The Beer Summit Was Apparently A Success Perhaps Because No Arrogant Bastard Ale Was Served To Any Of Its Participants

YouTube video about The Beer Summit courtesy of Associated Press

By all accounts the meeting between Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. and Cambridge MA police officer Sgt. James Crowley with U.S. President Barack Obama serving as "bartender" and Vice President Joe Biden present as "bouncer" (just kidding) ;-) was successful and productive. If Henry Louis Gates Jr. and Sgt. James Crowley can sit down together and work towards reconciliation in a civil and mutually respectful manner all I can say is more power to them. If this "Beer Summit" can serve as a "springboard" toward a national dialogue on race relations in the U.S.A. that would be great too. If Sgt. James Crowley can comfortably work together with Henry Louis Gates Jr. in the production of the documentary film that he wants to do on racial profiling, as I have previously suggested, without being co-opted that would be a good thing too. If these two men genuinely want to reconcile and constructively and productively work together to improve race relations in the U.S.A. then I think that the American public should allow them to do just that.

According to the National Post/Reuters report President Barack Obama said that he hoped that the "Beer Summit" would give the people involved in the dispute a chance to listen to each other, instead of "ginning up anger and hyperbole," and reflect upon the fact that they all had different points of view. Sounds fair enough to me but I think that it needs to be pointed out once again, hopefully for a final time. . . that the person most responsible for "ginning up anger and hyperbole" in this matter is Henry Louis Gates Jr., not Sgt. James Crowley and not President Barack Obama even if he did gin up *some* anger with his poorly calibrated words. One only needs to read Henry Louis Gates' self-serving "interview" in The Root entitled 'Skip Gates Speaks' to see plenty of ginning up of anger and over-the-top hyperbole that I have already pointed out in previous blog posts here.

So what did each participant in the "Beer Summit" imbibe you ask?

Well it seems that Stone Brewing Co. of Escondido, California never shipped up that complimentary case of their Arrogant Bastard Ale that I waggishly suggested that they might want to provide on the White House as it were.

National Post/Reuters reports - Bud Light for Obama, Blue Moon for Crowley and Red Stripe for Gates. Vice President Joe Biden was also at the table.

Daily Enquirer reports - The four men ate peanuts as they chatted over their favorite beers. Obama drank a Bud Light, Crowley a Blue Moon, Gates a Sam Adams Light, and Biden a non-alcoholic Buckler.

The Richmond Times-Dispatch has an article titled 'Beer Summit: Prosit' which discusses the choice of beers and concludes with this parting shot - The tripartite summit and the "brewhaha" preceding it reminded us of the time a rabbi, a priest, and a minister walked into a saloon, prompting the bartender to ask, "What is this, a joke?"

The Baltimore Sun has an article titled 'Rating the brews served at the beer summit' which apparently rates all of the beers served as second rate swill. I would have to concur. . .

Here is the comment I submitted to the article -

I would go with the Blue Moon too, and might even have two or three if it was a half-decent wheat beer which I have some reason to doubt.

Prompted by a waggish commenter elsewhere I had emailed the Stone Brewing Co. suggesting that it might want to ship a complimentary case of its Arrogant Bastard Ale to be served on the White House as it were. :-)

The Washington Post has an interesting article titled 'The Racial Politics of Beer' by one by Maureen Ogle which was apparently written two days in the future since it is dated Sunday, August 2, 2009. . .

Maureen Ogle's first paragraph says -

It was never going to be just a round of beers -- not when it was being served at the White House to a black (and part Irish) Harvard professor, a white police officer (also boasting Irish roots) and the mixed-race president of the United States.

I can't help but wonder if Henry Louis Gates Jr.'s Irish roots are of the Protestant Orangemen variety which might explain a lot about what happened between the two men, seeing that Sgt. James Crowley's Irish background seems to be on the Catholic side of *that* divide. . . Oh dear am I engaging in racial profiling? ;-)

Well it *is* Marching Season you know. . .

