I was going to add an addendum that the more I learn about what happened and how Prof Gates has spoken/acted then and since – the less I should defend him. And that “beer summit” was truly grotesque. I feel bad for Sgt Crowley who should not have to serve as the… guinea pig(?) for this absurd experiment.

Sorry about the delay in approving your comment. Am in northeast rural Louisiana for short mission trip. Almost no cell service.

A proper category for this whole ordeal could be “arrogance”. Dr. Gates was arrogant in his refusal to cooperate with the officers as they responded to a 9-1-1 call. Dr. Gates was arrogant when he tossed the label of “racism” at the police officers and when he made noise of filing suit against the department. President Obama was arrogant when, in addressing what seemed to be a question he had prepared for at the end of his recent press conference on healthcare reform, insulted the police officers while obviously having very few details about the event. The President was arrogant again when he tried to “walk back” his “stupidly” comment by suggesting that he has somehow “calibrated” his words incorrectly rather than admitting that he spoke out of ignorance of details (btw, what precisely did he mean with the “calibration” comment?).

But the crown jewel of arrogance in this case was Obama’s suggesting that this episode could be a teachable moment for America with the inference that he would be the professor who would graciously guide us into a better understanding of race and related issues.

The facts have become more and more clear. As you suggest, this was not an issue of racial profiling (i.e. the 9-1-1 tape, the history of officer Crowley’s work in training fellow officers on the subject, the presence of a multiracial contingent of officers at Dr. Gate’s house, and the unanimous responses by fellow members of the police department). Secondly, and this is key, there has been no official finding that the officers did anything but follow department procedure. Despite Pres. Obama’s comment that the situation at Dr. Gate’s house could have used “adult supervision”, it is becoming increasingly clear that the officers acted in accordance with department policy and their training.

I do agree that this episode provides the opportunity for a “teachable moment” but not the one suggested by the President. The lessons being learned is that the elites see themselves as above the rules the rest of us must live by. Dr. Gates desires a pass for his dangerous accusation and lawsuit threats because of part of the history of blacks and the police in this nation and because he was tired from a long trip (as an aside, I’ve made that same trip more than 2 dozen times myself; tiredness is no excuse, especially someone as normally skilled, disciplined, and as familiar with the public square as Dr. Gates). The President seems to think that he gets a pass because his intentions were noble (reference his use of “calibrate” instead of an authentic admission of jumping to conclusions).

In the end, we have learned from this moment. We’ve learned, again, that the elites are not really elites (despite their “don’t you know who I am” attitude. We’ve also learned, again, that those who protect our streets and homes have a thankless job and that, too often, the presumption will be that they are in the wrong. But most importantly, we’ve learned that our President is a rookie in dealing with significant issues from a position of leadership. The soaring rhetoric of the campaign trail has been replaced by the increasingly frequent image of a President who relies on his words and image to cover for his lack of attention to detail.

This has been a teachable moment. Let’s hope that Professors Obama and Gates are learning some important lessons.