P.W.A.

Intended as President Obama's late inning rally cry for national health care reform, last night's prime-time news conference instead turned into a national conversation on racial profiling. When asked about the recent arrest of Harvard Professor, and friend, Henry Louis Gates Jr., Obama said the police had "acted stupidly." Many in the media are taking the president to task as if he responded to the question with lyrics from an N.W.A. song. Though it is unsettling for the president to judge with certainty before having all the facts, his choice of words should be of more concern. In using such a sloppy adverb, the president robs himself of any credibility in his response and undermines the previous hour spent pushing his health care plan. More importantly, the word itself feels like language leftover from the previous administration. (Bush was less a Toastmaster than he was a president who ate a lot of peanut butter sandwiches.) Since taking office, Obama has been quick to remind the country that the days of haphazard governing and wordplay are behind us. His recent stumble suggests otherwise.