Courtesy of Jamie McCarthy
Another day and another missed opportunity for President Barack Obama to extend some good will toward members of our military.
Bloomberg Politics reports that a bride and groom, Natalie Heimel and Edward Mallue Jr., who are both Army captains planned their wedding at the Kaneohe Klipper Golf Course in Hawaii. The day before as they ended their wedding rehearsal they were informed they would have to move their wedding as the President was golfing there on the day of their wedding.
Priorities.
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.”
Still, anyone planning an event at the course when the president may be in town is warned about the potential for last-minute shuffling, said Naile Brennan, manager of K Bay Catering, which was handling logistics for the wedding. Brennan said they had other sites ready to go, and the couple ended up choosing the lush, green lawn near the home of Colonel Eric Schaefer, the commanding officer of the base, which offers an elevated view near the 16th hole.
It was not certain whether the White House knew about the wedding ahead of time, and President Obama ended up calling the bride to congratulate her and apologize. The missed opportunity here is that when the White House did hear about the wedding (and I don’t believe for a second that between the White House schedule planners and the Secret Service nobody heard about it) President Obama could have and should have postponed his golf game out of respect for these soldiers who are serving their country.
But hey, we can’t let a wedding get in the way of the President’s golf game. That would be rude.