Obama will have a Bud Lite

In a bid to paper over his (Cambridge cops) "acted stupidly" comment, Obama has invited Professor Gates and Officer Crowley to the White House to make a great show of letting bygones be bygones by having all parties sit down over a beer to hash out their differences, like real men do.

Problem is, what kind of real man drinks Bud Lite?

Make His a Bud Light: Obama Picks Best-Selling Beer

July 29 (Bloomberg) -- President Barack Obama will have Bud Light tomorrow when he hosts an old friend and the police officer who arrested him.

Obama, 47, has picked the top-selling beer in the U.S. for his get-together at the White House with Harvard University professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. and Cambridge, Massachusetts, police Sergeant James Crowley, according to an administration official who asked to remain anonymous. The official wouldn’t say what the guests would be drinking.

Political strategists and marketing experts called the pick an easy, non-controversial choice for a meeting designed to defuse the tension sparked by the July 16 arrest of Gates by Crowley.

“He’s trying to send a message that he’s an average American and these are two other average Americans,” said Matt Mackiowack, a Republican strategist. “If you complicate that by making an exotic choice, or an import, or too expensive, you can be too cute by half.”

Obama invited Crowley and Gates to the White House after the president drew criticism in a July 22 news conference for saying the Cambridge police “acted stupidly” in arresting Gates at his home on a disorderly conduct charge, which was later dropped. Obama spoke hours after police union officials in Cambridge called on him to apologize.

Two days later, Obama called Crowley and Gates, an old friend, to invite them to the White House for a beer.

Mr. President, I know you are trying to seem like an authentic American--a real regular Joe--but if you think you are convincing us real regular Joes that you are just one of the guys by drinking a Bud Lite, I am sorry to inform you and your political handlers that you missed this one by a mile. Toss caution into the political wind and have a drink you actually enjoy--even if it is a white wine spritzer with an extra lemon twist. Try authentic authenticity for once. You're going to be judged no matter what you drink, you may as well enjoy it. For crissakes, at least have a regular strength Budweiser.

I think they should all drink Black and Tans. Aside from being politically correct and appropriate for such a kumbaya occasion, they're delicious!

Though if I were Officer Crowley, I would have respectfully declined the invitation in the first place. I can't think of a more pointless, contrived, uncomfortable situation--with no upside--to voluntarily place myself in.

Having beers and yucking it up is something you do with friends, not with a privileged, ivory tower race baiter and the Leader of the Free World, who says he doesn't have all the details of the situation then in the next breath says you "acted stupidly."

Seems to me Professor Gates is the only one who acted stupidly. Common sense dictates that you never talk back to a cop, even if you feel you are being mistreated. If you truly have been mistreated, file a complaint and sort it out in a lawsuit after wards. Here's another piece of common sense. When a cop comes to investigate a reported break in at your house, maybe you should consider thanking the officer for putting his life on the line to protect your property.

(Full disclosure: I have been known to drink a Bud Lite from time to time, but that is only when the choice is either brackish water or nothing at all.)