This play is also referred to as:
- The President has a Learning Experience
- The Mask Comes Off
- The Man with many Masks
- Pot Meet Kettle
Author: Public domain. Story adapted and revised for stage by J. Q. Public from White House Press Briefings. With the exception of the Narrator script, stage directions, and the last of Scene Three, the dialogue is from the press briefings from the White House or videos of the news conferences.
Notes for the Play Director:
Type of play: A short morality play approximately 35 - 45 minutes in length. The play permits alternate endings and allows for time fluctuations due to the number of questions used in Scenes One, Two, and Three.
Summary of Plot: This is a short, rather heavy handed one-act morality play. The President of the United States, when asked a question by a reporter during a press conference on health care, wades into the middle of a local police matter and shoots from the hip. In the span of less than an hour he had offended not only doctors and health professionals but now, with this final question, he has insulted the police as well and opened up a potential hornet's nest. His own press secretary the next day does little to dampen the furor created by the President's remarks. On the third day, the President in an unprecedent move, appears to apologize, but is it an apology? The audience is left with alternative choices that might have been made.
Suggested audience: All ages can benefit from the moral lesson. The double speak will be lost on very young audiences, but the duplicity can be explained by a good teacher who can also explain the media fire storm that the remarks created.
Setting: White House Press Briefing Room; any large open area with a podium will be ideal. Either arena or stage setting works.
Time: Contemporary.
Characters: From 10 to 40 cast members. Three central characters. Central role is the PRESIDENT. Could be male or female. Next prominent character is the NARRATOR. Could be male or female. The Narrator must speak clearly and calmly, setting the stage for the audience as the drama unfolds. Being pedantic is not necessary. The next central character is the White House Press Secretary, MR. GIBBS in Scene Two. The press secretary can be male or female. Assorted male and females are needed to serve as members of the press and would appear in all three acts. This permits the director to use as many cast members as are willing to participate. Each of these reporters can have speaking roles.
Props: Minimal, thus making this play suitable for those with a limited budgeted. The only critical prop is the podium for the President in Scenes One and Three and in Scene Two for the Press Secretary.
Optional props: Two simple old fashioned masks, the type that one holds with one hand and covers only the eyes. For the President, one multicolored mask and one black mask. One old fashioned jester hat for Scene Two for the Press Secretary. One stethoscope is used in Scene One by the President. Reporters can use legal pads and pencils or PDAs for all three scenes. A few can have some tape records to capture the conversations. More aggressive theater groups will have access to microphones and similar trappings.
Challenges for the Play Director: There are no real difficulties in bringing these three press conferences alive to the stage. The challenge will be in keeping the interest of the majority of the audience due to the lengthy and circuitous answers that the President often gives when asked questions. Audience members who have not kept up with political news and only catch the highlights of the press conferences from the general media will be bored and assume that this is staged. They will quickly tune out. Remind them that beer will be served during intermissions and they may pay more attention.
Royalties: Transcript of the play is in the public domain and is available from the White House. The prime source of the dialogue of the press conferences include: http://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing_room/PressBriefings/
and transcriptions.
Suggested admission fee: Do not charge a fee. The lessons are too important. Finding a beer sponsor, a yard maintenance franchise, a security firm, or even a popcorn producer will greatly enhance the opportunity for an impoverished community playhouse theater to increase revenues. Combining beer and popcorn in the concession area will provide additional revenue streams.
Certifed Paperwork Requirements to be Play Director: No certified paperwork is apparently needed for these theatrics.
NARRATOR: Addressing audience:
We find ourselves looking in on a press conference held by the President of the United States in the White House East Room July 22,2009. The topic is health care and the press that we see here
Narrator gestures towards to the gathered reporters
have been permitted by the President to ask him questions on health care.
Reminder to director: At this point, Scene One can be as long or as short as needed. The answers have been quite lengthy. Below are sample questions from the press conference.
THE PRESIDENT: The President is dressed in a professional business attire. Note to director: because either a male or female role will work, a business suit for either is appropriate.
Good evening. Please be seated. Before I take your questions, I want to talk for a few minutes about the progress we're making on health insurance reform and where it fits into our broader economic strategy.
He briefly holds up a rainbow colored face mask and sets it down.
Six months ago, I took office amid the worst recession in half a century. We were losing an average of 700,000 jobs per month and our financial system was on the verge of collapse.
