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Obama likes Bud Light!? What are YOU Drinking Tonight?
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President Obama is going to help mend the rift between African-Americans who have experienced a life of racial-profiling and misunderstood policemen with an early evening White House therapy session involving beer consumption.
According to this report, Henry Louis Gates has ordered "Red Stripe". Cambride, Massachusetts police sergeant James Crowley will have "Blue Moon". Barack Obama wants a "Bud Light".
Bud Light?
After reading Richard Wolffe's interesting, Obama-instigated and approved book Renegade: The Making of an American President, Obama really comes off as someone preferring a fine pinot noir.
Wolffe quotes political commentator and analyst Ronald Brownstein, now with National Journal and the Atlantic Monthly, on his observation that during the campaign slugfest between Obama and Hillary Clinton, Obama was following a "wine track" strategy to attract supporters and Clinton was on a "beer track".
While they are swilling beer this evening and patching things up between cops and those on the fickle edge of police enforcement, I have a complicated evening involving wine, beer, and perhaps some fruity cocktails.
I'll be at the National Geographic Society event featuring Philippines President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo speaking about conservation and preservation efforts in the Coral Triangle. I plan to have Diet Coke there.
Then I will be dropping by the Singapore Embassy to pay respects to Singapore Ambassador Chan Heng Chee at a party celebrating the 44th Anniversary of the founding of the Republic of Singapore. I'll have a fruity something there. Maybe a Singapore sling.
Then, I am going to the home of Australia Ambassador to the US Dennis Richardson who is throwing what probably will be the best party in DC tonight for the members of the Australian-American Leadership Dialogue. No question -- Dennis will make sure I am having a great Australian beer.
And then, I am going to the home of Yemen Ambassador to the US Abdulwahab Abdulla Al-Hajjri, an excellent host and friend, for a dinner honoring Martin Indyk who is now acting Vice President and Director of Foreign Studies at the Brookings Institution and former Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs. I assume the "acting" part of Martin's title will be retired fairly quickly.
I never know what I'm going to have at Abdulwahab's home. It's always something of Yemeni origin and has a cultural significance that the Ambassador explicates during the dinner. What I drink there will be the most memorable -- no matter what I have before.
But best of luck to Skip Gates and to Sgt. Crowley in teaching all of us how to be a bit better to each other than we normally are.
-- Steve Clemons
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Reader Comments (15) - post a comment
Come on, baby, Light my Bud.
Is there no good microbrew in DC or able to be shipped in from
Chicago? I find it hard to believe that a Chi-town pol would ever
do anything to benefit St. Louis.
Personally, I think that Harpoon's UFO (unfiltered offering), with a
slice of lemon would have said a great deal.
Oh goodie, a thread that Sarah The Dumber and Joe The Plumber would relate to.
Burp.
Towards the end of my drinking, in Idaho, I resorted to cases of "Rheinlander" (SP? The fact that I can't remember how to spell it is a testament to the thousands of gallons I consumed) I do remember it was the cheepest stuff on the rack. I'm pretty sure that it was produced by a small brewery in downtown El Centro that shared a wall with the men's room of Nasty Jack's Bar and Grill.
Erik, I went to school in MA for year, in Northampton. We used to
have to go down to the "package store" or something like that, to
buy beer. I thought that it was absurd because in Arizona you can
get beer on almost every city street corner. There are DRIVE-THRU
LIQUOR STORES HERE, which I'm sure Sheriff Joe loves because they
give him even more prisoners to abuse.
I can't remember what the Trader Joe's beer is called (because I'm
drunk ;-) but it's something like Simple something. Look it up on
the TJ website if you're interested, and stock up next time you go
into a barbarian state ;-) Although it gave me a vicious hang-over,
but that's because I drank ten of them in one sitting. By myself.
JUST KIDDING.
BECKS....THE CAPITALIST BEER.
I had no idea TJ's had canned beer. That's the
problem with living in MA, none of the grocery
stores can carry any type of alcohol here...
Geez Steve, do you have a teletransporter? How do you manage to
fit all this stuff in? I am overwhelmed with my own simple life, so
have to applaud you for doing so much with such aplomb.
I'm all for Trader Joe's canned beer. It's got something like 6.2
percent alcohol in one can, so for those who are weight conscious
but want to get wasted, this (non) Bud's for you.
I'm cooking Chicken and Dumplings tonight for some friends. They'll have the Cab, I'm having a Sierra Nevada.
Cheers!
This Bud Is For You Mental Midgets Of The Media
http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2009/07/29/this-bud-is-for-you-mental-midgets-of-the-media/
ABC's The Note this a.m. referred to the meeting this evening as "the audacity of hops." Add Skip and jump for joy at this teachable moment!
ABC's The Note this a.m. referred to the meeting this evening as "the audacity of hops." Add Skip and jump for joy at this teachable moment!
Diet Coke? Artificial sweetener? I never really got diet sodas. The energy boost was the only reason for a soda pop, that and the glory days of Coca-Cola, which was, I guess unfortunately, before my time (or maybe not).
Caffeine free Diet Coke is the ultimate Huh?
But glad you are making all those rounds. There is no way that doesn't help inform your commentary even if you cannot relate directly off-the-record discussions.
So cheers, and drink one for the TWN crowd.
Hey Steve,
Would it be possible to request that Mr. al-Hajiri provide a post for TWN on the actual threat of al-Qaeda in Yemen?
Just a thought...
Have fun!
- Josh
Steve, I am going to try the Monte Falco sagrantino you recommended.
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