Stupidly

Regarding my remarks about the arrest of Henry Louis Gates, Jr:   As President of the United States, I choose my words carefully.   I do.

Yesterday, I said that the Cambridge Police acted "stupidly" in arresting somebody when there was already proof he was in his own home. It's not like I actually called the police "stupid" - that would have been un-Presidential.

I could have calibrated those words differently and said instead that the police acted "idiotically" or perhaps "moronically" or even "like a bunch of imbeciles". However, I felt "stupidly" really nailed it.

Look, I may not know all the facts in this case, but I know what I said.

Unfortunately, my careful choice of words gave some the impression that I was somehow maligning the Cambridge Police Department.  How stupid can people be?