Henry Louis Gates Jr.
(pic from here, thanks to Portland Panther Head for sending.)
Edit 7/22/09: New pic of actual arrest from CNN:
Gates in cuffs
Word got out a few hours ago that Henry Louis Gates was arrested last Thursday for disorderly conduct. Apparently someone suspected Gates of breaking and entering into what turned out to be his own home, and they called the cops. Gates was already inside the house when Officer James Crowley got there, and when Crowley asked him to step outside, Gates questioned the cop. There were a few verbal exchanges, the Crowley ended up arresting Gates for disorderly conduct.
I’m not one to cry racism early, but man, the police report is flat out weird. I’m wondering if Crowley was on drugs or something. If Gates was being as uncooperative as the police officer Crowley says, how did Crowley get into his house? Does a cop have the right to compel you to leave your home and talk to him on the porch? Is it irrational to ask a cop for ID if he asks for yours, especially if he’s coming in an unmarked car? If a cop tries to handcuff you and you tell him that you can’t stand without a cane, is that considered resisting arrest?
There are great police officers, and the ones who do their jobs ought to be commended. However, this incident is really fishy, and I agree with Gates that we haven’t yet heard the last of it.
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Whoa. Henry Louis Gates is arrested for breaking and entering … into his own home.
You can’t make this stuff up.
Post-Racial Kool Aid drinkers take heed.
When real news stories start sounding like Onion parodies, you have to wonder
Here’s another recent gem:
Wells Fargo bank sues itself
I dunno about this one. Here are the details of the arrest per the NYT:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/21/us/21gates.html
Apparently, the officer in question was responding to an eyewitness caller who saw two men shouldering a door open as if breaking in (gates and his cab driver). after that it depends on who’s side of the story you believe. Bear in mind the consequences that would face an officer who simply accepted what a suspect told him if it HADN’T have been gates, or if the second man from the call had been upstairs looting gates’ home. Just playing devil’s advocate.
LMBAO! Whatever happened to the “post racial” Amerca Skip? To hell with Henry “Skip” Gates! This couldn’t have happened to a nicer sellout!
If you think of Skip Gates as some sort of spokesman on race then CLEARLY you haven’t read his works or watched his TV “specials.” Skip Gates “image” as some sort of black spokesman has been crafted by whites. The same ones who would like to make Clarence Thomas into some sort of “role model.”
You are venerating a fictional rep whites created about him. A rep based on nothing.
This bastard has been one of the MAIN idiots out there reinforcing white lies about the slave trade, like Africans “sold” Africans into slavery. He doesn’t –and CAN’T!– offer a shred of proof, the name of a single king who did, a single slaver who made such a purchase etc, but since he hates the black academia who scorn him he repeats these lies because the white establishment (who has made him the highest paid black professor in the country BTW!) will give him well-paid speaking engagements and all the PBS specials he can make.
White moneyed interests have spent a LOT of money giving Skip newspaper “editorials/articles” in every major paper in the country, giving him TV spots, the whole 9 yards.
Read his so called literature. This puke has been the biggest apologist for white privilege and slavery since George Wallace.
Why is it he’s the only black “academic” who can get tv special after special while the other 10,000 or so black professors can’t even get a speaking engagement on BET?
You don’t even have to be black to see through this one!
This is done in order to promote him as being some sort of “spokesman” for black people. HE IS NOT!
That is unless Alex Kingston is a spokeswoman for the Asian community.
I wish the cop had tasered him and beat the oreo out of that cookie.
Let’s see Skip try to tell us how we’re finally getting past race now.
Don’t give this puke any sympathy. Give him the scorn he’s earned and deserves.
“This bastard has been one of the MAIN idiots out there reinforcing white lies about the slave trade, like Africans “sold” Africans into slavery. He doesn’t –and CAN’T!– offer a shred of proof…”
Actually, it is a very well documented fact that Africans sold other Africans into slavery centuries before Anglos first arrived along the West African coastline. But then, just about every ancient civilization engaged in slavery, it would have beed highly abnormal for Africans not to have.
