DEVASTATING SOCIAL NEWS.  WHAT DO WE TELL THE NEIGHBORS? – AT 8:25 A.M. ET:  Rarely has such humiliation been visited upon us.  From Andrew Malcolm at the L.A. Times's Top of the Ticket blog:

Oh, the humiliation. Once not so long ago one of the world's top celebrities in his own right, Barack Obama and his wife Michelle did not make the cut for invitations to the royal wedding in London next spring.

On April 29 in Westminster Abbey with all the grace and pageantry sure to capture international imaginations, commoner Kate Middleton will marry Prince William, son of Princess Diana. And don't forget the horsedrawn carriage perhaps.

But the current residents of the White House will not be there, according to the Daily Mail.

The official excuse provided to the British paper by royal sources is that the royal couple wants to share their special nuptial moment with ordinary citizens. Anyway, it is not an official state event, they said. And, you know, Westminster only seats 2,000.

Nice try.

So then how to explain the invites to French president Nicolas Sarkozy and his wife Carla Bruni?

And how to explain the invitations to England-loving President and Mrs. Reagan for the wedding of Diana and Prince Charles back in 1981? And the subsequent invitations to the American first family for the wedding of Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson five years later?

COMMENT:  Do you remember that one of Obama's first presidential acts was to send the bust of Winston Churchill, which had an honored place in the Oval Office, back to Britain, even though it had never been requested?

Apparently, the bust fought back.  This is its finest hour.

Oh, I can't, can't, can't wait to hear Press Secretary Robert Gibbs's explanation for why the president of the United States, and first lady, couldn't scare up an invitation to the wedding.  Well, uh, maybe Obama had scheduled a pick-up basketball game for that day.  Or maybe the first lady didn't approve of the sweets on the menu.  There's gotta be a reason.

We've seen snubs.  This is the prize.

Oh, by the way, please note that the Obamas weren't invited to Chelsea Clinton's wedding either.  Hillary must be laughing her head off.  "You know, Bill, if we were back in the White House, we'd be invited.  Even your girl friend would be invited."

A protocol question:   Do the Obamas still have to send a gift?  What should it be?

December 17, 2010