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Obama needs to stick to facts

By
Niall O'Dowd

Published Saturday, July 25, 2009, 9:37 AM
Updated Wednesday, July 29, 2009, 1:14 PM

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President Obama

LATEST: OBAMA AND GATES MEETING FOR A PINT THURSDAY AT WHITE HOUSE: CLICK HERE

OBAMA REACHED CAMBRIDGE COP CROWLEY AT IRISH PUB: CLICK HERE

NIALL O'DOWD: WHY GUINNESS WOULD BE GOOD FOR OBAMA, GATES AND CROWLEY: CLICK HERE

PROF. HENRY GATES IS HALF-IRISH AND RELATED TO THE COP WHO ARRESTED HIM: CLICK HERE

MEET GATES' IRISH ANCESTOR, WARLORD KING NIALL OF THE NINE HOSTAGES: CLICK HERE

NIALL O'DOWD: OBAMA WRONG ABOUT INCIDENT BETWEEN BLACK SCHOLAR AND IRISH COP: CLICK HERE

NIALL O'DOWD: OBAMA NEEDS TO STICK TO 'JUST THE FACTS, MAAM': CLICK HERE

Barack Obama has done the right thing at last on the Gates/Crowley stand off -- but he has surely learned a tough lesson.

Inviting the Irish cop and the black professor for a beer at the White House is a nice touch that will lance the wound so needlessly opened up. But the lesson Obama has learnt is It is called "look before you leap' or  "Just the facts ma'am."

He blundered in the most appalling way, calling an entire police department 'stupid' without being in possession of the facts.

As president you can't get away with that.

When presidents don' t have all the facts and make hasty decisions crap usually happens. Remember Bush on WMD that started the war in Iraq? Johnson on the Gulf of Tonkin resolution that led to Vietnam? Both were proven sadly wrong in hindsight but hundreds of thousands of young Americans died.

Nobody will die with Obama's error – but his presidency has taken a hit and worse millions of white Americans are suddenly wondering if he's about to exhibit worrying signs of acute political correctness disease. Black Americans wonder if he's going to back down too easily under pressure.

Both have good reasons to ponder. It was Obama's first major misstep in office. He has led a charmed life up to this.

I have rarely heard so many people I know agitated about this incident. It struck a chord like no other.

When you rip the scab of race relations in America, the pus still oozes.

The secret is that you cannot generalize or make assumptions. Each incident has to be judged on its merit.

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