As a result of the actions we took in those first weeks, we've been able to pull our economy back from the brink. We took steps to stabilize our financial institutions and our housing market. And we passed a Recovery Act that has already saved jobs and created new ones; delivered billions in tax relief to families and small businesses; and extended unemployment insurance and health insurance to those who've been laid off.
THE PRESIDENT: Of course, we still have a long way to go. And the Recovery Act will continue to save and create more jobs over the next two years -- just like it was designed to do. I realize this is little comfort to those Americans who are currently out of work, and I'll be honest with you -- new hiring is always one of the last things to bounce back after a recession.
THE PRESIDENT: He briefly holds up a rainbow colored face mask, holds it in front of his face, and then sets it down again.
And the fact is, even before this crisis hit, we had an economy that was creating a good deal of wealth for those folks at the very top, but not a lot of good-paying jobs for the rest of America. It's an economy that simply wasn't ready to compete in the 21st century ...
That's why I've said that even as we rescue this economy from a full-blown crisis, we must rebuild it stronger than before. And health insurance reform is central to that effort.
THE PRESIDENT: President now puts the stethoscope around his neck and plays with it a little.
This is not just about the 47 million Americans who don't have any health insurance at all. Reform is about every American who has ever feared that they may lose their coverage if they become too sick, or lose their job, or change their job. It's about every small business that has been forced to lay off employees or cut back on their coverage because it became too expensive. And it's about the fact that the biggest driving force behind our federal deficit is the skyrocketing cost of Medicare and Medicaid.
THE PRESIDENT: I realize that with all the charges and criticisms that are being thrown around in Washington, a lot of Americans may be wondering, "What's in this for me? How does my family stand to benefit from health insurance reform?" So tonight I want to answer those questions.
THE PRESIDENT: I understand how easy it is for this town to become consumed in the game of politics -- to turn every issue into a running tally of who's up and who's down. I've heard that one Republican strategist told his party that even though they may want to compromise, it's better politics to "go for the kill"; another Republican senator that defeating health care reform is about "breaking" me.
THE PRESIDENT: So let me be clear: This isn't about me. Plays with stethoscope nervously.
I have great health insurance, and so does every member of Congress. This debate is about the letters I read when I sit in the Oval Office every day, and the stories I hear at town hall meetings. This is about the woman in Colorado who paid $700 a month to her insurance company only to find out that they wouldn't pay a dime for her cancer treatment -- who had to use up her retirement funds to save her own life. This is about the middle-class college graduate from Maryland whose health insurance expired when he changed jobs and woke up from the emergency surgery that he required with $10,000 worth of debt. This is about every family, every business, and every taxpayer who continues to shoulder the burden of a problem that Washington has failed to solve for decades.
THE PRESIDENT: This debate is not a game for these Americans, and they can't afford to wait any longer for reform. They're counting on us to get this done. They're looking to us for leadership. And we can't let them down. We will pass reform that lowers cost, promotes choice, and provides coverage that every American can count on. And we will do it this year.
THE PRESIDENT: With that, I'll take your questions.
Reminder to director: At this point, Scene One can be as long or as short as needed. Below are sample questions. Go to the Press Briefing URL at the top of this script for the complete transcripts.
QUESTION FROM REPORTER: Thank you, Mr. President. Congress, as you alluded to, is trying to figure out how to pay for all of this reform. Have you told House and Senate leaders which of their ideas are acceptable to you? If so, are you willing to share that stand of yours with the American people? And if you haven't given that kind of direction to congressional leaders, are you willing to -- are you willing to explain why you're not stepping in to get a deal done, since you're the one setting a deadline?
THE PRESIDENT: Well, before we talk about how to pay for it, let's talk about what exactly needs to be done. And the reason I want to emphasize this is because there's been a lot of misinformation out there. ...
QUESTION FROM REPORTER: Thank you, Mr. President. You've been pushing Congress to pass health care reform by August. Why the rush? Are you worried that if you don't -- there's a delay until the fall, the whole effort will collapse?
THE PRESIDENT: A couple of points. Number one, I'm rushed because I get letters every day from families that are being clobbered by health care costs. And they ask me, can you help? So I've got a middle-aged couple that will write me and they say, our daughter just found out she's got leukemia and if I don't do something soon we just either are going to go bankrupt or we're not going to be able to provide our daughter with the care that she needs. And in a country like ours, that's not right. So that's part of my rush.
