Just can’t admit it when he’s wrong
President Obama continued what has become a running commentary on the Gates affair. This time he was conciliatory towards Crowley, but also said this:
I continue to believe, based on what I have heard, that there was an overreaction in pulling Professor Gates out of his home to the station.
Whether you think Gates or Crowley was right, Obama’s version of events is simply untrue. Gates was arrested outside his house after following the officers outside and yelling at them. Gates was not “pulled out of his home.” We mention this minor point because it is another little window into Obama. Often, he just can’t admit he’s wrong.
In our view the best way for Obama to extricate himself would have been to say that a president should stick to presidential matters and not intrude in people’s lives and quarrels like the Gates affair, doubly so when the facts are uncertain. But no, that’s not what we get with this fellow Obama. Probably we’ll now have some “teachable moment” with Gates and Crowley at the White House, and a worshipful press corps singing heavenly praises to Obama. Yuck.