July 30, 2009
Photo: Presidential Beer Summit!
Now, that's diplomacy! In an effort to calm tensions following the arrest of Harvard Prof. Henry Louis Gates Jr. by Sgt. James Crowley, President Obama toasted the two men with beer at the White House Rose Garden today.
Prof. Gates Jr., who is African-American, was arrested at his own home on charges of disorderly conduct after a heated argument with white officer Crowley, who was responding to a 911 call of a possible break-in. The controversy was kicked into high gear when the President said the Cambridge, Mass. police acted "stupidly." Obama later expressed regret for his remarks, and clarified he thought both Crowley and Gates "overreacted" during their confrontation.
The charges were later dropped.
Said Obama today, "I have always believed that what brings us together is stronger than what pulls us apart." Cheers to that!
