Obama Speaks On Gates Again

In an appearance today at the daily White House briefing, the President remarked on his comments on Skip Gates and Sgt. Michael Crowley on Wednesday.

"These are two decent people," Obama said. He said he spoke by phone with Sgt. James Crowley, the arresting officer, which he said confirmed his idea of Crowley as a good, decent police officer.

But, he said, African-Americans are sensitive to racial issues. "Even when you have a police officer that has a fine track record on racial sensitivity," he said, the interaction was "fraught with misunderstanding."

"My hope is this ends up being a teachable moment," Obama said.

As for those who criticized the president for getting involved:

There are some who say as president I shouldn't have stepped into this at all, (which) I disagree with. The fact that this has become such big issue is indicative of fact that race is still a troubling aspect of our society.

"Whether I were black or white, I think me commenting on this and hopefully contributing to constructive, not negative, (discussion) ... is part of my portfolio," Obama said.

Good for him, and well said.