The smart move would have been to swallow a little pride, make a trip to Cambridge to meet with the officer at his place of employment, shake his hand in public, have a peaceful cup of coffee with the officer for ten-fifteen minutes, and go on his way.

The showing-of-support by his brother officers - from LEOS of all ethnic backgrounds in a very 'blue' city and state - indicated a major faux pas had indeed been committed by the President. His standing within the law enforcement community took a major whack.

What is even worse is that an exploitable weakness has now been made evident to those around the world who seek to put him and the nation into a negative position. As much as President Bush was portrayed as a "cowboy," President Obama has left himself wide-open to be displayed as a 21-century "Black Panther." As much as this incident being a domestic embarrassment, it also can have negative effects on foreign relations.

Like it or not, the job of POTUS puts one (intentionally) on public display at all times. As journalistic technology increases, so does the scope of public display.