A while back I wrote about presidential personal and corporate ethics. While I can’t say that I agree with everything President Obama has done so far or will do in office, he has my complete respect for his response to his response to the Henry Louis Gates, Jr. arrest.
Now, I’ll just note that Gates and I shared (albeit many years apart) an English professor–and that I once met Gates and told him as much, a comment that he seemed to appreciate. Believe me, the fact that I have spoken in person with Gates–who very well may soon meet Obama for a beer–makes me very, very special.
[UPDATE (7/30/09): The beer fest happened.]
But the real news here is that we have a president who is bold enough to step up to the plate and not only admit he acted or spoke inappropriately but is taking brave initiatives to meet with the very parties he offended.
That is indeed refreshing–as is this video of the Obamas’ opening of the poetry jam in the White House a while back.
2 Comments
Anonymous
Refreshing indeed!
The poetry jam takes me back to the Classy Kennedy years
(as opposed to the Buffoon Bush ones)
kbs
Unknown
As luck would have it, I'd finally bought Skip's memoir to read the week before he was arrested (remember Duke mentioning it in class), and I devoured it in a mere two sittings. So interesting to hear Piedmont's back story! Where did you meet him?