Should Bravo TV have rewarded White House gate crasher Michaele Salahi with a spot on its new reality series, The Real Housewives of Washington, D.C? Supposedly, she pulled the stunt in her desire to ingratiate herself with the show's producers. The show debuts August 5th, my nephew Joe's birthday. Well, I know at least two households that won't be watching it.
Unbelievably, Bravo TV is even exploiting the gate crashing security breach by alluding to it in Michaele's bio posted on the show's official website. Please tell me this ain't so Joe, but it is! Under Meet the Ladies, her bio reads: "Michaele has met numerous political leaders across the globe." Doesn't seem to matter how she "met" these leaders.
I was in grade school when President John F. Kennedy was shot to death, and in high school when it was repeated. Twice. The Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. and then New York Senator Robert F. Kennedy, both shot to death. Someone got through security with fatal consequences. So, Michaele and Tareq Salahi's sneaking into the first state dinner for our nation's first African-American president, is no silly parlor trick. It emboldens others with more nefarious schemes. Look how easy it is to get by, they think. Piece of cake. White House cake even. Have a slice while you are here crashing our dinner party.
To those who tend to dismiss the Salahis' actions with "no harm, no foul," the later attempts on the lives of President Gerald Ford (twice), President Ronald Reagan, Pope John Paul II, should give you pause. Also, let's not forget the lady in red who knocked down then 82-year-old Pope Benedict XVI at the Vatican's Christmas Eve Mass last year, an event broadcast worldwide. I was watching as it happened. It brought back memories of watching TV with my dad in our basement when Jack Ruby fatally shot Lee Harvey Oswald in the gut. I was a child seeing this. Of course, my dad didn't know this was going to happen with me in the room. It was live TV in black-and-white, happening before our very eyes.
Since Bravo appears to have no sense of decency, the American public needs to show them the way by voting with their remote controls to click off this show as it makes its debut this month. Don't watch it. Tell your friends not to watch it. There are plenty of other reality shows out there to feed your craving, including many other housewife shows. Don't let Bravo profit off this.
Former White House Social Secretary Desiree Rogers, who has more class in her little finger than the Salahis have in their whole estate, left her post over the fiasco. She faced the music. Why is the band still playing for the Salahis?
This has implications not just for the Obama administration, but for every future president. After initial congressional outrage, this serious security breach appears to have slipped everyone's minds. It shouldn't have. What were the consequences for the Salahis? Becoming famous and making money off their illegal behavior? A slap on the wrists?
If no one in Washington or Hollywood has the intestinal fortitude to do the right thing here, which is to throw the book at them, we in Chicagoland would be more than happy to lend you our sheriff-at-large, US Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald. He would not let this escape notice. Meanwhile, just say no to Bravo TV's latest show. Don't watch it.