President Obama is hosting Police Seargent James Crowley and Harvard Professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr. at the White House this evening for some beers and discussion of just what the hell happened that night in Cambridge. From what I gather, the fuzz is drinking Blue Moon, Gates is drinking Red Stripe or Beck's, and President Obama is drinking Budweiser.

Really? I love Budweiser as much as the next guy (or, um, the leader of the free world) but didn't Cindy McCain just sell Bud to the Netherlands or something? Nothing against foreign beers (which all of the others are), and I get that this is more about healing race relations than beer, which is important and everything — but this could be a significant teachable moment for the nation on the merits of craft brewing, and Obama is really blowing it. He should be the one to decide on the beer they'll drink, it should be a researched decision, and they should all drink the same thing.

So what should they drink? Sam Adams would be a logical choice since it's from Boston, but it's totally boring; no disrespect to the greater Northeast brewing community, which is second only to the West, but there aren't any other stand-out beers specifically from Boston that come to mind. Yuengling would be another choice since its the country's oldest beer, but it's a little Sam Adams-ish.I would vote for Brooklyn Lager, for the following reasons:

1. Brooklyn is a historic capital of beer production in the Northeast.
2. Brooklyn's brewery is wind-powered.
3. Brooklyn's founders are white, its brewmaster, Garrett Oliver, is black, and throughout its history the company has been a model of racial harmony.
4. Legendary American graphic artist Milton Glaser designed the logo, above.
5. Brooklyn Lager is delicious — it's actually more like an ale, but it's light enough for summer. If the lager doesn't suit Obama and his drinking buddies, Brooklyn offers a wide selection of other beers, and is constantly experimenting with small batches. Maybe a little sampler is in order.

So what do you think they should drink?

...
Update: I didn't realize when I wrote this that a lot of people were talking about it already. There's some interesting analysis to be found at The Pour (Eric Asimov's New York Times blog on wine, beer, and spirits), and Dan Savage posted about it on SLOG. It is a little ridiculous, but as I commented there, it is an issue worthy of some discussion, because Obama choosing Bud Light is kind of the same move as inviting someone to the White House and choosing to eat McDonald's. I do both of those things from time to time (drink Bud Light, eat at McDonalds's — both are delicious) but I'm not proud of either and I don't think it's the message he should be sending.