Tonight's the night. Gates, Crowley and the president crack their brews somewhere near the Rose Garden (not the picnic table, too hard to shoot.)In my opinion Crowley made a mistake in accepting this invitation. Why would anyone want to sit down and socialize with people who publicly called them a racist in front of the whole country and to my knowledge have not publicly apologized?
White House aides tell me that there is no "precooked" statement already agreed to and no apologies are necessarily expected.
If I had been Crowley I would have offered a polite "no thanks" and would have gone on about my business. Instead, Crowley will be used as a political prop for Obama in the hopes he can make this whole thing go away. Gates will probably continue to be just what he is - a guy who hates cops and "whitey" and still thinks of himself as some sort of victim of racist police tactics.
It's all for show, and frankly I think Obama made a mistake in scheduling this event because it will keep the story alive for another day or two, and probably through the weekend shows as panels are asked their reaction to all this.
UPDATE: Looks like Obama has stepped on some other toes in the process. This is what Mark Knoller of CBS is reporting via Twitter:
And don't forget, while Gates is away, it's party on at his house!
However, Wall Street Journal reporting American-owned beer companies say the brews for the WH meeting should not be foreign-owned.
Obama will probably have to have another beer summit to assuage the hurt feelings of American-owned beer companies. It never ends.
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I think the feelings towards Crowley accepting this White House meeting with Obama is a big mistake, the feelings towards him now will be all down hill. There will be no apology, at least not a pubic apology, which is way past due.
Having Crowley meet with Obama and Gates is actually a serious conflict of interest, and Crowley should indeed have gracefully declined. I'm wondering if higher-ups in the Cambridge Police Department instructed Crowley to go? Though I can understand that anyone might want an inside gander at the White House, even under these awkward circumstances.
However, for Crowley to meet with Gates's well-connected (seems a bit of understatement) friend after Gates's arrest was vacated strikes me as interference and intimidation. Obama evidently doesn't see how this arrangment resembles Chicago politics-as-usual. (I wonder why?)
How is Officer Crowley supposed to do his job now?? Should he first determine whether a person has good connections before attempting an arrest? Wouldn't wish to step on any highly-placed toes.
And, really, somebody should ask Gates: if your house is reported burglarized, do you want the Cambridge PD to answer the alarm if the suspects are black? Or only if they are white?
This whole thing really smells very bad, and Obama cannot seem to detect the stench. Perhaps he's smelling impaired.
Chicago politics can do that to you. He really should have gone back to Hawaii.
DRINK UP BOYS AND ENJOY YOUR BEERS! AND GET ME ONE WHILE YOUR AT IT!
http://askthecollegekid.blogspot.com/
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