> If a demand to be professional in all situations isn't perfection,
> you've lost me.
This trope of "professionalism" is a little unsavory. And what is "professionalism" for a cop, if not to be a bullying prick? However, if we disregard these semantic problems and accept arguendo that the Cambridge cop's behavior was "unprofessional", where "professional" means some notion of ours about how cops should behave, the question becomes: is it reasonable to ask people to be "professional" when they're on the job and sucking the public teat? Offissa Pupp was on the job; Gates wasn't.
Heavens. To think that I've found myself in the position of defending, however faintly, a Harvard professor. In fact of course it would be nothing but poetic justice if the Cambridge cops were to frog-march the entire Harvard professiorate off to some undisclosed secure location.
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Michael Smith mjs at smithbowen.net http://stopmebeforeivoteagain.org