Hothead-in-Chief

Henry Louis Gates had three strikes against him, but Barack Obama is the one who struck out in this week's flap about race.

The first strike for the well-known Harvard professor: Gates was caught trying to break into his own house. Second, he was belligerant with the police who showed up to investigate. Isn't everyone told to say, "Yes, sir," and "No, sir," to police officers? Third, Gates flung out the apparently baseless charge of racial profiling against by all accounts a fine officer. It appears that the person who has race on the brain is Gates, not the officer.

But it is Obama who is truly out in this episode. After admitting he didn't know all the facts, our president accused the Cambridge police of acting "stupidly" and insinuated that this was racially motivated treatment of a fine man and personal friend. Now Gates may be a fine man, but it is Obama who has acted stupidly, opening his mouth when he should have kept it shut, acting like another Chicago race hustler, Jesse Jackson.

Sorry, Mr. President, but that kind of smear may work in Chicago, but it doesn't play well nationally. There's a reason Jackson, still beloved in Chicago (if warily), never got out of the Democratic primaries. If you truly want to be a uniter on race, then may I suggest you comport yourself with a bit more sagacity and, may I say it, dignity? As it is, by dragging out anti-police stereotypes on this issue you have reinforced anti-Democrat stereotypes.

It's sadly true that many African Americans do fear and have been mistreated by the police because of their race, but let's at least get the facts before engaging in a smear campaign on national television.

Obama, perhaps recognizing his blunder, now says he wishes "cooler heads had prevailed." Yes, and he can catch a glimpse of the hothead-in-chief by looking in the mirror.