White House State Dinner Crashed--What Party Would You Crash

Michaele and Tareq Salahi not only managed to confound the Secret Service and crash President Obama's first state dinner on November 24, 2009, but they also reportedly shook hands with notable heads of state, including President Obama and Vice-President Joe Biden. Their presence as party crashers remained undetected by Secret Service agents the entire time and the incident only came to light the next day, when on Wednesday, November 25, the couple posted ... and boasted ... about it on Facebook, the social networking site.

The Secret Service initially stated there was never any danger to President Obama, as the Salahis were screened for weapons by passing through a magnetometer, along with others at the dinner. However, by Friday, November 27, Secret Service Director Mark Sullivan apparently had second thoughts as to the seriousness of the situation. Not only was the incident an embarrassment to the Secret Service, but also a recognized security breach for unauthorized guests to be in physical contact with heads of state.

The Salahis reside in Hume, Virginia, but the couple are liable to find themselves at a new address-behind bars-if found guilty in the criminal investigation that the Secret Service is considering pursuing.

Is There Ever a Party Worth Crashing?

There's never been a party that I thought so terrific that it made it worth the risk of prison time, so it's difficult for me to understand the logic-or lack of logic-in getting dressed up and attempting to slip past Secret Service agents. All that just to post photos and a "tell-all" on Facebook.

However, that being said, if I were to go off my rocker and crash a party, the President that I believe would have been fun to visit with in a highly unofficial capacity, would have been Ronald Reagan.

First, there's President Reagan's smile. The ol' charmer (pardon my familiarity, but if I was going to crash his state dinner, I'd probably feel like I knew him well) had a wonderful smile. Face it; President Reagan epitomized charisma and charm. I suppose he learned some of that in Hollywood, but then again, a man who let a primate upstage him in a movie couldn't be all bad. Just ask Clint Eastwood.

Second, although some may disagree with his stance on a number of issues, a person would be hard pressed to say that the man didn't have moxie. Or loyalty. Not to mention kindness towards the average American and his/her situation in life. President Reagan's personal qualities would almost have made it worth crashing a state dinner-even if only to shake his hand.

And you never know just what Hollywood actor might have attended. Hey, I might even have managed getting an autograph from Bonzo, the Chimp.

Sources:
CNN Politics, http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/11/25/state.dinner.crashers/index.html
Yahoo News, http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_state_dinner_uninvited_guests