Ah, the Beer Summit, A Milestone for Race Relations or a Farce?

The post-racial President is going to have his hands full this evening when he shares a beer with Skip Gates and Sgt. James Crowley. The President says the contents of the meeting will not be made public, but I wonder if he'll be able to keep Gates from talking about it.

White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said today the president is not going to talk to reporters during the photo-op. "There is no formal agenda, there is no legislative agenda," Gibbs said, adding that the sit-down is "not an after action report," and he does not expect they will go over the details of what happened at Gates' house.

Gibbs, instead, called it an opportunity to foster a dialogue. When told that Gates wants an apology, Gibbs said, "We're not here to mediate apologies."

The president will drink Bud Light, while the Harvard scholar has expressed his preference for Red Stripe. The sergeant mentioned to Obama that he likes Blue Moon. Thus the drinks will be red, light and blue.

God willing, the three will make inane small talk for half an hour and that will be the end of it. Not the end that I would have preferred, mind you (Gates should be apologizing), but at least an end that doesn't include another Presidential lecture on race which the media can call "Lincoln-esque."

posted by Gabriel Malor at 11:56 AM

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