Category Archives: Michelle Obama

March 14, 2013 · 7:13 PM

First lady Michelle Obama’s second Vogue cover sparks backlash over April 2013 image

michelle-obama-vogue-16x9

President and Mrs. Obama can’t seem get a break from certain segments of the population.  Usually their anger is misguided based upon false information about the President and First Lady…

The Grio

First lady Michelle Obama is making her secondVogue cover appearance for the publication’s April 2013 issue — and also sparking another backlash. On the heels of the minor controversy caused when the first lady spoke at the 2013 Oscars via video, Mrs. Obama’s latest media foray has attracted a large number of irate commentors to major sites. In messages that mix the personal and the political, anonymous users are taking the occasion of the first lady speaking with Vogue in a high profile story to go on the attack.

No, they are not discussing her blue Reed Krakoff dress (while some do ding her signature bangs). Fashion, itself a contentious topic, has largely been forgotten in the stream of online chatter focusing on Michelle Obama’s fitness as a model for children, her alleged overexposure — and even her relationship with her husband. Plus, the frequent accusations of classism the first lady receives when doing something perceived by many as “too glamorous” were also in effect.

“Our own version of Eva Peron takes another step forward with Juan Barack to play the populist game whilst living high on the hog (on the people’s dime) with the Hollywood and New York glitterati,” complained one user on The Washington Post.

Many of the over 500 comments on The Huffington Post about the cover are similarly critical.

“Her role as a Presidents wife should be doing good for the country [sic],” wrote one user on the site. “She must want to be a model.”

Michelle Obama Vogue cover

Others used the occasion to voice fears about pressing social issues that the first lady has no direct power to influence.

“Can media stop doing this crap? Who cares [that the] first lady is on whatever magazines,” one such person stated. “My family is worrying to dead with sequestration. We won’t be able to pay our bills and my children will be suffering with my 20% pay cut. First Lady should do something more meaningful for her country instead of wearing nice clothes and smiling on the cover of any magazine. [sic]“

It was clear that several comments on stories about the April cover were deleted, suggesting that the ranting about Mrs. Obama was so bad that a substantial number of enraged site visitors violated these online outlets’ decency policies.

But, there were a fair number of people who loved seeing Michelle Obama pose for her second Voguecover — and a strong throng defending her against ideological assailants.

“Michelle Obama is one POWERFUL woman. She can’t even pose for a magazine without heads exploding. To all haters, it’s perfectly okay if you don’t find her attractive,” said one of the first lady’s fans.

For Michelle Obama, these reactions — good and bad — are likely a part of public life that she has accepted by now.

She stated that it was “absolutely not surprising” when her appearance at the Academy Awards set off a right wing response of intense, critical scrutiny.

“Shoot, my bangs set off a national conversation. My shoes can set off a national conversation. That’s just sort of where we are. We’ve got a lot of talking going on,” she said about reactions to her media presence. “It’s like everybody’s kitchen-table conversation is now accessible to everybody else so there’s a national conversation about anything.”

Also, Mrs. Obama’s love of luxurious clothing is not as selfish as some make it seem. Ironically, dressing well helps the first lady to better serve others.

“If you’re comfortable in your clothes it’s easy to connect with people and make them feel comfortable as well,” Michelle said.

Making people feel comfortable is something the first lady does continuously, whether she is working with the public on her Let’s Move! initiative to reduce childhood obesity, or contributing in person to the betterment of military families through her Joining Forces campaign.

Yet, love her or hate her, people will have to get used to seeing Michelle Obama on magazine covers and television. Not only is she the most televised first lady of all time, Mrs. Obama is also extremely popular – more so than the president. Given both of these factors, we can expect a lot more coverage of the first lady in the years to come.

Everybody should get situated for what promises to be a bumpy ride full of passionate debates over Michelle Obama’s image.

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September 5, 2012 · 12:01 AM

Michelle Obama DNC Speech: The President Is Just Like You

With Mrs. Romney’s speech, she seemed to speak at us while conversely, Mrs. Obama’s speech seemed to speak forus.

The Huffington Post

Michelle Obama’s message: President Barack Obama is just like you.

“Barack knows the American Dream because he’s lived it,” the first lady told the Democratic National Convention on Tuesday in an address intended to reassure voters that her husband share their values – hard work, perseverance and optimism – while also drawing a contrast between him and Mitt Romney.

Mrs. Obama never mentioned the president’s Republican challenger, who grew up in a world of privilege and wealth.

But the point was clear as she weaved a tapestry of their early years together, when money was tight and times were tough, when they were “so in love, and so in debt.” She reminisced about the man who now occupies the Oval Office pulling his favorite coffee table out of the trash and wearing dress shoes that were a size too small. And she told stories about a president who still takes time to eat dinner with his daughters nearly every night, answering their questions about the news and strategizing about middle-school friendships.

