Maybe Gates just snapped. Just was having a bad day. Just couldn't take it anymore. It happens. Maybe he has a history of depression and anger issues.
I'm sane, employed and a productive member of society but stupidly argued with the cops twice in my life. They always win. Now -- even on my worst day -- I will do whatever they say...yes officers, yes, sir, how can I help you sir.....
Posted as a comment in today's PD coverage, this seems to me to be the best explanation for what happened to Henry Louis Gates. [1]
I will never feel the weight of his personal history on my own back, but I can empathize with faulty decision-making and "having that really BAD day."
Links:
[1] http://www.cleveland.com/nation/index.ssf/2009/07/top_black_scholar_at_harvard_i.html