Oops
Uh-oh. That statement tonight by the president, who admitted right before making it that he didn't "know all the facts" - including the key one, whether or not race was even a factor - may have been the heartfelt opinion of a Gates pal. But it's going to look awfully imprudent - even "stupid" - if subsequent facts undercut it. We still haven't heard word one from the officer who busted Gates. And if the professor insists on continuing to flog this story like there's no tomorrow - apparently despite the best advice of the lawyers who quickly forged that joint "let's-drop-the-whole-thing" statement with the Cambridge cops - it seems likely there will be further fact-finding, perhaps in a Gates civil suit against the city, perhaps in a slander suit against Gates by the cop, perhaps both.
This was an uncharacteristically rash remark by Obama, immediately reminiscent of
Richard Nixon's infamous pre-judgement of serial-killer Charles Manson's guilt. Like most rash remarks, it is one he may come to regret.