The second thing is the fact that if you don't set deadlines in this town things don't happen. The default position is inertia. Because doing something always creates some people who are unhappy.... So I'm confident that if we just keep at it, we keep working, we're diligent, we're honest, if we take criticisms that are out there and modify whatever plans are already working through Congress so that it meets those concerns and those criticisms, that we can arrive at a bill that is going to improve the lives of the American people.
QUESTION FROM REPORTER: Back to the politics of it. You mentioned two Republicans in your opening statement, but you have 60 Democratic seats, a healthy majority in the House. If you don't get this, isn't this a fight inside the Democratic Party, and that Republicans really aren't playing -- you can't really blame the Republicans for this one?
THE PRESIDENT: Well, first of all, you haven't seen me out there blaming the Republicans. I've been a little frustrated by some of the misinformation that's been coming out of the Republicans, but that has to do with, as you pointed out, politics. You know, if you've got somebody out there saying -- not that let's get the best bill possible but instead says, you know, let's try to beat this so we can gain political advantage -- well, that's not I think what the American people expect....
QUESTION FROM REPORTER: Thank you, Mr. President. You said earlier that you wanted to tell the American people what's in it for them, how will their family benefit from health care reform. But experts say that in addition to the benefits that you're pushing there is going to have to be some sacrifice in order for there to be true cost-cutting measures, such as Americans giving up tests, referrals, choice, end-of-life care. When you describe health care reform you don't -- understandably you don't talk about the sacrifices that Americans might have to make. Do you think -- do you accept the premise that other than some tax increases on the wealthiest Americans, the American people are going to have to give anything up in order for this to happen?
THE PRESIDENT: They're going to have to give up paying for things that don't make them healthier. And I -- speaking as an American, I think that's the kind of change you want.
Look, if right now hospitals and doctors aren't coordinating enough to have you just take one test when you come in because of an illness, but instead have you take one test; then you go to another specialist, you take a second test; then you go to another special, you take a third test -- and nobody's bothering to send the first test that you took -- same test -- to the next doctors, you're wasting money.
You may not see it because if you have health insurance right now it's just being sent to the insurance company, but that's raising your premiums, it's raising everybody's premiums, and that money one way or another is coming out of your pocket -- although we are also subsidizing some of that because there are tax breaks for health care. So not only is it costing you money in terms of higher premiums, it's also costing you as a taxpayer.
Now, I want to change that. Every American should want to change that. Why would we want to pay for things that don't work, that aren't making us healthier? And here's what I'm confident about: If doctors and patients have the best information about what works and what doesn't, then they're going to want to pay for what works. President fondling stethoscope nervously
If there's a blue pill and a red pill and the blue pill is half the price of the red pill and works just as well, why not pay half price for the thing that's going to make you well?
QUESTION FROM REPORTER: Thank you. ... sir, so many Americans are concerned that this plan, particularly the government insurance, the public option, would lead to reduced benefits or reduced coverage. Two questions. One, can you guarantee that this legislation will lock in and say the government will never deny any services; that that's going to be decided by the doctor and the patient, and the government will not deny any coverage? And secondarily, can you, as a symbolic gesture, say that you and the Congress will abide by the same benefits in that public option?
THE PRESIDENT: Well, number one, not only the public option but the insurance regulation that we want to put in place will largely match up with what members of Congress are getting through the federal employee plan. That's a good example of what we're trying to build for the American people -- the same thing that Congress enjoys, which is they go -- there is a marketplace of different plans that they can access, depending on what's best for their families.
Now, one of the plans that we've talked about is a public option. And part of the reason we want to have a public option is just to help keep the insurance companies honest. If the insurance companies are providing good care -- and as it is, they're going to be more regulated so that they can't deny you care because of a preexisting condition or because you change jobs or because they've decided you're too sick and not a good risk -- with regulation there's already going to be some improvement in the insurance industry.
But having a public plan out there that also shows that maybe if you take some of the profit motive out, maybe if you are reducing some of the administrative costs, that you can get an even better deal, that's going to incentivize the private sector to do even better. And that's a good thing. That's a good thing.
Now, there have been reports just over the last couple of days of insurance companies making record profits -- right now. At a time when everybody is getting hammered, they're making record profits, and premiums are going up. What's the constraint on that? How can you ensure that those costs aren't being passed on to employers or passed on to employees, the American people, ordinary middle-class families, in a way that over time is going to make them broke? Well, part of the way is to make sure that there's some competition out there. So that's the idea.
