The furor over the arrest of Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates continued this week, with Barack Obama and Gates digging in and insisting that Sgt. James Crowley of the Cambridge police was in the wrong. Yet Obama invited both men to the White House Thursday evening to resolve their differences over a beer. We presume the Secret Service asked to see Gates’ ID before letting him in.
For those beer connoisseurs out there, Sgt. Crowley had a Blue Moon, a Belgian-style wheat beer made by Coors Brewing Company, which is owned by a conservative family; Gates opted for Sam Adams Light, a nod to his home town; Vice President Joe Biden joined the trio and had low-alcohol Bucklers (his lips are loose enough as it is); and Obama took the politically safe route by drinking a Bud Light, a one-time American brew now owned by the Belgian InBev company. He is supposed to be a man of the people, after all, and his usual chardonnay wouldn’t have suited the photo op. For our money, Stone Brewing Company, out in Escondido, California, has a much more fitting beer for the former community organizer. It’s called “Arrogant Bastard Ale,” and its motto is, “You’re not worthy.”
As for the wisdom of sitting down for a beer before discussing a contentious issue, blogger Doug Powers joked, “Traditionally, adding alcohol to any already tense situation doesn’t work out very well, but I’m sure things will be different just as soon as Crowley settles in for a mandatory viewing of the Rodney King video.”
Meanwhile, CNN reports, “The federal government will give $1 billion in grants to law enforcement agencies in every state to pay for the hiring and rehiring of law enforcement officers, Vice President Joe Biden and Attorney General Eric Holder announced Tuesday.” We’re sure it’s just a coincidence.
