Obama & Louisgate

File this one under Unforced Error, Major. President Obama gives a press conference to rally support for healthcare reform. It was not, I think, one of his most effective performances. But if he failed to rise to the occasion, I don't think he did any major damage to his cause. Or at least he didn't while he was still talking about healthcare.

But then he gets one last question, this one about the Henry Louis Gates, Jr. arrest, and proceeds to torpedo his own ship. This is my transcript of the New York Times video.

I should say at the outset that Skip Gates is a friend, so I may be a little biased here. I don't know all the facts. What's been reported though, is that the guy forgot his keys, jimmied his way to get into the house. There was a report called into the police station that there might be burglary taking place. So far so good. I mean if I was trying to jigger, well I guess this is my house now, it probably wouldn't happen. But let's say my old house in Chicago, ah, here I'd get shot.

But so far so good, they're reporting, the police are doing what they should, there's a call, they go investigate what happens. My understanding is at that point Professor Gates is already in his house. The police officer comes in. I'm sure there's some exchange of words, but, my understanding is that Professor Gates shows his ID to show that this is his house. At that point he gets arrested for disorderly conduct, charges which are later dropped.

I don't know, not having been there and not having seen all the facts, what role race played in that. But, I think it's fair to say, number one, any of us would be pretty angry. Number two, the Cambridge police acted stupidly, in arresting somebody when there's already proof that they're in their own home. And number three, what we know, separate and apart from this incident, is that there is a long history in this country of African Americans and Latinos being stopped by law enforcement disproportionately.

There's a little more that is a very reasonable elaboration of race and law enforcement context.

Now, having admitted that, number one, he was biased, and number two, he didn't have all the facts and wasn't there, the obvious right response was to say that he couldn't comment. Instead, he draws conclusions about the justification for Gate's anger, and the stupidity of the Cambridge policeman's actions. Thus did that last question give rise to Louisgate.

Now Louisgate is all over the news, a great cloud of black ink spewed forth by the octapoid press, obscuring his attempts to defend the healthcare reform effort. So the President was forced to make another public statement "explaining" his earlier words. From Real Clear Politics:

Because this has been ratcheting up -- and I obviously helped to contribute ratcheting it up -- I want to make clear that in my choice of words I think I unfortunately gave an impression that I was maligning the Cambridge Police Department or Sergeant Crowley specifically -- and I could have calibrated those words differently.

It is an irresistible temptation for a politician who has said something he shouldn't have said to claim that he didn't really say it. But the problem wasn't President Obama's choice (or calibration) of words, it was that he unambiguously did malign the arresting officers. Moreover, his judgment was not supported by the facts as he understood them. The Cambridge police were acting correctly to respond to the report and to enter the home and verify Gate's identity. So why would "any of us" be angry about that? And without knowing more about Gate's behavior or "the exchange of words" that Obama acknowledges, how could he know that the arrest was stupid? Apparently the arrest report, written by an Hispanic officer, backs up Sergeant Crowley's actions.  Worse still, when the President says that "the Cambridge police acted stupidly, in arresting somebody when there's already proof that they're in their own home," he is confusing the issue.  Gate's identity is not relevant to the cause of his arrest.

The Gates arrest does say something about the history of race and law enforcement in America. It is true that Black Americans have good reason to be suspicious of their local policemen. It is also true that that fact can be used as an excuse for boorish behavior. It can also lead to poor word calibration by Presidents.

There are some who say that as President I shouldn't have stepped into this at all because it's a local issue. I have to tell you that that part of it I disagree with. The fact that this has become such a big issue I think is indicative of the fact that race is still a troubling aspect of our society.

No. The reason it became such a big issue is that the President of the United States stepped in where he had insufficient information, made unwarranted assumptions, and said something ill advised. It wasn't just George Bush who didn't like to admit it when he was wrong.

Comments

[Okpulot Taha]

Tonight on the Jim Lehrer Newshour, syndicated columnist Mark Shields confirmed Obama knew ahead of time about this Gates question and who would ask this question. Obama did not "stumble" into this as being reported.

Obama had plenty of time to think about his response, and Obama made a freewill choice to call on the reporter with this question.

Obama deliberately made an issue of this Gates scandal.

America, you have been punked.

Okpulot Taha
Choctaw Nation
Smart Girl Politics

[sri]

Wow!! I never thought that this will be such a big news. It went from Gates arrest to Obama apalogy. This has become more interesting than what I thought. So, I collected all the sites or articles (more than 250 sites or articles) related to this hot topic "Cambridge Police Unit Demands Apology from Obama". If you are interested take a look at news, video coverage, people views and reviews on this topic at the below link.
http://markthispage.blogspot.com/2009/07/all-about-cambridge-police-unit-demands.html

[A.I.]

As the old saying goes, it's hard to remember your goal is to drain the swamp when your up to your ass in alligators. In this instance, Obama furnished his own alligators.

I agree fully with John Stewart's response as Obama addressed instead of side-stepping the question: Nooooooooo!!!!!!!

[Miranda]

My husband speculates that Obama created this distraction on purpose to draw attention away from from the decreasing popularity of Obama's health care plan. I tend not to believe in conspiracies, but it is an interesting suggestion.

[A.I.]

So now the guys are coming over for a beer. All's well that ends well and if it was a planned detraction, it worked like a charm.

[Miranda]

Er, sorry about the errors above.

Yes, it did, A.I. But how long will it last?

[KB]

A.I.: good comment.

Miranda: I am not sure the Administration is quite daring enough to engineer a gaff to divert attention from healthcare, but it's a good Machiavellian story line.

Welcome Okpulot Taha to the conversation. It is clear now that the Administration planted the Louisgate question, which supports the House Miranda theory. I still think that Obama thought he was being measured in his response. He just blew it.

[Mac]

The President admitted he was wrong and I admire him for doing that.

[KB]

Mac: no he didn't. He admitted that he used a poor choice of words, and wished he had "calibrated" his words differently. He effectively denied that he said what he obviously did say: that the Cambridge police acted stupidly. That is not owing up.

[A.I.]

I'm not sure what Obama should own up to KB. Crowley did act stupidly. To say so is not to say Crowley or his department is stupid. Intelligent people are certainly capable of doing stupid things as we all make mistakes. So the only thing I can see for Obama to own up to is offering a brutally honest assessment when a diplomatic sidestep would have saved him a lot of trouble.

[Mac]

KB, I guess we will just have to agree to disagree on this one...

[KB]

A.I.: if Obama was right to say the Cambridge police acted stupidly, then why did he deny he was "maligning" the Cambridge police or Officer Crowley in particular? Might it have been because the stupidity was not evident at all? Moreover, as I pointed out, Obama's original statement confounded the two issues of breaking and entering and disorderly conduct.

It is a large issue whether a man has the right to behave like a loon in response to a legal and proper police visit. Libertarians, pointing out that this was in Gate's home, say yes. I say no. Police are entitled to a certain amount of respect in such situations. It is their responsibility to protect themselves and private citizens by shutting down a potentially dangerous situation before it becomes actually dangerous. In retrospect one can see that Gates posed no threat, but on the ground one has to make decisions fast. Better safe than sorry. So I am not convinced that Officer Crowley acted stupidly.

Mac: indeed we may have to disagree. Where would be the fun in agreeing?