By: Fred Manton

Eyewitness accounts say that Obama’s Administration put on a White House ‘Alice in Wonderland’ hi-tea party in the middle of the Great Recession back in Halloween 2009. Best part was that Tim Burton and Johnny Depp helped put the party on. No one knew about it until just recently due to fears that making the party public in any capacity could spur a public backlash. The party occurred at a time when just the mention of Obama sparked heated controversy over health-care and a dire economic situation that looked perilous for many Americans and bank bailouts that mounted until that bubble popped and Occupy Wall Street began.

Another reason why the Hollywood-esque party went unreported was because at the same time in the White House another party was going on: an invitation-only benefit for children of military personnel and White House administrators took place in the East Room, while in the State Dining Room hundreds of people gathered to indulge in a politically-incorrect hedonistic fest that would put Bacchus to shame.

So where did the information come from? New York Times correspondent and author of “The Obamas”, Jodi Kantor. “Fruit punch was served in blood vials at the bar,” Kantor writes. “Burton’s own Mad Hatter, the actor Johnny Depp, presided over the scene in full costume, standing up on a table to welcome everyone in character.” They ripped the movie right out of the silver screen and put it right into the White House.

It’s commendable, in a certain respect, that the Obama Administration could even pull off a feat such as this. It required taking some of the most public figures within Hollywood today and ensuring, somehow, that they wouldn’t say anything, spending probably thousands, if not millions, in setting it all up, getting a small enough crowd so they could ensure their silence but big enough so that it would be worth it, and then ping-ponging in between other more public responsibilities. But that’s not to negate the abstract level of ethics that Obama crossed.

While millions of Americans suffered in economic turmoil and probably had to spend the Halloween of 2009 eating caramel apples with razor blades in them (they’re cheaper—Walmart sells them in bulk packages at a discount), Obama and his family, as well as other privileged children, got to spend Halloween that year with movie stars in a thousands-of-dollars party.

The bigger picture for this upcoming election could pose a threat to Obama if it looks like he’s spending all of this money egregiously while allowing joblessness and economic turmoil to burgeon. It definitely put a new spin on the out-of-touch plutocrat image many are saying of GOP-front-runner Mitt Romney. If Romney and Obama go head-to-head in 2012, then many of the debates could just be the two of them smoking cigars and lighting hundred-dollar bills on fire. But to say that any (current) politician, or anyone for that matter, wouldn’t do the exact same thing for their kids if given the opportunity is a gross misappropriation of human nature.

It does seem to prove, at least to the rest of the world, that America, no matter what the economic situation looks like, is still willing to blow a shit ton of money (which is an actual increment in economic text books) on a ridiculously unneeded and irresponsible party.