From the "pundit" that discreetly (without directly referring to me) called me an idiot once - and I have reason to believe she did it again - here is a truly idiotic post.
Never mind that her post is an incoherent mess of deriding Gates, reprimanding Sgt. Crowley, and talking about racism. What exactly is her point - and where is she going with all this, really?
Here is, I believe, the pertinent excerpt:
At this stage [while still in Gates's home], I think the officer ought to have walked away. Just done the gentlemanly thing and bowed out. But when Gates followed Crowley out cussing, pulling rank and threatening him, the officer cuffed the professor for disorderly conduct. At this point, the officer, who so far had done his duty, lost it and gave in to oneupmanship [sic].a. Crowley did walk away.
b. The officer did not give in to one-upmanship. If Mercer had carefully watched the interview of Crowley after the incident, and properly read the police report that she links to on her blog, she should have realized that there was no one-upmanship on Crowley's part. Gates was simply demonstrating disorderly behavior.
c. There is no indication whatsoever that Crowley "lost it."
I understand now, after reading the comments section on her blog, that this is all to do with "The State" and "Property Rights" and other paranoid libertarian views.
So, I was right, though confused for quite a while, that I was dealing with an odd character when I got that strange email. I wish she had called me "idiot" earlier, and I would have figured out this libertarian mess that so many so-called conservative writers (or writers who use conservative venues because no-one else will publish them) call writing.