Let's suppose that this wasn't Mr. Gates. Suppose that someone, dressed to blend in with his surroundings, had actually broken in to the home. The police show up, request, but do not get id verifying residence at the home, but do get a lot of lip about the "racist police". Rather than to escalate the issue any furhter, they leave. Later in the day, Mr. Gates comes home, discovers that he has been robbed and starts complaining that the racist police let his home be burgled. There is no way that the police could win this one. I am a white female. I have, on one or two occasions, set off my security system and not shut it down before the police arrived. On both occasions the police officers that responded were black. They requested that I provide them with ID to prove that I belonged there. I didn't get in their face and call them racists or misogynists for requested that I prove I had a right to be in my own home. No, I went and retrieved my ID, showed it to the officers and thanked them for responding so quickly,

So tired of the rush to play the race card in instances like this. In today's world, you are a racist until you can prove otherwise. Obama should have been smart enough to withhold comment until more was known about the incident. There are always three sides. Calling the police stupid for their actions is ridiculous. I have seen police react in a similar way many times when a situation escalates like this...regardless of the races of the individuals involved. If the police report is to be belived, Mr. Gates escalated the whole incident by raising the race issue early on. Has anyone called HIM stupid for doing so???? Of course not!