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How Insane Is the Beer Summit?
A white cop gets invited to the White House for arresting a black man. The ever-disciplined Obama flubs a line. And Skip Gates—he’s being attacked from all sides. Stanley Crouch tries to make sense of the White House silly season.
Plus: Tina Brown, Skip’s daughter Liza, and other Daily Beast writers react to Gates-Gate.
Nothing brings out more American madness than race and nothing is more available for exaggeration than the “plight” of black people, especially black men, most especially those now behind bars. They are the most authentic because real black men always run afoul of the law or are forced by poverty to murder, rape, and brutalize other black people when not selling them drugs. Authentic black men are not academic milquetoasts. They wake up angry, they go to bed angry, and they sleep in anger.
View Our Gallery of Politicians Drinking Beer
But if one listens to conservative race baiters like Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh—professionals who are loons on demand and for pay—one notices that they also live inside of shared toxic exaggerations. Or at least spout them. As they speak of Barack Obama’s supposed hatred of white people, the red seems to grow from their necks and rise under the skin on the backs of their heads until continuing to their faces, which then take on the kind of purple that white people call “wine stain.” I doubt a brew will calm them down. Nor will a painkiller.
This is a weird moment.
Bessie Smith once sang of wanting a pig foot and a bottle of beer and to be left alone because she was “in my sin.” The blues diva would be perfect entertainment for one of the most ridiculous moments in what is the presidential version of something he termed “silly season” while debating in the contest for the Democratic Party’s nomination.
Silly season comes to the White House as our president brings together two men descended from Niall of the Nine Hostages, an Irish warlord of 450 B.C. It could be called “sin for three,” because they will be having a couple of cool ones but probably no pig feet so as not to offend either Jews or Muslims or vegetarians. After all, you know how they are and must be aware of how very hard it is out here for three men just trying to figure out how to get along. Given all of the blather, it cannot be easy to get firm footing while attempting to scale our racial fence of barbed wire.
One of the president’s guests this afternoon will be a millionaire Harvard academic named Henry Louis Gates, Jr. Gates has a brown neck and got loud before and after being arrested by an Irish cop whom he appears to have assumed had a red neck. Apparently wrong because, as a volunteer instructor on the evils and dilemmas of racial profiling for the last five out of six years, Sargeant Crowley seems to have had the wrong neck pinned on him. It continues to get good. Obama also has Irish roots, even further proof of how important the Emerald Isle is to our national gene pool. In America, you are never actually sure at whom you are looking. Two heads on a pillow is a wild and wooly story.
This moment of ethnic trivia was made molten by our media but also unavoidably high profile by Obama’s choosing to answer an inappropriate question about the arrest at the end of a press conference on health care! His choice showed the president to be far more vulnerable to lack of discipline than at nearly any moment during his long, long march to election.
One commentator observed shortly after the race had been won that Obama’s ability to never repeat a rhetorical mistake over that incredibly grueling campaign put him in a category by himself when compared to other politicans whose gaffes are not only expected but sometimes legendary.
But race, like sex, will catch the best and brightest of us with our pants down or our panties slipped off. We have not heard much of late about those descendants of Thomas Jefferson who so stridently denied the possibility of red-headed Tom knocking boots with Negro female Sally Hemmings. DNA closed that case, or left TJ’s britches unbottoned. Zippers had not yet been invented.
John Talks Joe
Lloyd Grove is editor at large for The Daily Beast. He is also a frequent contributor to New York magazine and was a contributing editor for Condé Nast Portfolio. He wrote a gossip column for the New York Daily News from 2003 to 2006. Prior to that, he wrote the Reliable Source column for the Washington Post, where he spent 23 years covering politics, the media, and other subjects.
The Right Dumps Carrie
Jacob Bernstein is a senior reporter at The Daily Beast. Previously, he was a features writer at WWD and W Magazine. He has also written for New York magazine, Paper, and The Huffington Post.
Desperately Seeking a GOP Hero
Stanley Crouch's culture pieces have appeared in Harper's, The New York Times, Vogue, Downbeat, The New Yorker, and more. He has served as artistic consultant for jazz programming at Lincoln Center since 1987, and is a founder of Jazz at Lincoln Center. In June 2006 his first major collection of jazz criticism, Considering Genius: Jazz Writings, was published. He is presently completing a book about the Barack Obama presidential campaign.
Carter's Charge Is a Distraction
Stanley Crouch's culture pieces have appeared in Harper's, The New York Times, Vogue, Downbeat, The New Yorker, and more. He has served as artistic consultant for jazz programming at Lincoln Center since 1987, and is a founder of Jazz at Lincoln Center. In June 2006 his first major collection of jazz criticism, Considering Genius: Jazz Writings, was published. He is presently completing a book about the Barack Obama presidential campaign.
