D.C.’s see-and-be-seen restaurant Cafe Milano shut its doors to the public Thursday night for an event that honored both the Navy SEALs and former Defense Secretary Robert Gates — though the premise was problematic. First, the SEALs are a stealthy group, and grew bashful when asked to stand for applause. (They did, and were given plenty of it). Second, Gates couldn’t make the intimate dinner, leaving former National Security Advisor Jim Jones to do the heavy lifting. Jones gladly accepted Gates’ Courage and Compassion Award, being given to him by the Light of Healing Hope Foundation and the Navy SEAL Foundation. “Bob Gates is not someone I’ve known for a long time, but someone I’ve known of for a long time and I’m admired him at a distance,” Jones said. “I know if he couldn’t be here there’s a very good reason because this would have meant a lot to him,” Jones added.
Emcee Fox News Channel’s Bret Baier revealed that he was emailing with Gates’ senior adviser throughout the program, passing along more regrets. “He really wanted to be here,” Baier said. Among the attendees were Fox’s Ed Henry, Jeweler Ann Hand and CNN’s Wolf Blitzer, who was totally cool with a competitor being a bigger man of the hour. “Bret is a good friend of mine and he’s a very decent guy and an excellent journalist,” Blitzer said.