I like this bit too -

Of course, nothing says "humanity" better than fermented grain. For 10,000 years, from Mesopotamia to medieval Europe, from Asia to Africa, human beings have prayed, haggled, and waged war and peace while sipping the stuff. In Europe circa 3,000 B.C., beer-drinking played such a vital role in political and religious rituals that chieftains and warriors outfitted themselves with ornate cups and ewers, objects of precious stone and metal so symbolically powerful that they were buried with their owners.

It's well worth a full read.

Here is U.S. President Barack Obama’s statement following the "Beer Summit" courtesy of the Los Angeles Times:

"I am thankful to Professor Gates and Sergeant Crowley for joining me at the White House this evening for a friendly, thoughtful conversation. Even before we sat down for the beer, I learned that the two gentlemen spent some time together listening to one another, which is a testament to them. I have always believed that what brings us together is stronger than what pulls us apart. I am confident that has happened here tonight, and I am hopeful that all of us are able to draw this positive lesson from this episode."

"It's an attempt to have some personal interaction when an issue has become so hyped and so symbolic that you loose sight of just the fact that these are people involved, including myself, all of whom are imperfect," Mr. Obama said.

Nuff' said?

Well not quite. It does occur to me that Sgt. James Crowley might have been trying to send a subtle message by choosing the Blue Moon. I expect that he hopes that the kind of incident that led to the Beer Summit only occurs once in a blue moon. . .

I Couldn't Agree More. . . With Chuck Wexler, Executive Director Of The Police Executive Research Forum

"In certain ways this case is more about class, deference and mutual respect," said Chuck Wexler, executive director of the Police Executive Research Forum in Washington, a nonprofit group focused on improving police tactics.

Source: 2 Cambridge Worlds Collide in Unlikely Meeting

New York Times

Harvard Professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. May Be A Scholar But He's No Gentleman. . . *Some* Of The 911 Recordings Have Been Released. . .

I take note of the fact that Cambridge policeman Sgt. James Crowley refers to Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. as "the gentleman" at the 4:28-31 mark or so of this YouTube video of some of the police recordings that the Cambridge Chronicle has posted to the internet, and calmly notes that Gates "will not cooperate". Referring to an uncooperative African American "suspect" as a "gentleman" is hardly the kind of description that one would expect from the kind of racist "rogue policeman" that Dr. Henry Louis Gates Jr. has publicly, and indeed *nationally*, slandered Sgt James Crowley as being. . . Henry Louis Gates Jr. may be a scholar but he's no *gentleman*.

Standing On the Side of Love For A Slandered Irish American "Rogue Policeman"

I am posting my response to David G. Markham's blog post titled 'Standing On The Side Of Love - Racial Profiling And Discrimination' here since I had some "technical problems" posting it on his UU A Way Of Life blog. Hopefully I will be able to post it there a bit later.


David,

The world would be a better place if Henry Louis Gates Jr. could (have) overcome *his* irrational fears of white police officers, and whites more generally, and Stand On The Side Of Love for an Irish American cop who was trying to do his job. Yes, there is such a thing as racial profiling, but what happened in this particular case cannot be properly described as racial profiling. Henry Louis Gates had virtually no grounds to play the race card in the manner that he played it starting almost immediately after Sgt. Crowley appeared on his porch. Read Gates' self-serving "interview" in The Root webzine, of which he is the editor-in-chief, and I expect that you will see a deeply insecure man who overcompensates for his insecurity with arrogance and self-importance. At least that's what I saw. . . Feel free to enter into a free and responsible search for the truth and meaning of what *really* happened by reading, watching, and listening to both sides of the story. All things considered Sgt. James Crowley comes across as a stand-up guy who handled an unnecessarily difficult situation quite professionally, while professor Gates comes across as what we both call an idiot, and a pompous self-important idiot at that. . .

Believe me I have not made this judgment call lightly, and would have been very happy if Occam's Zweihänder had come down in favor of professor Gates, but it didn't. This incident is about privilege and class every bit as much as much as racism, indeed significantly more so AFAIAC, and the main way racism is involved, as far as I can see, is Henry Louis Gates' own internalized assumptions and prejudices that are too quick to jump to the conclusion that white people are acting out of racist motivations. This is very clear from Gates' own testimony following this incident, if not things that he has said and written prior to it. Please enter into a free and responsible search for the full truth and meaning of what happened here by comparing Gates' version of events with Crowleys's version of events and you will see that it was Gates, not Crowley, who was "so shocked" that a Cambridge policeman would show up to responsibly investigate a reported break-in within minutes of him trying to force an entry into his rented home with the help of his limo driver.

