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Obama Sticks to Bud Light at Beer Summit

By JJ Duncan on

Barack+Obama in Obama Meets Over Beer With Harvard Prof. Gates And Cambridge Police Officer

(L-R) U.S. Vice President Joe Biden, Harvard University Professor Henry Louis Gates, Cambridge Police Sgt. James Crowley and President Barack Obama drink beer and talk in the Rose Garden at the White House July 30, 2009 in Washington, DC. Crowley arrested Gates, a preeminent scholar of African-American history, in his own home July 16 for disorderly conduct. The issue reached national attention last week when, during a televised news conference Obama said the officer acted stupidly. (Getty Images)more pics »President Barack Obama played it safe at the press-dubbed "Beer Summit" Thursday. Avoiding another dijon mustard elitist debacle, the president stuck with Bud Light as he had a beer with Harvard Professor Henry Louis Gates and Cambridge Police Sergeant James Crowley.

Insisting it was an informal meeting to discuss the differences between Gates and the officer who arrested him after he was seen forcing open the front door of his home, Obama and VP Joe Biden both arrived in shirtsleeves. The two munched on pretzels and peanuts while sipping beer as White House photogs looked on.

As for the president's guests, Crowley had a Blue Moon wheat beer with a slice of lemon while Gates veered from the domestic brews for the popular Jamaican beer Red Stripe.

No news yet on whether the Beer Summit helped resolve the tense race relations piqued by the Gates arrest and Obama's comments that Cambridge police had "acted stupidly." But we all know alcohol helps resolve conflicts, right?