Now, you might successfully argue that those who sold their fellow Africans had no idea what KIND of slavery they were selling them into. The kind of chattel slavery that existed in the American South did not exist in West Africa at the time. But, that’s the chance that you take when you sell people to a totally alien culture. You have no idea how they will be treated, and you may not even care.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
I also think Africans sold Africans into slavery.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African_slave_trade
If they didn’t, how would it be possible for the Europeans and Americans to walk in and lead so many people out in chains? As King mentions, virtually all cultures had slavery. The slave traders probably didn’t know what awaited them on the other side of the Atlantic, but they probably didn’t care.
I totally understand how the mainstream sometimes props certain people up, and I’ve not read any of Gates’s books, but I’ve read his essays and have seen him quoted in other strong African American works. If I’m not mistaken, Cornel West and Eric Michael Dyson both like him, right? Wole Soyinka liked him. Oprah likes him. Not that that’s the be all and end all, but is there some kind of controversial lie that he has perpetuated? (akin to Kingston’s intial claim then bobbingandweaving that the Chinese word for “slave” and “woman” is the same?)
Not asking in an adversarial way, just curious.
Slavery also existed in Korea, then called Chosun. By 1870, almost 70% of the peasant class were slaves, or nobi. Unlike New World slavery, these were impoverished wretches who sold themselves as slaves to wealthy landowners to avoid starvation.
The interesting thing is, the Japanese, who colonized Korea in 1905, abolished Korean slavery and the yangban – sangnom caste system in 1910. When these slaves were freed, they had no family names of their own under the hoju-je family registration system. Like American slaves, they adopted the family names of their former masters. This is the reason why Kim, Park, and Lee are three of the most common surnames for Koreans and constitutes almost 50% of Korean surnames. Many families’s jokbo, which is the written genealogical record of families, only goes back to 1910, while others can go back as far as 1133AD, which is the case for my own family surname. But if you point this out, people can get upset.
The reason why I bring this up is because Korea has it’s own version of rigid Political Correctness. You might be considered a sell-out, an Uncle Tom, if you say that the Japanese abolished slavery in Korea. After independence, Korean education, especially history and civics, was highly nationalistic and the Japanese were routinely demonized. While Japanese imperialism was oppressive in its own way, and the abolition law probably had more to do with landownership reform than compassion for the slaves, the fact remains that Korean slavery was real and the Japanese got rid of it.
Unfortunately, many sides with different political agendas will try to pass their own revisionist version of history. There are no “good guys” or “bad guys”, the truth is often far more complicated and will often surprise you.
Political Correctness is a form of brainwashing based on dogmatic ideology just like any other. Blacks could be just as cruel to fellow blacks because Man, in general, is inherently evil. There is no reason to doubt Gates scholarship, and calling the man an apologist is not the same thing as a reasoned counter-argument based on informed and unbiased historical reasearch.
Well, a few things come into play. First of all, when a cop responds, he or she doesn’t know what they are getting themselves into. They are walking into a situation blind and officer safety is first and foremost in their minds.
Second, for someone being stopped, detained, or questioned, the first thing I would do in that situation is pass the attitude test. It’s “yes sir” or “no sir” all the way because a cop is going to pick up on attitude and psychology start viewing you as a potential threat. You’ve already escalated the situation to a level that it didn’t need to rise.
Third, if the cop’s judgement is bad and is hassling you, if what was reported is correct, then short of getting physically abused, keep your cool.
Fourth, there is the problem of cops who have shitty judgement. even after seeing two forms of ID, and he’s still hassling Gates, that indicates a lack of judgement and stupidity on the part of the cop. It’s very easy for the cop to call into dispatch to verify Gates’ driver’s license ID and what his residence is. By not doing so, it’s an abuse of power on the part of the cop to be hassling Gates. It’s also stupidity…and may be straying into the racist treatment.
