"Dreaming of a Bud Light" -- photo by Steve Jurvetson / Menlo Park, USA
We here at The Man F.A.Q. are a little disappointed in our commander in chief’s choice of brew.
At a meeting today between a white Cambridge police officer and the black Harvard scholar he arrested last week, which fueled a race debate nationwide focusing on racial profiling, President Barack Obama chose to have a Bud Light. Police Sgt. James Crowley was reported to ask for a Blue Moon, which pictures seem to confirm as the officer is seen drinking a wheat beer with an orange wedge floating in the glass. Professor Louis Gates Jr. is said to have asked for a Red Stripe. A lime wedge is seen floating in his glass. Vice President Joe Biden joined the group, and was seen drinking a lager-type beer, which was reportedly non-alcoholic.
Likely, Obama’s choice was made by a White House staffer who wanted to pick the beer least likely to offend the American populous. Giving the prez an all-American brew was probably the target. Swing-and-a-miss, says The Man F.A.Q. Budweiser was bought out last year by a Belgian company. Don’t try Miller or Coors, either, as they’re both owned by a UK conglomerate.
In fact, the White House staff missed the obvious beer choice — Sam Adams Boston Lager. Or, any other of the Samuel Adams varieties. First off, the beer is from the area where both Crowley and Gates live, and it’s a beer brewed and owned right here in the good old U.S. of A.
In an interview with National Public Radio, Sam Adams founder Jim Koch said he’d even make a special beer for the event.
“I’d make a blend of ingredients from all over the world. Which is certainly what’s represented there with the three participants,” Koch told NPR. “I would blend those ingredients together artfully and harmoniously, because that’s really what we all hope for.”
But in the end, it was a Bud Light for the leader of the free world. For Shame, Barack. For shame. And that’s not even taking into account the fact that Bud Light is just another in a long string of watered-down, yellow, fizzy beers. But, at least Obama’s consistent. In Raleigh, N.C., during his campaign, Obama opted for a Pabst Blue Ribbon.
One political blogger weighed in, “Obama is intent on using this whole episode as a ‘teachable moment,’ you’d think he could teach Americans to drink something better than Bud Light,” Jason Zengerle wrote on The New Republic.
Editor’s Note: There are conflicting reports on Gates’ beer of choice. Some sources say the scholar enjoyed a Sam Adams Light at the White House meeting.
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