Yes, we do have a long way to go David, but it is people like Dr. Henry Louis Gates Jr. who cry "racist" at the top of their lungs, when there is little or no reason to do so, who make the way towards healing and wholeness all that much longer. I am hoping that Gates will come to realize and more importantly, responsibly acknowledge, the major role that his own insecurities, fears, and prejudices played in creating this situation. If he does so, considerable progress towards national healing may be made by working together with Sgt. Crowley, who teaches classes about racial profiling after all. . . If however Henry Gates continues to insist that Sgt. Crowley's actions were motivated by racism, when there is little or no evidence supporting that accusation, then he will not be helping to heal the national wound that *he* largely contributed to unceremoniously ripping the scab off. So I sincerely hope that Henry Louis Gates really meant it when he said -

"I'm deeply resolved to do and say the right things so that this cannot happen again."

and I call upon him to say and do the right thing by taking full responsibility for his own role in this national scandal and apologizing to Sgt. James Crowley for smearing him as a racist "rogue policeman".

Henry Louis Gates Jr. Promises To Be Civil And Respectful Towards Sgt. James Crowley And Any Other Police Officer Regardless Of Race, Creed, Or Color

Well sorta. . . ;-)

"I'm deeply resolved to do and say the right things
so that this cannot happen again."

Henry Louis Gates Jr.

The Disorderly Conduct Law Of The Commonwealth Of Massachussetts That Henry Louis Gates Jr. Was Arrested For Violating Says The Following. . .

CHAPTER 272. CRIMES AGAINST CHASTITY, MORALITY, DECENCY AND GOOD ORDER

Chapter 272: Section 53. Penalty for certain offenses

Section 53. Common night walkers, common street walkers, both male and female, common railers and brawlers, persons who with offensive and disorderly acts or language accost or annoy persons of the opposite sex, lewd, wanton and lascivious persons in speech or behavior, idle and disorderly persons, disturbers of the peace, keepers of noisy and disorderly houses, and persons guilty of indecent exposure may be punished by imprisonment in a jail or house of correction for not more than six months, or by a fine of not more than two hundred dollars, or by both such fine and imprisonment.

end quote

Based on the police report description of Henry Louis Gates' behavior on Tuesday July 16, 2009, and independent witness reports of his "loud and tumultuous" behavior, it seems to me that Sgt. James Crowley was within the letter if not spirit of this Massachusetts law when he arrested Henry Louis Gates for engaging in loud and tumultuous behavior. Those people who are arguing that the arrest of Henry Louis Gates Jr. was unconstitutional because it violates the First Amendment and other parts of the U.S. constitution might want to ask themselves if this Massachusetts law, and similar "disorderly conduct" laws in other states, are constitutional. . .

Unless someone convinces me otherwise, I will continue to believe that Sgt' James Crowley legitimately enforced the letter of this Massachusetts state law when he arrested Henry Gates whether the law is constitutional or not. It seems quite clear that Henry Louis Gates was a "common railer" if not "brawler" who with offensive and disorderly language accosted or annoyed persons (whether of the opposite sex or not. . .), and was disturbing the peace. AFAIAC this Massachusetts state law is somewhat problematic if only because it seems to allow people to accost or annoy persons with offensive and disorderly acts or language as long as their victims are not of the opposite sex. . . If Massachusetts can have marriage equality why can't it have equality under the law when it comes to being accosted or annoyed by persons who engage in disorderly acts or language, to say nothing of lewd, wanton and lascivious speech or behavior?

