Should Michelle Obama Have Brought Her Daughters Into A Discussion of Obesity?

This is such a departure from Jackie O and Hillary’s protection of their children from the media.  I’m sorry both Michelle and Barack expose their children to the limelight.  He talked about their grades and she called attention to their weight.  The result is will be watching their performance and bodies.  I’m sorry for the kids.

No, she should have left her daughters out of it. From as early on as her first interview with the New Yorker, it was clear to me that Michelle is obessesed with her daughters’ wieghts. Those poor girls.

Michelle impressed me as the kind of mother who finds having an overweight child shameful. Read the article. It was written before Michelle’s handlers got a tight rein on what she was allowed to say in public.

I could write even more about what I’ve noticed about the way the Obama girls are being treated by their parents, but the two of them deserve privacy. Something their mother ignores.

 The girls weight and subsequent lifestyle interventions have been a talking point to this entire obesity campaign, and before. They were successful dietary solutions so I don’t see anything particularly drastic in bringing it up again. Although Malia has swung so far she’s actually on the thin side now to me. Michelle is the one who seems to have gained some weight since the election and it would be much more appropriate to use herself as an example…

BO mentioned in a 2008 interview with Parents magazine that, “a couple of years ago – you’d never know it by looking at her now – Malia was getting a little chubby.” The Obamas said they reduced their kids’ intake of sugary drinks, burgers, and TV, and the effect “was so significant that the next time we visited our paediatrician he was amazed.” Announcing the initiative on January 20, Michelle noted:
I wasn’t always aware of how all the calories and fat in some of the processed foods I was buying were adding up. It got to the point where our pediatrician had to tap me on the shoulder and say, ‘You know, you might want to consider making some changes in your family’s diet.’

I think if she were just a mom in a small PTA or mothers meeting or something, her comments would have been totally acceptable. But, as the First Lady, and like you said, living in a fishbowl, and on TV, she should not have brought them into it. She could have used a *my friend* and her kids…. But how utterly humiliating for a teenage girl. Kids are brutal! And to tell the world they were borderline obese, or in danger of becoming obese… not good. 

Michelle is the one who seems to have gained some weight since the election and it would be much more appropriate to use herself as an example…  
 
ok, that was funny.

To call your kids chubby on national television is insensitive to say the least.  Children in any first family ought to be protected not poster children for a current problem. 

I think you are correct that Michelle should have used her own weight as an example and protected her children from this.

Leave the Obama girls out of it. It is tough enough to be a tween/teenager without the whole world hearing from Daddy that you were “getting a bit chubby.”

Personally. I think the Obamas are making excuses for what they regard as less than perfect physiques for their daughters. Lately Malia looks as if she’s hiding from the cameras, or being photographed standing behind large shrubs. She went from looking like a happy little girl to looking sad and ashamed.

Leave the girls out of this. Let them lead normal lives. How low can you go, Mr. and Mrs. Obama, to talk about your daughters’ weight? They are normal girls who will go from one range of weight to the other as they pass through the teenage years.

In the New Yorker interview, Michelle made an ass out of herself on serveral occasions, especially when the reporter savvily just let Michelle run her mouth. She talked about the importance of organic foods. Very wlell for those who can afford it.

Obesity is a big problem in communities where money is tight. It is a lot easier to feed kids processed foods especially among the working poor. A mother comes home exhausted from working a low-paying job. She has to get a meal on the table fast. She may not be able to get to a farmers’ market, or even a decent grocery store if she doesn’t have a car. There are some obots who think the mother should be willing to take two busses to shop for healthful foods (more expensive than processed foods) and have the time and energy to plan and prepare healthful meals from scratch.

Believe me, I know about this because I know women who live this kind of life. Once again, the Obamas show how out of touch they are with average American citizens.

But it’s all about them, right? And if Malia is not as svelte as Michelle wants her to be, that’s Michelle’s problem.

Let them be kids.

And by the way guest, what if a family does not have access to a pediatrician?

Both the Obamas are self-professed “foodies.” And yeah, Michelle has gained weight. She likes her wine.

The parents are the ones who really come off as clueless for not being keyed in on the ground rules earlier :less burgers, low-fat milk, and fruits and water instead of sugary drinks. I only recently discovered the potentially deadly difference between white and brown rice in looking for ways to raise my good cholesterol…but BURGERS, FRIES and COLA for heavens sake !!! It’s child abuse !!! Who doesn’t know that stuff in this day and age ?

Ani- Bless you and your house for talking about this extremely important subject!
So many young women are tragically suffering from anorexia, and image problems and so many deaths , too!
What an opportunity the First Lady of the country has to bring the subject  of anorexia to the forefront ….But she is too vain and obsessed with her weight and her looks! Remember when she got upset last year because there was a rumor that she looked a little pregnant (they used the term “baby bump” which I detest)?? She said “As hard as I work on my abs, and someone thinks I look PREGNANT?!”  She was not happy.
 I’m sure all of the young  mothers out there really appreciated the fact that looking pregnant is repulsive to the First Lady!
Jeeze—-she is beyond insulting, obsessive, and now we can add “cruel” because she’s talking about her daughters’ weight.
I’ve had it with that piece of trash, Michelle Obama!  How many girls will become sick and/ depressed and even die  because of her influence?!
This is one of the most SERIOUS subjects in this culture and no one talks about it.
Again, Ani, I say bless you!

The O and the Mrs. O simply have no class.  Not now.  Not before.  They will and do use anything and anyone to further their self-indulgence: as one of my kids says, they are SOOOO JV.
OT: They don’t seem teachable (although I understand the O practiced his military salute privately for hours until he got it right).  Remember when he bounded down the steps of Air Force One and shook the hand of the military aide who had to break his salute to greet the absolutely unqualified inexperienced CinC?
I tell ya, I miss Laura Bush.

Does Charlie Daniels play a mean fiddle?

In her culture the is no such abstraction.

Does Charlie Daniels plays a mean fiddle? 
 
In her culture the is no such abstraction.

Does Charlie Daniels plays a mean fiddle?  
  
In her subculture the is no such abstraction.

Why would a first lady get involved with obesity it is a very sensitive subject. I think she made a drastic mistake to mention her girls she would not want her mother to do this to her so why do it to her daughters.

I was utterly amazed that this had become such a talking point in terms of Michelle Obama’s attention to the problems of childhood obesity.  Neither one of the Obama girls fit the description. Give the girls a break. 

Having been a “chubby” kid [and btw, Ani, I can relate entirely to your 11-year old experience--I too was dragged off to the doctor at the same age and grew into a weight-obsessed young adult], I am absolutely aware of how damaging the compulsive attention to one’s weight and appearance can truly be.  Fortunately, I also share your experience about “waking up,” throwing away the scale and keeping active. 

Eureka! 

You can eat sensibly and maintain your weight without diet aides and self-recrimination.  And you can even learn to love your body because when it works well and you’re blessed with good health, it is a marvelous vehicle that tends to hold up despite age.  I just spent 3 hours shoveling snow like a mad woman without a hiccup.

Obesity is a problem but the First Lady needn’t involve her own girls to prove her dedication to finding solutions.  Bad eating habits often are a by-product of poverty.  Processed and junk food are cheaper for families scrambling to put three squares [if they're lucky] on the table.  Education on how to eat sensibly and well without breaking the piggy bank would go a long way in making a dent.  And frankly, I think reinstituting PE classes with an emphasis on good health and strength-building programs would help too.

But from first hand experience, nagging and humiliation never works.  It just makes kids feel lousy about themselves.  Trust me, I’ve been there :* .  I had a mother obsessed with weight and looks.  It’s just not healthy for mind, body or spirit.

What I find rather bizarre is that during the campaign, the Obamas said that the girls were off-limits. But they did nothing to discourage, nor did they address in any way, the disgusting way their supporters attacked Palin and her little boy, Trig. Now they are using their daughters for political gain, to the detriment of the children. This is beyond cruel, this is child abuse. As I stated on another blog, Newsbird, the problem with Michelle Obama is that she is not a lady. A lady would never subject her children, or anyone else, to that sort of humiliation. And Obama is not a gentleman, for the same reasons. Disgusting, the pair of them.

Their Father too. Did you see during a speech about education he said parents have to do better and of course mentioned his daughter didn’t study watched too much TV and got a 73 on a test.

