It's Beer Day

I wish Obama had added Lucia Whalen to the guest list for the beer summit at the White House tonight at 6 pm. Whalen, the caller, was hurt, perhaps the most. She was trying to do the right thing but her words were distorted. Bob Schieffer points out the biggest lesson is that in prickly situations, people should bite their tongue. I don't know if anyone's ready to learn anything about improving relations among the races, or stopping racial profiling. I think what we've learned is that there is a lot of racism out there and it's perpetuated in our media:

No apologies are expected to be made. Isn't that nice. Working class whites now dislike Obama even more.

Police officer Justin Barrett inserted himself into the debate by making a fool of himself and proving that SOME cops aren't worthy of a badge:

Obama Town Hall in Cleveland July 23

Update July 26: the town hall in its entirety:

It's around 2:30 p.m eastern and Obama's about to speak at a town hall in Cleveland. It's live streaming at msnbc.com. I'll post video when it's up.
Obama may comment on his comment about the police who arrested Harvard Professor Henry Louis Gates. I think Obama's response was an emotional response in that he understood Gates.
Update: Obama scooted the deadline to get health care done to the fall. Sen. Harry Reid is also saying nothing til fall. Also, Gibbs qualified Obama's remarks -- looks like Obama is sticking to health care at the town hall. Good move.
On the deadline Obama said: "I want to get it right but I also want to get it done promptly" and as long as he sees people working diligently, he's willing to bend.
Opening remarks:

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Read more about Obama's visit in Cleveland here.

Obama on Henry Louis Gates

Obama says Skip Gates is a friend and that the Cambridge police acted stupidly arresting Gates when they knew it was Gates' home. This whole incident makes me ill and sad.

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Here's what Gates said in an interview at The Root:

Henry Louis Gates Jr.: I’m outraged. I can’t believe that an individual policeman on the Cambridge police force would treat any African-American male this way, and I am astonished that this happened to me; and more importantly I’m astonished that it could happen to any citizen of the United States, no matter what their race. And I’m deeply resolved to do and say the right things so that this cannot happen again.

Of course, it will happen again, but … I want to do what I can so that every police officer will think twice before engaging in this kind of behavior. Read the rest