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The best laid plans of even Barack Obama sometimes go astray. He called a press conference in primetime on Wednesday to try to keep his drive for healthcare reform in the headlines. A final questioner changed the subject to the arrest of his friend, the Harvard University professor Henry Louis Gates. The President's answer--"Cambridge police acted stupidly"--was the newsmaking soundbite of the news conference. All three newscasts led with the continuing controversy, which was the Story of the Day.

Interestingly, President Obama's criticism of the police did not refer to suspicions of racial bias, namely that African-American men routinely receive unfair treatment at the hands of the police. The President was careful to say "separate and apart from this incident" that there is a long history of "African-Americans and Latinos being stopped by law enforcement disproportionately." The reason Obama gave for calling the arrest a stupid act was that "there was already proof" that Gates was in his own home, not his skin color at all.

No matter. "Was his arrest justified or was it racial profiling?' inquired Ron Allen on NBC. "The arresting officer Sgt James Crowley told a local FOX television station he is not a racist." On ABC, Dan Harris characterized the dispute as a "white career cop who arrested the eminent black scholar." Harris added that Crowley had been "hand-picked by a black police official to teach a class on racial profiling." CBS' Bill Whitaker called the incident "a national Rorschach Test…many African-Americans see racial profiling; others a cop performing his duties."

Sgt Crowley stood up for himself. "There was a lot of yelling. There were references to my mother. Mr Gates was given plenty of opportunity to stop what he was doing. He did not. He acted very irrational," was how ABC's Harris quoted him. CBS' Jim Axelrod offered this Crowley soundbite: "The apology will not come from me. I have done nothing wrong." He observed that Gates should have been "grateful that you are there investigating the report of a crime in progress." As for that reference to Crowley's mother, it had nothing to do with four-syllabled Oedipal incest. Gates merely responded when asked to step outside his own home: "I will speak with your mama outside."

NBC's Chuck Todd checked in with unidentified Presidential aides to ask whether their boss' comment about the Cambridge police was wise: "They do wish the word stupidly could be taken back." CBS' Axelrod noted the White House distinction: Obama was not labeling Crowley himself stupid, merely the decision to make the arrest. Obama told ABC's Terry Moran: "From what I can tell the sergeant who was involved is an outstanding police officer." NBC's Todd picked up on a mood of frustration at the White House because this story "is stepping on their push for healthcare. Today was supposed to be the eleventh straight day that the President used a public forum."

Andrew Tyndall 7/24/09 10:57:19 pm

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