Lighten Up on Presidential Gaffes

White elites too often succumb to 'Village People populism'

(NEWSER) - A nation bored by dreary, knotty debates about health care found relief in another National Conversation on Race. “This one,” as Frank Rich writes in the New York Times of last week’s ballyhooed Beer Summit, “ended with a burp,” but the hangover could last well over 30 years. Census counters say the US will become a white-minority country by 2042—a prospect fueling hysteria among the Lou Dobbs and Glenn Becks of the world. More»

But don't forget about racial profiling

(NEWSER) - The beer meeting at the White House has come and gone, but Henry Louis Gates offers a postscript: "I thank God that I live in a country in which police officers put their lives at risk to protect us every day," he writes in the Root, where he is editor in chief. The Harvard professor also thanks President Obama for bringing him and Sgt. Crowley together. "Our country is blessed to have such a leader," he writes. More»

(NEWSER) - Massachusetts police unions today called on President Obama, Gov. Deval Patrick, and others to apologize for criticizing the cops who arrested Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates, the Boston Globe reports. “The president should make an apology to all law-enforcement personnel throughout the entire country,” said one Cambridge policeman. “Cambridge police are not stupid.” More»

But prez should get the facts on Gates bust first

(NEWSER) - Asked if he blamed President Obama for saying he’d “acted stupidly” in arresting Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates, Cambridge Sgt. James Crowley took the high road, the Boston Globe reports. He told a radio show today it was “regrettable” that anyone would speak without knowing the “whole story,” but declined to criticize Obama directly, even when the host declared, “the president of the United States owes you an apology.” More»

Keith Judd is a big fan of Nixon

(NEWSER) - The imprisoned felon who challenged President Obama for the Democratic nomination in West Virginia's primary and won an impressive 40% of the vote remains the bizarre political story of the day. Politico rounds up 10 facts about the locked-up candidate, Keith Judd, including: More»