August 2, 2009
The Famous “Beer Summit”
“Summit Meetings” -- to divide the spheres of influence after World War II – were invented on February 4, 1945, by President Franklin D. Roosevelt of the United States, Prime Minister Winston Churchill of Great Britain and Josef Stalin of the Soviet Union.
Since then, “Summit Meetings” have come to mean any get-together whereby serious differences of thought and action are reconciled to mutual advantage.
Thus, the brouhaha in Cambridge, Mass., last month -- between Sgt. James Crowley (white) of the local police force, and Henry Louis Gates, Jr. (black) a professor of African American Affairs at Harvard University -- made headlines again last week.
Our black-white President -- Barack Obama -- invited the antagonists to the White House lawn for a glass of beer and mutual apologies.
Sitting in -- was Vice-president Joseph R. Biden, Jr. Meanwhile, families of the antagonists toured the White House.
DELUXE LAWN PARTY
The lawn party men shucked their suit-jackets, sipped their favorite beers and munched peanuts.
Since then, there have been fevered press reports about the brands of beer favored by each participant – “American brewed or imported?”
We can assume the peanuts were grown in the United States -- perhaps in Georgia -- by former President Jimmy Carter. Who can forget the speculation back then about the brand of beer slurped by his brother, Billy Bob?
This time we learned some great secrets – the brands of beer favored by a few, public authorities.
HOW IT HAPPENED
No matter. The affairs of state were put on hold for an hour while our President listened politely and thereby soothed ruffled feathers.
The controversy was about Professor Gates who returned to his home late at night after a prolonged absence. He was having difficulty in opening his front door, where upon he and his driver forced it open and went inside.
A passer-by noted the door-forcing and called 911. Sgt. Crowley responded and ordered Prof. Gates to come out. When Gates refused, Crowley stepped inside and cited Gates. The latter was greatly upset.
A man’s home is his castle, etc.
Gates filed a formal protest. The affair became a classic case of an immovable object confronted by an irresistible force. Antagonistic citizen vs. law and order.
STUPID IS AS STUPID DOES
President Obama upset police forces -- and communities nationally -- when he said on television that the police officer “acted stupidly” in arresting a black professor in his own home.
Supposedly, Sgt. Crowley should have called for reinforcements to surround the house until a court injunction to enter was obtained.
Obama’s past racial bias was thereby recalled in his association with ACORN and other black-oriented groups before being elected a U.S. senator from South Chicago, Illinois.
President Obama recanted his impetuous remark about Sgt. Crowley, and this is commendable – not to mention politically savvy.
However, Obama’s past anti-white remarks continue to betray him.
RE-ELECTION
Confessions and lawn parties are not enough to clear Mr. Obama’s slate.
Unless he does more to project a concern for all Americans – poor, rich, and the most important middle quadrant -- President Obama’s re-election three years hence will be in jeopardy.
By Lindsey Wilger Williams, retired newspaper publisher and syndicated columnist
