For those that haven’t been watching the news lately, Tareq and Michaele Salahi are among the newest members of the group of people to become famous for all the wrong reasons. The wannabe socialites and erstwhile philanthropists managed to sneak into the first official state dinner of the Obama White House. They shook hands with the president and first lady in the greeting line, took a picture with (Vice President ) Joe Biden and hobnobbed the evening away without any proper identification or tickets.
While there were questions at the time as to how they got in, no one went so far as to make them show identification and they got off scot-free. In fact, the Secret Service admitted during a congressional hearing that the only way they were sure the two had been at the event was by investigating Michaele Salahi’s Facebook page. Great job by the Secret Service – so long as Al Qaeda tweets all of their attacks in advance, you’ll definitely keep the president safe.
To make matters worse, it appears that the Salahis didn’t make their first attempt at party crashing at the White House state dinner. They started off small, with another group of important black folk at the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation Awards dinner several months ago. At that event, the Salahis apparently snuck in through the busboy entrance, then sat down at a $20,000 table after taking pictures with a few notables. Their adventure ended quickly after the three attendees who actually bought the seats returned and asked that the Salahis be removed. They didn’t deny that they’d snuck in, and sheepishly left without incident.
It’s not surprising to learn that they’ve been involved in various lawsuits or that wanted to join the upcoming “Real Housewives of Washington D.C.” on Bravo next year. But this problem goes even deeper than these two celebrity-chasers. I believe this is about white privilege and the general lack of respect that too many Americans have been showing the presidency.
Think about this for a second. There’s a reason they tried to sneak into the Congressional Black Caucus event. They figured since they’d be one of the few non-black couples there, people would just assume they belonged. The truth of the matter is that they assumed a black event would be easier to crash.
The same applies to their crashing of the White House state dinner. They knew the risk of entering a federal event but probably figured that they could talk their way out of trouble if they were caught. Or, better yet, that their sob stories on the talk shows would make it a public relations nightmare for the administration to prosecute. The Salahis have been on the fringes of Washington power for years and I’m willing to bet that they never dared try a stunt like this during the Bush administration.
The most disturbing thing about this whole event, however, is the soft touch that the administration is taking with the couple and security in general. During the campaign Obama spoke frequently about how many older African Americans were afraid to vote for him because they feared for his security. This is a situation where a man named Salahi and his wife managed to sneak into two events where the president was readily accessible.
The fact that the Congressional Black Caucus organizers managed to remove them, and the White House Secret Service didn’t, is a disturbing sign. These two need to be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law, not just for their own wrong doing, but to send a message. Obama needs to show that he takes his security as seriously as many of his supporters do. If not, the consequences might be a little more dire than just not passing healthcare.
(Dr. Jason Johnson is an associate professor of political science and communications at Hiram College in Ohio, where he teaches courses in campaigns and elections, pop culture, and the politics of sports. He can be reached at johnsonja@hiram.edu.)
