White House Crashers

It used to be that the U.S. was thought of as the place where you could get rich by dint of a bit of good luck and a lot of hard work. Of course, that's never really been the case, but there's a sliver of truth there. These days, it's different though. The opportunities just aren't there, and we've become the nation of the big score. Win the lottery. Go to Vegas and play in one of those poker touraments. Get yourself on TV. That's how you get rich in the twenty-first century.

And so we have Tareq and Michaele Salahi, the couple who crashed the state dinner for the Indian prime minister at the White House. In D.C. social circles, they apparently like to project the image of a wealthy and well-connected couple, when they are, in fact, a couple of bankrupt freeloaders. They're trying for their big score though. Lady Michaele has been angling for a spot on the Bravo reality show, The Real Housewives of D.C., and the couple have reportedly cancelled an appearance on the Larry King Show because they have decided to take bids for their first TV interview. The New York Times reports that they are seeking a fee in the hundreds of thousands of dollars.

It's too bad that this pair of assholes didn't try their stunt during the Bush administration. They wouldn't be negotiating to appear on TV for big bucks. They'd be trying to talk their way out of Guantanamo. And with a surname like “Salahi”, it's a good bet that's where they'd be.

For once, the Bush approach might have been the best one. Why are the media giving these two so much attention? They should be gulping for air in some waterboarding session. All right, I don't really mean that, but you get the picture. Tareq and Michaele are miscreants, and they don't deserve the attention they're receiving. It just encourages their ilk.