Class and the absence thereof

From American Thinker:

Doubtless, you are well aware of the “beer summit” that took place the other day.
However, I’m not sure if you saw a certain photo that speaks volumes as to the character of Sergeant Crowley.

You can find the image at the White House’s official blog here (I wonder how long it will be up there, though?).

I am stunned that the official White House Blog published this picture and that it is in the public domain.

The body language is most revealing. Sergeant Crowley, the sole class act in this trio, helps the handicapped Professor Gates down the stairs, while Barack Obama, heedless of the infirmities of his friend and fellow victim of self-defined racial profiling, strides ahead on his own.

So who is compassionate? And who is so self-involved and arrogant that he is oblivious? And they are right. Sgt. Crowley had no reason to help Dr. Gates. After all, wasn’t it Gates who had insulted both him and his family? Furthermore, isn’t Obama supposed to be the empathetic one here (after all, it’s a trait that only Democrats are supposed to have because they “feel your pain”!) for inviting them down in the first place in the hopes of reaching some sort of understanding that never came to fruition?

But, in this unusually candid photo, the truth comes out. Obama keeps on walking paying no heed to Gates; and it is Crowley, who has been demonized throughout this entire incident, who is left to help the man.

I can’t help but think back upon a certain photo of President Bush and Senator Robert Byrd.

President Bush had no reason to even want to help Senator Byrd, who had spent much of his time in the Senate railing against the Bush administration, particularly on the war in Iraq; yet, he helped the old man regardless. Note the difference between the two Presidents. Furthermore, note how both Bush and Crowley helped men who didn’t deserve it, at least not from them.

Character isn’t about who you are when you know the spotlight is on you; it’s about who you are when it isn’t, or when you THINK it isn’t.