But at this point, it’s dependent upon who you believe.
More on the incident:
“Harvard Scholar Henry Louis Gates Jr. Arrested in His Own Home”
http://www.racialicious.com/2009/07/21/harvard-scholar-henry-louis-gates-jr-arrested-in-his-own-home/
Sounds like he was a victim of racial harrassment….even if he is a “sellout” / “uncle tom” its still wrong…..but maybe now he knows how it feels when the shoe is on the other foot, maybe he’llchange his political positions? lol that would be ironic haha
I read that the Charges have been dropped against the scholar at the request of the police.
http://wbztv.com/local/Henry.Louis.Gates.2.1094574.html
ahh, the payoffs of being in the white power structure eh?….imagine if he was blue collar working class with mostly black friends and family, i wonder if he could have still been able to overcome the bogus charges. Or even worse if he was unemployed or poor, i imagine he would still be in custody!
what an unfair world, lol.
Black versus White racial relations in America is like watching a bad re-run on perpetual loop. Some 15 years after that famous 20th century philosopher Rodney King implored “Can’t we all just get along?” there is ample evidence that little has changed. Black vs White is also like a Rashomon drama, whose side is telling the truth? The truth is always somewhere in the middle.
We have Professor Gates’s testimony and that of the cop. The testimonials differ. There are no corroborating witnesses. It’s racism, it’s not racism, the familiar refrains are too predictable. It’s like a predetermined script and the players fall into their assigned roles.
The main problem as I see it is that Gates became too emotionally aggressive with the cop when a calm, cool demeanor would have served him better. He fell into the role of the Angry Black Man. The cop, in turn, played the prick and used his power to subdue Gates. Both Gates and the cop handled this situation wrong.
It doesn’t matter what race you are, if you show attitude to a cop or a civil service bureaucrat at a government agency like the DMV, that cop or bureaucrat will make your life more difficult. Gates himself should have known better because he’s a highly educated man with a PhD who is supposed to have studied race relations in America in some detail. If a cop pulls me over to give me a ticket, it doesn’t matter how unfair or wrong I think it is. If I’m disrespectful to the cop then that can be an additional charge. If I think the ticket is a wrongful charge then I can contest it later in the court. That is why we have a legal system. The same thing applies to this incident.
The fact remains that cops have a job to do and protocol to follow. Gates got pissed because the cop was asking for ID, etc. Yelling and creating drama doesn’t help and it became a contest of egos after that. If someone was really breaking and entering into his home, then what? If someone was acting suspicious near my home then I would want my neighbor to call the cops to investigate. For his part, the cop could have been more professional and defused the situation instead of pushing Gates’s hot buttons even more.
The whole thing is ridiculous and unnecessary drama. Gates is hardly the poster child for the “oppressed Black man”.
King, I figured it was a only a matter of time before you weighed in with your opinions.
And no surprise you quoted…wait, you didn’t really quote anyone. You just made some ipse dixit statement then gave a link to wikipedia’s home page.
Grand research that is!
Kobukson. You seem to be a nice enough person. But to say “There is no reason to doubt Gates scholarship” is to say you haven’t read any of his ramblings. And to not address my assertion (that there’s no records of all these Africans trading each other) is to prove it.
You have not put forward a “well-reasoned argument” for why Gates is right. You’ve merely given a brief history of slavery in Korea, which isn’t even the issue.
Anyway, I’ve broken my personal rule from before (and again, because of King who I suppose sits around waiting for me to post something so he can start an argument LOL!) about not bringing African-centered discussion here. Sorry all.
But Skip Gates is not a spokesman for blacks. He’s an apologist for the status quo. Period.
I see someone trying to defend/laud him, I’m going to speak up about it. I don’t require that anyone agree, but don’t begrudge my right to call a spade a spade.