Now, to get to your original question, can I guarantee that there are going to be no changes in the health care delivery system? No. The whole point of this is to try to encourage changes that work for the American people and make them healthier. The government already is making some of these decisions. More importantly, insurance companies right now are making those decisions.
And part of what we want to do is to make sure that those decisions are being made by doctors and medical experts based on evidence, based on what works -- because that's not how it's working right now. That's not how it's working right now. Right now doctors a lot of times are forced to make decisions based on the fee payment schedule that's out there. So if they're looking -- and you come in and you've got a bad sore throat, or your child has a bad sore throat or has repeated sore throats, the doctor may look at the reimbursement system and say to himself, you know what, I make a lot more money if I take this kid's tonsils out. Now that may be the right thing to do, but I'd rather have that doctor making those decisions just based on whether you really need your kid's tonsils out or whether it might make more sense just to change -- maybe they have allergies, maybe they have something else that would make a difference.
So part of what we want to do is to free doctors, patients, hospitals to make decisions based on what's best for patient care -- and that's the whole idea behind Mayo, that's the whole idea behind the Cleveland Clinic. ...
QUESTION FROM REPORTER: And what about yourself and Congress? Would you abide by the same benefits package?
THE PRESIDENT: President begins fondling stethoscope nervously.
You know, I would be happy to abide by the same benefit package. I will just be honest with you -- I'm the President of the United States so I've got a doctor following me every minute.
LAUGHTER
Which is why I say this is not about me. I've got the best health care in the world. I'm trying to make sure that everybody has good health care -- and they don't right now.
NARRATOR: Narrator gestures towards to the gathered reporters
Note that the President has not yet answered this question whether Congress would abide by the same benefit pacakage. We are now getting to the turning point of the President's conference:
QUESTION FROM REPORTER: Thank you, Mr. President. Recently Professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. was arrested at his home in Cambridge. What does that incident say to you and what does it say about race relations in America?
THE PRESIDENT:
President removes the stethoscope from his neck and sets it on the podium. He briefly holds up the rainbow colored face mask in front of his face and puts it down.
Up until this time the demeanor of the President has been quite reserved. He will now become quite animated and vocal. He holds up a black face mask, looks at it, appears to consider it, but drops it back on the podium.
Well, I should say at the outset that "Skip" Gates is a friend, so I may be a little biased here. I don't know all the facts. What's been reported, though, is that the guy forgot his keys, jimmied his way to get into the house, there was a report called into the police station that there might be a burglary taking place -- so far, so good, right? I mean, if I was trying to jigger into uh well, I guess this is my house now so uh
LAUGHTER from reporters.
-- it probably wouldn't happen. But let's say my old house in Chicago uh
LAUGHTER from reporters.
uh here I'd get shot.
LAUGHTER from reporters.
But so far, so good. They're reporting uh, the police are doing what they should. There's a call, they go investigate what happens. My understanding is at that point Professor Gates is already in his house. The police officer comes in, I'm sure there's some exchange of words, but my understanding is, is that Professor Gates then shows his ID to show that this is his house. And at that point, he gets arrested for disorderly conduct -- charges which are later dropped.
THE PRESIDENT: He now picks up the black mask again, holds it up in front of his face and keeps it there.
Now, I don't know, not having been there and not seeing all the facts, what role race played in that, but I think it's fair to say, number one, any of us would be pretty angry; number two, that the Cambridge Police acted stupidly in arresting somebody when there was already proof that they were in their own home; and number three, what I think we know separate and apart from this incident is that there is a long history in this country of African Americans and Latinos being stopped by law enforcement disproportionately. That's just a fact.
THE PRESIDENT: As you know, Lynn, when I was in the state legislature in Illinois, we worked on a racial profiling bill because there was indisputable evidence that blacks and Hispanics were being stopped disproportionately. And that is a sign, an example of how, you know, race remains a factor in this society. That doesn't lessen the incredible progress that has been made. I am standing here as testimony to the progress that's been made.
THE PRESIDENT: And yet the fact of the matter is, is that this still haunts us. And even when there are honest misunderstandings, the fact that blacks and Hispanics are picked up more frequently and oftentime for no cause casts suspicion even when there is good cause. And that's why I think the more that we're working with local law enforcement to improve policing techniques so that we're eliminating potential bias, the safer everybody is going to be. He drops the black mask onto the podium and now picks up the multi-colored mask.