 When most kids get a bad grade they try not to even let their classmates see the grade and this poor kid has it announced to the world.

Guest, what I read about the earlier statement by the pediatrician was that he said, according to Michelle, “some things were out of balance.” That could mean anything, including a problem with the insulin/sugar balance which would mean a pre-diabetic condition. The doctor would have prescribed a diet that would counteract that conditon so that it wouldn’t tip over into full-blown diabetes. That would include cutting out sugary drinks, desserts and eating fewer carbs, etc. If that was the case, she should mention it since adult-onset diabetes is one of the leading health problems for children these days. They are getting it at the age children usually get juvenile diabetes. If her girls had been at risk for diabetes, then she should have said so instead of humliating them with talk about how fat they were.

The new incarnation of Ichabod Crane should not be giving opinions on other persons physique.

That is nice to give her the benefit of the doubt, but she was talking about fat (in danger of obese, not even just fat) not diabetes.
Her statement was,
“I didn’t see the changes. And that’s also part of the problem, or part of the challenge. It’s often hard to see changes in your own kids when you’re living with them day in and day out,” she added. “But we often simply don’t realize that those kids are our kids, and our kids could be in danger of becoming obese. We always think that only happens to someone else’s kid — and I was in that position.”

I think the 2 girls have different builds. 

little Sasha is much younger & not seeminlgy as potentialy tall as Malia. But children can surprise.

Consider the 2 strands of genes . BO has Kenyan genes which are taller & thin eg the long distance genes.

Michelle has A A genes which derive from the stockier west African peoples. 

it is not for me to predict which way the girls will grow. Both are likely to be stunners.

For ALL of us , there are times when we look really good & times when not so much. There is no recipe.Weight is only part of it .

I am very sorry for the girls & boys who noone has ever thought that under the fatty kid there is a happier , attractive unique face & capable physique.

Unfortunately fat kids look al the same.

Far worse is for them to grow up to adults never even seeing their best selves.

A bit of pain earlier beats a lifetime of shame.

Thats why we al cherish photos where we looked great. 

The Obamas don’t need to worry about their kids being obese, they need to worry about their heads being obese.

Maybe they could share a little crack with stinky.

Ani said: “A better answer is modeling good behavior. By setting an example for her girls without preaching about it, I wonder if a better result is possible.” And “What do you think the First Lady should have done? What is a better solution here.”

Brazilian parents seem to ESPOUSING the modeling behavior, no?

”
But her parents have dismissed accusations that their daughter’s appearance in the samba parade is inappropriate.
Lira’s mother, Mônica, said: “Anyone who looks at a child like Julia, so pure, and says there is some erotic appeal must be very sick.”
Julia Lira, meanwhile, is said to be revelling in her new-found fame. “Samba is fun,” she told a Brazilian newspaper following a rehearsal last week.”

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/feb/07/samba-queen-seven-divides-brazil

Ani said: “A better answer is modeling good behavior. By setting an example for her girls without preaching about it, I wonder if a better result is possible.” And “What do you think the First Lady should have done? What is a better solution here.”  
 
Brazilian parents seem to ESPOUSING the modeling behavior, no?  
 
”  
But her parents have dismissed accusations that their daughter’s appearance in the samba parade is inappropriate.  
Lira’s mother, Mônica, said: “Anyone who looks at a child like Julia, so pure, and says there is some erotic appeal must be very sick.”  
Julia Lira, meanwhile, is said to be revelling in her new-found fame. “Samba is fun,” she told a Brazilian newspaper following a rehearsal last week.”  
 
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/feb/07/samba-queen-seven-divides-brazil

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1248973/Julia-Lira-Fury-decision-Brazilian-girl-7-sexy-role-Rio-Janeiro-carnival.html

It seems to me Barack and Michele have body image problems otherwise why the obsessive focus on appearance and exercise,theirs,their daughters and everyone else.I’m concerned about the eldest because her mother and father are proud she is rail thin.She dare not change from that and of course she is on an ivy league track which will just exaserbate it.My daughter says it is a serious problem at the ivy she attends.

I don’t believe her intent was ro shame her daughters but she did make it very clear how important it is to her.Certainly some will ascribe it to the epidemic of childhood obesity and leave it at that. However Bill Clinton from experience mightily knows the struggle and while advocating for the best health for all kids he most certainly doesn’t come off as Michele did.

Wow! lark is using NQ to build her vocabulary! 

They did the Oprah interview with their kids along didn’t they?  If I remember correctly so it’s really nothing new.  Crude yes but not out of the ordinary for them.

But he won’t release his grades–stinky is as stinky does.

“Michelle is the one who seems to have gained some weight since the election…”
Well, both his and her heads seem to continual get larger.

Laura does have class.

lark, are you selling insurance now?

Because it’s all about her.

I think it is really unfair for MO and BO to mention their daughters the way they often do, to make them examples.  Perhaps they are thinking that as the first AA First Lady and the first Part KA (Kenyan American) POTUS, they are serving as roll models for all AAs.  It’s just another part of their egocentric thinking:  they are the center of the world’s attention, aren’t they?  Isn’t everyone, especially poverty stricken AAs, hanging of their every word?

That being said, MO can do much more to correct the problem of childhood obesity in American by learning about good programs out their on which to shine the light of the T.V. cameras.  There are many organizatons with IDEAS about how to get kids to eat better foods.

One of my favorite ones is the Physicians Committee of Responsible Medicine’s efforts to make changes to the school lunch programs.  We need to understand how the Dept. of Ag’s surplus program of fatty cheese and greasy meats scew lunchroom diets. School lunch ladies often have their hands tied by being forced to use those food items.  

I could go on, but keeping her campaign against childhood obesity impersonal would be far better.

Snow, where are you?

Yea, but he’s better looking and I’m a hetero guy.

FDM: If her girls had been at risk for diabetes, then she should have said so instead of humliating them with talk about how fat they were.

Excellent!

Amen, brother. They raise ‘em right in West Texas.
The women out there are tough but classy.

FDM: If her girls had been at risk for diabetes, then she should have said so instead of humliating them with talk about how fat they were. 

That would have been the subject of another thread.

Michelle Obama: ” but he [the doctor] warned that he was concerned that something was getting off balance.” ““I didn’t see the changes. And that’s also part of the problem, or part of the challenge. It’s often hard to see changes in your own kids…”

Why can’t you admit that MO in this case is right on the money and has arrived? Isn’t this the crux of the matter? Is it that difficult to give her credit for entering the right type of concern?

Dreadful to bring her daughter up the way she did.  There are ways she can express parental concerns without pointing at her daugher. 

No class.

Excuse me?  She;s going on the road re obesity with HER Bottom?

Did she said, ” “some things were out of balance.” Or did she said, “something was getting off balance.”

Michelle Obama: ” but he [the doctor] warned that he was concerned that something was getting off balance.” ““I didn’t see the changes. And that’s also part of the problem, or part of the challenge. It’s often hard to see changes in your own kids…” 
 
Why can’t you admit that MO in this case is right on the money and has arrived? Isn’t this the crux of the matter? Is it that difficult to give her credit for entering the right type of concern?

To enter the right kind of concern she needed to enter the right kind of subject. Kudos to MO in this case. Not that I qualify as a fan of hers.

Michelle Obama: ” but he [the doctor] warned that he was concerned that something was getting off balance.” ““I didn’t see the changes. And that’s also part of the problem, or part of the challenge. It’s often hard to see changes in your own kids…”   
   
Why can’t you admit that MO in this case is right on the money and has arrived? Isn’t this the crux of the matter? Is it that difficult to give her credit for entering the right type of concern?  
 
To enter the right kind of concern she needed to enter the right kind of subject. Kudos to MO in this case. Not that I qualify as a fan of hers.

Michelle Obama: ” but he [the doctor] warned that he was concerned that something was getting off balance.” ““I didn’t see the changes. And that’s also part of the problem, or part of the challenge. It’s often hard to see changes in your own kids…”   
   
Why can’t you admit that MO in this case is right on the money and has arrived? Isn’t this the crux of the matter? Is it that difficult to give her credit for entering the right type of concern?  
 
To enter the right kind of concern she needed to enter the right kind of subject. Kudos to MO in this case.

The Obamas give me hope…hope that they get out of the Whitehouse.  What goofs they are.

Obama is trying to brag since a 73 is better than anything he ever earned. 

