Did Couple Really Crash White House Dinner?

That is the question being asked today.

According to Tareq Salahi, he and his wife didn’t crash the White House state dinner last week.

From CNN:

The Obama administration said Salahi and his wife, Michaele Salahi, attended but had not been invited to the state dinner for visiting Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, and officials say they got into the event because of a breach in security.

Appearing on NBC’s “Today” show with his wife, Tareq Salahi said the aftermath of the incident has been “the most devastating thing that’s ever happened to us.”

“We’re greatly saddened by all the circumstances that have, you know, been involved and portraying my wife and I as party crashers. I can tell you, we did not party crash the White House.”

Salahi said he and his wife “are cooperating extensively with the U.S. Secret Service” in their investigation of the incident and said “the truth will soon come out.”

Photo of Shirtless Barack Obama Causes Quite a Stir

Photographers near the beach house the Obama family is renting for a 12-night Hawaiian vacation snapped a shirtless photo of Barack Obama which causing quite a stir today.

Paparazzi on the beach in Hawaii are being watched themselves by the Secret Service, but one photographer managed to get a shot of the president-elect in his least formal wear: without a shirt.

From CBS News:

All eyes are on the Obama transition team as they prepare to release a report on any correspondence with Blagojevich’s office… well most eyes.

A handful of paparazzi-style photographers have begun staking out the Obama compound in Kailua, hoping for a glimpse of the president-elect or his family. Yesterday, a few such photos popped up on various websites of the future president as anyone would be on a Hawaiian vacation—shirtless.

For the traveling press corps, a shot like this is never possible. Between the transition staff and secret service agents which follow our every move, cameras are never allowed beyond the big yellow concrete barricades set up down the road from the Obamas’ rented hideaway.

But local paparazzi have found a spot on the beach about a hundred yards from the secret service detail where they can sit in lawn chairs with huge zoom lenses on their cameras to get a shirtless picture which they can then sell to the television networks at a hefty price.

Paparazzi are far enough away they don’t hear the “come on guys, how many shots do you need?” comments the president-elect gave his traveling press as they snapped pictures of him on a golf course Sunday.

Bill Clinton’s Excellent Elevator Adventure

I’ll agree with Roger Friedman of Fox News that this is straight out of Spinal Tap. After his speech at the Democratic National Convention last night, former President Clinton once again found himself in a “sticky” situation, and no, Monica Lewinsky was not involved. As soon as I can find the footage, I’ll make sure to post the video.

From the article:

In a scene right out of the great rock star movie, “Spinal Tap,” Clinton found himself in a jam. He’d returned to his luxury box, which was conveniently located next to the FOX broadcast booth. He sat through Joe Biden’s speech with Hillary and Chelsea. But when Biden was done, and Obama made his appearance, Clinton left his suite.

That’s when the trouble started. By then, the hallway outside his suite was filled with well-wishers. They applauded the ex-pres as he emerged, and many pictures were taken.

Then the Secret Service moved Clinton across the hall and though a pair of black doors marked “Catering.” They were in fact the way to a private elevator. The doors closed behind Clinton and his detail, and people started to move along.

But then it was obvious something was wrong. The Secret Service opened one of the black doors, and there was a lot of activity. It turned out that the president had gotten in an elevator and immediately got stuck. The doors wouldn’t open again. Meanwhile, the dense crowd of delegates and other onlookers pulled out cameras. One man managed to get some part of the whole episode on his professional video camera. Expect to see that soon on YouTube or TMZ.

Eventually, as in a couple of minutes, President Clinton was extruded from the failed elevator and sent down in a working one on the companion line. Secret Service agents suddenly blew out of the “catering” doors and ran through the hallway past us to meet him on the first floor.