Imagine a man and women have an acrimonious divorce, and she, fearing her ex could be crazy, slaps a restraining order on him and changes the locks. He, drinking, sees her car not there, wants to get some things he claims are his. He goes to the house he paid for, and, his key does not work. Angry, he gets his friend to help him force the door. A passerby sees this and calls the cops. Is this a plausible scene? Of course. I could think of a hundred like it. When the cops arrive, they do not have a back-story narrative there to help them, they have to go round people up and ask questions, establish identity and make reasonable decisions. Gates went nuts from arrogance, a life-long chip on his shoulder, and a need to feel put-upon as a black intellectual who lives a very privileged and coddled life. Gates doesn’t have much to bitch about, and this finally gives him the opportunity to play out his high-drama fantasy of the dignified and principled black egghead vs. the racist, cracker cop. Pathetic. Right out of a Tom Wolfe novel.