Michaele Salahi is one person who knows how to get into a pre-Thanksgiving Day party. On her Facebook page, she writes:

I was honored to be invited to attend the First State Dinner hosted by President Obama & the First Lady to honor India. In June 2010, the America's Polo Cup will be between INDIA & the UNITED STATES. Please join me in this cultural celebration of politics, diplomacy, fashion, sports, entertainment & family fun.

She even managed to score this cool photo with Vice President Biden:


Trouble is, she wasn't invited.

According to the Guardian UK, Tareq and Michaele Salahi are socialites who managed to, as they described it, "breach security" into the State Dinner.

But to write there was a "breach in security" is really culturally irresponsible. I can speculate with some accuracy how the Salahi's got into the dinner: they knew someone and perhaps Vice President Biden himself.

Look, a little research will show this is a well-connected couple. A November 4, 2008 Washington Post article reveals as much. In an report on a winery sale dispute that involved the Salahi's, the Post reveals...

Tareq Salahi, 39, also a co-owner, and his wife, Michaele, a former Washington Redskins cheerleader who is now a Richmond lobbyist. The son, a member of the Virginia Tourism Authority, is hurrying to team up with investors to buy what he views as his heritage before someone else steps in.

She's a lobbyist and a former Redskins Cheerleader; he's co-owner of a winery. What happened was they knew someone within the chain of people who was assigned to vet who was to come into the event and they got them in.

Once at the State Dinner they were able to see a number of people they knew. In other words, invited or not, they belonged there because their network of informal connections got them in.

That's my story and I'm sticking to it. It's also a good lesson for anyone to follow and comes from "How to win friends and influence people". They are in a business where knowing people and maintaining relationships is vital and its obvious they do a great job of keeping ties with a good network of the Washington elite.

Bravo! I say. Excellent.

For anyone who says "They could not have done that if they were black," I disagree. You can't think about what others might do and achieve success. You have to press forward. Make friends and keep contacts and laugh at those who poop on the idea that knowing people isn't important. Without people there would be no parties to crash in the first place.