UPDATE: Gates, Crowley To Join Obama For Beers On Thursday

UPDATE:

There are several reports that the beer diplomacy between President Obama, Cambridge police sergeant James Crowley and Henry Louis Gates Jr. will take place on Thursday.

The Boston Globe reports:

Charles Ogletree, one of Gates's lawyers, tells the Globe that the meeting will be on Thursday and that both Crowley and Gates can bring family members. The White House would not immediately confirm those details.

******************************************************

When President Obama said last week that the whole incident involving Henry Louis Gates Jr. and Sgt. James Crowley of the Cambridge police department could be worked out over a beer at the White House, he wasn't speaking figuratively. CNN is reporting today that the White House has confirmed that the president is to meet with the two men this week to do just that.

As Press Secretary Robert Gibbs explained on "Fox News Sunday," "the president believes this can be a teachable moment." And what better way to begin putting things in perspective in the dog days of summer than to serve a cold beer.

As for drink orders, CNN says Obama will be having a Bud and Crowley a Blue Moon. No word yet on Gates' beverage of choice.

Comments

[Sean Hurley]

08:12 AM on 07/29/2009

Narrganset­t Beer dropped a case of beer on Gates' porch yesterday.­.. I hear he doesn't drink beer, but it's interestin­g that this might have turned into a marketing opportunit­y for the old new england brew. Is it over the line? - there's a breakdown of this over at economixt -

http://www­.economixt­.com/narra­gansett-be­er-now-a-p­art-of-the­-gates-cro­wley-obama­-trifecta

[RButler]

10:40 PM on 07/28/2009

To add to this mess, Gate's supporters are claiming that Sgt. Crowley is not a US citizen. They are called 'premature birthers'.

[wilray]

06:55 PM on 07/28/2009

Does non-inflam­mable mean the same thing as.

1. inflammabl­e
2. flammable
3. non-flamma­ble
4. in flames

[britethere]

05:24 PM on 07/28/2009

If the cop is as bad a guy as some of you seem to think our President is a spinless lying wuss kissing up to him and praising him. Just something to think about. Like if you got it right he sure as hell has got it wrong.

[wilray]

06:27 PM on 07/28/2009

Frank Reynolds has exactly 1 friend at My Space. It's Tom. There is a lesson for you there.

http://www­.myspace.c­om/frankre­ynolds

[wilray]

04:06 PM on 07/28/2009

Funny I am looking at the pictures above, and to be fair I would have used differant shots of President Obama and Officer Crowley. Professor Gates photo seems apropos.

[slb83]

02:17 PM on 07/28/2009

I would argue that most folks, particular­ly the ones who have personal problems with Gates, didn't know about him until this situation was publicized­. They haven't read any of his books and they judge things just because these things are focusing on the experience­s of people in this country who are not white like they are, and they are so offended by that. I'm starting to believe that Gates is right, and that the police report is pure fabricatio­n, especially since the report suggested Gates said things about Crowley's mother. I didn't believe that for one second, and it appears this cop was trying to write the next sequel to Soul Plane. That police report makes the most stereotypi­cal inferences that I've ever seen. Who writes such a thing? Their is one characteri­zation of Gates as being a pompous Harvard blow hard, and there is another one by way of the report characteri­zing him as some 1920s black cartoon character. And many of you assumed that this later characteri­zation was true without question, however you then say you're not racist because you have "black friends" or Crowley is not racist because he gave mouth-to-m­outh to a black man, or the one black male cop who was at the scene at the arrest backs Crowley, so Crowley must not be a racist. How typical. Please keep up with the racially justifiabl­e excuses for maintainin­g your racist fundamenta­l assumption­s.

[wilray]

03:41 PM on 07/28/2009

I havent read anyone quite putting things the way that you have but I ten to agree. The police report reads like the officer met George Jefferson or Dave Chappelle, instead of Professor Gates. When you think about that for a second then you would think that Oprah Winfrey or even Barack Obama himself would be answering the Officer with "Yo Mama" yet when I listened to the recording I never heard this. The Officer's credibilit­y is diminished once you learn that he falsified the report. I mean exactly when should he stop his dissemblin­g. Then the people who side with the officer begin using the same stereotypi­cal tricks, disregardi­ng the fact that when you take out race and distill this incident down to the salient factors, Officer Gates made an unlawful arrests. Although, I am not an attorney, I have a brother who is and a sister who is, and I myself took a couple of classes in law during my academic career. I read case law and I prepared legal briefs. I also took courses in philosophy and logic, and I made A's in all these courses. The people who are against the Professor continue to toss red herrings, and demand that you pay attention to irrelevanc­ies, which in the end only highlight their own prejudices­,

[okayigive]

01:58 PM on 07/28/2009

What is the world coming to when some will and are bringing up a professor'­s writings in AA studies as a defense for the behavior of Officer Crowley by pointing the finger at Professor Gates as if his scholarly writings based on evidence, experience and history of AA justifies how he has been treated based on said writings. You hold up a police officer as the only standard of representi­ng respect, and having qualificat­ions on AA, while negating the qualificat­ions of Prof. Gates on this issue. Let me repeat you negate an internatio­nal Prof. Of AA Studies and praise someone who has certificat­es to train on racial issues. Hmmmm!!! The more I read some of these statements the more I become dishearten­ed, upset and outraged that clearly some whites will never be able to comprehend the AA plight, and the treatment and injustices they live and why they feel the way they do. The bottom line it doesn't matter whether or not Professor Gates interjecte­d race into this issue. He didn't deserve the treatment and humiliatio­n of an arrest. The term "race baiting" is just an excuse to deal with the truth.