Obama Steps In It
Stanley Crouch's culture pieces have appeared in Harper's, The New York Times, Vogue, Downbeat, The New Yorker, and more. He has served as artistic consultant for jazz programming at Lincoln Center since 1987, and is a founder of Jazz at Lincoln Center. In June 2006 his first major collection of jazz criticism, Considering Genius: Jazz Writings, was published. He is presently completing a book about the Barack Obama presidential campaign.
Gosh, with all this Irish blood flowing about, not to mention beer, it reminds me of an old riddle which might actually be pertinent here:
Q: What do you call the disease which makes you forget everything except a grudge?
A: Irish Alzheimer's.
geeee, in my experience, it was an italian grudge.
go figure.
I am a proud Celt myself, and I won't forget about that any time soon.
We are eternally angry,and rightfully so. We've been getting screwed ever since the Romans showed up, but I never forget that my ancestors used to collect heads to decorate their lodges.
Do you paint
Your face blue
On weekends?
As a black man who is 1/8 Irish, I resent the entire Gates/Crowley blow out and the alcohol being used to bring the warring halves of myself together.
Stanley- always like your stuff. Too many hacks aren't willing to be honest with themselves as they self righteously point fingers. It makes you one of few credible people in this important discussion. Keep on keepin' on
I've wanted for years to write Stanley Crouch and thank him for the light he sheds. This was as usual beautiful, smart, funny, and as a laser is, intensely focused. More from this man, please. Thanks, Stanley--
nagor76, you are absolutely right. Crouch is always intelligent, thought-provoking and anything but superficial. Please write more! It is a counterbalance to some of the dreck that sometimes permeates this Beast.
Obama doesn't have the time to support gay equality because he "has too much on his plate".
But he found the time to fight against gay equality:
Rep. Alcee Hastings has withdrawn an amendment that would have prevented the military from using money to carry out the provisions of its controversial Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy which prevents gays from serving in the military. He says he pulled the measure under pressure from the White House and colleagues.
"I would, however, like to note that it is most unfortunate that we are not addressing Don't Ask, Don't Tell at this time," Hastings said in announcing his decision. "We should not be appropriating funds to enable qualified service members to be booted out just because they are honest about whom they are."
http://miamiherald.typepad.com/nakedpolitics/2009/07/hastings-retreats-o n-dont-ask-dont-tell.html
Obama also found the time to interfere when one of his black, Harvard pals was feeling dissed.
Obama is a homophobic racist.
And you are an idiot if you believe that.
This just shows you that Obama mentally lives in another world than most of us.
He is still in the professor-university-socializing-deep thinking-philosophizing social circle world that he lived most of his life in.
Became Senator and almost immediately went on the campaign trail... so no experience there dealing with real world issues.
Gets elected President and now he is in his happy little bubble, contemplating the world from that "professor-university-socializing-deep thinking-philosophizing social circle" group think.
He is a mature Erkel... doesn't know a damn thing about real world economics... i.e. how to run a business or make a living from something other than public funds.
So, he is going to be like "one of the guys" and have a beer...
he actually thinks this is how the rest of us deal with these things... who would have come up with such a lame solution other than this dreamworld character?
We are in deep, deep trouble. Obama is a doofus.
Actually, the "Erkel, doofus, dreamworld character" you so eloquently deride didn't come up with the idea for the summit. It was the white cop who suggested the "group think" over beers at the White House.
I guess that shows that payed-through-"public funds"-Sgt. James Crowley "lives in another world than most of us."
Or maybe that's "how the rest of us deal with these things."
This is what I mean... you are living in that idiot world with Obama...
what world do you live in that explained it was Crowley who suggested the meeting? Obama World? (i.e. Bizzaro World)
no wonder the liberals are so friggin stupid.... they don't even live in this world...
Just so you know, in this world, where the rest of us live:
"President Obama, on his part, did some damage control and announced that he had phoned Sergeant Crawley, whom he called a good man, and had invited him for a beer at the White House."
PJ, the main problem with conservatives is that they lack a conscience, any imaginataion, and an ability to think critically. "Sophomoric" is perhaps the kindest description one can apply.
Sorry, PJ, you've got it wrong, Crowley suggested the three of them get together for a beer, and Obama made the invite.
Having a bit more insight and being much closer to the story than you, I know this to be the unequivocal truth.
I guess you could say I live in a world posers like you only dream of.
Actually having a friends back, sitting down and disscussing things over a beer aren't really that outlandish. I'm sure a majority of people have done those things.
I'm guessing he does know about economics and what he doesn't know he has people who do.
Philipjames is a doofus
Obama isn't one of the guys... don't you understand that?
Who do you actually think wears the pants in that family anyway?
Certainly not Mr. Momma's Jeans Man.....
oh, wait, maybe he's one of those things called a "MetroSexual Man"....
