mg - Yeah, she (the snowplow lady) kind of deserved to get arrested, I think. On the other hand, I felt sort of sorry for her too....because she's one of those people who just lost it due to a momentary frustration. Lack of maturity on her part, I'd call it. Mind you, I feel sorry for the snowplow driver and the police officers who had to put up with her tirades too... ;-) (What I mean is, I get what was bugging all of them at the time, but one has to rise above certain brief inconveniences in life...like getting your driveway blocked by a passing snowplow...and one needs to remember when those things happen that one is NOT the only human being in the world whose needs matter!)

heric - My point is that those who wish to cause some political damage to Barack Obama will sieze upon this particular story and Obama's part in it like a dog grabbing a hotdog that just fell to the floor. They will pretend all kinds of noble reasons for doing so, but their real motivation will be their usual motivation: to damage Barack Obama or his party. Sheer political opportunism, in other words.

Now...if it was a similarly trivial story that involved, say, Sarah Palin...then those people I'm alluding to above would not be leaping on it with such alacrity, as it would not suit their political agenda. Instead, a different group of people here would be leaping on it...their motivation: to damage Sarah Palin and her party.

The two groups of people I'm alluding to are normally found firmly positioned on the opposite sides of pretty well any American political controversy. Their rivalry here is as predictable as that of zealous Catholics and Protestants in Northern Ireland.

dick - Well, I think you can be guilty of disorderly conduct in your own home. I've seen people guilty of disorderly conduct in their own homes more than once, and I'm not joking when I say that.

I think Gates got unreasonable. I think the police probably also got unreasonable. It would be best for all concerned now if they shook hands, agreed to put the issue to rest, and got on with the next useful thing in their lives.