Barack Obama stated first that he did not have all the facts; that he had not reviewed the matter and that Professor Gates was his friend.  Then he stuck his foot all the way in by criticizing the police when he had already admitted not knowing enough to form an intelligent opinion of the matter. 

Open Mouth, Insert Foot

There is an old story that I first encountered many years ago as a college undergraduate about an attorney examining a witness in court.  The case involved an assault in which the defendant had purportedly bitten the ear off another man in a fight. 

Attorney:  Did you see my client bite the ear off of the plaintiff?

Witness:  No, I didn't.

Attorney:  Then how could you possibly conclude that he did?

Witness:  Because I saw him spit the ear out. 

The moral of the story is that the attorney asked one question too many.  Perhaps he didn't pay attention when he should have, or else, his education was defective.  Still, one should know that the most important thing to do when asking questions of a witness is to elicit the facts and only the facts that you need.  When you get them, STOP. 

Another equally important lesson is to know when to keep your mouth shut.  After all, you might say the wrong thing and give away important information, embarrass yourself, or worse still, your client.  But it is possible that they don't teach this important lesson at Harvard Law, as born out by Barack Obama's recent gaffe at the health care press conference.  He took one question too many; the question about the incident between Professor Gates and the Cambridge, Massachusetts Police Department. 

We all probably know the exchange involved a last question from a reporter and that time was made for her to insert the question at the end of the conference.  She asked Mr. Obama to comment on the matter and the lawyer from Harvard whom everyone believed was so incredibly smart proceeded to blow it.  He stated first that he did not have all the facts.  He added to this by saying that he had not reviewed the matter and further that Professor Gates was his friend.  Then he stuck his foot all the way in by criticizing the police when he had already admitted not knowing enough to form an intelligent opinion of the matter. 

There have been widespread reports that Mr. Obama and his staff essentially choreograph conferences of this sort and that he carefully rehearses his answers.  The manner in which the question was presented makes it likely that he knew what was coming, and should have been properly prepared for it.  Still, this did not prevent him from making a proverbial ass of himself in front of a national television audience.  And even if he had not been expecting the question a graduate of Harvard Law School should have known better.  I don't believe any of the people I graduated from University of San Francisco Law would have done as poorly.  

Some speculation has been made that this was an attempt to play a race card because of the dearth of support for his health care legislation demands; however, this is unlikely, unless Mr. Obama is even more foolish than I have come to believe.  It is more likely that he wanted to comment on the situation involving his friend at Harvard, and got carried away with trying to defend the guy, when the smart thing would have been to recuse himself.  After all, he admitted to not having all the facts, and to having a personal relationship with one of the parties.  He would have been better off to state those facts, and then refrain from commenting on a "local matter" when he has to concentrate on national events. 

What may have happened here, is another case of Barack Obama's media obsession; his inability to stay away from the cameras and press coverage.  As reported by Forbes:

"Barack Obama appears to be breaking every record kept on U.S. presidential press coverage. Over the first six months of this year, he was cited in a staggering 1.1 million stories across mainstream, Internet and social media–an average of 6,100 references a day. That's more than triple what Obama's last two predecessors, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton, got in the mainstream press during their first six months." 

Of course, much of the coverage has come as a result of the tremendous amount of the foreign travel and the numerous speeches he makes to anyone who will listen, but more is certainly due to his obsession with passing radical legislation immediately, if not sooner, combined with a press obsessed with feeding his celebrity image.  This may have backfired and as the facts on the legislative proposals come out his effectiveness appears to be dropping.  This, Forbes suggests will be compensated for by even more media appearances.  Thus, expect the record setting blitz to continue. 

At the same time, if he continues making such appearances, he should continue making gaffes, such as when he revealed his lack of knowledge that they speak German in Austria, and perhaps others that should be even more embarrassing to someone of his supposed level of intelligence and education.  Perhaps next election we can elect someone with less education but more brains and even more knowledge.  It would be very refreshing.