Obama has been playing the big con all of his life.  He sought out Marxist professors in college, bought into their ideas, and conned them into giving him passing grades while he fried his brain with drugs. 

Obama did not get any education while studying what Wright had to offer for 20 years either.  This guy is a moron, someone has to constantly hold up cue cards for this clown.  Obama does not know fundamental English or fundemental geography.  

They should not have been mentioned as examples by their mother.  What will Michelle react when other parties also mention these girls as an example?  Michelle as inadvertently placed her own children as objects to be discussed by others.

We would all be better served if FLOTUS would spend her time helping farmers produce and get to market healthy organic fruits and vegetables and antibiotic-free meats and milks and mercury free fish.  She could start by getting BO to reduce the overzealous protection on the smelts in CA and sending water to the farmers, opening up some off-shore drilling so the production and transportation charges on food is reduced and chucking the Cap N Trade bill and work to encourage the production of healthy foods while making it cost-effective for the producers to do so.  I haven’t seen too many “Whole Food” stores in the ghetto.  The Obama speeches make me sick.  Now that is a weight loss program!

I think since Barry and Michelle have skipped “class” so much, they should be expelled! To paraphrase the soup nazi: “No Presidency for you! One year!”

Give MO credit for hitting it right: something appears off balance.

I am sorry to say this, but if my a## was as big as MEchelle’s, I would not have chosen this venue for my task as first nasty lady, nor EVER brought my children into the national conversation about weight.  I don’t mean to sound sexist, but clean your own back yard before you go telling someone else to do it, just sayin!  If she was a serious first lady, she would have took on the public school system or after school programs for single mom’s and dad’s, but weight is a choice and no one is going to listen to her preach to them about chips and soda!!

Oh and BTW, those BMI charts vary according to persons and can and will instill insecurities in our nations youth.  What is right for one, may not be right for some and imagine the teasing that one’s BMI is smaller than someone else’s in this young generation already killing themselves to look like models and celebrate’s.  It’s just another useless endeavor from the O administration!! >:o

arabella, Michelle is a “foodie” who doesn’t cook. How weird is that? And as for her having gained some weight, her ass is the size of Kansas. And about the same shape too.

And this is different than Palin discussing Bristol or dragging that baby all over to book signing events or Piper appearing hip to hip with her mother at every appearance how?

You all seem free to bash Michele while Palin’s brood sit for interviews, appear on magazine covers, and sport make up on an 8 year old much like a kiddy beauty contestent.   

Bash one mother, then bash them all.

Yes Pat . Poor Beau Biden was almost dragged into The Senate!

Parents!

Remembering my own time as a “tweener” I never appreciated being discussed in front of other people by my parents as though I were an inanimate object or their possession.
I felt that way from very young. For a time I had braces and had strangers comment on it.
And to give out their grades to the public?!!!  What’s wrong with these people?
You should treat your family of any age with the same courtesy you would give a complete stranger.

Hence the high belted dresses.

A mother comes home exhausted from working a low-paying job.

Or TWO.

we often simply don’t realize that those kids are our kids, and our kids could be in danger of becoming obese. We always think that only happens to someone else’s kid

In DANGER of becoming obese? It only happens to someone else? She talks like it is a drug that is going to kill them. If she regards a kid being slightly overweight at some point in their growth as a life-threatening situation these kids are really going to be screwed up.

FLDemFem, I love that you refer to ladies and gentlemen – a breed that is dying out. However, if each of us try very hard to show how by example, then hopefully it will come back.

 Pat Johnson, what a lame comparison. Michelle is the FLOTUS and has the media in her command, meaning she has a wider audience to show-off her expertise (if any). Besides, the Palins pay for their livelihood while the Obama couple are taxpayers’ civil servants, but not working, just playing. That’s where the difference is, Pat. Moreover, Obama loves to throw the undesirable under the bus. I feel sad for their children..

or three.

Spot on, Peggy Sue.  Thank you for your post.

Btw, sorry you had to shovel snow for three hours but you must be mighty proud of yourself that you;re in the kind of shape you can do it with no problem. 

Stay safe.

And to all — hope the weather is not plaguing you.

How is Palin taking her children with her to a book signing the equivalent of the First Lady implying her kids are having a problem with their weight before the world?

There is a wide chasm between someone taking their kids with them to a public venue and someone talking about them in order to point out their shortcomings to the world. 

I was also asking for solutions to this — and not insulting anyone.  I think the First Lady is mistaken is her judgment to make an example of her girls in this way.

The Obamas need parenting class before it is too late. Dr. Phil can help them or maybe O (who is losing her own battle of the bulge).

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Yes leave the kids out of it we don’t want to hear the old saying like mother like daughter!

Plus she needs to be careful neither girl ends up fasting and going overboard to becoming anorexic….. I have seen that happen to teenage girls when someone comments on their weight!

What a mother stating that on the world stage… UGH

What am I missing?

Based on their appearance, I don’t think the two Obama girls have weight problems. That’s not even considering the added pounds the camera puts on them. I think they are within the range of healthy weight for their age and height. Otherwise healthy young girls are going to look at the Obama kids and say, I am their size or a little heavier, geez, I must be obese. She meant well, but what she did was more damaging than helpful. Obesity is a serious problem and this did nothing to solve it. It only perpetuated the flipside problem which is eating disorders.

I agree she was way off to bring her children into the discussion…
 
I recently had to speak with a teacher at my daughters school who called other students losers, plus other things!!!!! and thought because she was having a bad day she maybe had the  signs of depression!!! WTHell. My daughter came home very concerned and I too as a mother.

Who do these people think they are to decide what is wrong with someone else and to discuss it in a public classroom. I can assure you after working with teenagers for many years we have to be careful what we instill into the minds of our young, especially throughout this time in their lives words and flippant statements can have a huge impact how the child develops!

I wasn’t aware that Sarah Palin was First lady. Pat, your PDS is really getting tiresome.

Much as I don’t like Michelle Obama and much as it pains me to even appear to agree with her about anything, in this case I think she’s in a can’t win situation. If she mentions her children she gets stomped for bringing them into the spotlight and if she doesn’t then many would be saying “what about your own kids”?

I will concede that the size of Michelle Obama’s derriere is not small but she is hardly “obese”. I find that kind of cheap shot, well, a cheap shot.

Okay, I’m leaving now before I get stomped flat. But I have to say what I think and believe or I’m just another Obama basher looking for a reason to bash away. I like to think I’m better than that. And I know that most of you folks are.

Does “PDS” mean Palin Derangement Syndrome? I agree with you, kenoshamarge. Bringing Sarah Palin into this discussion is not germane.

Actually i don’t think what Michelle Obama said was wrong at all, however I think people are fed up with the Obamas constently trying to use their personal narrative to win brownie points, especially when everyone knows they are not eve n remotely sincere. Here was have a woman who claims to shop at JCrew and knows what is like to clip coupons yet owns 500 million dollar shoes and mult thousand dollar purses. Then there was that rediculous lie that she told about the first thought that came to her mind when Sasha might have had menigitis as a baby was that it was so wonderrful they had health care (most mothers I know think about their child first). AS if the ER wouldnt have treated her daughter lf they had insurance or not.  And how about the planted veggies that were used on Iron chef?  ”Mistress Michelle quite contrary”  garden didn’t really grow , the “ bountiful harvest were acutally adult plants grown somewhere else.   it’s not that what she says is bad, it’s just that we are on Obama “razzle dazzle over kill” we’ve been forced to watch both Barack and Michelle on tv, on the web, and on magazine covers to the point that famliarity is starting to breed contempt. I can’t believe I agree with Guest on something, but the bot’s right parents now days neglect teaching their children about a balance diet to the point where it’s almost a crime, my mother never fed my brother the way majority of modern parents do. I’ve seen middle class stay at home Mommy’s poor Coke into bottles at local book stores. Growing up the only think my mom brought for us to drink was apple juice and water and because of this i didn’t start liking sodas until I was about 8 or 9 becuase I didn’t like the way they burned my mouth. We ate Raises, apples, oranges grapes for snacks, and my favorite as a kid was ants on a long (celery, peanut butter and raisens)  .  My mom even mad our baby food from fresh vegetable she threw in the blender, and we were taught that Potatos and corn did not qualify as vegetables and the importance of eating green leafy ones. So no matter how much weight I gain I can’t say its because my mom didn’t feed me right, nor would I eat or buy for my kids, the crap I currently eat. Infact i’d probably go vegan.  Cutting up cabbage and brocholi and steaming them is not hard work, and you can always prepare a dish when you have the time, Bag it into servings freeze it and take it out when you need it.  also when i was groiwng up inte eighties my mother practically kicked me out side every chance she got she controlled the tv, confiscated our joysticks, and Riverbank Zoo was our favorite outing so we got plenty of sunshine and exercise.  My much younger cousins have to practically beg their mother to let them go ouside. Truthfullly Michelle Obama’s cause is noble, the problem is we doubt her sincerity especially when anyone can see Malia is anything but over weight, and while Sasha has baby fat she’s will hit puberty in the next few years and burn majority of that off.