THE PRESIDENT: All right, thank you, everybody.
President exits the podium and goes behind screen. Reporters remain standing or seated.
Lights dim. Curtain, if used, drops. Narrator remains on stage.
We now have an intermission as we move to day 2. Please visit our sponsors.
Beer sponsors, or yard maintenance sponsors, or security sponsors hand out leaflets promoting their services or merchandise.
NARRATOR: We find ourselves looking in on a press conference held by the the Press Secretary of the United States in the White House Press Briefing Room July 23, 2009. For the sake of accuracy, this is called a Press Gaggle and was held on Air Force One, the Presidential Aircraft. Due to budget limitations, we cannot have an airplane today. Narrator pauses for what may be an audience laugh. Narrator gestures towards to the gathered reporters.
Reminder to director: At this point, Scene 2 can be as long or as short as needed. The key portion of this scene are of course remarks pertaining to the Cambridge incident. ENTER MR. GIBBS stage left wearing an old fashioned Jester Hat.
MR. GIBBS: All right, is everybody done with their strawberry pie? Fire away.
QUESTION FROM REPORTER: Robert, some people thought it was a little unusual that the President waded into the matter between Professor Gates and the Cambridge police -- a little uncharacteristic of him -- when the facts are in dispute. You know, this is the sort of thing he might ordinarily say, I don't -- you know, I don't know all the facts. Why do you --
MR. GIBBS: Well, he did -- let's go through what he did say, because he did say, one, Professor Gates was a friend of his. He did say he didn't have all the facts. I think we've all read in the newspaper at least a baseline of fact that the President outlined first by saying you have an unidentified individual who jimmies open a door of a house; the police are called based on that; the police respond -- which you would expect a series of those events to transpire like that.
I think what the President ultimately talked about was, obviously there was a point at which, inside of the house, both parties involved, probably recognizing that the situation originally responded to wasn't what was actually happening, in terms of a crime being committed, and at that point -- at that point cooler heads on all sides should have prevailed. I think that's what the President was denoting in the ultimate arrest and the since dropping of those charges.
QUESTION FROM REPORTER: Why do you think he wanted to weigh in on this, though? He obviously --
MR. GIBBS: I appreciate your -- I appreciate the ability at nationally televised news conferences to pass on questions like it was a game show. But I haven't been afforded that -- I don't think the President has been afforded those possibilities before. But I will certainly pass along your suggestion.
QUESTION FROM REPORTER: But he did go so far as to say that the police behaved "stupidly."
MR. GIBBS: Well, again, I think -- again, as I just said, I think there's a point in this where it becomes clear that the situation as it was originally called in is not the current situation, right? At some point it becomes clear that the individual in the house owns the house.
And I think that's -- at that point, cooler heads likely should have prevailed on both sides.
QUESTION FROM REPORTER: Robert, does the President feel that he, ever in his life, has been a victim of racial profiling -- pulled over, questioned for no obvious reason?
MR. GIBBS: Let me check. I think there -- I think he mentions in his book an instance where that happens.
QUESTION FROM REPORTER: Has the President --
MR. GIBBS: And I know he certainly -- you know, I think he's mentioned, you know, being at the front of a restaurant where somebody hands him the keys to go get a car.
QUESTION FROM REPORTER: That's a little different from a police action to --
MR. GIBBS: Right, I don't know if he's ever felt -- let me double-check on that.
QUESTION FROM REPORTER: There was a Chicago Tribune story from 2003 that suggests that he did feel that way, but it didn't have any details --
MR. GIBBS: I recall that, and obviously -- you know, again, I think the President also touched on the fact that working with all involved -- communities, police, and all stakeholders -- on legislation to develop a series of statistics that would allow the state of Illinois to evaluate what was going on and how best to address it -- again, I think, the important thing working with all of those involved.
QUESTION FROM REPORTER: Can I just ask you to clarify one quick thing that he said last night? When he was talking about "I would get shot trying to, you know, break into the house," he was talking about the White House or was he talking about his home in Chicago?
MR. GIBBS: I assume he was talking about the White House. And as I said to him afterwards, having looked at a couple of them, the only people apparently not laughing at that joke were the Secret Service, at that point which, we were standing to one of the guys from the Secret Service, and he laughed. So I think he was --
QUESTION FROM REPORTER: He wasn't talking about Chicago or the Chicago police, is what I --
MR. GIBBS: No, no, no, I think he was talking about the White House.
