Thursday, July 30, 2009

Beer Summit - Teachable Moment

Hey, let's all load up and head to the White House today for a "teachable moment" at the "Beer Summit.  That's right, my friends for those of you who live under a rock and haven't heard the whole story about the Cambridge University Professor who had a big case of diarrhea of the mouth who went head to head with a cop who had a case of the big head with a badge topped off with a name-calling president I am sure your favorite search engine could get you up to speed.  Meanwhile, the prez has invited the two headline makers to the White House for what is being labeled the Beer Summit and dubbed a "teachable moment" as to show that if you realize that a mistake has been made, you should sit down and have a beer with the president!

I read a profile status update from a pre-school teacher that said, "Everyday i try to teach children that you should not call people names...... So what do you say when our country's "leaders" get on television and call someone "STUPID". I think she summed it up well. I think all three parties acted with no regard to the outcome of the situation. They probably all showed their true colors and now they are trying to candy coat it. What's done is done. Apologies are good and I believe that we should teach our children the importance of them, but we must first teach them to love one another.  My children hear the word "stupid" and they think it is a bad word.  We do not call one another stupid.  It is very important for me for them to not say "stupid" or "shut up".  They have to learn to respect others as well as themselves and I believe this starts with teaching them how to use their words.  Frankly, I think all three parties involved in this situation acted horribly and I hope that this "beer summit" puts an end to this whole ghastly situation as I'm at my wit's end hearing about it.
Now, on to Michael Jackson...will this EVER not be a lead story on a newscast???

10 comments, add yours here:

katherine. said...

apparently "skip" gates and President Obama are friends...they have had beers before.

We weren't allowed to say "shut up" or "stupid" when we were little either. I am making up for it now.

the subsequent comments, statements, and press conferences made by Gates and Crowley convey both think they were justified in their behavior. There is no way either of these men are going to back down from their position.

The President should have refrained from getting involved.

I'm going to stop now before I get ticked off again....

Anonymous said...

The President should have kept his mouth shut. Period. He should not have "re-calibrated" his wording, as he put it. What the heck does "re-calibrated" mean?

Geesh!

Sandee said...

Obama had no business getting in the middle of this. I'm sick of hearing about it too. Enough is enough.

Have a terrific day. Big hug and lotsa lovies. :)

Suburban Girl said...

I agree. Let hear the real news for once. And my kids always thought stupid was a bad word too.

Mimi Lenox said...

I'm going to post something soon about the Beer Summit. That is the other issue. The President inviting people to the White House for beer is another thing we have to explain to the kids.
I can hear it now, "Let's all go have a beer. The President did it so it must be ok."

Kids don't have the adult wherewithal needed to know the difference. This was not a great example on his part I'm afraid.
And I'm usually a fan of his.

Jim said...

Hey Trish, I am not in favor of hashing things over on a beer. Not a lot of people like beer drinking cops, professors, and for sure not presidents.
It was the policeman's idea. He wanted to clear the air. I sure hope he apologizes too because he should have had more patience. I wouldn't want to be treated like that even if I didn't act MEEKLY like we were taught as teenagers who were under constant police harassment.

I will be back soon for Sky Looking soon, mine is up already.

But I did want to tell you that we have been missing Shreveport hilights for a long time. We have to drive through to get to Farmerville, Louisiana to visit my SIL.
..

Linda said...

Personally I find the whole thing ridiculous and am sick to death of the President trying to present himself as a "regular guy" when - face it - he is the leader of our country and not a regular guy anymore. He never should have gotten involved in this to begin with - especially not knowing the situation - and he only made it worse by calling the Cambridge Police "Stupid". The cops have trouble enough being respected without having the President of the United States calling them "Stupid". Shame on him.

And shame on this so-called Beer Summit; it's just a way to try to help salvage a bit of his sliding approval rating.

As long as people continue to make things about race that weren't about race to begin with there will always be racism. I read the police report and racism had absolutely nothing to do with this at all - nothing. It had to do with some guy wanting to flex his muscle as to his importance at Harvard and an officer trying to do his duty and protect that first guy's house. Had Gates shown the officer his ID at the beginning without the whole "trying to keep the man down" attitude then none of this would have happened. At least that's my opinion for all that it's not worth.

Amazing Gracie said...

Well, I was going to say what Linda said, but as usual, she says things so much better than I!!!
BHO had no business whatsoever saying he didn't have the facts, but....
I will stand with the officer any time, especially when we consider that he teaches a class in racial "harmony." I am sick to death of people of color who, like the good professor, continually squeal "race." They are exploiting themselves. And, I absolutely have NO room for racists, be they white or black!!!!!

Patois42 said...

Well, the Beer Summit did make MJ the second story of the day. That's a start.

Travis Cody said...

Mr Obama was asked a question, to which he answered that he thought the officer acted stupidly. Should he have framed his answer more diplomatically? I think so. But he was asked a question and he answered it.

Mr Obama did not purposely interject himself into the situation. He ended up in the situation by answering a question badly. And then he tried to fix his error.

People will think what they like about Professor Gates, Officer Crowley, and President Obama. They will do so based on their own interpretations of the situation.

That's my 2 cents, adjusted for whatever the economy is doing at this time.