It seems to me that this Massachusetts law *could* be misused and abused in ways that violate the First Amendment to suppress legitimate peaceful public protest by defining protesters as "common street walkers" much like that idiotic Totalitarian Unitarian "Citizens' Police Officer" Peter Kohl tried to pretend that I was "loitering" in front of the Unitarian Church of Montreal. Okay that's admittedly a bit of a stretch but I am trying to make a point, and part of that point is that the letter and spirit of any law can be stretched by police, prosecutors and judges. What about protesters who shout loudly or use megaphones or other voice amplifiers during a legitimate peaceful public protests? It would appear that they *could* quite easily be construed to be "common railers". There is very little to stretch there is there?

Who gets to define what constitutes "offensive and disorderly acts or language"? Doesn't legislation that prohibits or otherwise *abridges* "offensive language" or even "lewd, wanton and lascivious speech" violate the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution as so many people are asserting? If this Massachusetts law is in fact unconstitutional then maybe it wasn't Sgt. Crowley and the Cambridge police force who "acted stupidly" in arresting Gates but the negligent state legislators of Massachusetts who enacted and have so far failed to repeal a law that violates the First Amendment. . . If however this state law is not actually unconstitutional then it seems to me that the arrest of Henry Louis Gates was a quite legal one albeit not necessarily a very politically correct one.

And Now For Something Completely Different. . . A Word From Urban Super Hero DangerMan

President Barack Obama Invites Sgt. James Crowley And Henry Louis Gates Jr. To The White House For A Beer. . .

I take note of the fact that some wags have suggested that President Barack Obama engaged in some racial profiling of his own by inviting an Irish American cop to have a beer with him and his good friend Henry Louis Gates Jr. at the White House. I can't help but wonder if Gates will continue to cry wolf in his beer. . . Personally I think that some enterprising brewer should buy the rights to the arrest photo that shows Henry Louis Gates Jr. yelling like a maniac and use it to advertise their product.

Let's see now. What might some of the advertising slogans be. . .

Amstel Beer: Cause strife. Pure Unfiltered.

Bass Ale: Reach for Notoriety.

Bavaria: And now, for a tantrum.

Bud Light: Be yourself and make it a sad sight.

Budweiser: Where there's strife, there's Gates.

Busch Beer: Head for the porch.

Carlsberg: Gates. Probably the best boor from Harvard.

Coors Light: The Boldest Lambasting Boor In Cambridge.

Corona: Miles Away From Ornery?

Dos Equis Mexican beer: Sooner or later you'll regret it.

Guinness Irish Stout: Politeness is good for you.

Bad things come to those who bait.

Harp Irish Lager: Who puts out the fire?

Heineken: A bitter boor deserves a beer with Obama.

Miller: Everything you always wanted in a boor. And more.

If you've got the crime, we've got the boor.

Labatt Blue: A whole lot can happen, Out of the Blue.*

Another Labatt Blue slogan is/was -

If I wanted water, I would have asked for water.

which "translates" to -

If I wanted Crowley, I would have asked for Crowley.

Michelob Ultra: Lose the barbs. Not the face. . .

Michelob AmberBock: Rich and _______ (fill in the blank yourself)

St. Pauli Girl: Put him on a pedestal, or in an Ivory Tower

or You never forget your worst nightmare.

Schaefer: America's Boldest Harvard Boor.

Sagres: Spot the differences

Samuel Adams: Harvard's World Class Boor.

The original beer advertising slogans may be found here.



*No need to tweak the actual Labatt Blue advertising slogan at all but I like -

A "rogue cop" can happen, Out of the Blue. . .

even though I don't believe that Sgt. James Crowley is really a rogue cop.

President Barack Obama's Unfortunate Public Statements About The Henry Louis Gates Controversy Are Discussed By A Panel On FOX News

I know that FOX News has a very bad reputation amongst liberals, and I have been less than impressed by what little I have seen of FOX News reporting and opinion programs, but I find that this particular FOX News panel discussion of U.S. President Barack Obama's "unfortunate" statements about the Henry Louis Gates race-baiting controversy and his subsequent non-apology is quite reasonable and balanced. There are a few funny snarky bits right at the beginning that I got a chuckle out of.

Sgt. James Crowley Speaks For Himself In Response To Henry Louis Gates' Slandering Of Him As A Racist And U.S. President Barack Obama's Stupid Remark

Here is a lengthy in-depth radio interview with Sgt. James Crowley as aired on The Dennis & Callahan Morning Show.