QUESTION FROM REPORTER: Has the President spoken to Professor Gates at all?
MR. GIBBS: Not that I'm aware of, no.
QUESTION FROM REPORTER: Has anybody from the White House reached out to him.
MR. GIBBS: Not that I'm aware of. Not that I'm aware of.
QUESTION FROM REPORTER: And when you say that cooler heads should have prevailed on all sides, you're saying Professor Gates should have also handled it differently?
MR. GIBBS: Well, look, again, I wasn't there, the President wasn't there. I think at some point, again, you have a situation that is not as it -- as not as it was called in. I think when somebody -- I think being arrested in your own home for being in your home -- I think the fact that those charges have been dropped denote that there clearly was a point at which this got far out of -- far out of control.
QUESTION FROM REPORTER: But does he regret his use of language in saying "acting stupidly," because online polls show lots of people of Massachusetts were disappointed that he used those words while acknowledging that he wasn't in full possession of the facts.
MR. GIBBS: Again, I think if you look at the fact that a situation got as far out of control at a certain point as it did underscores the fact that things were going in a direction that neither wanted it to go in.
MR. GIBBS exits the podium and goes behind screen. Reporters remain standing or seated.
Lights dim. Curtain, if used, drops. Narrator remains on stage.
We now have an intermission as we move to day 3.
Beer sponsors, or yard maintenance sponsors, or security sponsors hand out leaflets promoting their services or merchandise. Push the beer and popcorn.
NARRATOR: We find ourselves looking in on a press conference held by the the Press Secretary of the United States in the White House Press Briefing Room July 24,2009.
Narrator gesturing towards to the gathered reporters.
Reminder to the director: At this point, Scene 3 can be as long or as short as needed. The Press Secretary has questions posed to him at the end of the President's remarks, but the key portions are the remarks pertaining to the Cambridge incident.
THE PRESIDENT: Walks out and addresses the surprised reporters.
Hey, it's a cameo appearance. Sit down, sit down. I need to help GIBBS out a little bit here.
QUESTION FROM REPORTER: Are you the new press secretary?
THE PRESIDENT: If you got to do a job, do it yourself.
LAUGHTER from reporters.
THE PRESIDENT: I wanted to address you guys directly because over the last day and a half obviously there’s been all sorts of controversy around the uh, incident that happened in Cambridge with uh, Professor Gates and the police department there.
I actually just had a conversation with Sergeant Jim Crowley, uh, the officer involved.
And, I, uh, have to tell you uh that my impression of him as I told you yesterday that he was an outstanding police officer and a good man and that was confirmed in the phone conversation, and I told him that.
THE PRESIDENT: And I, because this has been ratcheting up and uh, I obviously helped to contribute to ratcheting it up, I want to make clear uh, that in my choice of words, I unfortunately gave an impression that I was maligning the Cambridge Police Department and Sergeant Crowley specifically and I could have calibrated the words differently and I told this to uh Sergeant Crowley.
I continue to believe, based on what I have heard, that there was an overreaction in, uh, pulling Professor Gates uh out of his home to the station.
I also continue to believe, based on what I heard, that Professor Gates probably overreacted as well.
THE PRESIDENT: My sense is that you got two good people uh in a circumstance uh in which neither of them were able to resolve the incident in the way it should been resolved and in a way they would have liked it to be resolved.
The fact that it has garnered so much attention I think is a testimony to the fact that these are issues that are still very sensitive here in America.
And, uhmmm, so to the extent that my choice of words did not illuminate but rather contributed to more media frenzy, I think that was unfortunate.
THE PRESIDENT: What I’d like to do then is to make sure everyone to steps back for a moment, see that these are two decent people, not extrapolate too much from the facts, but, as I said at the press conference, uh be mindful of the facts that because of our history, because of the difficulties of the past, uhmm, that African-Americans, you know, are sensitive to these issues.
And, even when you’ve got a police officer uh, who has a fine track record on racial sensitivity, uh, interactions between police officers and the African-American community can sometimes be fraught with misunderstanding.
THE PRESIDENT: Umm, my hope is that as a consequence of this event, this ends up being what’s called a "teachable moment", where all of us, and instead of pumping up the volume, spend a little more time listening to each other, uh, and try to focus on how we can generally improve uh relations between police officers and minority communities.
THE PRESIDENT: And uh that instead of pointing accusations uh we can all be a little more reflective in terms of what we can do to contribute to more unity.
