I Want A Beer Summit With The President

Far too much time in the media over the last few days has been centered on the Professor Gates situation-and we all know now that President Obama should not have weighed in on the matter. The combination of:

a) not having all the facts before offering an opinion and
b) knowing that the attention it would generate would distract from, say, HEALTH CARE
surely would have caused him to reconsider making the press conference remarks that he did. If you missed them, they are here for your review:



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LucTPdK8VTc


Still, after all of this, a BEER SUMMIT? OK, maybe not meant to be a media event (but it will be anyway even if cameras are not allowed in),it is really not something that should be taking up the time of a President who has a few other things on his plate (and now he has a frosty beverage to go along with that meal)

I had the pleasure and honor of interviewing then-Senator Obama on the day of the New Hampshire primary last year. He was friendly, gracious, interesting to talk to and…well…someone you would like to sit down and have a beer with. Unfortunately, I would either have to be a black professor at Harvard (I am not) or a white policeman (I am not a cop)—or would need to find some other way to get into trouble on a national basis where the President could imprudently comment on in order to visit the White House and toss back a few with The Commander-In-Chief.

Not likely.

Frankly, I admire the President-and although I don’t agree with EVERYTHING he has done so far, nearly everyone would have to agree that his “to-do list” of urgent items upon taking office was perhaps the most daunting in U.S. history-and, like it or not, he has been a busy bee.

However, with two wars, an economy that is still on life-support and a health care bill to usher through Congress (among a thousand other important issues), I think we would be better served if the President spent less time courting the media and more time tackling the problems we face.

If you’d like my blog in your box, just let me know: tim.moore@citcomm.com

Now, let’s go have a beer!! (or eight!)