President Barack Obama Stopped Short Of Apologizing To Sgt. James Crowley And The Cambridge Police Force For Publicly Accusing Them Of Acting Stupidly

Hopefully he will get around to properly apologizing down the road a bit. . .

Here is my point-by-point response to President Barack Obama's back-tracking from his assertion that the Cambridge Police acted stupidly in arresting professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. -

:I continue to believe, based on what I have heard, that there was an overreaction in pulling Professor Gates out of his home to the station.

I guess President Obama didn't hear yet that the Nutty Professor was not pulled out of his home at all but walked out of it under his own steam as it were to continue to berate Sgt. Crowley.

:I also continue to believe, based on what I heard, that Professor Gates probably overreacted as well.

To put it mildly. . . How about Professor Gates acted stupidly in painting Sgt. Crowley as a racist?

:My sense is you've got two good people in a circumstance in which neither of them were able to resolve the incident in the way that it should have been resolved and the way they would have liked it to be resolved.

I guess that's one way of putting it. . .

:The fact that it has garnered so much attention I think is a testimony to the fact that these are issues that are still very sensitive here in America.

Of course the attention that *this* has garnered has got nothing to do with professor Henry Louis Gates crying wolf at the top of his lungs in order to gain national attention, and indeed international attention, and President Barack Obama himself pouring gasoline on the fire that the hot tempered professor Gates started by asserting that Cambridge police acted stupidly.

:So to the extent that my choice of words didn't illuminate, but rather contributed to more media frenzy, I think that was unfortunate.

Definitely more heat than light with the 'acted stupidly' remark.

:What I'd like to do then I make sure that everybody steps back for a moment, recognizes that these are two decent people, not extrapolate too much from the facts --

Such as publicly declaring that the Cambridge police force 'acted stupidly' for example? It seems to me that the person who is most guilty of extrapolating too much from the facts is none other than professor Henry Louis Gates.

:but as I said at the press conference, be mindful of the fact that because of our history, because of the difficulties of the past, you know, African Americans are sensitive to these issues.

That is fair enough, but this national scandal arose because one Henry Louis Gates Jr. is hypersensitive to these issues, if not obsessed by them. . . as is clear from his own testimony.

:And even when you've got a police officer who has a fine track record on racial sensitivity, interactions between police officers and the African American community can sometimes be fraught with misunderstanding.

This was not an interaction between Cambridge police officers (at least one of whom was African American) and the African American community. It was an interaction between Cambridge police officers and one single insecure hypersensitive African American Harvard professor who overcompensates with arrogance and hyberbole.

:My hope is, is that as a consequence of this event this ends up being what's called a 'teachable moment,'

It's a 'teachable moment' alright.

:where all of us instead of pumping up the volume spend a little more time listening to each other

Hopefully Henry Louis Gates Jr. aka Mr. Pump Up The Volume Harvard is listening here. . .

:and try to focus on how we can generally improve relations between police officers and minority communities,

Surely you mean try to focus on how we can generally improve relations between police officers and arrogant pumped up Harvard professors. . .

:and that instead of flinging accusations we can all be a little more reflective in terms of what we can do to contribute to more unity.

Flinging accusations like the Cambridge police acted stupidly? Flinging accusations like Sgt. James Crowley is a racist?

:There are some who say that as President I shouldn't have stepped into this at all because it's a local issue. I have to tell you that that part of it I disagree with. The fact that this has become such a big issue I think is indicative of the fact that race is still a troubling aspect of our society. Whether I were black or white, I think that me commenting on this and hopefully contributing to constructive -- as opposed to negative -- understandings about the issue, is part of my portfolio.

May I suggest an actual formal apology to Sgt. James Crowley and the Cambridge police force for asserting that they 'acted stupidly' would be an appropriate contribution to constructive -- as opposed to negative -- understandings about the issue Mr. President?

It occurs to me now that that this (inter)national scandal would never have happened if Henry Louis Gates Jr. had simply followed the first five pool rules for this forum in his interactions with Sgt. Crowley and his subsequent crying wolf in the media. . .