Lord knows we need it right now. Because over the last two days as we discussed this issue, I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but no one has been paying much attention to health care.
LAUGHTER
THE PRESIDENT: I will not use this time to spend more words on health care right now, although I can’t guarantee that that will be true next week.
But I just want to emphasize that uh, uh, one last point I want to make, there are some who say that as President I should not have stepped into this at all because it’s a local issue, uh I have to tell you that that thing, that part of it, uh, I disagree with.
Uhm, the fact that this has become a big issue is indicative of the fact that you know, uh, race is still a troubling aspect of society.
THE PRESIDENT: Uh, whether I were black or white, uh I think that uh me commenting on this and uh hopefully contributing to constructive uh as opposed to negative understandings about the issue is part of my portfolio so, uh, at the end of the conversation there was discussion about, uhh, my conversation with Sergeant Crowley, there was discussion about he and I and Professor Gates having a beer here in the White House. Uh, we don’t know if that is scheduled yet,
LAUGHTER and one very loud GUFFAW from one press member
THE PRESIDENT (continuing): but we may put that together. He also did say, he wanted to find out if there was a way on how to get the press off his lawn.
LAUGHTER
I informed him that I can’t get the press off my lawn. He pointed out my lawn is bigger than his lawn.
LAUGHTER
THE PRESIDENT: But if anyone has any connections to the Boston press as well as to the national press, Sergeant Crowley would be happy for you to stop trampling his grass.
LAUGHTER
President leaves stage. Reporters mime taking notes. Stage darkens. Narrator turns to audience:
NARRATOR: Did you see any opportunites that the President might have missed?
Narrator pauses, and then turns toward the stage.
The audience sees the President re-enters and walks to the podium. Reporters remain standing or seated and attentive. Lights go bright.
NARRATOR: Narrator addressing audience but lifts one hand towards the gathered reporters.
How should the President of the United States of America have addressed the question from Scene On on race? Should he stay out of this local issue? Should he become involved in what is a police matter? What will he do? Let us listen to some possible answers the President might have made.
The President returns to the podium. Reporters remain standing or seated.
QUESTION FROM REPORTER: Thank you, Mr. President. Recently Professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. was arrested at his home in Cambridge. What does that incident say to you and what does it say about race relations in America?
THE PRESIDENT: This is a question and answer session about health care. Next question, please.
Narrator pauses dramatically and turns toward the audience.
That was a possible choice. Let us hear another.
QUESTION FROM REPORTER: Thank you, Mr. President. Recently Professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. was arrested at his home in Cambridge. What does that incident say to you and what does it say about race relations in America?
THE PRESIDENT: Well, I should say at the outset that "Skip" Gates is a friend, so I may be a little biased here. I understand that a witness had reported a break-in in of the Professor's home in the evening, and that the police at the time acted in a manner what they thought was appropriate. Since I do not have all the facts of the case, I cannot, nor should not comment on it; next question, please. Narrator pauses and turns toward the audience.
NARRATOR: That was a possible choice. Let us hear another.
QUESTION FROM REPORTER: Thank you, Mr. President. Recently Professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. was arrested at his home in Cambridge. What does that incident say to you and what does it say about race relations in America?
THE PRESIDENT: Well, I should say at the outset that "Skip" Gates is a friend, so I may be a little biased here. I can only say it is unfortunate that this has happened. I understand that a witness had reported a break-in in of the Professor's home in the evening, and that the police acted in a manner what they thought was appropriate. There was apparently a mix-up on the part of the witness and the police were guided by this witness' initial call. Professor Gates claimed that the police were racist. This might be understandable to some, but I am confident that this is a premature reaction on the Professor's part due to the confusion and his own alarm at finding police in his back yard in the dark. PRESIDENT, now urning to audience and speaking in a somber voice
PRESIDENT: As a nation, we should move past claiming every perceived grievance or perceived injustice to be racist in origin. Let us leave that in the 20th century. We cannot undo the past, but we can surely work together for a better future for all. Good night.
NARRATOR: Narrator addresses the audience.
We have seen some other choices for the question regarding Cambridge. Which answer do you think was best?
Narrator turns away from the President towards the audience, and exits the stage. Lights dim and curtain falls.
Beer sponsors, or yard maintenance sponsors, or security sponsors again hand out leaflets promoting their services or merchandise. Beer and popcorn in the lobby.