LOL
Yes, the Republicans are fools, and don't hesiate to show it. Their party has hardly had a new idea since 1892, and they take pride in it.
I never imagined that Obama was one of the guys, and do not want a president to be that. Guys like me vote for guys we hope really are smarter than us and can deal with these tons of complex problems we have, while not totally shafting guys like me in the process.
Bush Junior was one of the presidents who was just not smart enough to handle the job, although I always heard he was very personable.
PJ,
LOL? I thought only little school girls used that on their pink cell phones.
It will be silly unless Obama can use this as an opportunity to say something about racism and race relations in America, how we've made progress but there is still a long way to go, etc. etc.
And I'm not really sure how much "progress" this country has made on any issue in the last 30 years, but it sounds nice.
Why don't you move back Scotland then if America is so backward and not "progressive" enough for you. Seriously McMoron, you bitch like a mother-in-law.
Yeah, Obama is a doofus. Should've had this pony show in the Roosevelt Room. I'm sure the Secret Service would've let a camera man or two take pictures of them walking in, beer stein in hand.
I'm a little puzzled by your living "real-world" antics, though. But I guess that's the way things are in BushWorld, right? Nice and clear. Or maybe it's your buddies on Wall Fleece or NeoCon Central--the 2000-2007 Pentagon. Maybe the CPA 2004-2006. Just what could possibly be this "reality" P.J.?
I know; Palin or buckshot from Cheney!
Obama is no doofus. You have issues man. Get over it!!
Speaking of doofuses--that would be you phillipjames--we had eight years of the kind of everyman you and your ilk enjoy having a beer with. GWB ran this country INTO THE GROUND. Go have a drink with him--he's clearly much more your intellectual equal.
The fact that we have a president now who actually studied while in college, took what he learned and actually tries to understand what everyday working people experience is clearly beyond your meager ability to understand.
The back packs carried by the two big black guys in the police report could have contained porno books. If the house was searched after the Gates arrest the two big black guys would have had to open up their back packs. The photos in the back packs must have been an eye opener.
Go to POLITICO. You'll be at home there.
I hate beer, and love chocolate milkshakes. What does that make me?
exploora.. just some advice....don't ask a question like that, it leaves you way too exposed.
I was just wondering if Obama could just sit down and have a beer with North Korea or Iran...Hell, why didn't Bush think of this?
You are trying to combine two opposing concepts - Bush and thinking.
Kim Jung Il does not drink beer - Whiskey is more his style and Iranian mullahs are forbidden by the Koran to drink alcohol. Just remember this, being able to drink with someone does not mean that the someone will not come back and stab you .
Remember Russell Long's famous saying, "if you can eat their food and drink their booze the night before and then can't screw 'em the next day, then you have no business in politics." trust me this is political.
exploora
that makes you a person who hates beer and loves chocolate milkshakes...
And of course, the Bessie Smith song "Give Me a Pigfoot and a Bottle of Beer" is about a rent party...a depression tradition we might be seeing again. http://is.gd/1UV9r
ah cool
the rest of the story...
this is the barrel
this is the breech
and this
is the business end...
And a black man gets invited to the WH for commiting a felony.
Disturbing the peace has never been a felony. And I doubt you are in any way Hispanic.
BasPos - your remarks are consistently witless, stale, and uninsightful. Keep it up. Pretty soon you'll be on Bill Maher's writing staff.
Actually I admire Keith Olberman's headlines. BTW, the only person in any danger of a felony was Crowley. The meeting was adult and forward-looking. Community organizer Obama seems to have an excellent handle on manners.
BTW, I most admire Lear's Fool;-)
Oh! I don´t look brown enough to you, master?
Stanley, dude, don't be upset or try to analyze the prez' behaviour. Didn't the Repubs spend 8 years rewarding silly, unexplainable behaviour?
When Bush43 found out it was Rove who leaked the Plame info, did he get into trouble? NO! So just leave this one alone. You've got to give the president space to make mistakes in public and chalk it up to lack of experience . . .
I of course, would have preferred a shot or two or three of Jack Daniels and not beer for a *real* summit. LOL!
DUUUUDE. Get your facts straight on Bush and Rove. It was found out after Libby was convicted for lying to the FBI about a conversation he had with a reporter that it was Richard Armitage that spilled the beans about Plame. Fitzgerald knew that about a year before the trial.
