What did you think about Obama’s recent get-together (so-called “beer summit”) with Henry Louis Gates and Off. James Crowley?

DELORES McCAIN ASKS:

What did you think about Obama’s recent get-together (so-called “beer summit”) with Henry Louis Gates and Off. James Crowley?

Rep. LaShawn Ford Oak Park office 816 S. Oak Park

Millie Reynolds

“I believe when you do it for one person you will have to do it for others. I believe people are going to go out of their way to get into some kind of conflict; maybe he’ll invite them to the White House, too. I think he should leave that to the police and not get involved with that kind of stuff. That’s beneath a president.

John Robertson

“He should have just stood by his statement, because in reality the police did act stupid. He didn’t say police were stupid; the actions were. And there is no emphasis being put on the fact that the police report was not correct. He put down information from the caller that she did not say. I think if the president had stuck by his words everything would have been fine. I think his statement was accurate, and it was time. He should not have given this incident that much coverage. He has a lot more important things to tend to.”

Jim Boushay

“The biggest problem that I see is that we get so hyperbolic in the language we use about common ordinary things that people are then less willing to do common ordinary things; because the language we are using for them is so special that somehow or another a distance is created. That distance then makes people reluctant to engage in the common, the human, the ordinary, the normal, the everyday.”

Keith Collins

“I think it was a good thing to do. It showed the motivation of the president; trying to build unity.”

Justin Onayemi

“Well, I know at the time when he was giving his press conference he said that the officer acted stupidly, and I think I agree. I think people kind of took offense to that, maybe thinking he was talking about all law enforcement. So once you have all the facts and everyone is there and speaking to what they believe happened, maybe we can clear the air on the issues. So I think it was a good thing overall. All of the people involved were there and got to the truth.”

Rickey Sain, Sr.

“I don’t consider it a summit; four people around the table having a beer and a conversation. Simply because, the president understands that the only way we can get beyond these silly issues is by sitting down and talking to each other.”