Friday, July 24, 2009

Obama's Regrets

President Obama says he regrets the language he used when he said the Cambridge police handled the arrest of Prof. Gates "stupidly."

Of course who am I to criticize? I winced a little when he said it, not that it seemed untrue, but presidents aren't supposed to tell the truth so directly. He needed to be more moderate, like "It's an ongoing case and we'll be closely watching both sides, blah blah blah."

He has a nice remedy for the parties involved, to invite them to the White House and perhaps to share a few beers. That's good.

As for the president making a mistake of sorts, imagine if it were Bush. He never made a mistake, at least none he himself ever recognized. So we're miles ahead with Obama no matter what he says.

Still, in my perhaps less newsworthy opinion, it's extremely stupid that a guy can be arrested while going into his own home, simply for that, no matter how must bluster he might've aimed at the officer in his home. That's freedom of speech. And as far as I'm concerned, when the officer saw it was a guy who lived there he should have apologized and left the premises immediately. To protect and serve? Isn't that what the police are to do? Not nitpick and harass.

But hey, I don't know all the facts. But it looks pretty stupid on the surface.

No comments: