President Obama is being asked to apologize for characterizing the Cambridge Police Department as acting "stupidly" for arresting Harvard scholar Henry Louis Gates Jr. in his own home.
So far president Obama has not apologized.
He should. An effective apology is the best thing the president can do right now.
He should do so because his choice of words was unnecessarily provocative, because this incident distracts everyone from the bigger issue of health care reform, and most of all because Obama violated one of his own principles. He issued a definitive opinion before getting all the facts.
In case one of the president's advisors is tuning in, here's my suggestion for the apology:
I'm here to apologize to Sgt. James Crowley and all the members of the Cambridge Police Department. It was wrong of me to use the word "stupidly" to characterize the actions of the officer when, as I myself admitted, I didn't have all the facts. In fact, it was stupid of me. The work of a police officer is complicated enough without me complicating it even further with ill-chosen words. So let me again express my apologies for my provocative language and rush to judgment. There are some important issues to be sorted out here and I regret that my actions have made this important work more difficult for everyone.
Obama has always rejected calls for quick action by saying that he is not one to make a decision until he has all the facts. This rule he violated by acknowledging he didn't have all the facts and then giving one anyway.
Obama's main interest right now is advancing health reform. This incident is a step backward.
And finally, Obama's rhetorical gifts failed him when he characterized the incident as he did.
There is no shame in apologizing for one's participation in a matter that benefits no one. Obama's apology does not give the police officer a get out of jail free card. Nor does it subtract from what will be a lengthy dialogue on racism, racial profiling, and the broader issues raised by the incident in Cambridge.
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