Forget Jack Daniels, while Jack is a repectable gentleman, he would never be caught in a place of such disrepute as the White House( Isay that on a non partisan wave ) or for that matter many Congresssional offices. For a place like this you want something with a little more kick- I suggest a Jim Beam single barrel type with a higher proof. Let's get these Mick's all liquored up and see what happens....no canes Skipper, this is a fair fight. Biden should take his hair plugged self out of it, lest he get caught up in a family squabble. This has become a "private matter"
I love that the press has to stay 40ft. away from the Rose Garden. How are some of them going to report the important stuff like, who took the first sip? or How big was the head on the beer? If you wan to read "Beer Summit" private, news outlets forced to find real news go to http://newsy1.wordpress.com
racism is a two way street, none of the evidence supports any of Gates claims. In fact, it all goes against what he claims. The tapes, the radio traffic and eye witnesses all prove the officer was simply doing his job. I believe the professor was exercising a little racism/racial profiling of his own. Black entertainers/comedians often use racial slurs with no fear of retribution from anyone. where as if white entertainers/comedians make a racial slur he/she often loses their job,deemed a racist or both. Anyone remember Andrew "Dice" Clay? what about Don Imus? There is definitely a double standard in this country on racism. no one can deny that some people are racist, Black and white. but the main steam media never reports or investigates racism when it's directed at whites. The main steam media, web sites like The Daily Beast and Stanly Crouch in particular would have you believe that only white people are racist when nothing could be further from the truth. Obama attends a racist church for 20 years, selects a judge to the supreme court who believes "A wise latina woman will always make a better decision than a white male" and paints an entrie police force and community as racist with one broad stoke of his hate filled brush without any evidence at all. But he can't be participating in racism because he black. He's above racism. yeah right. If you happen to be an accomplished black person who has a run in with the Law and the officer who arrest you is white. The officer is going to be deemed a racist. it's just that simple. I hate to admit I voted for Obama, but I did, I won't make that mistake twice. Gates got exactly what he deserved.
Ting...the sound of another liberal crossing over.
Liberals
Don't use terms
Like Main Stream Media
Shorty-
You're being snookered.
to philipjames
I can tell you are a white.
What do you think will happen if by God's gigantic miracle, He turns all whites to non-whites, and vice-versa?
Will you cry or curse the world?
what are you talking about....wishful thinking?
Enlighten me
Clearthinker-
Why would that be
Wishful thinking?
dude should get out of his crouch
stand up
and have a beer...
mauilassie said
"What do you think will happen if by God's gigantic miracle, He turns all whites to non-whites, and vice-versa?"
Obama said
"Religion is the opium of the masses"
I agree with Obama, there is no god.
And God says...I don't believe in Rodzilla.
To be sure, Obama is a very cerebral president, more like a JFK or Woodrow Wilson than a Harry Truman--who was actually a lot smarter than he acted, as was LBJ, but both also had the natural common touch because they came from a lower class background.
Obama is pften stiff, formal and controlled, at least in his public persona. His humor is dry and sarcastic, which is fine with me since I am always sarcastic. I could care less is Obama is one of the guys, as long as he gets the job done and passes the reforms he promised.
mcmoron: do you have a point?
I hate cops who are treated like heroes for harassing blacks, and I hate it that mediocre blacks like Skip Gates are kept on at Harvard and treated as "the greatest black intellectuals" when he is just another mediocre professor who has risen far above the level of his own incompetence. I hate it that the Portagee nitwit walking by was such a busybody as to make the stupid 911 call she did. And I hate it hate it that the man I voted for has made such a jackass of himself.
????
Project much? I find your unfortunate characterization with the most honest and most wrongly maligned individual in all of this particularly offensive.
oldgaffer-
A lemon sucker like you
Never voted for Obama-
Who are you kidding?
The persona is because he is our first Black/Irish president, and he (and we) want to be invited back. He is also Hawaii's native son, and the brahs know how to set up the steinlager, when breaking bread. We are not the "Aloha State" fo' nottin!
This user is no longer registered.
agreed.
so much anger and hatred on this page please have a beer and chill.
Or a chocolate milkshake.
Yes-
And mostly
Angry white men.
Rage-filled privilege.
Figure that one out.
Rita... you rock!
I'm a white guy but I've never figured out the reason for rage-filled privilege myself.
In fact when I'm around that type (which is a lot, I live in Texas), I always ask: "Why aren't *I* mad about [insert alleged instance of reverse discrimination, tax increase, supposed 'socialistic' new policy, etc.] too?"
They never have an answer...
Great country America. You arrest a black guy and get to go to the White House. You are the black guy arrested, and going to the White House is no big deal.
Clearthinker, never has anyone had an more inappropriate handle on any message board. You are stupid scum like the rest of your party.
Is that clear enough to you?
I must be making my point since I am dogged by trolls like you all the time.
Excellent and entertaining! Thank you, Stanley Crouch.
Shoot 'em down, Stanley!
Thank you for your candor and humor, it is much needed to talk about race in this country. It is obvious that we have reached a point where the diversity of life experiences within each ethnic group has become so large, that the black/white stereotypes do more harm than good.
Thank you.
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