Oh yeah and about Sarah Palin and her kids…Bristol palin is the only palin that has talked with media and she is 17 or eighteen years old, and that is a vastly different thing. Bristol not Palin made that choice. And there’s nothing wrong with her taking her children with her believe it or not it’s perfectl natural to want your children with you and since they grow up so fast it’s important to spend that quality time with themno matter how brief. A she’s traveling from place to place she has hours of down time to spend with them. My mother worked five days a week, and every weekend and evening belonged to us, and I never once had to wonder where i was on her list of priorities and neither will palins kids. 

I must say though, my favorite modern first lady mother, is Hillary Clinton. I have issues with the clintons and am not a rabid fan, but no one can dispute that Chelsea turned out wonderfully. And she is by far Hillary and Bill’s greatest accomplishment. ANd for the most part the Obama’s are doing a good job as well. They just need to get the hell off my tv.  

Hey, I don’t think anybody’s gonna stomp ya! I don’t think Michelle is fat. She’s got “back” and that is a good thing!

I never comment on her build – many people in this country have the same type of build she has.

I do comment about her weight gain simply because she likes her fine food, and makes a big point of being a foodie. A lot her trips to trendy restaurants and expensive parties at the White House don’t make the news. Now how much money the First Family spends on their own food is very germane to discussion.

Middle class and poor people do not have access to organic vegatable, fresh produce, etc. They can barely afford the processed foods. Plus, as I’ve said earlier, when a parent gets home exhausetes after working one or two jobs, it ain’t easy to cut up a lot of veggies, steam some rice, and grill a nice bit of fish. (Even if such food were affordable.)

There is always an unrealistic person who follows up with how easy it is to “plan ahead” and “buy in bulk” and go to farmers markets, etc. Not if you don’t have a car, and if you have to take two buses to get to the grocery store.

So, I take your point kenoshamarge. But never would I think to stomp on you!

“Pat” spreads his/her PDS message all over the place like Johnny One Note, perhaps thinking that s/he is making a difference in peoples’ psyche toward Palin.  Don’t let him/her get a toe hold at NQ or it will turn into a mire.  Pat likes to talk a lot! 

Here’s a quote from Lauren Collins profile of Michelle Obama from The New Yorker (March 3, 2008)

<quote>Then, having given thoughtful but boilerplate responses most of the morning, (Michelle) Obama suddenly departed from her script. It was the most animated I saw her on the campaign trail. “You know,” she said, “in my household, over the last year we have just shifted to organic for this very reason. I mean, I saw just a moment in my nine-year-old’s life—we have a good pediatrician, who is very focussed on childhood obesity, and there was a period where he was, like, ‘Mmm, she’s tipping the scale.’ So we started looking through our cabinets. . . . You know, you’ve got fast food on Saturday, a couple days a week you don’t get home. The leftovers, good, not the third day! . . . So that whole notion of cooking on Sunday is out. . . . And the notion of trying to think about a lunch every day! . . . So you grab the Lunchables, right? And the fruit-juice-box thing, and we think—we think—that’s juice. And you start reading the labels and you realize there’s high-fructose corn syrup in everything we’re eating. Every jelly, every juice. Everything that’s in a bottle or a package is like poison in a way that most people don’t even know. . . . Now we’re keeping, like, a bowl of fresh fruit in the house. But you have to go to the fruit stand a couple of times a week to keep that fruit fresh enough that a six-year-old—she’s not gonna eat the pruney grape, you know. At that point it’s, like, ‘Eww!’ She’s not gonna eat the brown banana or the shrivelledy-up things. It’s got to be fresh for them to want it. Who’s got time to go to the fruit stand? Who can afford it, first of all?”</quote>

Read more: http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2008/03/10/080310fa_fact_collins?currentPage=6#ixzz0eqsTv3On
Note that this was before Obama had secured the nomination.

I wonder if it has ever entered the Obama’s mind that while they are worried about their children over-eating, many children in our own country are going to bed, waking up and going to school hungry. IN THIS COUNTRY! Its one thing to push all organic foods, etc. Its another to realize that many people have nothing to eat, organic or not.

Sarah Palin has never said her children were potential candidates for obesity bc of their eating lifestyle, which the O’s eating lifestyle was what was causing the one child to have weight issues, bad parenting right there, As for Sarah Palin, she carries her children with her bc they are part of her and wants them to see the world as it is, not as they are told.  No comparison with Sarah Palin traveling with her kids and what MEchelle is doing.  READ MORE CAREFULLY and understand the topic at hand is without adding useless information to slam Sarah Palin in your effort to defend the FLOTUS, Sarah Palin in not the FLOTUS and can do take her children anywhere she wants.  I think she is teaching her children the REAL WORLD, so Pat, in the future try seeing apples and oranges bc you compared Sarah to MEchelle totally different than my comment. Oh, I did not BASH anyone, I only stated IMHO that she should not make her children the center of obesity bc it will effect their self image!  BTW, when my children were babies, where ever I went, they were on my hip, by my side and never out of my sight.  If I traveled, so did they!!!

Yes it does arabella. Much as I can agree with Pat about some things she never misses an opportunity, be it ever so inappropriate to bash away at Sarah Palin. This was just one example IMO.

Thanks arabella. There are places where anything good said about FLOTUS is taken as being an Obot. Which is about the worst thing I can think of being called.

Perhaps I’m just “foot shy” from having been stomped so many times before.

Hypocrite comes to my mind.  Michelle Obama’s word vs what she actually does is very obvious. 

Example:  We (the American people) must sacrifice – everyone must have some skin in the game.  So, what happens?

- lavish expensive parties in White House.
- parades VERY expensive wardrobe in our face (MSM makes an issue of her fashion)

Example:  worried about US children’s weight (including her own) so, what does Michelle do?

- gains (what appears) to be a substantial amount of weight , then
speaks out on fat. 

Is there no end to their shameful displays of hiprocracy

Hypocrite comes to my mind.  Michelle Obama’s word vs what she actually does is very obvious. 

Example:  We (the American people) must sacrifice – everyone must have some skin in the game.  So, what happens?

- lavish expensive parties in White House.
- parades VERY expensive wardrobe in our face (MSM makes an issue of her fashion)

Example:  worried about US children’s weight (including her own) so, what does Michelle do?

- gains (what appears) to be a substantial amount of weight , then
speaks out on fat. 

Is there no end to their shameful displays of hiprocracy

Hypocrite comes to my mind.  Michelle Obama’s word vs what she actually does is very obvious. 

Example:  We (the American people) must sacrifice – everyone must have some skin in the game.  So, what happens?

- lavish expensive parties in White House.
- parades VERY expensive wardrobe in our face (MSM makes an issue of her fashion)

Example:  worried about US children’s weight (including her own) so, what does Michelle do?

- gains (what appears) to be a substantial amount of weight , then
speaks out on fat. 

Is there no end to their shameful displays of hiprocracy

I don’t know any political family that would feel comfortable with overweight kids. I think it is the lazy, irresponsible parents fault if the child is obese. We buy the food and we give it to them. And after having to be told what was transpiring, give some credit for Michelle. She was taking responsibility for the situation in this instance.

Guest you must be a different Guest, because the Guest I know would never ever remove his head from the nestled warmth of Obama’s buttcheeks…did you just call MIhcelle Obama hypocrit? I either have been reading your previous  posts wrong or you poped out the hole in Obama’s pants a few days late and didn’t see your shadow and are now scampering off into enlightenment. Oh well you wont’t be the first. Evan “Obama is like GOd” Thomas just wrote a piece in Newsweek about Obama needing to be hones t about the deficit and it is snowing in Hell…er i mean Washington DC so anything is possible.

