THE LIGHTS HAVE GONE OUT

When news first broke that the Hilton Corporation was evicting Fran O'Brien's Steak House from one of their hotels, the blog world shifted into high gear in an attempt to thwart Hilton's decision.
Hilton gave Fran's until May 1st to vacate the premises, which turned out to be a couple weeks' notice. Well, May 1st has come and gone, so has Fran O'Brien's. Hal and Marty packed all their equipment and moved out of the Hilton Hotel located in Washington D.C.

Our wounded men and women, recuperating at Walter Reed and Bethesda, will no longer be able to enjoy a night out with their family and friends courtesy of Hal and Marty. They began the tradition of free Friday night steak dinners to our wounded servicemenbers two-and-a-half years ago.

I sincerely hope you thank Hilton by spending your dollars at another establishment. I will sleep in my car before I spend another dollar at one of their hotels.

Before the May 1st eviction date, The American Legion stepped in and offered to pay 50% of the upgrade costs for ADA compliance, but Hilton ignored it and evicted Fran's anyway. It appears that Hilton used its power and influence to keep the media at bay, too. Hannity and Colmes were planning to cover the story but it was cancelled at the last minute. Hannity would never have dropped this story unless Fox management put a stop to it; he's too much of a patriot.

The only media coverage (tv and radio) was in the Washington D.C. area and a live radio interview with Marty O'Brien on Constitutional Public Radio out of Florida. National coverage was non-existent, otherwise the outcome would've been different.

Just so you'll know, this is the cornerstone of Hilton's business philosophy. And, don't forget these SOBs, either.

Andi's World has all the details in a post entitled, "What would Conrad do?"

Fran's--the last night:

Not all was gloomy that night. Pfc. Marissa Strock, who lost both legs after a Thanksgiving Day explosion under her Humvee in Iraq, offered an act of both gratitude and triumph.

Struggling to stand on her prosthetic limbs, Strock, 20, walked unassisted into the arms of Jim Mayer, a Vietnam War double amputee whom Koster credits with coming up with the idea of the dinners.

Then, dinner done, Strock walked alone up the 20 steps to the street.

"It was the biggest gift she could give," Mayer said. "Priceless."

*************CPR for May 9th


Mark Vance and Andrea Shea-King will be interviewing Townhall.com's chairman, Doug Wilson. The show begins at 3PM EST on Constitutional Public Radio, WWBC 1510 AM via the web. Don't miss it.