The Policeman And The Academic

...While the fur's been flyin' online and on the air, Professor Gates and Sergeant Crowley appear to be in the process of making up.

Seems they both realize that in stressful situations, people can behave like jerks (though I will point out that nobody went home with a broken head, or dead, which would have been a lot less likely to've been the case in ancient Rome, ancienter Egypt or even right here a couple-three generations back, so don't tell me civilization's not gettin' better) and that what you do after the dust settles is a measure of your character, too. Maybe the rest of us experts-of-every-stripe who were not even there could give that a try, too?

...I 'spose one could still be irked that the President stuck his foot in his mouth on this issue but face it, foot-in-mouth is pretty much SOP in the Oval Office, starting with George Washington,* who didn't even have a fancy rounded office to keep clean biting shoes in. We notice it more in the recent ones thanks to relentless press coverage but get to diggin' and you'll see.
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* If you are, as an example, fond of the two-party system or party systems in general, look up what General Washington had to say about them.