Obama Invites Harvard Professor, Arresting Officer to White House for a Beer

Regardless of your position on the perceived events surrounding the arrest of Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. by Sergeant James Crowley of the Cambridge police department, you've certainly heard plenty about it already.

Today's developments in the story come from the woman who placed the 911 call that set this entire incident in motion. Lucia Whalen called police after she said that she observed two men apparently trying to break into a home. From where she stood, she could not tell the race of the men and she eventually guessed that at least one of the men may have been Hispanic after speaking to the 911 operator. After the fact, it became clear that both men were black.

Now that Obama has entered the national discussion on the situation, he has been wise to try to back pedal somewhat in order to try to calm things down. He reached out personally to Gates and Crowley on Friday and had cordial conversations with both men. Obama was quick to refer to Crowley as a "good man", seemingly trying to recover from describing police in the matter as having "acted stupidly".

Both men have been invited to meet with Obama at the White House and discuss the situation over a beer. It's unclear at this time when exactly such a meeting would take place and what kind of press coverage it will receive. It could end up being an amazing opportunity for Obama to personally resolve a racial dispute and could actually bring a new level of understanding and respect from all parties involved. Both men accepted Obama's invitation and media outlets are certainly eager for more details.