Obama "Stupidly" Reveals His True Self

In President Obama's "health care" press conference last night, Obama took the time -- actually stopping his answer to one question short -- to bungle through a question on the arrest of Harvard University professor Henry Louis Gates. Jr.



I didn't want to comment on this, as the president was so obviously wrong to weigh in on this issue, but most of the commentary I have heard so far has not hit on this point.

Departing from his typically sprawling, incoherent answers, Obama matter-of-factly accused Sgt. James Crowley and the entire Cambridge, MA police department of acting "stupidly" in arresting Gates. That is, after he announced repeatedly that HE DIDN'T KNOW ALL OF THE FACTS!!

Obama was irresponsible on so many fronts with this charge it is hard to find where to start.

First off, he picked this question out specifically to answer, and to answer last. If, as he and Gates claim, the two are friends, Obama should never have fielded this question. It is a serious conflict of interest for a national public official of his position to comment on a matter involving a local police department and his friend.

Further, for him to levy such a blunt response to an issue for which he admittedly did not have all the information is a complete abdication of leadership. Any good leader would not take the question until he had all the facts. But, a leader, Obama is not.

Then, to aggravate the problem further, Obama rattled off a time line that was completely incorrect and devoid of many of the key facts in the event. Without my laboring over the well-documented facts, yet again, Obama uttered not one word about Gates' improper behavior, which he admits to himself.

For your edification, Mr. President, while it is possible that the initial 911 call was racially-motivated, the only time race truly entered this incident is when Gates started screaming Racism. From all accounts, the officer did nothing even slightly racial. It was Gates who acted racially the entire time.

Whether or not Gates should have been arrested is a matter for the police to sort out. But, the fact the our president would speak to the country -- to the entire world -- levying the charge of racism and incompetence about a police force that protected him while he was at Harvard University, is an utter embarrassment and a complete abdication of leadership.

I fear that Obama showed his true self last night. He is a man overly-conscious about race (remember his "typical white" grandmother) and racism who has serious issues with authority and anyone who might exert authority over him.

It is clear from his choosing to answer this question, his tone of voice, his willingness to dismiss relevant facts (ones that Gates himself acknowledges) in order to not just criticize the police, but insult them is telling. This is the true Obama, and he laid it out for all of us to see last night.

As the top law enforcement officer in the country, Obama should be ashamed this morning. I know I am.