As a resident of Brentwood for 24 years, I wish to share with you, my total contempt for the events of Thursday night. Prior to the President’s arrival at Tavern, the police set up yellow tape, to control the crowds waiting on San Vicente, hoping to get a glimpse.
The motorcade took a left in front of Frontrunners and brought the President up the back alley, and into the restaurant by the back door. It’s totally ludicrous for the President of the United States to be brought in through the kitchen. It reminded me of the scene in Scorcese’s “Goodfellas†.
Every mouth was gaping when the motorcade turned off San Vicente. A minute later, a motorcycle cop, walked up and addressed the crowd, with a big smirk on his face, saying “he’s already inside.†The entire crowd, loudly booed. A crowd in Brentwood, one of the most liberal places in the country, was loudly booing Obama. The fact is, that there was not one single picket sign anywhere in sight. It would have been virtually impossible to gather a more friendly crowd than this one.
The look on the faces of the little kids with cellphone cameras, was devastating. The manager could have come out and told the crowd that he wasn’t going to be entering the restaurant within anyone’s view. As I walked away, I said to two motorcycle cops, “you sure disappointed all those people. One of them answered back, “yeah, that’s what we do.â€
As a footnote, I went back to Tavern on Friday, and talked to one of the managers. I told her that someone could have come out and addressed the crowd that he wasn’t going to enter from San Vicente. I can’t speak for the rest of the crowd, but I for one, will never patronize Tavern, again.
