Facebook worthy? You bet.
by Corey Alderdice
Washington (and the rest of the nation) hasn’t been this abuzz about a dynamic duo of social climbers showing up uninvited since Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughan slipped into the wedding of the Treasury Secretary’s daughter in the 2005 film Wedding Crashers.
Though the story of Michaele and Tareq Salahi is really more faux-news than anything, it did land smack dab in the middle of what was a slow news cycle thanks to, well, Thanksgiving. In the event that you see a question this weekend at GMU’s Patriot Games, Bradley University’s Armstrong Invitational,or anywhere else around the country, Slate has a great piece outling the long history of social climbing.
To that notable group of societies we can now add 21st-century Washington, D.C. Like 18th-century Russia, it is a world of neophytes, a society whose members have only recently “made it” into an elite magic circle and who don’t necessarily know the other members all that well. Like 19th-century New York, it is also a world where appearances matter. You get invited to the party—whether the White House Hanukkah party or the state dinner—not just because of who you are but because of what you represent, which costume you wear, which ethnic group you come from.
After all, when you can choose between Wedding Crashers or 18th century Russia, be the speaker who stands out in the round.