A number of readers have written in about the post last night on the comparative danger of police work. The post noted that while police work is much more dangerous than the average job in the United States, it is by no means the most dangerous. That dubious honor goes to jobs like commercial fishing, construction, trucking and other similarly accident-prone professions.
The gist of most of these critiques was that you can’t really evaluate the danger of the profession through injury and mortality rates because what’s different about the job is that you frequently come into contact with actual people who want to hurt you and, much more frequently, situations where you don’t know what you’re going to find. And you have to ready to be confront someone who wants to do you or other people harm. This is a very good point. And I believe it only confirms TPM Reader JS’s point from last night (which I strongly recommend), which was that the heroism of police work is not mainly about physical danger but moral courage and psychological stress. Read More
It’s that old saw: Once you get caught circulating a jokey email with a picture of the black President of the United States as a witch doctor in a loin cloth with a bone through his nose, things can break down pretty quickly.
Over the course of the day, Dr. David McKalip has apologized for the email, been rebuked by the Florida Medical Association despite noting he’d once done some career counseling for some black boy scouts, been forced to resign as the head of his local medical association, and now, as he announced to a listserve of fellow Tea Party activists today, he’ll withdraw from the public debate over health care reform altogether so as not to distract from the goals of the movement.
On the other hand, Marco Rubio, the right-wing primary opponent to Gov. Charlie Crist in Florida’s GOP senate primary, won’t say whether he’s going to sever ties with McKalip, who held a fundraiser for him last month.
Sarah Palin’s fast and furious stint as governor of Alaska comes to an end Sunday when her resignation becomes official. We take a look back on the shooting star that was … Gov. Sarah Palin.
Obama makes surprise appearance at White House briefing to address Gates incident.
The President spoke with the arresting officer, Sgt. Crowley, this afternoon by phone and reiterated to him what Obama said yesterday: that from what he knows Crowley is an exemplary police officer.
Obama conceded that his comments at Wednesday night’s press conference “ratcheted up” the situation.
The President also reiterated that he thinks both sides “overreacted.” While he suggested that he regretted having “ratcheted up” the situation, Obama rejected the idea that he should not have commented on it because it was merely a local issue.
The President said that Crowley joked about whether Obama could get the press off his lawn.
More here.
The negotiations between House Blue Dogs and Rep. Henry Waxman appear to have ended badly.
Leader of national Tea Party movement tells the doctor who sent around the racist Obama witch doctor picture they’ll stand behind him 100%.
CNN Prez to Lou Dobbs: Get off the birther bandwagon!
Watch Obama’s surprise press briefing appearance this afternoon on the Gates hullabaloo.
Trying to visualize the Obama/Crowley/Gates kegger at the White House.
Late Update: TPM Reader DB adds: “So what does the SNL intro skit this weekend look like? Does it start with all parties with a few beers under their belts already?”
Latter Update: This leaves me feeling bad for Richard Pryor, who I think would have wanted to be alive and in his early form to build a routine around this story.