CLARENCE PAGE OP-ED: Fame And Its New Upper Crust

The moderate-liberal columnist opines about Tareq and Michaele Salahi, who crashed the White House state dinner. He argues that they've set the bar high for showing chutzpah: "There's a lesson here, America. You, too, can feed your fame addiction. Simply stroll into the presence of famous people while projecting all of the upright, self-assured sense of entitlement that would be expected from someone who actually belonged there. Fame junkies are all the rage. Recent months have made it hard to tell truly interesting Americans from those who merely want to play them on TV. The Salahis are under consideration for the cast of Bravo's reality-TV show 'The Real Housewives of D.C.' A film crew followed them through their daylong preparations for the dinner to which, apparently unbeknownst to Bravo, they were not invited. The Salahis easily remind us of Richard and Mayumi Heene, Colorado parents of the 'balloon boy' hoax and veterans of 'Wife Swap,' a reality show no less unreal than the one for which the Salahis were in the running. They also remind us of Nadya 'Octomom' Suleman, who parlayed her multiple births into a TV series, and Jon and Kate Gosselin, who let us watch their marriage fall apart on camera."

More about the Salahis (pictured meeting President Obama, with Indian Prime Minister Singh in background wearing the blue turban): "But, alas, their White House stunt infuriates those of us who expect something a bit tighter in terms of White House security. The Secret Service is embarrassed, especially Director Mark Sullivan, who issued a rare apology. Neither episode marks the Secret Service's finest hour. If further social climbing was their goal, the Salahis' hunger for camera lenses may well have blown whatever respect they might have gained from Washington's famously uptight and reserved elites. But maybe the local snoots don't count like they used to. Fame for its own sake defines a new upper crust in America. Publicity, good or bad, becomes like gold to a new narcissistic elite. It makes you matter."

Booker Rising response: I'm side-eyeing how the security at the Congressional Black Caucus dinner - which the Salahis crashed two months ago - at the Washington Convention Center was tighter than the Secret Service that's supposed to be protecting the leader of the free world at the White House?! Secret Service firings should happen for this spectacular blunder. White House Social Secretary Desiree Rogers also needs to feel the heat, because her office is about 30% responsible here. As a former event planner, I know that it's Event Planning 101 to have staff at the event entrance to ensure that invited guests can access the event with ease...and to keep uninvited guests out. For ultra-VIPs, you do this task yourself. Ms. Rogers needs to stop being a socialite, do her job and quit putting her supposed close friends' lives at risk.