It's been a wild week. Obama talks health care and releases the Crowley Gate saga. Then Lou Dobbs brings up the Is Obama an American Citizen debate. I just have to get this out of my system.

For the birther's out there. He is an American citizen as far as several reporters and multiple compaign managers that managed campaigns against him can tell. They have seen a birth certificate. They have seen birth announcements in both Hawaii papers. If you still don't believe he is an American citizen then do you think that we didn't land on the moon? Is the government hiding Aliens? Get off the wagon because it's only taking away focus from the bigger issues.

Obama's Crowley Gate has taken the week by storm. It's a fiasco that I'm sure makes the world look at America and laugh. We are the United States of America. First word is United but we are anything but. This has played out like the Star Wars saga. Episode IV - "Stupid" gets everything moving. Episode V - "American Backlash for the most part". Episode VI - "The Beer". But before all of this we have the first three episodes. Episode I - "Good Neighbor". Episode II - "Cop responds". Episode III - "The Arrest". It's a six part Jerry Springer show in the making. I'm tired of this mess on the national scene. There are two ways to look at the situation. One is from Gates point of view and the other is from the Crowley's.

It is easier for us that are non-police to look at the situation from Gates' point of view. We know the home is ours. We know we don't want the police to violate that area because we know there isn't anything wrong. We ask ourselves why isn't this cop getting that. And then some people take it to the next level and start yelling and screaming at the cop because they perceive the cop is targeting them.

It is much harder for the majority of us to see the situation from Crowley's point of view. The police are responding to a possible crime in progress. The police have to walk up to a closed door with unknow number of individuals inside. The police need to make contact with someone inside. The police need to verify that the person inside is who they say they are and that they are not being coersced. The police need to verify that the person inside does not have any criminals inside that the homeowner isn't aware of.

I've heard this week that this was hate driven by color, black, white, and blue. Blue is by being a cop. I would be willing to say that this type of issue is negotiated several times a day all across america. In situations were the homeowner stays calm and show respect to the police and the police show respect to the homeowner while maintaining their safety the issue goes off without a hitch. The homeowner tells the cop thanks and sorry for the inconvenience and the police say just doing my job and thanks for the cooperation. If either party lacks trust or respect for the other then things may get out of hand.

Obama wants to make this a learning moment. Obama should start first by making a true apology to the men and women in uniform through the United States. Second Americans, all Americans need to understand that a small percentage of bad cops does not make all cops bad. Treat the good cops with respect and report the bad cops. But don't report good cops because they caught you doing something illegal. That underminds the process of helping the system weed out the bad cops.

That's my input. I want to read what you have to say on the issue.

Thanks,

Shannon