The incident itself sounds like the invention of a scriptwriter. Take the first black American president and give him an inspiring ascent to the White House in which he brilliantly unites the nation in his address on race, one of the most sophisticated speeches in modern politics. Cut, a few months later, to Cambridge, Massachusetts, where a black professor is arrested after trying to break into his own home. Then imagine that the man in question, just to intensify the force of the allegory, was the director of the W. E. B. Du Bois Institute for African and African American Research. Cut back to the White House and the President enlivens a dull press conference by claiming that the police acted “stupidly”. Cue splutter and outrage across the networks and the instant jury of the bloggers.I'm not sure his presidency will recover from the Gates incident. He showed a flash of very unpresidential behavior, and that image will stick in a lot of minds. I don't care whether he invites all the parties to the White House for a beer, everyone will know it's nothing more than a photo op designed to make a stupid statement go away.
Barack Obama originally changed the tone of the discourse on racial origin in America by a brilliant leap of logic. With great rhetorical flair, he avoided excuses and assumed innocence on the question of prejudice. In that spirit, on July 17 he delivered a sermon at the 100th anniversary of the National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People in which he warned black parents to take their responsibilities seriously and told black children that growing up poor is no reason to get bad grades. In a characteristically resonant phrase he encapsulated his own recasting of the debate: “No one has written your destiny for you ... No excuses! No excuses!”
President Obama has by no means undone all this good work with one ill-conceived remark. But for a politician as adept as he is, it was a serious mistake. It is axiomatic as a politician that you do not respond to detailed cases. But, more than that, Obama’s response — that the incident recalled the history of police prejudice against black people — seemed to contradict his message of unity. The rapidity with which the President, in an unguarded moment, sought to make that connection seemed to open a gap between what he usually says and what he really thinks.
This has capped the worst week of the Obama presidency so far. A comment out of place will not run for too long. Of more durable concern is the uneasy passage of President Obama’s vaulting ambitions for healthcare reform. If President Obama fails to extend insurance coverage to at least some of the 47 million Americans without it then his presidency will never quite recover.
All it took was one question to derail his entire health care press conference. I hope some other journalists are coming up with similarly loaded questions for the next presser.
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3 comments:
If the police officers in question accept an invitation to the White House I would question their sanity. I believe the officers should turn down this offer from the president. The president made his remarks before the whole world, let him make an apology to the officers in question before the whole world. If the president had any character he would quickly make an apology and that to the entire world for making such a stupid remark!
Even the offer of a beer was condescending. I suspect the elites would rather have a fine wine, but to accommodate a plebian...well have a beer.
Inviting the officers over to the White House to have a Beer is a real low blow to the officers. This is about par for the president, he has a sly way to try and exert himself so that he comes out being the exalted one. People are beginning to see through his mask and see him for who he really is, and that isn't saying very much for Obama.
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