In some ways guest version 2 looks like the guest who was arguing about the economy yesterday. Same problem hitting the enter button too many times and getting triplicate posts as a result.

But on the oher hand maybe Obabot guest (from yesterday) wast correct when s/he told Larry that the posting system sucks.

Or, perhaps Obamabot guest does not like Michelle, but lurves Obama.

But then again guest 2 makes good points and formats the post so that it’s easy to read. Obamabot guest wrote screeds with no paragraph breaks.

I’m not bothering running the Obamabot guest posts and the Guest 2 posts up to the DNA lab to check for alleles in common.

Why am I wasting time on this? I’m at my mom’s house waiting for her to come home from church so that I can take her to my niece’s birthday party.

Eh, Michelle Obama is an idiot. She herself is a bit overweight and her daughters do seem to favor her as far as body type.

I am sure she meant well and that she was yet again trying to “soften her image” and “bond with the little people”.

What is really surprising isn’t that the first daughters may be called out by mom as fatties, but that anyone cares what the first lady says.

Not only that, the problem of obesity is complex. I see it as “class related” in the way that cigarette smoking among white people is now class related.

Some people lack an understanding of what it’s like to be lower income. Food is available and legal. Eating can provide comfort and take the edge off anxiety. Ditto for nicotine. It’s not a matter of listening to whiners like Jane Brody and “educating” people about nutrition.

Drive through an affluent neighborhood’s main street. and check out the pedestrians. You won’t see many fat people or people smoking.

Now drive a few miles in another direction to a less affluent neighborhood. (Race is NOT the issue, it’s income.) You will see more overweight people walking around and more cigarette smokers.

And PS, how funny is it that Michelle, in that New Yorker quote disses Lunchables and high fructose corn syrup. Tsk-tsk. Whatever will the corporations say? Mind you, this interview took place before her handlers really clamped down on Michelle.

I think that obsession comes from obsession over her own appearance.  It is a familiar dynamic for the Mom to project that on to the daughters.  I’ve had the experience with my Mom, too.  Appearance is everything to her and she judges herself harshly.  That bleeds outward, unfortunately.

Guest,

A parent taking responsibility is a good thing — my worry here is that she has made her daughter’s weight a topic of national conversation rather than protecting them. She can do this privately and not use them in as an example in a public forum.  She must understand that now when reporters see the kids in public that will be a topic for a headline.

How unfortunate that the president’s past doesn’t get the same exposure as his daughters’.

You are more than welcome to state your opinion without any “stomping”!  I think POTUS and FLOTUS have to remember that everything they say is weighed on a very different scale than everyone else.  Talking about her girls in this way just drags them into the spotlight even more and given girls sensitivity to weight and appearance, she may be causing more of a problem for them than she realizes.  Just my opinion based on my own personal experiences and what I have seen around me with others for many years.

I wrote a post last year talking about how the FLOTUS was being unjustly blamed (by the British pres) for her hubby’s gift gaffes and insults re the British PM — that did not go over well with some either.  I just believe in credit — and blame — where it is due.  I don’t want to bash just to bash either.

I read the interview, and my only thought was that this woman has had a very good education, at taxpayers’ expense aka Affirmative Action, and still can’t speak the English language correctly. And you don’t need fresh fruit that you have to run down to the fruit stand to buy to have a healthy diet. Most stores carry dried fruit, which is very good for snacking and can be rehydrated for cooking or eating. For instance, to get nice plums, you can take prunes and soak them in warm water for a couple of hours, and voila! plums. A real foodie would know that. Someone who just likes to eat probably wouldn’t.

Michelle Malkin: SEIU Fat Cats Behind First Lady’s Anti-Obesity Campaign
http://townhall.com/columnists/MichelleMalkin/2010/02/03/seiu_fat_cats_behind_first_ladys_anti-obesity_campaign
Behind every seemingly good deed in the Obama White House, there’s a deep-pocketed, left-wing special interest

Mark, you are wrong, and you should get your facts straight.  Obama graduated in the top 10% of his Harvard Law class (within a blind grading system).  Obama was an academic powerhouse, and your wishful thinking won’t change that.  You get your own opinion, not your own facts.

No, she shouldn’t have said what she did about her daughters. The thing is, many children are what could be called “pudgy” and grow out of it anyway; that was the case with my niece. Everyone in the family was constantly talking about her weight all through her childhood; one day she just grew out of it, and blossomed into this tall, thin, blonde, beauty. So, all that haranguing about her fat just lodged itself into her sub-conscious as a poke at her self-esteem, but did nothing about her weight. She was always going to be what she was going to be. 

I’m sick of hearing about the obesity “epidemic” in this country anyway. I think it’s “political correctness” gone crazy. We’re developing a loathing for people who are overweight and it alarms me. It hurts people who seek jobs, it hurts people who seek insurance, and it’s becoming a way to cudgel people over the head for not being perfect. 

Yeah, true and good point. There are lots of ways to do it. The first step is to plan ahead, but I think she was tapping into the frustration and fear that a lot of mothers have, and many urban dwellers don’t even have easy access to a grocery store. Also, it does remind me that around the country there are different levels of access to fresh fruits and vegetables year ’round. For example, unless you’ve lived in Florida, you cannot appreciate the difference between living in the Sunshine State, where fruits and vegetables are plentiful all the time, and living in, say, Montana, where you don’t have that sort of access at all, even in the summer. 

I’m inclined to give her a big pass on this one, except I don’t think she should be discussing her own daughters; and they both probably told her so. Ha. 

Say whatever you will about this ‘first family’, but they are unable to make the distinction between what is appropriate and what is inappropriate.  They have a shocking and abysmal inability to have and follow the standards most of us do.  It’s as though they don’t have a clue about what America is all about, what fairmindedness is, what loyalty to family is. (Note Obama’s cousin living in abject poverty and note his aunt living here illegally for years, and no intervention and no help from him).
I don’t know about his birth certificate, but he certainly seems to have no understanding of Americans and what’s important to us.  He seems to come from a different culture.

Good article, related to the larger issue:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/delia-ephron/something-to-cry-about_b_447750.html

interesting we see Obama’s daughter’s grades but not his grades…..
LOL

Whether Malia hits a growth spurt or not, obviously kids go through fluctuations too as they mature, she certainly wasn’t on a path to grow out of it with the food they were on…

I agree that holding your two young daughters out in a negative light is not a good thing. What’s important to remember is: improving the family’s diet is GREAT — all families should be so lucky as the Obamas to be able to eat such a healthy diet.

hey slim, bs!

seriously pat, you need to rethink your conclusions. so far from reality it isn’t worth further comment.

yes, he does come from a different culture.

kgirl–TOTALLY agree about Hillary Clinton!!!!

It should hurt. Obesity isn’t right or natural and certainly wasn’t prevelant in this country until 25 years ago. Everyone is being forced to pay higher insurance for their medical issues, unfortunately.

I live in FL, having moved here in 2002 from PA, and I have lived in other northern states as well. I never had problems finding produce and fruit to eat, and I wasn’t making a lot of money either. It’s great being in FL and being able to get fresh food all year round, but one can also have a good diet in a northern state. Salad, for instance, iceberg lettuce, cucumbers, carrots, and other salad things are all available year round. You can grow your own tomatoes in a window, if you want to. It is possible to eat properly on a strict budget if you don’t insist on a huge variety year round.

She thinks that comparing her “problems” to the little people, she’ll gain an everywoman status.  Sorry, MeShill, as Bill is fond of saying, “That ole dog won’t hunt.”  It always comes across as a whine from the affirmative action FLOTUS.  She did the same thing when she tried to win the Olympics for thug town…poor little MeShill, watching the games, sitting on Daddy’s lap (she forgot people can still count) not as the child she portrayed, but as an adult woman…hahahaha.  No one cared about her experiences.  They wanted to know what preparation they’d offer if the games were held in her hometown.  Sadly, even then, the big money would have gone to their thug friends in real estate, etc.

You can’t outdo Sarah on the everywoman level, MeShill.  Sarah actually worked her way through school, ran political races without ACORN, and stands tall for her children and family.  You?  0 for 3 so far.

Yes, kgirl1028, it appears we have quite a few “guests” at NQ these days…of various opinions.