I find that the people who want to talk about Africa the most don’t know anything about it. They get all their info from the internet or movies. Most of what you think you know about Africa (blacks swinging from trees, tar-babies etc) was nonsense invented to justify –or at least mitigate– the inhumane behavior of the Europeans.
Did the Europeans perhaps get the occasional POW from this or that kingdom?
You can count those cases on one hand, so that talking point it irrelevant.
Unless that is you can offer proof that they “traded” enough goods for 100 million-plus people (hell, I’ll be really generous and go with the Southern racist’ estimate of 25 million) that way. Use you own figures from wikipedia, stormfront or wherever else you get this info, because I’m sure it’s not from any source documents, since there are none.
To trade enough for 20-million plus people, that would have been more rum, guns or anything else than the Europeans even had to sell. Africa would have been richer and better armed than Britain if that were the case.
Let’s be real here.
The “internets” is infested through and through with bigots and racialists. Google the slave trade and you won’t find the Smithsonians’ webpage first in the listing, you’ll find a TON of white supremacist nonsense LONG before it. Which is where you’re getting these ideas from.
Oh, and some of those bigoted morons can use wikipedia too.
So if that’s where you’re getting your information about the slave trade from then it’s no surprise that you’re so misinformed.
Anyway, Gates isn’t worth two seconds of my time much less 2 posts. I’m done.
You seem to be a nice enough person. But to say “There is no reason to doubt Gates scholarship” is to say you haven’t read any of his ramblings. And to not address my assertion (that there’s no records of all these Africans trading each other) is to prove it.
You have not put forward a “well-reasoned argument” for why Gates is right. You’ve merely given a brief history of slavery in Korea, which isn’t even the issue.
Neutral Observer, I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt.
How did the white slave traders obtain their chattel in Africa then?
You’re saying that Gates is wrong, that there’s no record of African corroboration in the slave trade, and that this is White supremacy propaganda. I will also grant that most people who talk about Africa don’t know about much Africa nor its history. I will even submit that I might fall into that category. So what is your explanation for the origins of Black enslavement in the Americas? Are there reputable and impartial records to corroborate this history?
The floor is yours.
Want to know Crowley’s badge number. Anyone obtain it?
I also cannot find the police report anywhere on the internet. Anyone have a good link?
American Girl,
I just e-mailed it to you.
When the story first broke, most media was saying that the police were “refusing” to release the report. Then the Boston Globe had a redacted version on their site, along with a link to the police report from their main story. No one knew how they got it. Now the Globe has taken the link off the main story, and the report is no longer housed on their server, even though the main article still quotes from the report. Fortunately, someone had e-mailed me a pdf of the report before it went missing (or got censored).
Anyway, if anyone else wants a copy, let me know, and I’ll send it along. I don’t think Crowley’s tall tale is very believable, and no one else I’ve discussed it with thinks so either. I wonder if Crowley himself believes it. More likely, he’s thinking, “Man, what was I thinking in trying to represent this as the truth??? Now I’m gonna look STUPID.”
For those who checked the Boston Globe article yesterday, check back again. They’ve got a good mp3 of Gates discussing the arrest.
I’ve been going back and forth on this issue all day, and quite honestly, I can’t stop talking/discussing it! Here’s what I e-mailed to our Thymos group today about what I think really happened:
Most likely, Gates was in a bad mood after having to open his door and then confront cops. Crowley probably had his ego hurt because Gates wasn’t acting subservient to the Man with the Badge, and he probably arrested Gates in a fit of misplaced anger and resentment. I myself understand that Crowley was probably placed in a difficult position from the neighbor calling in, but I think he should at least be reprimanded and penalized for lying on the police report and making a false arrest. I too am curious to see what happens.
“King, I figured it was a only a matter of time before you weighed in with your opinions.
And no surprise you quoted…wait, you didn’t really quote anyone. You just made some ipse dixit statement then gave a link to wikipedia’s home page.
Grand research that is!”
