America prepares for Obama's beer summit

America prepares for Obama's beer summit

**WATCH WHAT PEOPLE HAVE TO SAY ABOUT THE BEER SUMMIT** BROOKE HART Before and after Harvard Professor Skip Gates was handcuffed at his own home, many saw one questionable call after another. "The Cambridge police acted stupidly," said President Barack Obama. President Obama said later he didn't quite mean that. "I could have calibrated those words differently." The President's reaction fired up right wing commentators, who called the President rash and racist. So tonight, it's beer on a White House picnic table for the three men involved. The President, Professor Gates, and Cambridge Sergeant James Crowley, whose response was backed up by witnesses. "I support what he did 100 percent," said Sgt. Leon Lashley of the Cambridge Police Department. Charges against Gates though were dropped. His supporters took a stand last night, and the NAACP backs up the President's first comment. "Indeed the President was right in his first analysis. We commend him for having the courage to begin raising issues of racial profiling and racial relations within the United States of America," said Hilary Shelton of the NAACP. No apologies are expected from anyone, though many say blame is shared. "I think the cop might have overreacted. I think Gates, the homeowner, definitely over reacted. And I think Obama spoke his opinion before all the facts were known," said bar patron Shane O'Neil. Will the divide tonight extend to beer? "All I can see is one party saying less filling and the other party saying more taste," said bar patron Dana Wave. Still no indication that beer will soften first instincts in the nation's latest image of race and police.