Total bollocks. Where’s his transcript? Barack and Michelle Obama went to college and law school when academic standards flew out the window. Minority applicants (ofter underqualified) were admitted to colleges and grad schools where they felt totally umprepared, lost and isolated. They were not up to the standard, but political correctness ruled the day. No wonder Michelle hates white people.

I took some courses at MIT that were far above my head, and it made me feel resentful because I was not smart enough to understand what was being taught. I know how it feels to try to measure up to your peers when you just can’t do it.

Plus, during that era many universities (in some misguided effort to level the playing field) went to “Pass/Fail” systems instead of grades.

Both the Obamas are frauds, academic and otherwise.

Not only does familiarity breed contempt, but their condescention does as well.  I’m so glad it’s Super Bowl Sunday.  It may give us a break from the daily onslaught of The Dear Reader…or will he find a way to speak to us during half time?  Not that I’ll be watching…

Mountainaires, Obesity leads to big health problems, high blood pressure, diabetes, heart disease, etc. I am technically obese, 20+ lbs. over my “optimum” weight. However, I am not unhealthy, according to my doctor. I have normal blood pressure and a very good cholesterol level. My metabolism changed when I hit menopause 15 years ago, and I haven’t been able to get rid of the extra weight. Truth be told, I haven’t really tried that hard to get rid of it. But I see lots of women at the grocery store, and other places, who are twice my size at half my age. They are obese to the point they have trouble walking, and because of that they have additional health problems which they would not have if they weren’t that large. I don’t think “model thin” is healthy either, unless it’s your natural body build. But obesity is a national health problem in this country, due mostly to the high fat diets many people are on and the lack of exercise that goes with sitting on the sofa in front of the tv eating snacks all day, washed down with soda, or sitting at work doing the same thing. Not everyone can afford a gym membership, but everyone can go for a brisk walk once or twice a day. That alone would put a huge dent in the obesity problem in this country.

You will never see Obama’s grades. Unless kos posts them, in which case the transcripts will be forgeries.

I’ve never seen make-up on Piper.  You’re being silly.

You’re funny.

Hey Slime, back it up or shut up.

Hey Slime, back it up or shut up. Cite your source!

He seems to come from a different culture.

And played first string on her basketball team.  Something that can’t be said about bench sitter Obama.

Whoever Thee One might actually be, this reality pales in significance to the importance of the mythic figure He & others have grown.  The legend must be protected and fostered at all costs.  Who has a vested interest in guarding the documents from public scrutiny?  The MSM has become the primary agent for protecting the fictions.  Why?  Don’t they have any sense of professional responsibility to the truth? (rhetorical question)

I have no idea of President Obama’s grades but I can promise you, if he graduated in the top 10% from Harvard — that fact would have been blasted and touted across the front page of every newspaper in this country day in and day out.  The likelihood of that is, therefore, slim.

It’s all about Michelle. That is her entire frame of reference. Here is a quote from Lauren Collins’ profile of Michelle Obama in The New Yorker :

<quote>Her frame of reference can seem narrow. When she talks about wanting “my girls to travel the world with pride” and the decline of America “over my lifetime,” you wonder why her default pronoun is singular if the message is meant to be concern for others and inclusiveness. </unquote>

Read more: http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2008/03/10/080310fa_fact_collins?currentPage=5#ixzz0esTU0Gqo

This article is one of the most informative and frank accounts about the Obama’s you’ll find. I’m surprised it hasn’t been scrubbed for the site yet. Notice that this was published in March 2008. This was before Obama got the nomination. I don’t know when Collins wrote the article, but it sounds as if it must have been January of 2008. Note too, that this series of interviews took place before Obama’s staff had reined in Michelle Obama (as much as it’s possible to do such a thing). There is a reference to Michelle making a remark about “wantint to claw (someone) eyes out.” Collins note that a staffer/minder gives Michelle an uneasy look. Michelle then says “Just kidding.”

Collins’ profile is fair and presents information in a way that leaves it up to the reader to come to conclusions. Read the article. It’s full of information that seems even more significant in retrospect.

First page of article:

http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2008/03/10/080310fa_fact_collins?currentPage=1

Michelle complained during the campaign that she and Obama had worked their butts off “for just average grades.” So the inference from that can be that they were both average students. C students.

Annie, he is giving Katie Couric an interview right before the Superbowl. Get your mute button ready.

I’m sure they were average students, and that they were given all kinds of extra help, tutoring, mentoring etc. I went to college in the 1970′s and I can tell you minorities were given many extra advantages. It was the era of “white guilt” and “the establishment paying the oppressed people back” for all their years of suffering.

People got C’s who deserved D’s and F’s. Academia (always a hotbed of lunatic political correctness) would punish faculty members big time for not bending over backwards to at least give a passing grade to minority students. And even then, there were ways around the system – Pass/Fail being one of them.

I recall some of the older professors refusing to go along with the new and enlightened “politically correct” system. If they wouldn’t knuckle under, there were all kinds of adminstrative “remedies” that could be applied to by-pass the teacher.

Sure, there were lots of minorities who worked hard and benefited from the system. But there were plenty of students (white and non-white) who tried to get by with the minimum of effort.

And thus began our country’s academic decline. Now we have a generation of parents who demand that their kids’ self-esteem be first and foremost. Everybody gets a medal, because everybody is special and great just the way they are!

The Obamas are an example of “right place/right time” and they’ve been riding the gravy train to Cadgeville ever since.

What liars they are.

meechele needs to look at her own butt before criticizing others.    i also read somewhere that they do not celebrate or give gifts to their kids for christmas and birthdays.  (is that a muslim thing?)

He seems to come from a different culture.

Didn’t he said it as clearly as he could that ‘he has a funny name.’ And we elected him, didn’t we. Michelle now stands in front of an issue that has a deep interest for every mother, every working woman professional, every senior lady, and a large number of men.

Let’s face it, with this issue, Michelle will endear herself with the great majority of women voters. Strategically this is an issue that will counter the attraction of Sarah Palin. The election of Obama for a second term will get a great boost from Michelle’s exposure on the obesity concern.

He seems to come from a different culture.  
 
Didn’t he said it as clearly as he could that ‘he has a funny name.’ And we elected him, didn’t we. Michelle now stands in front of an issue that has a deep interest for every mother, every working woman professional, every senior lady, and a large number of men.  
 
Let’s face it, with this issue, Michelle will endear herself with the great majority of women voters. Strategically this is an issue that will counter the attraction of Sarah Palin. The election of Obama for a second term will get a great boost from Michelle’s exposure on the obesity concern.

“Thou hypocrite, first cast out the lard off of thine own butt; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the lard off of thy daughter’s butt.”

Matthew 7:5, paraphrased

speaking of laura bush, she would have  already been down in haiti to see how she could help.  even bush finally made it to new orleans.   the obamas are too busy travelling the world ( looking like a bunch of stupid tourists). maybe they will do a flyover (haiti) on their way to more important (?) stuff in indonesia and australia. oh right, he needs to go to indonesia to save his little boy statue.  maybe they will bring it home  and use it as a lawn jockey in front of the WH.  not even one comment in the msm about how  neither of these 2 even  made an attempt (even a fake one) to actually go to haiti and pretend to help.  hillary was there almost immediately and would have done so as president.  maybe the haitians are beneath the obamas or  could it be because haiti doesntvote in our elections?

Nah. Amway.

arabella — so true! My husband attended med school with some affirmative action students. They were failing first year miserably, so what did the school do? Personal tutors were assigned to each to drag them across the finish line. And this was not a med school in Grenada. When he attended, it was ranked seventh of 120 med schools in the US. So those two students have degrees from a prestigious U. on their walls, but I wouldn’t want either of them to treat me for a cold.  

Slim, your chance of knowing anything is exactly that.  While you are attempting to convince people that Obama is some kind of genius, you can bring in Obama’s 57 states comment as Exhibit 1.  Keep piling up your exhibits up to the “corpsman” fiasco.  This guy is by far the dumbest president we ever had.

Obama did finish in the top 10% in Wright’s Black Liberation Theology classes.  Hardly anything worth bragging about but a clear indicator that Obama is dangerous and bad for this nation. 

What?????? How does Michelle preaching at people endear her to anybody?

Yeah, I know so many people, both men and women, who love talking about how fat they are, and how far their kids are.

