Beer Summit Is Ho-Hum; Gates, Crowley to Talk Again
Posted 2 hours, 50 minutes ago in US, Politics | Share Share Newser

Turns out the president was right: the beer summit was pretty boring. In fact, it wasn't even the first time Skip Gates and Officer Crowley had gotten together after the arrest. "Even before we sat down for the beer, I learned that the two gentlemen spent some time together listening to one another, which is a testament to them," said Obama in a statement. Crowley called today's meeting "cordial and productive" and said that while he and Gates "agreed to disagree," they also plan to talk again, the Boston Globe reports.

“They’ll be getting together to break some bread in a private session and talk about some community outreach efforts to improve relations between police and communities,” said a Gates friend. “There are important lessons to be learned from the July 16 incident." The families of Gates and Crowley toured the White House before the Rose Garden get-together.

—John Johnson
Sources: Boston Globe, Associated Press

I didn't hear that the president called the meeting ho-hum...
Considering how it could have turned out I think they all deserve respect. I guess some might have preferred a brawl of some sort.

Sounds like a Happy Ending to me.

I don't see where the article states that the president called the meeting ho-hum.

I do find it interesting that Crowley said he and Gates

"agreed to disagree,"

I wonder if that was in reference to the incident......

yes that was curious to me, but I think they will have a chance in coming days to work that out too of remain divided on specifics with out loosing their cool.

No apologies were given by either of the guests. So what was accomplished here?

Why is it so hard for them both to just say sorry, I maybe could have handled that differently .. Just seems like it could have been resolved by a simple apology... just don't understand that.

I apologize when I f**k up, no biggie.
To anyone I have pissed off or annoyed here...I am sorry.

What would the police officer need to "apologize" ? He was doing his job. He responded to a call and that's it. It doesn't matter whether the professor was black or white. If I would have been doing the same thing to my house and someone would call the police on me, I would completely understand and I would even appreciate the police response, because there will be time, when it's not me who is breaking into my house.
It's the fault of the professor as well as Obama for running his mouth..they are the ones who supposed to apologize to the cop.

It's interesting who people think should apologize to whom. GOP Rep. Republican Thaddeus McCotter, introduced a bill on the House floor demanding that Obama formally apologize to the the Cambridge police department...

This is an attempt to humiliate the president and nothing more and to me just made him look a bit petty. No forced apology is worth much of anything. Obama acknowledge his choice of words were regrettable and whether one finds him sincere or not, that was his way of acknowledging his part in this.

Egos got bruised, feelings hurt, all three men got through it with grace and courage. If everyone could have given it a day or two the media would have had nothing to report, the GOP Rep would have avoided looking like an ***, and everyone could have settled down before making permanent judgments.

All acknowledged they come from different perspectives and that they could all learn from each other.

I personally thought they all could have handled it differently at first, but oh well we all just plain react sometimes for different reasons, and in the end they handled it and that is enough for me. We the public tend to want an apology according to our own specifications and wouldn't mind a bit of public humiliation to go with it, to soothe our own egos. Everyone is different and will apologize in different ways, some non verbal some verbal but maybe not the words we might choose.

All this could have turned out very different if all three men hadn't had the characters they have shown that they ultimately have.

I am proud of all of them.

Funny I wonder how people would react if it happened to them at their home on their private property. I think both were wrong and both should have handled it different. For the someone in the House to introduse a bill about it is just plain stupid and a waste of time when they should be focusing on the real problems this country faces. Or is it a misdirection to take the spotlight off of those things....

People should act with respect to the officer, show them their ID, and give the officer enough time to determine that you are really in your own home.
Doesn't look like the officer did anything but show up and ask for ID and for that he was subjected to verbal abuse by Gates. Officers are trained to deal with verbal abuse before it turns physical which could happen in a flash.

As for the bill, good point. (stupid) One was also introduced stating Obama was born in Hawaii. And you want these guys(Congress) running a government health care program??? Not me.....

they drank beer with the Prez

sounds productive to me as well - these 2 gentlemen did not wait for this opportunity to speak to eachother - kudos to both of them. Neither feels the need to apologize, which is their right. They both agree to disagree (now if only more on M2 would adapt this)

Opinions are like noses we all one. Does not make one better than the rest, just something we all have.

I wonder who drove home afterwards

The most powerful leader in the "free world".....

and this is what he spends his time on..?????


what a monumental waste of time

Imagine that - he had a beer - what a waste of time that is

Now did he have that beer during work hours??? Is he promoting drinking in the work place???

GOP Rep. Republican Thaddeus McCotter was required to drive each of them home.. JK

Considering what Rush and Beck and others were making of it, and how they would have used it to trash the president, you bet, good move, saves us from the waste of time the alternative would have been. And just think, the 'president' sits down in an informal meeting about a topic that represents and issue we have been struggling with for decades. Yupper I'd say that is pretty special for a change. What other president has done that...

The president is not a beer drinker. He sipped at it like it was a Long Island Iced Tea.

woohooo our President can hang