Outrage! Shock! Ignorance! Arrogance! Disrespect! The political social media outrage machine is APPALLED by a Bloomberg Politics dispatch from Hawaii, where President Obama has been spending his Christmas vacation. Apparently the White House asked two Army captains to move their wedding location on their wedding day. Why? Because POTUS wanted to play a round of golf. Via Bloomberg:
Natalie Heimel and her fiancé, Edward Mallue Jr., a pair of captains in the Army, were walking from their wedding rehearsal on Saturday at the 16th tee box at Kaneohe Klipper Golf Course in Hawaii when they were informed they’d have to move their wedding, scheduled for the next day.
President Barack Obama wanted to play through.
Here’s where it gets WEIRD, though. The couple asked POTUS to attend the wedding. He regretfully declined the invitation, which is strange because HE WAS EVENTUALLY GOING TO PLAY GOLF AT THE SAME TIME WHERE THEY WERE HAVING THEIR WEDDING CEREMONY:
It was the second time that day that the couple heard from the nation’s commander in chief, whose affinity for golf has, at times, caused political headaches for the White House. Stationed in Hawaii and knowing the president spends his Christmas holiday on the islands, they invited him to their ceremony on a lark. They had received a letter earlier on Saturday saying Obama regretted he couldn’t come and wishing them happiness on their wedding day.
“It was kind of ironic they got the letter from them and then, within hours, they were told they had to be moved due to him,” Jamie McCarthy, Mallue’s sister, said in an interview. “It was emotional, especially for her—she’s the bride and in less than 24 hours they had to change everything they had planned.”
I bet. I’m going to guess President Obama has never watched an episode of Bridezillas with First Lady Michelle. How can the most powerful man in the world not fear the wrath of a bride on her wedding day? Bridezillas are the most terrifying force on the planet and his golf game was more or less making poor Natalie Heimel into one.
Fortunately, POTUS did the right thing and called the bride to clear up the mess:
An administration spokesman referred questions about the day to the military base, and it’s not clear the White House would have been informed about the wedding in advance. After Bloomberg Politics inquired about the scheduling conflict, Obama put in a personal call to the bride.
“He apologized and congratulated them,” McCarthy said, adding that it was a “wonderful talk.”
“We were all there, it was perfect,” she said. “Made their day.”
That’s a hell of a good wedding day story for the happy couple. But he better buy them a damn nice wedding present. Or at the very least, post-honeymoon beers at the White House and maybe a round of golf on the Camp David course.