I live on planet earth, lark. Which planet do you live on?

never before has there been a less deserving, more classless , more clueless couple occupying the WH.  from their cheap thoughtless gifts to dignitaries, bowing down to foriegners, throwing expensive parties at the taxpayers expense while half the country goes hungry, sightseeing the world while criticizing the U.S, allowing micheles social secretary to blow off congress claiming executive privilege, spending our money like it was for their personal use while telling the rest of us to tighten our belts.  maybe they should start by getting rid of some of  michelles 36 staff members.   laura bush had 6 and hillary had 11.  why does this woman need 36 people to attend to her every need?  what she needs is someone to teach her the correct social skills expected of a first lady since this one has NONE.

Pat — you’ll never hear Sarah disparaging her children in public.

Don’t I know it. Medical schools and nursing schools can run into real problems with retention rates of all students. If someone drops out in the second year, that leaves a gap that can’t be filled because you can’t just put a new student in second year and “catch them up.”

I’m in the process of getting a second degree in nursing. What I see (among students of all races) is a new kind of slacker attitude. They just, you know, give up. Because it’s not as fun or exciting as they hoped and they can’t handle the long hours of study and clinical work they’ll have to put in.

Back in the 1970′s the “school culture” was very different in lots of ways. Minority students no longer get a “free pass.” Plus, the definition of “minority” now includes many other categories beside “black/AA.” I am fortunate enough to be in a school with a lot of racial diversity. Everyone works their butts off except the people who just can’t hack it. (And a lot of those people are white women who are in school on Mommy and Daddy’s dime.)

I’m doing pre-clinical courses right now, and then applying for a combined degree program (BA/MA) in nursing. Ironically, at my age (57) I fall into a “minority” category! But there’s no guarantee I’ll get in to a combined degree program because the competition is fierce.

The thing about the Obamas is that their impeccable timing has suddenly misfired. And it was Obama who caused it. By overplaying the race card and bullying the opposition using race, he made people sick and tired of worrying about PC. Obama did a shameful thing – he devalued the currency of the word “racist.” Too bad, Barry. The race card was the only card you had in your deck.

The economy is in the shitter? Oh, poor you. People are pissed off because they don’t have jobs? Go ahead and blame Bush, like the squalling two-year old you are. It won’t work.

Obama is not only a fraud, he’s a malignant narcissist who is easily bored. His colleagues in the Senate knew he couldn’t hack it there. What will Obama do besides hold a pity party catered by an obscure gourmet pizza joint?

My guess is that he’s always had a couple of “I can quit any time I want to” cards up his sleeve. Did we see his medical records? No. Maybe he has some medical reason he can quit. Did he, in a bone-headed move, say on his Columbia application that he was a citizen of Kenya?  etc.  I have classmates like you, Barry. And guess what? They are white girls who got bored! We are talking post-racial, baby!

I laugh my butt off at Obama’s advisors who say “Well, the Republicans are too blame, because they just want to sit on their hands and watch us fail.”

Guess what? You are going to fail, in the long term and in the short term.

And neither party will ever be the same.

The “Guest” moniker is also what happens when someone posts something without typing any name in the From line.  Very annoying.

Yes–can’t the default “guest” feature be disabled?

Too many “guests” spoil the soup–lots of ghosts with divergent viewpoints . . .

Ah, the revised version of lark.

It all is a game for Michelle and Barack to get more publicity away from the real issues that afflict the average Americans (jobs, jobs, jobs, bills to pay, bill to pay, bills to pay).  As far as we know, the Obama girls are insulated to the media scrutinity just like Barak personal and professional life is.  

I can’t imagine anyone think that the Obama girls were in anyway, fat. So doubt people would have asked “what about your kids?” IF she didn’t mention them while talking about childhood Obesity.

Like I said on another site……”the girls may be fat, but they can lose weight….Michevil will always be ugly and stupid….just sayin’

you receive it as preaching but others receive it as concern. In the planet I live I have found that children obesity is a real concern for most families. Maybe even the main concern

So you are the fly on the wall who has been overseeing the Obama girls.  Gee, tell us more since you have seen it all.  If they are being mistreated and you have witnessed this abuse, you are just as guilty for not reporting it to the Department of Human Services.

lark put the dang glue down! and don’t correct me again. you are making a fool out of yourself. HE COMES FROM A DIFFERENT CULTURE.

dork

what are you talking about willis

Face it PE the Michelle of 2012 will talk very different from the Michelle of 2008. She will counter any woman that comes up to fight his ticket. The girls will look terrific then and will be known by everyone.

Take this: In the 2012 election, God willing, the Obama family will look terrific.

That does not mean I will vote for him. My loyalty sticks with Palin.

The Obama girls seem to be secure in themselves and secure in the family surrounding them.  This feign concern about Michelle mentioning her concern about her child’s weight gain when she was younger is nothing more than the usual spin against anything that this woman says or does.

I appreciate her putting her personal experience into the kickoff of this initiative.  I think that she weighed her decision before including it in her speech.  I think that this was a “family decision”, with the girls included.  She and her husband have mentioned this incident before, so what’s the big deal?  

As I said earlier, this feign concern is just the usual negative spin about her.  In fact, if you read these posts, quite a number are off-topic  There’s the “ugly” Michelle! There’s the aunt issue!  There’s the “parties!”  There’s the bit about “liar!”  There’s too many to list.

People have a choice in this country.  You make choices for yourself and family. Leave Michelle Obama’s decisions about her family to her and her family.  You have nothing to do with it, whether you like it or not!

Personally I do not think that either girl will be scared by this mention.  However, I do believe that the ugly and distasteful comments made about their mother by many, many, many posters WILL SCARE THEM if they were ever to read them.   

Oh please. You bottom-dwelling obot. You do that technique where you post on the bottom of dead thread, which is fitting because you are dense beyond all belief. Are you being clever when you said that Michelle “weighed her decision” before opening her yap?

We have established many times, and the evidence is abundant, that the Obamas’ problem (well, one of them) is that they have only one frame of reference, and that is their own. I don’t think anybody cares about Michelle’s personal life. Oh, except the tabloids that are now talking up a storm against her high living ways. The big fatties that Michelle is trying to reform glance at these tabloids as they wait on line in the supermarket.

They believe the tabloids more than they believe you and your clone obots. Your post is a perfect example of how obots want to have everything their own way.

When you say “feign” concern, do you mean “feigned” concern? I don’t give a rat’s ass about Michelle Obama, but her daughters have a right to be protected. (Slapping forehead) Oh, no! I see you are showing “feign concern” that one of the girls will read the comments on this blog and be scared. As if that will ever happen.

And why do you, an obot, bring up the “parties”? Sore spot for you isn’t it? The dirty masses are eating processed foods and reading about the huge expenditure of money on expensive food and wine for Obama’s lavish parties. Jimmy Carter was a shitty president, but at least he and his wife tried to set an example by entertaining frugally.

You know there is only one reason that anybody listens to Michelle – it makes a nice change from enduring listening to her husband.

Take your “feign concern” and find something else to type about. Contrary to what you say I have a lot to do with the decisions Michelle Obama makes. Every time she opens her mouth it gives me more ammunition to peel off more Obama supporters. And that’s a hard job considering how rare it is for me to find any left.

PS: Thank you for electing a fraud, a liar, and an idiot to the White House. He bought it, and now he’s breaking it.

lark, clean up your cage. >:o

For those wanting backup, I’m happy to provide. Encyclopedia Britannica researched it and published it, you can find it on their online encyclopedia.  Plus there’s the anecdotal evidence from statements of his former law profs.

Now, I’ve given you backup, how about you demand backup from those claiming that he was a bad student —- Nah, you won’t do that, because you know there is no proof, just gut feelings and wishful thinking.

Stop lying.  Once again, you get your own opinion; you don’t get your own facts.

Shorter Arabella: I have no proof, so I’ll just assume that because Obama was black, he was an affirmative action student, and therefore was also incapable of getting good grades on his own.  And I’ll assert, without evidence, that Harvard Law was without academic standards.

Even shorter Arabella: There is no proof Obama’s top 10% graduation wasn’t legit, but I’m going to assume it was somehow bogus rather than deal with reality.

Wishful thinking.  You’re just plain lying, Arabella.  And if the No Quarter site has enough integrity, it won’t delete my posting of “facts” in the face of this total nonsense.