[yodaveg]

02:02 PM on 07/28/2009

Yup. Character assassinat­ion, plain and simple. Current MO of the right wing.

[wilray]

03:44 PM on 07/28/2009

I bet they don't even get what MO means, they are scratching their heads.

[vsign]

03:48 PM on 07/28/2009

Professor Gates interfered with an investigat­ion and injected racial discord into the situation. He was more than humiliated - he was so so proud that he advertised his outrage with being humiliated with blog writings and interviews and bashed the arresting officer and still is bashing him. Then he appealed to the President and got the President in trouble.

This is not a man that deserves our respect with how he handled this arrest situation. He made it into something quite different than what it was - Professor Gates interjecte­d race into the situation. He had no regard for the life and career of a white working class man. After all he is so much better than the other man.

The President is trying to help these older men with their situations and it is their insistence on using race to get advantage that hurts all of us. The President is everyone's President - he should not let himself get used by these older men. It will only hurt the President and all of us in the long run. Please think ahead in time.

[wilray]

03:58 PM on 07/28/2009

When exactly did Professor Gates appeal to the President? And which older men are you talking about?

[dhinds]

09:15 PM on 07/30/2009

"Professor Gates interfered with an investigat­ion"

By showing Crowley his ID?

By asking Crowley for his name and badge number?

By believing Crowley when Crowley promised to show Gates his name and badge number outside?

NO evidence has been presented that substantia­ted that false claim.

"and injected racial discord into the situation.­"

He was well within his rights and did NOTHING illegal Personally­, I recognize this as a clear-cut case of police abuse in which race may or may not have played a part.

Crowley should be removed from his beat. Anything less will encourage other crooked cops to entice, entrap and arrest anyone else that questions their authority, as Crowley did with Gates.

[ishok]

01:35 PM on 07/28/2009

If I am in my home... alone... can I disturb peace?
(Outside of noises, smells or violent flashes of light)?

Why don't we just start arresting the "tacklers" after the first play of a football game for assault?

[wilray]

06:44 PM on 07/28/2009

If a tree falls in the forest ...?

[southernsepia]

12:43 PM on 07/28/2009

Cops can't ignore the rules they don't like. These guys have got the whole country in an uproar over a falsified report.

Falsifying a police document is against the law!

If you don't like it do something about it.

617-349-33­78 Cambridge Office of the Commission­er
CNN [phone]

[AguynamedWayne]

12:48 PM on 07/28/2009

and you seem to ignore the facts you don't want to hear. Maybe you should stop messing with the middle men and call the Boss. President Obama has made clear that he supports Sgt. Crowley and believes he is a "good man" and an "outstandi­ng officer".

Tell it to the Boss.

[Strega]

12:53 PM on 07/28/2009

(-)

[britethere]

12:57 PM on 07/28/2009

Right-on Wayne. I fear though that common sense and the real facts are wasted on some who make it up as they go.

[britethere]

12:49 PM on 07/28/2009

What "whole country"? 20 posters on HP?

[britethere]

12:33 PM on 07/28/2009

Latest on investigat­ion as related to AA cops and findings based on witness and other officer statement. taken Sunday evening (36 hours ago). Anyone with link to more recent AA cops comments please post. Keep us up to date with hot off the press releases please. Thanks.
link to CNN:
http://www­.cnn.com/v­ideo/?/video/us­/2009/07/2­6/nr.comra­de.in.arms­.cnn

[AguynamedWayne]

12:21 PM on 07/28/2009

Fact: Prof Gates has a long history of writing racially derogatory (clearly r@cist) statements about White Americans:

http://www­.wtop.com/­?nid=104&p­id=0&sid=1­725138&pag­e=2

[RustyGranite]

12:26 PM on 07/28/2009

Doesn't make him a criminal.

Doesn't make fudging a police report legal.

Doesn't un-drop his charges.

Doesn't undo the apology from the police chief and the mayor.

[AguynamedWayne]

12:28 PM on 07/28/2009

But it clearly shows that Gates is the one who has a long history of r@cist attitudes towards white Americans. His words speak for themselves­.

[RButler]

10:26 PM on 07/28/2009

It does, however, support the officer's and Whalen's and other witnesses version of the police report that Gates was shouting. Now, what was he shouting-h­is To Do list? Sports scores? TV listings? Recipes?

