W.H. Hosts State Dinner with Mexico

Here's hoping no one crashes: The Obamas greeted Mexican President Felipe Calderon and his wife Margarita Zavala at their second state dinner on Wednesday evening. The arrival ceremony was nothing short of a spectacle, with a 21-gun salute, a military band, flag-bearers representing the 50 states, and a color guard moving across the White House lawn. Earlier this year at the state dinner for Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, rain had curtailed some of the flourishes, as the Obamas had to greet Singh and his wife indoors at the East Room. In his welcoming remarks Obama noted that "the United States and Mexico are not simply neighbors, bound by geography and history. We are, by choice, friends and partners." Calderon said, to applause, "I know that we share the interest in promoting dignified, legal and orderly living conditions to all migrant workers. Many of them, despite their significant contribution to the economy and to the society of the Unites States, still live in the shadows and, occasionally, as in Arizona, they even face discrimination."