Well yeah…
The reason that I simply gave you the link to Wikipedia is because YOU obviously haven’t done the very elementary research of reading the encyclopedia on the subject you’ve been blabbing about — ANY encyclopedia, because they all agree on this point. I might as well present the “research” needed to establish that the world is spherical rather than flat, or that the American Colonists won the Battle of Bunker Hill, or that Julius Ceasar once ruled Rome.
But to make it even easier for you, Jaehwan gave you the specific wiki link in the very next post. Did you notice that?
But to the point, you haven’t made any comment at all on the fact that Wikipedia (and any other Encycopeadia)confirms the fact that Africans did indeed sell other Africans into slavery WHICH WAS,OF COURSE, WAS THE WHOLE POINT.
It’s all right there for you, or anyone else to read. Have you really never heard that before?
If you post something that is obviously incorrect, people are going to call you on it. If you post something that is correct, everyone will either agree or keep silent.
I seem to remember there was a director at Willamette who taught racial sensitivity classes to the Salem PD or the state troopers. At one point it was a requirement. Throughout the classes he was mocked. I do not know the status of the program any longer.
In any case, perhaps it is time that all police departments implement some sort of racial training course for its current an incoming officers.
Further, we need to have an open dialog as a country to address these issue. It is sad to see good programs be underminded or go to waste because the majority sees it as some ‘fluffy let us all hold hands and cry money suck.’ Racism has become latent and only when something boils over do we see it. All other times it is brushed under as someone elses (the minorities) fault.
Recently, I watched the movie ‘Grand Torino’ staring Clint Eastwood, Bee Vang and Ahney Her. It was littered with racial epiteth, but it was funny. One of the many ways of healing is through laughter. We need to be able to laugh at sterotypes as opposed to with them in order to quash them.
Our own preseident, elected by the people and for the people is still underminded. This stupid notion that he is not a citizen because he is Kenyan is rediculous. Even if he did carry around a certified birth certificate in a ziplock back, I think the real reason people oppose him holding office is simple, it is because he is black. This inherant hate for African American’s needs to stop. We need some real solutions.
@ AG
“I think the real reason people oppose him holding office is simple, it is because he is black.”
Cmon. really? I think it’s a difference in agreeing with his solutions to the nations woes. But I certainly don’t want to hijack this thread in a debate over something that’s unprovable either way.
Yeah, really; it is because he is black. Some people have a problem with him because he is black. The birthers and the Posse Comitatus have a problem with him because he is black. It is not about the birth certificate. The birth certificate is legitimate. The Posse Comitatus laches on to rediculous bases to challenge everything froma judges oath, to the fringe around the American flag, to the birth certificate of Barack Obama.
Same thing with Gates, he was arrested in his home because he was an angry black man. If it was Kit Parker or Alan Dershowitz breaking into his or her house, neither would not have ended up arrested no matter how many yo-mama’s they spewed to the officer.
@ Robert,
I hope you were being sarcastic.
All you had to do was look at what was going on around the Palin campaign rallies, the veiled death threats, the smears about Obama coming from the crowd. The birth certificate nutjobs are using that as a veil for their racism. If that’s the case, why weren’t they pressing the issue about John McCain being born in Panama?
Regardless, the problem with cops is that they get shit everyday from street mopes and people lying to them all the time that it skews their perception of people. They get jaded and over time, everyone is a perp or a skell. They treat everyone as hostile. And throw in some racial prejudices a cop may hold and there you go—-this is what you get. And cops aren’t exactly the brightest people in the world. A lot of departments will accept candidates that don’t have college degrees and if these candidates don’t have good critical thinking skills, well, you get a bunch of cops with bad judgement roaming the streets of your city.
@AG
I guess it’s a qualifier thing. I will certainly agree that “some people” have an issue with BO’s race and his position in office. Just like some people have an issue with my race. I don’t think that it’s the reason that most people who have problems with him have problems with him however, and I think a lot of people have valid concerns with him based on his policies, not his skin.