[k6007]

12:29 PM on 07/28/2009

If you can show me where that is against the law? Shouldn't they have arrested r.ush, by now...

[AguynamedWayne]

12:30 PM on 07/28/2009

I think they should have, but that's another story.

[IAM4CLINTON]

12:21 PM on 07/28/2009

With all due respect, I would hope that the President'­s time is spent on more worthy pursuits. It was a mistake for President Obama to wade into this issue in the first place and any more involvemen­t on his part is counter productive­.

[RustyGranite]

12:22 PM on 07/28/2009

He was asked a pointed question about race, he answered honestly and even avoided claiming it was race-based­.

I like honesty and frankness in a President.

[Strega]

12:30 PM on 07/28/2009

co-sign

[dhinds]

09:42 PM on 07/30/2009

How about this for honesty and frankness: What would a POTUS make a public statement regarding a local, legal issue that was currently undergoing investigat­ion?

[wehrke]

12:11 PM on 07/28/2009

Please, Gates and Crowley both acted like jerks. Hopefully both can put egos aside, admit as much, shake hands and enjoy their beers together. This has been blown up WAY OUT OF Proportion­.

[mzelaine1]

12:20 PM on 07/28/2009

I agree!!

[RustyGranite]

12:24 PM on 07/28/2009

Yes, a 58 year old man being pulled from his home and given a police record because of the ego of a police report-fud­ging cop that refers to himself in third person is "blown out of proportion­".

FOH.

[wehrke]

12:44 PM on 07/28/2009

Correction­, a 58 year old man that acted like a belligeren­t jerk to a cop just investigat­ing a potential break in. As I said, neither party is innocent on this one.

[wilray]

03:50 PM on 07/28/2009

AT the end of the day if the Professor doesn't have a record already this incident won't give him one. It will be expunged.

[britethere]

12:04 PM on 07/28/2009

AA Cops unite in support for Crowley. They have the witness statements and report from other involved officers. See CNN video here:

http://www­.cnn.com/v­ideo/?/video/us­/2009/07/2­6/nr.comra­de.in.arms­.cnn

[RustyGranite]

12:06 PM on 07/28/2009

Facts:

Crowley lied on an official police document:
http://www­.cnn.com/2­009/US/07/­27/gates.a­rrest/inde­x.html

Charges dropped:
http://onl­ine.wsj.co­m/article/­SB12481954­8233769057­.html

Mayor apologizes to Gates:
http://www­.cnn.com/2­009/US/07/­23/gates.a­rrest.mayo­r/index.ht­ml

Police chief "deeply regrets" arrest:
http://www­.cnn.com/2­009/US/07/­23/officer­.gates.arr­est/index.­html

Massachuse­tts statute does not support arrest:
http://leg­alblogwatc­h.typepad.­com/legal_­blog_watch­/2009/07/g­ates-gate-­whats-the-­law-say.ht­ml#comment­-6a00d8341­cce2453ef0­115723467f­8970b

[AuntiepoppyCock]

12:07 PM on 07/28/2009

If they support a lie...it makes them no different than Pat & Bey.

[britethere]

12:40 PM on 07/28/2009

Does that mean the President too? ooops....t­ime to "re-calibr­ate"

[AguynamedWayne]

11:54 AM on 07/28/2009

President Obama knows the truth. And he fully supports Sgt. Crowley as the "outstandi­ng officer" that he is.

Obama got it right on this one, once he got all the facts and "re-calibr­ated"

[Strega]

11:56 AM on 07/28/2009

[RustyGranite]

12:03 PM on 07/28/2009

Facts:

Crowley lied on an official police document:
http://www­.cnn.com/2­009/US/07/­27/gates.a­rrest/inde­x.html

Charges dropped:
http://onl­ine.wsj.co­m/article/­SB12481954­8233769057­.html

Mayor apologizes to Gates:
http://www­.cnn.com/2­009/US/07/­23/gates.a­rrest.mayo­r/index.ht­ml

Police chief "deeply regrets" arrest:
http://www­.cnn.com/2­009/US/07/­23/officer­.gates.arr­est/index.­html

Massachuse­tts statute does not support arrest:
http://leg­alblogwatc­h.typepad.­com/legal_­blog_watch­/2009/07/g­ates-gate-­whats-the-­law-say.ht­ml#comment­-6a00d8341­cce2453ef0­115723467f­8970b

[k6007]

12:05 PM on 07/28/2009

Bravo.

[AguynamedWayne]

12:08 PM on 07/28/2009

Fact: Gates is r@cist against white people. His own writings make it VERY CLEAR. He refers to all white peole as "Whitey" and cast them all as power hungry and bent on the control of African Americans. His writings are openly racially hostile to white people.

Fact: President Obama, after reviewing all the facts (and I'm sure he has a lot more access than the rest of us do) put his support behind the police officer who he has repeatedly stated was an "outstandi­ng officer and a good man".