Heh, it was blasted everywhere, Ani, I guess it just takes willful ignorance to avoid that fact.  Try google, you’ll find it pretty much in every biography of the man.

SO, THE MORE INTERESTING QUESTION: Why are so many people willfully ignoring the facts to make up a pretend narrative about Obama as the bad student? Why can’t you acknowledge the truth but still disagree with the man’s politics?  And why is the kneejerk reaction of too many people to claim Obama received special breaks at school simply because of his race?

arabella, you are so right!! especially about this part..
“he’s a malignant narcissist who is easily bored. His colleagues in the Senate knew he couldn’t hack it there.”
I read this article that had parts of an interview with Reid, where he talked about getting Obama to run for president. He said that he could see that Obama was getting bored with the Senate and was planning to quit and go back to Chicago. So Reid went to talk to him and dangled the chance of running for president in front of him to keep him in Washington. Imagine that, a guy who is so feckless that he can’t be bothered to hold a meeting of his committee in the Senate, doesn’t show up for votes most of the time and Reid wants him to be president so he won’t be bored. Here are a couple of quotes from the article..very telling, and damning for Reid.

“By mid-2006, Majority Leader Harry Reid “sensed his frustration and impatience, had heard rumblings that Obama was already angling to head back home and take a shot at the Illinois governorship,”
“You’re not going to go anyplace here,” Reid told Obama. “I know that you don’t like it, doing what you’re doing.” Reid suggested Obama run for president. Obama had been a senator for all of 18 months at the time. Soon after, he was off and running.
What drove Obama was not just ambition, although he is certainly ambitious. As he became frustrated in each job, Obama concluded that the problem was not having the power to do the things he wanted to do. So he sought a more powerful position.”

Apparently, it never occurred to anyone that the reason Obama gets bored is that he never does any work.

You don’t know what you’re talking about, arabella.  Try learning about Harvard Law School, its grading system and its honors system, and THEN talk.  You’re merely blathering empty whines about those damn minority students skating along, when it was downright IMPOSSIBLE within a law school blind-grading system.

Is it really that hard for you to accept that a black man got good grades?

No doubt I’ll be banned soon, speaking facts gets you in trouble around here sometimes.  Much easier to simply pretend Obama’s academic credentials don’t exist, because to acknowledge them shatters the pathetic fiction embraced by too many.

What proof do I have? All the academic records are sealed including the Obama’s college applications. I’m fairly sure Michelle got into the schools she did because of racial quotas.

Obama most likely applied to Columbia and Harvard as a foriegn student, making it more likely he’d be accepted. But we won’t see his application where-in he signs an affidavit swearing that he’s not a US citizen.

Nobody at Columbia recalls seeing Obama in class. Nobody.

I’m not lying and you know that I’m not lying. If the Obamas were such spectacular students, where are their transcripts?

You have no facts, Slim Tyranny. Just a lot of standard issue obot bullying.

Do you know anything about Obama’s Harvard career? From what little is available, and it’s not much, he was a A-one brown noser and bullshit artist.

The burden of proof is not on me, it’s on Obama. And he’s not giving out any information.

Don’t think you can intimidate me. That only works on narrow minded liberals.

The fact that their parents have publicly, in the mass media no less, discussed their weight and their grades is abusive. It’s humiliating for the child, especially since they have to go to school and face their peers with every newspaper and TV station talking about their weight, diet and grades. How would you have liked going to school with your weight “problem” in the local headlines?? Or had your grades broadcast to the nation?? It was a mean and nasty thing to do, and only two people who care more about making points with the media than they do about their children would have done it. I feel sorry for those kids, they now know their parents put them way behind making points in the press. That is an awful thing for a child to know.

The Encyclopedia Britannica? Anecdotes? You are really funny.

Source documents. Transcripts with the school seal on them. Diplomas with the school seal on them. Signatures.

I’m not lying, In the absence of evidence (that has been requested numerous times) I am coming up with a theory that fits the facts as we know them.

If you are still trying to pawn Obama off as being in the top 10% of his class in Harvard then that university needs to be investigated.  The law firm that hired Obama said he was only an average lawyer and I have that article.  Any law firm that desribed their own employee as average would probably dump him and seek to upgrade.  In Obama’s case they were probably scared to terminate him because he is black.  They were also not pleased with Obama because he would sit with his feet on his desk with his laptop and type his silly book instead of working.

This gets back to Harvard, if a guy performs that poorly in the real world how did he every graduate from that institution.  Professors can be manipulated and Obama is known to do that.  Most of those college professors are hard libs just like Obama.  In Obama’s own book he said he sought out the Marxist professors.  These observations and details support the conclusion that Obama manipulated Harvard professors to get passing grades.  

Slim, all we know about Obama is what he has told us. He is a serial liar. So we don’t take his word for anything. If he wants to prove he is an “academic powerhouse”, he should release his academic records. He has not done so. And his rather poor use of the English language, his inability to put a coherent sentence together without a teleprompter, his avoidance of anything but a set-up interview with the press, pretty much nail him for being inarticulate, ignorant and lazy. Not what anyone would associate with an intellectual powerhouse of any sort.

Harvard Law has never said he was in the top 10%, they simply said he attended the school. He got the editorship of the Law Review because it was the first year it was voted on rather than given to the smartest kid in the class. He did not publish while editor, which was a first. They changed the rules after his editorship to say that the editor MUST publish. They also tightened the requirements for the editorship, so that the candidates were chosen from the top of the class, not from the entire class as they were in Obama’s day. Oh, and he left a legacy at Harvard Law..the Obamameter. It measures how well you kiss up to the professors. Which tells you how he got his grades and his editorship. And he has spent $1.7 million keeping his records sealed. If he is so proud of his good grades, why spend literally millions keeping them out of the public eye?

ST, you silly goose!  Claiming documentary evidence exists that backs up your specious claims that BO is smart; is not the same as providing such evidence to your detractors!  But save your energy; I have already done the work that rebuts your allegations.  (And, BTW, Charles Hamilton Houston, who became the first black editor of the student run Harvard Law Review in 1920, was selected on the basis of his stellar grades.)
http://jbjd.wordpress.com/2008/08/30/if-you-think-barack-obama-is-so-smart-prove-it/

Does anybody think Michelle is just “baiting” by calling her kids fat in a backhanded way and putting it out there so that right wing commentators will pick up on it and when they do can be attacked for picking on the kids? The Obama’s like playing the “victim”. Look where it got them so far. I think maybe they are seeing Palin and her support and attributing some of that to sympathy for the way her family was attacked in the press.

The Michelle of 2012 will be moving back to Chicago.

amirosa, the girls may be insulated from the media, but I doubt their school friends are. They will hear about their weight “problems” and their grades, and everything else their parents say in the media from their school friends. Hopefully, the information will be delivered in a nice way, but it will still be embarrassing for them.

I don’t think so. This has been very well thought by very high price consultants. This is a winning hand for her, big time.

Yesterday, Obama appeard in a 20 second add advising men to pay attention to their kids. Obama and Michelle are going to hit the yuppies and the X y Z generation right in the middle and conquer. No doubt about it. Republicans don’t stand a chance in 2012.

This is a winning hand for Michelle, big time. 
 
Yesterday, Obama appeard in a 20 second add advising men to pay attention to their kids. Obama and Michelle are going to hit the yuppies and the X y Z generation right in the middle and conquer. No doubt about it. Republicans don’t stand a chance in 2012.

Okay, I must comment (and I have never supported the Obamas), but Haiti is not an American state, why would you expect teh American president to leave the problems of this nation and go to Haiti — to do what exactly — move rubble??  Michelle, maybe, but if Obama went there I would definitely have called him an opportunist looking for a photo op.  But I must also say that the slow pace at which aid is reaching the Haitian people surely gives me pause with regards to the Bush administration’s handling of Katrina.  Clearly it is not as easy to respond to a major disaster as I had thought.

Not sure if I agree with this one, but it sure seems like the Obamas have got a lot to prove if they are to improve the lives of millions of American kids. I am a parent and regularly keep up to date with <a href=”http://www.dozenkids.com”>kids websites</a> such as http://www.DozenKids.com. But I also found out some great info on this <a href=”http://www.good.is/post/kids-to-obama/#comments”>kids websites</a> blog post and how kids were writing letters of advice to Obama. Very interesting. Who said kids should be seen and not heard? I say, let’s put them in Government, they’ll surely do a better a job.