@Mojo
People did question McCain about being born in Panama ( http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/28/us/politics/28mccain.html ). It was a small blip on the radar however because he produced his Birth Certificate and it was verified as being from a military hospital. I won’t continue the whole birther thing though as that’s not the topic of this post, nor is it something I’m overly concerned with, but I think it’s inaccurate to say that anyone who questions the president is doing so due to the color of his skin – which was the vibe I was getting.
As to the Gates thing. I have to agree with Kobu (and I think you too Mojo?) It’s a fault on both mens parts. I don’t know if the cop was racially motivated to be a dick, if he’s an equal opportunity dick, or if he was simply doing his job overzealously for a multitude of possible reasons. I also don’t know if Gates was quietly and cooperatively going along with the cop’s requests as he states, or if he was stressed from a long business trip and in a shitty mood due to a stuck door and said some things he shouldn’t have. As mentioned by others, it depends on who you believe.
American Girl,
Racism has become latent and only when something boils over do we see it. All other times it is brushed under as someone elses (the minorities) fault.
That is very true. And it’s bad because it always places minorities in defensive roles rather than proactive roles.
I know that government initiatives speak very loudly when it comes to influencing peoples’ mindsets. Art does too. Hopefully more engagement will continue to erode this legacy of racism.
@ Robert,
it’s all in how you interpret what was written. I did not take that anyone who questions the president is doing so because he’s black. I took the reference point as those birth certificate nutjobs, not that anyone who has questions is motivated by racial biases.
yes, I am aware that it was brought up about McCain…and it was mostly brought up by the left wingers. But the difference is, it was accepted. the birther nutjobs and extremists have cognitive dissonance and will not accept it and will go on and on about how the documents were doctored. Well, you know what? You could easily disregard what McCain has produced and twist it around and say it was doctored and that HE is the Manchurian candidate, awaiting orders from the Vietnamese, blah blah…
So what’s really motivating these birther extremists? That was my point.
In sum, getting back to the topic on hand, we don’t really know what occured that night. A tragedy of errors and misunderstandings? Two guys in the middle of the night, tired, and not thinking right unintentionally escalating a mole hill into a mountain? Who knows?
@mojo
*nods* you and I should go drinking sometime lol!
Byron: I think your intuition that the police report was, shall we say, less than honest may be right.
Here is a fairly in-depth analysis of Cowley’s own report, his actions, and the disorderly conduct charge:
http://www.samefacts.com/archives/crime_control_/2009/07/nightmare_on_ware_street.php
Excellent article, Larry. I agree 100%. It’s totally true. Here’s what I sent to our Thymos group:
“I agree 100%. I was going to give him the benefit of the doubt for having a stressful job, but now that I think about it, most of us would be fired for lying in order to cover ourselves (even the Portland mayor is dealing with such repercussions right now), so why shouldn’t it be any different for this cop?”
I feel bad for cops because they have hard jobs, but the abusing the public trust is a line they should never cross. I actually now do think that they should relieve Crowley of his job.
Obama weighs in:
http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/07/22/harvard.gates.interview/index.html
Obama defended Gates on Wednesday night, while admitting that he may be “a little biased,” because Gates is a friend.
“But I think it’s fair to say, No. 1, any of us would be pretty angry; No. 2, that the Cambridge police acted stupidly in arresting somebody when there was already proof that they were in their own home; and, No. 3 … that there’s a long history in this country of African-Americans and Latinos being stopped by law enforcement disproportionately.”
The incident, Obama said, shows “how race remains a factor in this society.”
The dirty cop is not going to apologize:
The officer, Sgt. James Crowley, told CNN affiliate WCVB earlier Wednesday that he will not apologize.
“There are not many certainties in life, but it is for certain that Sgt. Crowley will not be apologizing,” he said.
It’s been a week now, and if this lying cop doesn’t know that what he did was wrong, I think they need to get him off the street. Or at least take away his gun and handcuffs.
