Oh, I just knew the moment I heard him say it that it was something that was going to drag on and on and on and on... And so it has. I must be a friggin' psychic or something... now if I could just conjure up the winning lotto numbers...

When Obama held his press conference about health care a little over a week ago now, I cringed when I heard his answer to the question about the arrest of his friend Henry Gates. As soon as he said that the Cambridge Police Department had "acted stupidly" I knew that the right-wingers and the media would be making hay of this forever and obscure the whole point of the press conference... the fight over health care.

And sure enough... what have we been treated to for the last week? Near 24/7 media coverage of every bodily function of Henry Gates and Sgt. Crowley with a heaping helping of race thrown into the mix. And believe me, the right-wing pundits have been having a field day with this. I think my favorite moment from these nutjobs comes from Glenn Beck who said that Obama is a "racist" who has a "deep seated hatred for white people or the white culture." I have a feeling that would come as quite the surprise to his white mother and grandmother.

For the record... I do not believe that Crowley's arrest of Gates was motivated by race in any way, shape or form. Personally, I think it was simply a pissing contest that Crowley just had to win. Gates was belligerent, rude and downright insulting. No question about it. But the thing is, we have a right to be belligerent, rude and downright insulting in our own homes. So long as we don't cross that line and threaten somebody's life or safety, we're free to be complete and total jackasses in the comfort of our own home. There is nothing in Crowley's official incident report that indicates Gates made any threats to his life or safety at all. He was simply belligerent and rude. When Gates provided proof that he was lawfully in that house, the matter should have ended right then and there. End of investigation. Period. But you can see in Crowley's own words that he essentially baited Gates to come out of his house and continue his idiotic and belligerent tirade outside of his house and in the eye of the public where he could then arrest him for disorderly conduct. And Gates was dumb enough to take the bait. The charges against Gates were ultimately dropped.

I think Gates acted stupidly, I think Crowley acted stupidly and I think Obama answered that question stupidly. He of all people should know the pitfalls and consequences of making comments like that in this politically charged atmosphere. He should know better than to say something like that when he knows the right-wing noise machine will use it not only to beat him over the head with but to also distract from the bigger issues... namely, the health care debate. I'm sure when the right-wingers heard him say that, they broke out into spontaneous dances of celebration because they knew he'd just dropped a big ol' gift right in their laps. Obama was asked the question and spoke from the heart... and now he and ultimately we are paying the price for it.

I'm truly hoping that this story is now going to go the way of the Do-Do... The culmination of the story is that Obama is meeting with both Gates and Crowley at the White House tomorrow to have a beer and discuss the situation between the three of them. Personally, I think it's utterly ridiculous that this has to be done in the first place and think it's just as ridiculous that it's actually a news story.

Though I hope against all hope that this "story" will die a quick death tomorrow, I fear that we're going to be caught up in another week of endless coverage of the "Beer Summit." The pundits will likely be breaking down and analyzing every drop of sweat to fall off the bottles. Hell, the media has already reported what each man will be drinking... Obama will be having a Bud Light, a Blue Moon for Crowley and a Red Stripe for Gates. Seriously.... they're reporting on it like they're Woodward and Bernstein and have just uncovered the biggest scandal since Watergate.

And all the while this crap is being incessantly reported on in every news cycle, relatively little attention is being paid to a real issue... health care and the public option. The fact that Max Baucus and the Senate Finance Committee were set and ready to strip the public option out of the bill barely made a blip on the media's radar. The fact that in the House, the Dems have caved in to the demands of the Blue Dogs has barely been touched... And the fact that there are reports of "progress" in Senate negotiations over the bill has barely been mentioned. Because let's face it... Obama's horrific taste in beer is a far bigger story, isn't it? And the right-wing will keep this story alive like Dr. Frankenstein as long as they can because it deflects from and obscures the debate on the real issues. And the media not only lets them get away with it, they participate in the same thing!

Oh how I love our media. They're just so on top of things!!!