Like many other people, when this story first broke, I found myself saying, "They did what? How dare they!? That is our President! How could they? Throw the book at them!!"
Then I put my rational thinking cap back on, as my grandfather used to say. Something is not right here. I have been to D.C. before, and although I never toured the White House, I know many others who have. I know the basics you go through just for the White House tour, (they will know who you are, and why wouldn't or shouldn't they? It is the freaking White House and should be above and beyond protected!) So, I began to rationally think this through.
My first thought was back to my time spent volunteering and working with politicians in Chicago. Many politicians threw many different parties, and of course there were those of us who wanted an invite to the bigger and better "parties of the season". The way we did it though, if we were nobodies, was to work our tails off and volunteer, and be a help in some way within our neighborhoods and communities and we earned an invitation. There were, however, plenty of those people who simply knew someone who knew someone, who knew someone - and they were not party crashers - and they did not really know anyone in the room - but they were invited, in a round about, six degrees of separation if you want to call it that, kind of way. So, I started to believe that it was very possible these publicity-mongers, or fame-wannabe's did what all others do when they want to get into the parties seemingly no one can get into - they used their connections to back door an invite last minute. (It's really not that complicated in the land of politics where every one really does know someone else through some political connection.)
I voiced this opinion a few times to a few people and they told me, "No way! They crashed the party!"
So, naturally I wonder how does the most protected President host a party that winds up being crashed by a couple of I-wannabe-famous'ers? IT CAN'T! IT JUST DOES NOT HAPPEN!
(It's like trying to get me to believe that the airline pilots had internet access and were arguing over new work policy and never heard the control tower calling them for over an hour on their head sets - cause, yeah..they were getting such great internet service and were so immersed in arguing over company policy they went all the way to Wisconsin..cause they were arguing..yeah I believe that..don't you? Could be many things, the computer thing, sleeping, the mile high club..nah, couldn't be the mile high club..sleeping or arguing while getting great internet connections..Different sarcastic rant for different day..)
So, as I find myself KNOWING that someone MUST have cleared them to get in - because you just don't WALK INTO THE WHITE HOUSE. Try getting into the White House and passing the Visitor's desk for more than the tour without giving up your name, social security #, address, (possibly your last 5 addresses over the last 10 years), and maybe even leaving your first born as security! (the last one is a joke, the rest not so much - so I wonder, what must it take to get into a State Dinner?) I found out today, on the Today show!! Email, gotta love email!
Let's start with what we know about our 'We-Wannabe-Famous-Salahis'
- They are professional 'We-wannabe-famouser's
- They network well and keep a good contact list
- They use email and not cell phones for that paper trail protection (smart considering..)
- They are not victims of anything, they are professional last minute invitation snatchers
- There is no boo-hooing for the Salahis. They enjoyed a great party and more than 15 minutes of fame, so take a break and stop garnering back door invites for a while, would ya?
Michaele Salahis states:
"We were invited not crashers..and uh, there isn't anyone that would have the audacity or, uh, the poor behavior to do that."
Tareq Salahis states:
"I think the American public is actually going to be extremely surprised, uh, with all the details.."
Extremely surprised? Not extremely in my book, because I figured something had to be up, given that NOBODY saunters into the White House uninvited, unless something is seriously wrong, and I am highly doubting that. So let's get on with it, what are the details? Emails you say? Enter, President Obama Appointee, White House Liaison to the Dept. of Defense, Michelle Jones. She is an acquaintance of the Salahis.
In one of the emails it shows Michelle Jones asking the couple for their Social Security numbers, and dates of birth for Secret Service background checks. (This is usually the normal protocol for people who are going to be granted some kind of access to the White House, because not just anyone can go walking right in there. So glad to find out I wasn't wrong about just anyone being able to walk right in without background checks and the Secret Service not knowing who was there. It is nice to know things have not changed and our President's safety is still top-notch and super secure, as always.)
Still gotta love email for real explanations:
Michelle Jones to the Salahis
"The arrival ceremony (was scheduled to be outdoors) was cancelled [sic] due to inclement weather. They are having a very small one inside the WH very limited space. I am still working on tickets for tonights dinner."
Later on Tuesday Michelle Jones says that she left a voice-mail message for the Salahis saying she could not get them tickets to the dinner. The Salahis claim they never received the message because their cell went dead while they were primping and priming at a salon/spa for the possibility of what was looking like a real possibility for them that night. They were convinced in their minds that it was going to happen, somehow it would all work out, and in their dreamland wannabe minds, for them it was as real as real could probably be. So what happened next, according to the emails made public by the Salahis Attorney?
Well, Mr. & Mrs. "We we were invited" showed their passports 3 times and were allowed in. They had a wonderful evening and once home, after charging up the phone and checking his voice-mail (apparently, according to this email Mr. Salahis sends to Michelle Jones):
"Hi Michelle, you are an angel!! My cell phone battery died early this evening...so I just got your message now..But obviously it worked out at the end. We ended up going to the gate to just check in case it got approved since we didn't know and our name was on the list :) ... [We] can't wait to see you and catch up and share memories of a true lifetime."
The following day Michelle responds to this email stating:
"Tareq, you are most welcome! I here [sic] the smile in your email and am delighted that you and Michaele had a wonderful time :) "
And what does the White House have to say? They say Michelle Jones just responded that way in that last email to be nice and polite, assuming that someone else must have helped them since she was unable to. (Is it improper to place an LOL here? If so I refer you back to my opening paragraph). She called him by his first name! She did not say Mr. Salahis, she referred to him as the friend he probably is, or the friend of a friend he probably is! She background checked them, ran the security clearances! What more proof does anyone need that these two 'I wannabe important people' used their political connections to score a last minute invite to a White House Party? Secret Service is NOT LETTING YOU IN IF YOU HAVE NOT BEEN CLEARED!
Why? Because our Secret Service is the best, they rock, and that is all there is to it! Now, can the guilty invitation giver to those who are less worthy than those who were worthy enough to be there, like I don't know - the gossip columnist who turned the Salahis in as party crashers, please just fess up that you cleared them and we can bury this silly story and oh I don't know maybe actually WORK in D.C??
Just a thought, two, or a few..