@Robert
Well, I do my best thinking in bars. But I’m not necessarily focused on politics and international affairs when I’m drinking! I can judge slowly, but over time, my conclusions might not necessarily gibe with yours.
Let me just say that I know a lot of cops, I know the sub-culture and how they think. There are a lot of good ones who genuinely want to help people as well as bad and dumb ones on the force who’ve got issues. But given the bluntness of this guy’s reaction, this guy, IMO, is a dumb ass and carries a measure of hostility. This is not about standing up for principles or trying to protect ego and pride. He just tainted the entire PD by his actions. All it takes is for one guy to fuck up. He can’t even see the the need to de-escalate this mess and the front office pukes in the Cambridge PD are stupid too. You don’t have to come out and apologize but at least recognize the situation got out of hand.
By taking a hardcore stance of saying “I will not apologize” indicates no tact and no understanding of the flashpoint. First of all, Crowley should not be talking to the press. The Cambridge PD front office should be letting a public information officer do the talking. But they’re too stupid to even do some PR on their own behalf. Second, why talk about yourself in the third person? Third, if the Cambridge PD isn’t clamping down on this mess and telling Crowley to shut the fuck up, then it seems as if they’re rallying the troops behind him. And that’s stupid management. Fourth, in any bureaucracy, you will get management that will practice CYA 8 hours a day and ultimately make the situation worse. BEcause I’m sure if the Cambridge PD brass rallies behind Crowley to protect “one of our own”, you’re just inviting MORE scrutiny of how your PD is run. And I’ll tell you, they will shine the flashlight up everyone’s rectum and expose all the abdications of responsibility, incompetence, fraud, and abuse that is there.
So my question is, what’s behind Crowley’s defiance and hostility? What’s motivating him? In the end, I think he does need to be reprimanded or removed from the force. At his rank, he should have known better and exhibited better common sense.
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@ mojo
That’s ok, TBH, I don’t discuss politics or international affairs with friends overly much either. Both have their views determined largely by personal experience/needs/opinions unless there’s a shared agreement, it can get uncomfortable to say the least. Well, if we ever meet by chance in an airport bar or something, I’ll buy you a beer, and leave the controversy at the door!
@ robert
also understand, I’m in the DC area, so I’m inundated with political talk and foreign affairs ALL the time. when I’m in a bar, that’s the last thing I want to talk about. I’d rather talk about how lousy the Nationals are and how the Lerner family is screwing up this baseball team, or how lousy the Skins will be this season and how great the Caps hockey team will be this year!
thanks on the beer offer, but no tequila shots. maybe SoCo and lime but definitely NOT tequila. that is one drink i do not understand.
No tequila? It goes great with orange juice (never have grenadine on hand so can’t do a Tequila sunrise), and it’s pretty good straight, although that’s probably more of an acquired taste.
jaehwan, ugh! No can do, my friend. It is not a drink that my body computes. The last and only time I had tequila was many years ago back in college, visiting friends in PA. They live in a rural part. Anyway, after drinking beers and tequila with them, everything went to black. I woke up the next day in some barn with a hen sitting on my chest! I had no idea where the hell I was and my head was pounding and my mouth was cotton dry.
LOL! Sounds to me like you don’t mind Tequila as much as its effects on you! Regarding the palatability of the elixir however, I’ve found that the more expensive varieties are ok to drink straight – they lose a lot of that bitterness that makes tequila kinda nasty. I have a hard time justifying the cost for such drinks though, If I hadn’t tended bar in a past lifey, I probably wouldn’t have a clue or inclination to find out – same goes for bourbons (I won’t touch that stuff – similar chicken fears!)
What Part of DC are you From Mojo? I grew up In Northern Virginia (Alexandria), so DC was my stomping ground, however, I was still a young pup / college boy then, so politics wasn’t really a topic thrown around in my social circles at the time.