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White House state dinner crashers spur investigation
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Obama's arrive at their state dinner (LA Times)
The Secret Service is investigating how a couple that had never been invited to Washington's biggest social event somehow managed to rub elbows with some of the Beltway's power players.
Why? For a reality TV show.
Bravo confirmed that for hours their cameras shadowed the Northern Virginia couple, who have been auditioning to appear on the Real Housewives of D-C." TV staffers emphasized that everyone thought the two had been invited, so apparently these two wannabes were scamming the show's producers, too.
Some lawmakers are calling for a Congressional investigation. Although the couple did go through a magnometer, "They could have had anthrax on them," said Peter King, the ranking Republican on the House Homeland Security Committee. "They could have grabbed a knife from the dining room table."
By all accounts, the couple acted like they belonged there. When she was getting her hair done for the event, she lamented that the film crews couldn't follow them into the White House and acted like she had left her invitation in the car.
The Washington Post points out that this wasn't the first time they "represented themselves as power players," noting that the couple posted pictures of themselves on Facebook in the first family's glass-enclosed viewing area after a concert at the Lincoln Memorial that was part of the festivities surrounding President Obama's inauguration.
This is a real chicken and egg situation, the solution to which escapes me. Do we blame people with lives so pathetically empty and meaningless that their only sense of validation and salvation comes from trying to get on a marginal reality TV show on a marginal cable network that no one watches?
Or do we blame people producers of a marginal cable network with a program so empty and meaningless that their sense of achievement comes from attempting jackass stunts like this?
Or do we blame a pathetically vacuous audience that watches this kind of vapid television and somehow gets some kind of thrill out of it?
It's like the Tiger Woods story. Everyone's foaming at the mouth over details of what happened. Bollocks.
After the Balloon Boy episode and the reality-TV guy who killed his ex-wife, one can hope the "Real Wives" producers will have enough sense to stop encouraging outrageous behavior and drop this woman from consideration. And maybe enough Americans will find other ways to fill some empty void by spending their time more productively than to justify the existence of the majority of what's on television.
But look at us: The couple was instandtly booked on Larry King for Monday night and their Facebook page received thousands of new fans and lots of comments. Why? They should be dispatched to the authorities for a harsh and thorough ride through the legal system.
It's too bad that shame is no longer considered a brake on one's impulses. Not that gate-crashing in and of itself is the worst thing in the world, but when gilded with self-promotion, it's not very pretty, and when buttressed by gaping curiosity seekers gawking at Balloon Boy stories, it's a sad comment on our society. We wonder why the news media stinks. I wonder why we watch it.
Obama meets controversial couple (White House)
The Washington Post has a long list of other things the couple has said that don't seem to have any basis in facts. The woman has claimed to be a former Washington Redskins cheerleader and even shown up at alumni events, but the Redskins have no record of her having cheered, and other alumni don't remember her ever having been on the squad. Sure enough, as a Post reader noted, around the same time the Virginia Commonwealth issued the press release, the charity moved its address from Virginia to Maryland, but the charity has yet to register in Maryland.
The husband is believed to have helped funnel money raised at a polo match to a political campaign, even though the funds were supposed to help underprivileged children. According to
Guidestar.org, that children's charity, "Journey for the Cure Foundation," never reported any income or donations on an IRS Form 990 (Return of Charitable Organization) at least through the end of 2008,and last May, the Virginia state government issued a press release
warning that the organization hadn't registered with or been granted the appropriate exempt status by the Commissioner as required by law.
There's more than one in this story (AP)
It's common Beltway scuttlebutt that the Secret Service has become as inept and dysfunctional as FEMA under Homeland Security. This embarrassing breach lends support to the accusation. It spurred an apology from the Secret Service, an internal investigation about serious gaps in the layers of security surrounding Barack Obama, whose life has been threatened more than any other U-S president's, and a quest to question the couple's questionable past, but for now, that will have to remain a quest. The couple, though booked for Larry King's show Monday night, has slipped out of sight and the Secret Service has yet to interview them.
On that note, the above referenced Washington Post reader (who goes by the handle Lawpool) posted this comment on the Post website:
MEMORANDUM
TO: United States Secret Service a/k/a Keystone Cops
RE: Location of T. & M. Salahi
RE: Location of T. & M. Salahi
Background:
According to readily available public information, it would appear: the Salahis' so-called "Winery" is in Chapter 7 Bankruptcy; their home is in foreclosure; their vehicles have been repossessed by creditors; there are outstanding civil lawsuits/judgments against them; and their so-called "Charitable Foundation" has been subject to scrutiny and public rebuke by the Commonwealth of Virginia dating back to at least May of 2009.
According to readily available public information, it would appear: the Salahis' so-called "Winery" is in Chapter 7 Bankruptcy; their home is in foreclosure; their vehicles have been repossessed by creditors; there are outstanding civil lawsuits/judgments against them; and their so-called "Charitable Foundation" has been subject to scrutiny and public rebuke by the Commonwealth of Virginia dating back to at least May of 2009.
Conclusion:
Check the nearest (a) Motel 6; (b) Red Roof Inn; or (c) Interstate Highway rest stop parking lots, for these sophisticated polo-playing "socialites".
Check the nearest (a) Motel 6; (b) Red Roof Inn; or (c) Interstate Highway rest stop parking lots, for these sophisticated polo-playing "socialites".
Hint:
Look out especially for a fellow in a tux being followed by a camera crew.
Just a thought.
Look out especially for a fellow in a tux being followed by a camera crew.
Just a thought.
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