WE JUST THOUGHT YOU'D LIKE TO KNOW - AT 12:15 P.M. ET: 

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The chief White House spokesman said a Thursday meeting of the president, a Harvard University scholar and the policeman who arrested him will be ''about having a beer and de-escalation.''

Robert Gibbs said Tuesday that the session, weather permitting, is planned for 6 p.m. at a picnic table outside the Oval Office. ''The president wants to continue to take down the temperature a bit,'' Gibbs said.

COMMENT:  This truly symbolizes the adolescent character of the Obama administration.  The president should have apologized for his outrageous remarks condemning the Cambridge police for having acted "stupidly," and then gotten out of the case entirely.

This "picnic" just trivializes the whole situation, but is indicative of the Obama belief that all problems can be solved by just a little talking, a little beer drinking, some negotiation, and treating all sides as morally equal.  Certainly is working in his foreign policy, isn't it?

Please remember that Gates plans to make money on the case by filming a documentary, and that the police officer still faces an investigation in a town known for its leftist bias.

July 28, 2009