knows? It might get picked up by a 24-hour cable news channel.

In Holland, the word for news anchor is Cronkiter. That's exactly what we've become.

As events in Iran recently proved, however, Twitter can only go so far. We still need the disciples of Cronkite to guide us through the complex issues of government, the economy, international affairs, and many other things. During times of triumphs and tragedies, we need them to help make sense of it all. As newspapers go bankrupt and broadcasters cut news staffs to the bare minimum, who is going to do that job? The kid with the video camera?

And that is why Walter Cronkite mattered to so many people during a tumultuous era. We can get our news from just about anywhere, but there are few places you can find that all is right with the world. Cronkite's disciples have a lot to live up to.

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One more thing: On a special CBS Evening News tribute to Cronkite that aired Saturday, current anchor Katie Couric asked CBS executive Les Moonves if he would hire someone like Cronkite today. Moonves said he would. Of course, that person would have to have the brains of Cronkite inside the body of a George Clooney, or a Jessica Alba. Unfortunately, that's the way it is, and always will be.

The Sotomayor Hearings: "Perry Mason" Had More Drama Than This

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Other than sound bites on the evening news and the natterings of CNN's "Best Political Team on TV" (which apparently Wolf Blitzer is required to tell us every 15 seconds), I haven't paid much attention to the Senate confirmation hearings of Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor.

Why bother? Judge Sotomayor is generally considered a lock to replace Justice David Souter come the first Monday in October, given the majority of Democrats making up the current Senate. These hearings are a mere formality, giving the members of the Senate Judiciary Committee plenty of opportunities to enjoy the sound of their own voices on their way to asking the judge a question.

The answers they've been getting from Sotomayor were mostly on the bland side, which has been par for the course whenever a Supreme Court nominee is on the hot seat. The judge sidestepped queries about how she would rule on controversial topics such as abortion rights, but was a bit more forthcoming when it came to questions about baseball and the 1960s TV series "Perry Mason".

The Republicans on the committee, playing the Hamilton Burger role because they know they don't have the votes to defeat Sotomayor, kept asking her about a comment she made years ago in which she said "a wise Latina woman" could make better decisions than her white male colleagues. The judge appeared to back off from that, saying her ethnicity and gender would not influence her decisions on the High Court.

From all accounts, it sounds as if Sotomayor came through the hearings with flying colors, to the point where some GOP committee members said they might vote for her. If all goes well, Judge Sonia Sotomayor will become the first Hispanic member of the Supreme Court. Unless, of course, there's a Paul Drake bringing in last-minute evidence that forces the guilty party to make a dramatic confession on the witness stand. Judge Sotomayor should have watched enough episodes of "Perry Mason" to know that.

What's So Funny About Being A Senator?

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Al Franken took his oath of office on Tuesday to officially become a United States Senator from Minnesota. And he did it with a straight face.

Now, I know it must come as a huge disappointment to those of you who expected Franken to play the fool once he entered the Senate, just because he used to be a satirist and comedian. Of course, there are also some of you who believe Congress has enough fools, and that Franken is simply the latest.

What Franken will be dealing with in the Senate does not lend itself to humor: Being part of the Judiciary Committee in confirmation hearings for Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor, approving a second stimulus package because the current one doesn't seem to be working, and debates over health care and energy policy.

This is not to say Senator Franken can't still be himself at times. He'll just save his brand of humor for private parties, off-the-record briefings, and anywhere else the public and media are not invited.

One thing Senator Franken can do to improve his image is to not make himself the butt of jokes. All he has to do is to take a look at the recent travails of outgoing Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford, and Nevada Senator John Ensign. Or, for that matter, anyone who happens to be in the Republican Party at the moment.

Senator Franken isn't the first person trained in the art of comedy to play it straight, whether it's in entertainment or real life. Robin Williams, Whoopi Goldberg and Jamie Foxx, among others, have won awards and critical praise for their work in dramatic roles. Standup comics such as Bill Cosby, Janeane Garofalo and Dick Gregory have dabbled in political activism. And there are comedians who have been known to make serious points in their humor.

The people of Minnesota elected Franken their Senator because they liked his positions on the things that mattered to them, not because they thought it might be cool to elect a funny politician. Franken has six years to prove the voters right, and for everyone else to see him as more than just a funny face.

Governor Burnout

Governor Sarah Palin of Alaska said she was turning the reins of power on July 26 over to her lieutenant governor, Sean Powell. She didn't say exactly why she's leaving midway into her first term, but she did mention something about not being one of those politicians who coast on their reputations on their way out of office.

Most everyone was taken aback by Palin's decision, with all the pundits quickly speculating on why she did what she did: Is she running for President in 2012? Maybe she decided she's become too big for Alaska? Or is there something much darker going on that might derail her political career (The FBI has said she is not currently under federal investigation)?

Well, maybe Palin just wants to take time off to reassess her life. It happens to everybody when you reach a certain point.

Palin came to prominence nearly a year ago, when Republican presidential candidate John McCain plucked her out of the obscurity of the 49th State to become his Vice-Presidential running mate. Since then, it's been a whirlwind of campaign stops, badly handled media interviews, winking at the TV cameras during debates, Tina Fey's lampooning, tabloid coverage of her family, and run-ins with David Letterman over a joke that misfired.

Maybe it got to be too much for Palin. Coming from a place where she is thousands of miles from Washington and the major media markets, she wasn't used to any of the scrutiny about her policies and her life.

Whatever the reason, Palin is (rightly or wrongly) being branded as a quitter. She ditched out on the good people of Alaska who elected her to a four-year term, and who expected her to serve all of it unless there was a very good reason. So far, she hasn't given them one.

Eventually, we'll learn the real reason why Sarah Palin is no longer Governor of Alaska. But four years is an eternity in politics. After some time off, Palin could return to challenge for the White House as a much better candidate with a stronger message. Or she could get out of politics and become someone else entirely. That's how it is when you're trying to reinvent yourself.