It’s always easy to get into trouble when you stick your neck out before all the facts are know. I think Obama did make a mistake when he casually weighed in on the Henry Louis Gates situation, esp. when he criticized the Police. (Mr. Gates was breaking into a home, which happened to be his own. It is not inappropriate for the Police to investigate. Many bloggers foolishly asked “who breaks into a house from the front door during the day?” when, in fact, 5 minutes of searching the FBI crime statistics site shows this is the most common MO!)

However, in this case Obama was very careful to make statements about the tragic nature of a high school student who was killed, and stayed away from specifics. I think his comments were appropriate.