Early this morning, a piece appeared on these pages that took to task Neely Tucker’s article in the Washington Post. I used a historical example from 1766, but neglected to point out one minor but pivotal detail — indeed, one that I had forgotten, until two readers pointed it out to me — that pretty much destroyed my thesis. Therefore, I have removed the piece from these pages and apologize for my error. I thank the readers for pointing out this indiscretion and I will endeavor to pay closer attention to prevent such mishaps in the future.
[UPDATE: Due to popular demand, I will find some time later today to rewrite and revive the post.]
[UPDATE 2: The article has been revived.]
Man, you are straight-up as classy as 1776. Everybody in the room nods slightly at you and immediately forgets everything. A visiting Baron from Westphalia tells his aide-de-camp to deliver a prize gamecock to you on one of Paul Revere’s silver serving trays just because.
For the benefit of those of us for whom the post in question still shows up in our RSS reader, and who read it before reading this one … what is the minor but pivotal detail?
Hopefully it comes back in an edited form. I liked it. Especially in blasting Tucker for that idiotic line about “Don’t Mess With Cops” being “one of the common-sense rules of life,” something that makes about as much sense as saying to a woman that if you wear a mini-skirt, you can’t complain if you get raped. Gates was perfectly within his rights to ask the cop for identification, and to protest his treatment. The police violated Gates’s rights, plain and simple. Just because Tucker prefers to eat shit rather than risk harassment, doesn’t mean Gates or anybody else should.
[…] Regretting the Error : Edward Champion’s Reluctant Habits on July 22nd, 2009 1:46 pm […]