海角大神

The sense of disappointment among many progressive pundits yesterday, particularly , to what they viewed as President Obama鈥檚 on the Michael Brown killing was palpable. Rather than attempting to condemn the actions of the white police officer who shot Brown, or to place Brown鈥檚 death in the larger context of police shootings of black men and race relations more generally, the president gave a decidedly more measured response, stressing the need to maintain the peace in Ferguson while the facts are gathered. Perhaps the most noteworthy takeaway from the press conference is that he is sending Attorney General Eric Holder to Missouri.

Needless to say, this was not the response many progressives wanted to hear, and they weren鈥檛 shy about making their disappointment known, as this sampling from my twitter feed and other sources indicates:

鈥淏arack Obama is either very tired, doesn鈥檛 believe a single word he鈥檚 saying re: Michael Brown, or both.鈥�

And this:

鈥淭he suggestion that My Brother鈥檚 Keeper could have helped save Michael Brown is ludicrous to the point of being willfully ignorant.鈥�

And this:

鈥淏arack Hussein Cosby."

Ouch. And when asked whether he would personally travel to Ferguson, instead of a dramatic version of Eisenhower鈥檚 聽 the president was noncommittal, prompting twitter responses like this:

鈥淓ven Bush didn鈥檛 take this long to get down to Katrina. Jesus.鈥�

In trying to explain the president鈥檚 failure to take a more strident stand, some progressives defended him by suggesting he was likely hiding his true views in order to avoid inflaming an already unstable situation. Ezra Klein鈥檚 is not uncharacteristic of this perspective: 鈥淭he problem is the White House no longer believes Obama can bridge divides. They believe 鈥� with good reason 鈥� that he widens them. They learned this early in his presidency, when Obama said that the police had 鈥榓cted stupidly鈥� when they arrested Harvard University Professor Skip Gates on the porch of his own home. The backlash was fierce.鈥�

Maybe. But here鈥檚 a radical thought. Perhaps there鈥檚 another explanation for the president鈥檚 muted response 鈥� one that is admittedly more outlandish than what progressive pundits would have us believe: it鈥檚 that the president actually meant what he said yesterday. Maybe 鈥� just maybe 鈥� he really does want to wait until all the facts are in, rather than following the Twitterverse into a headlong rush to judgment. Maybe he understands that the circumstances surrounding this incident may not be as black and white as the armchair analysts twitting their views from their computers thousands of miles from the scene of the shooting would have one think. Maybe he sincerely believes that the best way to defuse the tension is to let the investigation run its course, rather than trying to force facts and rumors of facts into a preexisting framework of analysis designed to confirm to what some pundits are certain happened.

Shocking, I know. But, as I have argued , this pragmatic, show-me-the-facts 鈥� dare I say 鈥渕oderate鈥�? 鈥� take on the presidency is exactly what we 鈥� progressives included 鈥� should have expected from Obama, based on his prior history. And it is entirely consistent with a president whose operating mantra is captured in the phrase 鈥渄on鈥檛 do stupid things.鈥澛� Yes, there may yet be a time for the president to reprise at the Democratic National Convention 鈥� 鈥淭here鈥檚 not a black America and white America and Latino America and Asian America; there鈥檚 the United States of America鈥� 鈥� or to echo the theme of racial harmony that characterized his Reverend Wright 鈥� 鈥淎s such, Reverend Wright鈥檚 comments were not only wrong but divisive, divisive at a time when we need unity; racially charged at a time when we need to come together to solve a set of monumental problems.鈥� But those speeches were made by a man who dreamed of becoming president and they were, in large part, designed to further that goal. As president, however, Obama no longer has the luxury to be quite so self-indulgent. Yes, there may come the moment when he can use the Michael Brown tragedy as an opportunity to talk about race relations, civil rights, police shootings and the myriad other issues that progressives wish Obama had addressed yesterday. But as president he has evidently concluded that this moment is not now. Some find this disappointing. Others, however, may interpret the president鈥檚 reticence as a sign of true leadership.

Matthew Dickinson publishes his Presidential Power blog at .