> > > Obama Snubs Nation's Heroes, Becomes the First President to Skip Ball > Honoring Medal of Honor Recipients in Over 50 Years > > > > Submitted by Julie on January 21, 2009 - 10:13pm. > > > Elections > > Elections 2008 > > News > > Politics > > U.S. Government > > U.S. Politics > > World Politics > > > > > > Barack 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. > > > Follow-up story: American Legion Acknowledges That Obama Failed to Attend > the Salute to Heroes Inaugural Ball > > > > > > > News?|?Weather?|?Traffic?|?Sports?|?Lifestyle?|? On TV?|?News > Tips?|?Interactive > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > If you received this email from a friend and would like to subscribe to > this and other newsletters, please click here. > > > > > > You are subscribed to this newsletter. Click here to update your email > address. > > > > > > To unsubscribe from this newsletter, please click here, then un-select > this newsletter from the list and hit submit. > Or, send an Unsubscribe Request C/O WCNC.com, 1001 Wood Ridge Center Dr., > Charlotte, NC 28217. > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > E-mail message checked by Spyware Doctor (6.0.0.386) > Database version: 5.11650 > http://www.pctools.com/spyware-doctor-antivirus/ > > > > >