That's what President Obama hopes to make out of his invitation to Harvard Professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. and Cambridge Police Sgt. James Crowley, when the three sit down for beers at the White House to iron out the misunderstandings.
'The pair was invited by Obama to the White House after the president made remarks about Crowley’s arrest of Gates on a disorderly conduct charge last week, Gibbs said on “Fox News Sunday.”.
“The president believes this can be a teachable moment,” Gibbs said. “He feels he unnecessarily contributed to the frenzy. Cooler heads have prevailed.”'
There is no question that Obama contributed to the frenzy. In fact the arrest would likely have gone unnoticed by the vast majority of Americans. Instead, Obama put it front and center, and it's quite likely that it he did it by choice. Sure, Lynn Sweet assured us that no one at the White House had any idea she would ask the question she asked, only that she knew she was likely to be called upon.
'When President Obama called on me, he had no idea what I would be asking. I had not written or blogged about the Gates incident, so no one in the White House had any clue that I was particularly interested in Obama's reaction.'
But whether Obama knew about the question in advance, as Power Line points out, he was prepared for it if it was asked. And when it did, Obama launched into his teachable moment right there on the spot. Unfortunately for Obama, Teachable Moment -- Take One didn't go all that well.
'Of course, what got Obama into trouble was not saying that he knew Gates, but claiming that the Cambridge Police "acted stupidly" in arresting him. Although Gibbs doesn't come out and say it, it appears that Obama's "acted stupidly" line was not a spur of the moment blunder, but rather scripted commentary that he worked out in advance with his aides. Gibbs went on:
And, look, Bret, it's our hope that, as the president said, there can be -- this can be part of a teachable moment, that we can create a better communication and a dialogue between communities and police and help everyone do their job a little bit better.
Like the President, Gibbs doesn't seem to understand that the person in need of "teaching" is Obama. And who is supposed to "do their job a little bit better"? The police, I guess; but some would say the incident suggests that the President needs to do his job a little bit better. The dialogue continues:
BAIER: In fact, accepting that invitation for the beer, Mr. Gates wrote this. He said that he hopes it helps. Quote, "my unfortunate experience will only have a larger meaning if we can all use this to diminish racial profiling."
So does the president believe, as Mr. Gates clearly still does, that this was an instance of racial profiling?
GIBBS: Well, I think that's an issue that the president has worked on and been concerned about. I don't think the president has come down on one side of that or the other. Again, I think he would tell you he doesn't know all the details of this.'
The professor apparently believes that he was the victim of racial profiling and it's likely Obama agrees with him. But there is another lesson to come out of this. When police officers arrive at your house in response to a reported burglary and find you in it, you will be asked to step outside even after you show the officers that you live there. Once there the break is reported, the police are obligated to confirm that there is not a hostage situation in progress and that it will be safe for you to go back into your house when they leave.
Those things were not what Professor Gates was thinking, when he called Sgt. Crowley a racist for asking him to step outside, nor were they on President Obama's mind when he said the Cambridge Police "acted stupidly" for arresting a loud and insulting Professor Gates. So it will be interesting to see what comes out of Teachable Moment -- Take Two. Andrew Breitbart sees an opportunity of a different sort.
'The mainstream media choose to flaunt story lines that make white America appear guilty of continued institutional racism, while black racism against whites is ignored as an acceptable disposition given our nation's history. This double standard provides a game board on which the Revs. Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton can thrive in perpetuity and ensures racial progress is slowed.
And that is why the Case of Sergeant Crowley vs. Professor Gates is so important. As is expected from professional race baiters, Mr. Gates instigated a public brouhaha over race. And Mr. Obama, a man who attended the Rev. Jeremiah Wright's racist sermons for 20 years, used the bully pulpit to grant his friend a national platform to condemn a man for doing his job.
Sgt. Crowley, a proud and defiant public professional, played the moment perfectly and stopped his own assassination by media. Talk about a postmodern hero. Whether he likes it or not, Sgt. Crowley is a potent symbol of how the union has managed to become more perfect, a Rosa Parks of rush-to-judgment "reverse racism."
Now that the facts of the case show that his friend the professor was the man doing the racial profiling, the president wants to end the discussion.'
Let's see how that beer goes down at the White House.
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