President Obama missing his Pumas.

Back in the 80's if a cat was walking down the street with a fresh pair of suede Pumas he would get tested by some street toughs. These thugs would check to see if he had heart and if he didn't he would walk home in his socks only. The conversation would normally start off with something like "oohhh those are nice, what size are those?" The rest is a street tragedy.

Fast forward to 2009. The ongoing drama of one mans arrest in his own home has the nation talking about race, police policy and what's presidential territory and what's not. Let me get this out of the way, I don't think Obama really needed to discuss the case in Boston. There are plenty of cases of police misconduct going on in the nation both during and before his presidency in which people of color (specifically Blackmen) have been the victims. You can look to the case of the Blackman executed by the police in Oakland earlier this year in which the President was silent or the murder of Sean Bell before his election. Both of these incidents involved Blackmen receiving the short end of the stick with white officers doing the shoving. The President looked past these incidents and instead speaks out when asked about his Black friend who is arrested in his home by a white officer. I understand being emotionally involved when a public matter hits close to home. In this case the matter caused President Obama to show a bit of his own personal character when he denounced the arrest of Prof. Gates. People oppressed by police behavior cheered when the President showed his displeasure of the way the situation was handled. He made mention of the disparity between how Blacks and Latinos are treated by law enforcement as opposed to others. He also made sure to note that such a disparity might have no direct effect on this case yet because it is so apparent in our culture it still looms. As I watch the video of his comments he really only answered the question asked. The reporter brought up race in the initial question and Obama answered accordingly.

Not even 48 hours after the President made such a bold statement he was changing his tune and reaching out to the arresting officer who as I blogged about before will not apologize for his actions. To me this is the act of a President who can't stand on his principles. As the President of the United States if you state an opinion you are entitled to that opinion. Hell as a human being you are entitled to that opinion. It is NOT a good look for the President to call a member of law enforcement to appease his feelings. What are you going to do when you have to negotiate with foreign leaders over matters of life and death? Sure he didn't officially apologize but he did everything short of it. Inviting the man over for a beer along with Gates to smooth it over? Gates was arrested on his own property! There was no crime committed and that's why the charges were dropped!

I'm sorry but if Obama was walking down Franklin Ave. in 1988 with fresh suede Pumas on he would walk home in socks. Why? Because his heart is missing. I hope that he finds it and chooses at some point to stand his ground. You leave your church of 10 years because of media fire and you back off of your words as soon as you are called to task on it. For such character he should have to wear a pair of Kangaroos for a year.