With a mix of personal anecdotes and policy talk, Mrs. Obama’s speech was by far her most political yet.

“Today, after so many struggles and triumphs and moments that have tested my husband in ways I never could have imagined, I have seen firsthand that being president doesn’t change who you are – it reveals who you are,” she said.

To that send, the first lady painted a portrait of a leader who knows first-hand the struggles of everyday Americans, who listens to them as president, and who pushes an agenda with their interests in mind.

“That’s the man I see in those quiet moments late at night, hunched over his desk, poring over the letters people have sent him,” she said. “I see the concern in his eyes … and I hear the determination in his voice as he tells me, `You won’t believe what these folks are going through, Michelle . it’s not right. We’ve got to keep working to fix this. We’ve got so much more to do.”"

She added: “I see how that’s what drives Barack Obama every single day.”

With such stories, the first lady sought to counter Republicans trying to paint Obama as something other than a typical American, and implied that it was Romney who couldn’t relate to people trying to get by in tough economic times.

To be sure, neither Romney nor Obama fits the bill of the average, working-class American struggling with credit card debt and mortgage payments.   Both are millionaires who live a privileged life few Americans will ever experience.

Continue reading here…

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July 13, 2012 · 10:21 AM

Michelle Obama Threat: D.C. Police Officer Allegedly Said He’d Shoot First Lady, Report Says

This is rather creepy.

Thank goodness the DC Police and  Secret Service are on top of this threat…

The Huffington Post

WASHINGTON — A District of Columbia police officer has been taken off a motorcycle escort for White House officials after he allegedly said he’d shoot first lady Michelle Obama and “then used his phone to retrieve a picture of the firearm he said he would use,” according to The Washington Post.

The Metropolitan Police Department is investigating and the Secret Service has been told of the alleged threat, the Post reports:

The motorman allegedly made the comments Wednesday morning as several officers from the Special Operations Division discussed threats against President Obama. It was not immediately clear where the alleged conversation took place or exactly how many officers took part in the conversation.During that conversation, the officials said, the officer allegedly said he would shoot the First Lady and then used his phone to retrieve a picture of the firearm he said he would use. It was not immediately clear what type of firearm was allegedly shown.

An officer overheard the alleged threat and reported it to a police lieutenant at the Division, who immediately notified superiors, the officials said.

The officer has been moved to administrative duty as the incident is being investigated, according to the Post.

MPD Chief Cathy Lanier told WRC-TV/NBC4: “There is conflicting information about what the officer said. … Internal Affairs will get to the bottom of it.”

This is a developing story…

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December 18, 2011 · 1:35 AM

Michelle Obama asked to Marine Corps Ball

This has got to be one for the history books.  Also, it’s not that the POTUS might say “no”, I doubt he’d do that because he ernestly cares about the troops and their morale.

I believe both the POTUS and FLOTUS will be hearing from their protocol liaisons to see if this is allowed.

Still,  it’s such an adorable story!

Politico

First lady Michelle Obama has a date, and it’s not with her husband, CNN reports:

20 year old Marine Lance Corporal Aaron Leeks from Frederick, Maryland has asked First Lady Michelle Obama to accompany him to the Marine Corps Ball next November. “With your husband’s permission of course,” said Leeks.

The first lady responded, “I’d love to” and brought an aide over to get his information. The first lady met Leeks at a Toys-for-Tots event at Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling located in southeast Washington, DC.

White House press secretary Jay Carney was asked about the invitation in Friday’s briefing and responded, “If the president’s watching this, this may be the first he’s heard of it.”

Carney couldn’t confirm that FLOTUS will definitely attend but said, “The first lady’s commitment to military families is very strong indeed.  So I’m sure she was flattered by the invitation.”

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October 1, 2011 · 2:54 PM

Hannity on FLOTUS’ Target shopping: ‘We’re being manipulated’

Rush Limbaugh said the exact same thing yesterday.  I suppose Rush sent out his talking points for the day to his sycophant, Sean Hannity…

The Raw Story

Leave it to Sean Hannity to find something controversial about Michelle Obama shopping at Target.

On Friday evening’s edition of Hannity, the Fox commentator took umbrage over the First Lady shopping at the renowned retail store. Clearly upset at seeing photographs of her at such a location, Hannity deemed that she has “an image problem along with her husband” and questioned the authenticity of her shopping at Target.

“Martha’s Vineyard, golfing, basketball, extravagant trips, a lot of diamonds, all this stuff,” he said. “So here’s her with a picture at Target, and it just so happens an AP photographer happens to be there, right?”

Taken aback by Hannity’s skepticism, both Republican strategist Karen Harenty and Democratic strategist Joe Trippi tried to place the focus back on President Obama. But that didn’t stop the conservative firebrand from getting one last jab at the First Lady.

