This is the ONLY article on this I could find in a major U.S. news outlet in a search of Google News:Obama Snubs Nation’s Heroes, Becomes the First President to Skip Ball Honoring Medal of Honor Recipients in Over 50 Yearshttp://www.clevelandleader.com/node/8627
The Cleveland LeaderBarack Obama may have stumbled over his words briefly during his inauguration, but he made an even bigger blunder later Tuesday evening. The newly sworn-in President opted not to appear at what should have been one of the most important Balls on his agenda that evening – The Salute to Heroes Inaugural Ball.The Salute to Heroes Inaugural Ball was begun in 1953 for President Dwight Eisenhower’s inauguration. The event recognized recipients of the Medal of Honor, the nation’s highest military award. There were 48 Medal of Honor recipients in attendance, who were undoubtedly disappointed by the Commander-in-Chief’s failure to show. Over the past 56 years and 14 inaugurations, no President has skipped this event – until now.
The Salute to Heroes Inaugural Ball is sponsored by the American Legion, and co-sponsored by 13 other veteran’s service organizations, including those such as the Paralyzed Veterans of America and the Military Order of the Purple Heart.
Instead of attending this ball honoring our nation’s heroes, Obama was busy making stops at 10 other official balls. Obama and his wife’s first stop was at the Neighborhood Ball. From there they went to the Home State Ball for Illinois and Hawaii, the Commander-in-Chief Ball, the Youth Inaugural Ball, and the Home State Ball for Delaware and Pennsylvania. They finished off the night with brief appearances at the Mid-Atlantic, Western, Midwest, Eastern, and Southern regional Balls.
Celebrities were a plenty at the balls, with Stevie Wonder, Shakira, Mary. J. Blige, Faith Hill, Jay-Z, Alicia Keys, Adam Levine, will.i.am, Sting, Mariah Carey, and Leonardo DiCaprio in attendance at the Neighborhood Ball. In addition, the other nine balls also featured a star-studded lineup including Kanye West and Kid Rock at the Youth Ball, Marc Anthony at the Western Ball, and Cheryl Crow at the Western Ball.
It was the party without all of the celebrities that Obama skipped. The very people who he sought to have support him during his candidacy and campaign, who have fought to protect this country, were snubbed in favor of publicity and the opportunity to rub shoulders – yet again – with the out-of-touch Hollywood elite.
From a friend:
Search for yourself, this seems to be the only article, at least for now:
http://news.google.com/news?sourceid…-8&sa=N&tab=wn
This is absolutely ridiculous. Given Obama’s already questionable relationship with the military, this sort of faux pas is unimaginable. This had to be intentional.
It’s only been a day and I think we’ve leaped through the Looking Glass as a society.
I’m afraid Golitsyn’s ‘CONVERGENCE’ is upon us.
As for outgoing President Bush, who was jeered at Obama’s inauguration by the massive crowd, this is the FIRST ball he attended after his inauguration in 2005
In all fairness, the Commander In Chief’s ball was in honor of active duty soldiers of all services (they were the attendees), and wounded warriors from Walter Reed Army Medical Center. Both Obama and Biden stayed at this ball longer than most of the others and set up live via sat conferences while there with ANG troops in Afghanistan.