Obama Takes on Health Care Reform, Gates' Arrest

By: Michael H. Cottman

President Barack Obama told Americans Wednesday night that police in Cambridge, Massachusetts “acted stupidly” in arresting Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates last week during a heated dispute inside Gates’ home.

"I don't know, not having been there and not seeing all the facts, what role race played," Obama said during a prime-time news conference at the White House in response to a question from the Chicago Sun Times' Lynn Sweet.

Obama acknowledged that Gates is "a friend” and admitted he may be "a little biased" about his opinion of the situation.

Obama Takes on Health Care Reform, Gates' Arrest....

Obama Says Officer 'Acted Stupidly' in Arrest of Skip Gates

By Dayo Olopade

Given President Barack Obama's reluctance to dwell on the issue of race in America, it was a surprise to hear the president's forceful comments on last week's controversial arrest of Henry Louis Gates Jr., The Root's editor-in-chief.

At the close of his prime-time press conference on health care Wednesday, the president addressed the touchy issue head on. He criticized the police officer who arrested Gates, saying "any one of us would be pretty angry" about the intrusion into a private home, adding that the Cambridge police department "acted stupidly" in going through with the arrest.

Says Officer 'Acted Stupidly' in Arrest of Skip Gates....