State Dinner Party Crashers Should Not Get a Free Pass

By Juanita Bratcher

Enough already! Uninvited Party Crashers should be punished

Michaele and Tareq Salahi should be punished in some form or fashion for crashing and invading a party they were not invited to, and should not reap any monetary benefits from the media to appear on their various programs. No one should be rewarded for wrong doings and that includes the Salahis.

The uninvited Salahis sashayed around taking pictures with the president, vice president and other celebrities at President Barack Obama’s first state dinner. Their behavior should never be looked upon as one of those laughable “aha” moments. Neither should it have been a playful game of “gottcha”.

No. This was serious business, a serious matter, and one that should never have happened. The Secret Service was negligent in its duty to protect the president and his guests. And Secret Service Director Mark Sullivan, while expressing concern, admitted that it was an embarrassment. And it should be!

Reportedly, the agency’s officers failed to check the guest list to see were the Salahis’ names listed before permitting them onto White House grounds. That was the beginning of a security breach. Never mind that all attending guests had gone through magnetometers, what if they had something on them that would never show up on magnetometers?

Since taking office, President Obama, as well as other presidential occupants of the White House, has received death threats. This is serious business, and by all means the president should be protected from those who would want to harm him.

While their lawyer, Paul Gardner, said his clients were cleared by the White House to attend the dinner, he has not shown any evidence to back that up.

According to news reports, there are several lawsuits pending against the Salahis, and reportedly Michael Salahis has ambitions of being on Bravo’s “The Real Housewives of D.C.” reality TV show.

By no means should the Salahis get a free pass for what they did. And certainly, they should not reap any monetary benefits for their behavioral actions.

It remains to be seen just what punishment should be leveled against the Salahis. Obviously, they should be punished in some form or fashion. And with all the different laws on the books, I’m sure law enforcement can come up with something.