Obama's Gates Review

I am not going to comment on the facts of the case. They are in dispute with most people playing armchair lawyer. No one seems to get that Gates and Crowley are innocent until proven guilty. No one seems to want to address the police report as right factually, instead they believe he lied (not only lied to Gates, but to the Cambridge PD who backs him). Not only does lying mean he could lose his job, but he could face a substantial civil suit. Regardless, this is why Obama acted stupidly.

Politically:
The comments have taken over the news cycle more than his health care reform. He should have understood that the reaction to his comments, if he supported one party over the other, would drive news media to fester over this. Not only did the media and the blogosphere come to the rescue like Lassie, but this is all they are talking about. Health care took a back seat to the discussion (don't worry I am still all over it) especially when August recess is looming.

Legally:
As chief law enforcement officer, a lawyer, and a constitutional law professor, he should have known much better than to proclaim, "I don't know all the facts, but I am going to say so and so acted in such way." Lady Justice is blind and doesn't appreciate you placing your finger on her scale. He should have taken a step back and allowed the legal system to satisfy and vindicate whoever was wronged before a comment. If you can wait to make a comment in the face of Iranians being beaten, you can definitely wait to make a comment in this circumstance.

Racially:
Barack Obama was trumpeted as being the one who was going to be a "racial healer." Not only did his comments stick a stake between races, he decidedly facilitated it more than it should have been. Many moderate-conservative democrats from the flyover states didn't take kindly to these words even though they supported him in the election.

Needless to say, this may be forgotten when it comes to 2012, but it still shows you the cards he is going to play when similar situations come up. I will also add that there may be a relative small aspect of race, but the overlying issue here was elitism.