White House beer meeting goes from good to bad after 8th beer
Friday, July 31, 2009 at 8:30AM
President Obama and Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. met with Henry Louis Gates Jr. and the police officer who arrested him, Sgt. James Crowley, at the White House on Thursday. Stephen Crowley/The New York Times
WHITE HOUSE--Feeling a real sense of power, and apparently channeling the spirit of Al Pacino from Dog Day Afternoon, Professor Henry Louis Gates Jr dared Sgt. James Crowley to arrest him now while they drank beer at the White House with Brother President Barack Obama.
The meeting started off very civilized. After the first beer, the men agreed to disagree, but after the eight beer, things got a little testy when Sgt. Crowley joking said, "Remember, I know where you live."
Gates did not appreciate the humor. "Arrest me now, chump," Prof. Gates said during the fourth beer. "Put your gun down. Why you got your gun out? Attica, Attica, Attica!!"
Pres. Obama remained calm during the exchange. "Henry, you know his weak ass ain't gonna do ^%$#."
VP Joe Biden, who nervously shook and threw beer nuts in his mouth, remained quiet during the heated exchange.
After the meeting, in a press conference, Sgt. Crowley gave a word of inspiration to police officers nationwide. "Only in a country where we could elect the first Black president can a white police officer be rewarded for racial profiling with a beer from the president...on the White House lawn."
Reader Comments (1)
Yesterday I posted a comment on NPR's article by Michael Martin. In essence, I said what a shame to to have met over a "beer" although the beers each person chose will now get free ads everywhere. Perhaps this is a bazaar effort to boost the economy at the cost of truly dealing with racism in this country. Hm? Isn't that faintly reminiscent of how racism entered our lives to begin with? Let's refresh our memories: What role did alchohol play in racism in this country? Hm. And now the inappropriate modeling behaviors our younger generations now have as an excuse to drink while talking about race. How sad. What kind of modeling is that? Well, hardly a "teaching moment" regarding conversations on race. What a lost opportunity. Judge Brown (Larry King 7.29) cleared up the laws that were broken in Dr. Gates home that evening. What a waste and I am not even getting into the absence of Mrs. Whalen
as mentioned so aptly by Wendy Murphy, her lawyer.
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