[caption id="attachment_69672" align="aligncenter" width="600" caption="Guess who's coming to din dins."]
Just ahead of St. Patrick's Day the White house will be rolling out the carpet, but it won't be green. British Prime Minister David Cameron will be in Washington on March 13 and 14 and while it will be an official visit, the White House will be serving up what a release is calling a state dinner.
"President Obama and the First Lady will welcome Prime Minister David Cameron of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and his wife, Samantha Cameron, to the White House for an Official Visit with a State Dinner on March 13-14, 2012," said the release.
"The visit will highlight the fundamental importance of the U.S.-UK special relationship and the depth of the friendship between the American people and the people of the United Kingdom, as well as the strong personal bond that has developed between the two leaders and their families. It will also be an opportunity to recall the valor and sacrifice of the U.S. and British armed forces and their long tradition of standing shoulder-to-shoulder beside each other in defense of our liberties and shared values."
Sitting shoulder to shoulder at the state dinner, the menu of which has not been met made public, the first couples may or may not look forward to St. Patrick's Day which, as we all know, is on everyone's plate if they so choose.
IF will be keeping an eye on the menu matter, if only for the possibility that a White House, long experienced in meeting March 17 with gusto, might be tempted to serve up bacon, cabbage and mash, a hearty repast in hard times and for sure an appropriate one in what used to be the Irish week in Washington.
Meanwhile, the White House St. Patrick's celebration will take place on the other side of the weekend, this because the big day falls on a Saturday.
It's hard not to think that it might have been held before March 17, with all the anticipation in the air to add flavor to the celebration, as opposed to afterwards when all the ballyhoo will be cooling off.
The Camerons could then have filled in the post-17th seating. Just a thought.
RIGHT IDEA, WRONG STATE
It's probably safe to say that attorney John O'Hara, like Thomas Nast, though in a very different context, will have to bide his wee until year's end.
O'Hara, who served a community service sentence and endured a variety of other legal sanctions after being convicted of voting fraud, petitioned Governor Andrew Cuomo for a pardon and was hoping that his bid might be third time lucky.
O'Hara had tried for a pardon before, first with Governor George Pataki, and then by way of Governor David Paterson, but neither gave him the all clear.
And no joy either from Cuomo, who in fact delivered no pardons at all as 2011 advanced into 2012.
O'Hara might have been better off being convicted in Mississippi, a state where officially sanctioned voting fraud was once par for the course and where outgoing governor Haley Barbour pardoned all manner of folks, including four murderers!
Still, hope endures and perhaps Governor Cuomo will be feeling a little more inspired a few months from now.
