Related Link » Obama Expresses His Regrets On Gates IncidentI believe the President has now acted properly in these circumstances, by swallowing his pride and admitting that he spoke inappropriately in his prior remarks about this local incident.
“The brief and surprise appearance by Mr. Obama before reporters on Friday afternoon was an attempt by the White House to move beyond the controversy that has dominated the last two days of news coverage. Only hours earlier, Robert Gibbs, the press secretary, said the president had made his final remarks about the issue. But advisers said the mounting criticism from police groups and others persuaded the president to address the matter in an attempt to move on.”
— By JEFF ZELENY [NYT]
This was not an incident that rose to the level of national importance, and as such it should not have elicited public commentary from the leader of the free world, especially since he himself prefaced his original remarks with the disclaimer that he was not privy to all relevant details of the incident. The President got caught up in the seemingly ever-hot-button issue of race relations. In so doing, he did not serve to improve the status of American race relations that his own election to our Nation's highest office did so much to advance.
My hope is that the President's effort to rectify his earlier misstep will be accepted in the spirit of fellowship that it appears to have been offered.
Post #864 Behavior I can believe in
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