The Round of Beer Heard 'Round the Country

By Marcus Gilmer in News on Jul 31, 2009 3:20PM

White House Photo by Pete Souza

In a sit-down described as "cordial and productive," President Obama sat down with Harvard Professor Henry Louis Gates Jr., and Sgt. James Crowley, the Cambridge Police officer who arrested Gates a few weeks ago as Gates tried to enter his own locked house. The furor over the incident intensified last week when President Obama said that the police had "acted stupidly" in the manner in which they arrested Gates. A Pew Research Center poll found 41 percent of those polled disapproved of Obama's handling of the situation, 29 percent approved, and 30 percent fell into the "don't know" category. Afterward, Crowley indicated he and Gates planned to meet again. Whether the sit-down will cool tensions over this incident - which has seen things as wild as FOX News host Glenn Beck saying Obama, "has a deep-seeded hatred for white people," - remains to be seen and the President now moves on to other issues such as the economy (is it really rebounding?) and health care (still facing much opposition). In the meantime, Slate also breaks out a great list of cinematic sit-downs over beer. Hard to beat #1.