“I shop there, but we’re being manipulated here,” he said.

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May 11, 2011 · 5:07 AM

Feud Alert! Sarah Palin, Fox News, Rapper Common And White House Ready To Brawl?

This is absurd.  The Right will do everything they can to criticize the Obamas…

Mediaite

In the great tradition of rap feuds, this one definitely is not as violent as some past conflicts, but it sure is escalating just as quickly. First Lady Michelle Obama raised some conservative eyebrows by inviting the rapper Commonto a poetry event at the White House. And that was enough to trigger a wave of outrage.

First it was the conservative website Daily Caller that recognized Common was a controversial guest to invite, “in part because his poetry includes threats to shoot police and at least one passage calling for the ‘burn[ing]‘ of then-President George W. Bush.” Then the Fox News website Fox Nation reacted with a headline labeling Common to be a “vile rapper.” And Sarah Palin weighed in too, tweeting in reaction to the Daily Caller’s story “Oh lovely, White House…”

Yet CNN commentator Roland Martin notes “not even casual hip hop fans would characterize Common as a controversial rapper.” Additionally, Common has frequently appeared on Def Poetry Jam and has acted in many mainstream films including American Gangster, Wanted and Date Night.

So far the First Lady has remained silent, but Common took to Twitter to respond to all of his new “fans.” Common responded “So apparently Sarah Palin and Fox News doesn’t like me.” He also laughed at the description of himself as “vile.” With Donald Trump’s popularity fading, might Palin now desire picking up Trump’s strange habit of feuding with celebrities?

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February 15, 2011 · 9:03 AM

So They’re Just Calling Michelle Obama Fat Now

Media personality Andrew Breitbart gives a spe...

Image via Wikipedia

From the onset, let me just say that in my opinion, Andrew Breitbart is one sick son of a bitch and sexist pig…

Media Matters - by Simon Maloy

First Lady Michelle Obama is in the midst of a nationwide anti-obesity campaign aimed at shrinking America’s collectively expanding waistline. The conservative media are striking back against Mrs. Obama’s message of fitness and nutrition by decrying what they see as government intrusion into our pantries.

At least, that’s what they’re doing when they’re not calling Michelle Obama fat.

Rush Limbaugh’s long been laying the groundwork for this sexist attack, using stories about the First Lady’s nutrition programs to call the fitness-fanatic Mrs. Obama “Michelle, My Butt.” (The jab’s lack of sense it exceeded only by its lack of self-awareness.)

Yesterday, the resident cartoonists at Andrew Breitbart’s BigGovernment.com posted this offering…  (This is a link to Media Matters.  I simply refuse to  direct anyone to Breitbart’s site.)

If there’s a “joke” in there, I’m missing it. Notably, the version of the cartoon online now differs slightly — but significantly — from the version that showed up in my RSS reader, in which the First Lady demands: “Shut up and pass the lard!”

It’s been a long time since I’ve expected anything approaching comity from the conservative media, but this is the sort of stuff most of us left at the grade school playground.

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December 22, 2010 · 10:46 AM

Mike Huckabee Defends Michelle Obama Against Sarah Palin (AUDIO)

Huffington Post

Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee took a moment on Tuesday to counter Sarah Palin’s recent claim that Michelle Obama is out to rob children and parents of their rights to eat dessert.

“With all due respect to my colleague and friend Sarah Palin, I think she’s misunderstood what Michelle Obama is trying to do,” Huckabee said Tuesday during a radio appearance the “Curtis Sliwa Show.”

On Sunday’s episode of “Sarah Palin’s Alaska,” the state’s former governor quipped on a camping trip that she planned to make her family s’mores “in honor of Michelle Obama, who said the other day we should not have dessert,” an apparent jab at the first lady’s campaign anti-obesity campaign, which does include, among other things, an encouragement that American families attempt to find dessert replacements.

Huckabee, who struggled with weight issues himself, but later took up marathon running and had managed to lose significant weight through exercise (another staple of Michelle Obama’s initiative), wanted to make clear that the program is not, as Palin has claimed, simply a move to try to get big government on “our back.”

“Michelle Obama’s not trying to tell people what to eat or not trying to force the government’s desires on people,” Huckabee said. “She’s stating the obvious, that we do have an obesity problem in this country.”

According to an analysis from the CDC:

Childhood obesity has more than tripled in the past 30 years. The prevalence of obesity among children aged 6 to 11 years increased from 6.5% in 1980 to 19.6% in 2008. The prevalence of obesity among adolescents aged 12 to 19 years increased from 5.0% to 18.1%.

Huckabee then expressed some worry that America’s armed forces would be seriously crippled by the ongoing issue of obesity, and explained that the problem started with a system of incentives in which children received sugary foods for good behavior and were punished with vegetables.

