"Beer Summit": President Throws Lamest Beer Party Ever; or Really? Bud Light?

Did you ever see men looking that uncomfortable when there was beer around?

President Obama invited Cambridge, MA police sergeant James Crowley and Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr to the White House to talk over their differences over a couple of beers, and Joe Biden got to tag along.

First of all, who drinks beer in a rose garden? I suppose the argument could be made that beer is good no matter where it's served...ok, I'll go with that.

Still, these fellas looked at the very least a little uncomfortable, particularly Sgt Crowley. Of course, he and Gates were in suits and ties. Hard to let loose and have a heart to heart when you're all gussied up in yer Sunday finest. Obama and Biden choose to forgo the jackets, and the president even rolled up his sleeves. Probably to show he meant business.

I must say though I enjoyed the sight of the White House lackey trotting across the garden and delivering the brews.

And what brews did they choose? President Obama went with Bud Light. Really? Bud Light? Do you really think the president drinks that stuff on a regular basis? I don't think so either. I'm thinking chardonnay in the summer, perhaps a pinot grigio, and pinot noir in the winter, but Bud Light? Only when the cameras are rolling and he wants to look like a common man. Maybe Obama was trying to make nice with Jesse Jackson, whose sons are Anheuser-Busch distributors in the Chicago area. (That's a topic for another day.) I will give the president props for not light up a ciggie, no matter how desperately he may have wanted to. After all, smoking and drinking do go together for some, and it isn't exactly a stress-free time for Obama, so he may have some cravings he couldn't act on. At least not with photographers present.

Professor Gates, being a good temporary New Englander, choose a Sam Adams Light. Sgt Crowley went with a Blue Moon, served with a twist of orange, as is the custom (and a fine custom it is). Vice President Biden was the only one there who looked like he was having a good time, and he was drinking a non-alcoholic beer! Go figure.

Seriously though, shouldn't the president, a Chicagoan by choice, have served a Chicago brewed beer? Would Goose Island have been so bad? A 312 Golden Wheat Ale or a Summertime would have been delightful for an evening in the Rose Garden.

So what did we learn from this learning experience, as the president called it?

Ummmm, nothing much really, other than the media is good at creating distractions from serious issues, like health care and why cable TV costs so much when you get so little.