Listen:

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November 27, 2010 · 6:06 PM

Sarah Palin Responds To Korea Gaffe

Mrs. Palin makes a valid point about political gaffes when she points out that everyone makes them.  However, is it me or are most of her retorts toward the media, the POTUS and Mrs. Obama more piercing and odious than the average political response to something she has said or done?

Politics Daily

Even on Thanksgiving Day, Sarah Palin found time to lash out at her political foes — in this case the media for blowing out of proportion her gaffe on the Korean crisis.

In a Facebook posting, the combative Palin addressed a Thanksgiving message to “57 states” — mocking a mistake President Obama made in his 2008 campaign as a way of arguing that the news uses a double standard. “If you can’t remember hearing about them [Obama slip-ups), that’s because for the most part the media didn’t consider them newsworthy,” she wrote, according to ABC News. “I have no complaint about that. Everybody makes the occasional verbal gaffe — even news anchors.”

Palin drew ridicule earlier this week when she said in a radio interview with Glenn Beck, “We gotta stand with our North Korean allies” during a discussion about the deadly attack by the North on a South Korean island. Beck quickly corrected her and she replied, “We’re bound by prudence to stand with our South Korean allies, yes.” Roughly 24 hours after reports of the incident, Palin was criticizing the Obama team’s response to the attack. “We’re not having a lot of faith that the White House is going to come out with a strong enough policy to sanction what it is that North Korea is going to do.”

Of the media reports that followed her little mix-up, she said, “Obviously, I would have been even more impressed if the media showed some consistency on this issue. Unfortunately, it seems they couldn’t resist the temptation to turn a simple one word slip-of-the-tongue of mine into a major political headline.” And for her part, Palin couldn’t resist firing back.

The 2008 Republican vice presidential candidate is a woman on the move. On Saturday, she is due in Iowa for a book signing at a Borders in West Des Moines for “America by Heart: Reflections on Family, Faith and Flag.” Iowa is the site of the first 2012 Republican presidential contest — and Palin says she’s considering a national candidacy. Palin’s camp said the book-signing events are “not political in any way.”

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November 19, 2010 · 2:50 AM

Sarah Palin Slams Michelle Obama in Racially Charged Passage From New Book

The Huffington Post - Geoffrey Dunn

In passages leaked from her forthcoming book America by Heart, Sarah Palin — the erstwhile quitter governor of Alaska, who now, by all indications, fancies herself as President of the United States — has taken another cheap shot at First Lady Michelle Obama.

In a passage on perceptions of racial inequality in the United States, Palin slams President Barack Obama, who, she asserts, “seems to believe” that “America — at least America as it currently exists — is a fundamentally unjust and unequal country.”

And then she goes after Michelle Obama:

Certainly his wife expressed this view when she said during the 2008 campaign that she had never felt proud of her country until her husband started winning elections. In retrospect, I guess this shouldn’t surprise us, since both of them spent almost two decades in the pews of the Reverend Jeremiah Wright’s church listening to his rants against America and white people.

The passage — coming on page 26 in a chapter entitled “We, the People” — echoes remarks made by Palin on the eve of the midterm elections, at a rally in San Jose, California, at which point she mocked remarks made by Michelle Obama during the 2008 campaign: “You know, when I hear people say, or had said during the campaign that they’ve never been proud of America,” Palin spat out. “Haven’t they met anybody in uniform yet? I get tears in my eyes when I see that young man, that young woman, walking through the airport in uniform…you too… so proud to be American.”

In fact, Michelle Obama’s remarks were made (in Madison, Wisconsin, during the 2008 campaign) in a context of Americans being “unified around some basic common issues”:

What we have learned over this year is that hope is making a comeback. It is making a comeback. And let me tell you something–for the first time in my adult lifetime, I am really proud of my country. And not just because Barack has done well, but because I think people are hungry for change. And I have been desperate to see our country moving in that direction, and just not feeling so alone in my frustration and disappointment. I’ve seen people who are hungry to be unified around some basic common issues, and it’s made me proud.

Afterwards, the First Lady further clarified her remarks by noting that she was referencing the “record number” of young voters participating in the political process in the 2008 campaign:

For the first time in my lifetime, I am seeing people rolling up their sleeves in way that I haven’t seen and really trying to figure this out, and that’s the source of pride I was talking about.

The passages from Palin’s latest book first appeared at Palingates, where several other pages from American by Heart have also been posted. Palin followed up her comments about Michelle Obama by throwing an elbow at U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, also focusing on racial overtones:

It also makes sense, then, that the man President Obama made his attorney general, Eric Holder, would call us a “nation of cowards” for failing to come to grips with what he described as the persistence of racism.

 

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