March 12, 2009

The subject of Michelle Obama's bare arms is so important...

... that Robin Givhan must hop over into The New Yorker:
They are not outlandishly sinewy Madonnaesque limbs. Obama’s athletic arms are achievable—in between the kids’ soccer practice, the executive suite, and the grocery store. Those arms represent personal time. They are evidence of a forty-five-year-old woman’s refusal to give up every free moment in service to husband, kids, and all the nagging distractions that could have filled her days and left her tuning in to “Oprah,” trying to figure out how she’d lost herself along the way. The arms imply vanity and power: two things that make many women uncomfortable and yet are fundamental to self-confidence.
What articulate arms!
articulate

SYLLABICATION: ar·tic·u·late
PRONUNCIATION: är-tky-lt

ADJECTIVE: 1. Endowed with the power of speech. 2. Composed of distinct, meaningful syllables or words, as human speech. 3. Expressing oneself easily in clear and effective language: an articulate speaker. 4. Characterized by the use of clear, expressive language: an articulate essay. 5. Anatomy Consisting of sections united by joints; jointed.
I meant definition #5.

51 comments:

Shining Wit said...

...and till then who knew
The force of those dire Arms? yet not for those,
Nor what the Potent Victor in his rage
Can else inflict, do I repent or change,
Though chang'd in outward lustre; that fixt mind
And high disdain, from sence of injur'd merit,
That with the mightiest rais'd me to contend,
And to the fierce contention brought along
Innumerable force of Spirits arm'd
That durst dislike his reign, and me preferring,
His utmost power with adverse power oppos'd
In dubious Battel on the Plains of Heav'n,
And shook his throne.

Anonymous said...

but what about her thighs?

Henry said...

In the last Michelle O. post, DTL wrote:

People need to shut up about Michelle's arms.

Sorry, but this keeps cracking me up. With President Clinton, one averted one's attention from his entire personal life. With Mrs. Clinton, it was President Clinton you shouldn't discuss.

With Michelle O, it's the arms that are off limits.

Bob said...

Memo

From: Executive Editor
To: All Reporters
Subject: Michelle Obama's Arms

C'mon, everyone, we need more Michelle Obama arms stories! If we don't get them, we might actually have to cover all of the taxpayer revolts going on in the country right now!

Peter V. Bella said...

She will have proved, once and for all, that a woman can grow older without looking old.

She is only forty five! She is not even near "growing old". Please, someone tell me why a college degree is required to write tripe? These people may be educated but they sure have no intellectual capacity.

michaele said...

I don't think enough credit is being given to the luck of good DNA when it comes to Michelle's attractively toned arms. Yes, she gets points for staying in a slim weight range. She has an athletic backgound and has used the muscles in her arms. But, speaking from experience, with all that being true, your arms can, nevertheless, go to hell during middleage. I am still very physical at 61 but my arms look just like my mother's even though she led a more sedentary life. While I blow dry my hair, I gaze upon the flapping softness of my upper arms with revolted fascination. Because of my own reality, I find all this hoopla about Michell's arms particulary annoying.

Anonymous said...

I also wonder if she carried her own boxes into the white house. That's how you get strong arms: carrying moving boxes. Does she have broken fingernails?

KCFleming said...

Laurie Anderson
O Superman
excerpt

So hold me, Mom, in your long arms.
So hold me, Mom, in your long arms.
In your automatic arms. Your electronic arms.
In your arms.
So hold me, Mom, in your long arms.
Your petrochemical arms. Your military arms.
In your electronic arms.

KCFleming said...

Only the arms of the Venus de Milo are more famous than Michelle's, even though they are notably shorter.

KCFleming said...

And here i thought the Obamas were against the Second Amendment .

Anonymous said...

THis is so fun to be a snarky lawyer or professor?

can i continue? no i will go out and work on my own arms instead.

Ann, you wanna take a swim with me? I got a pair of TYR paddles that strengthen your pull. Then we can use the LIFESTYLE treadmill to do 5k. Then we can go have a JAMBA juice health drink. But i'm warning you, it's really better to eat a fruit than to have fruit juices most of the time. Just eat a grapefruit instead. Or kumquats, you don't even have to peel those. I don't know how to get more advertising into my posts besides to say I gotta run to Dominics, a division of SAFEWAY to get some toilet paper, because a QUAKER on the sign at the busstop told me GO Humans GO. And now duty calls.

I just thought of eastman (the author, not kodak) and remembered the book: go, dogs, go! I wonder if he should sue? It looks a little to close for comfort. That tagline.

Hoosier Daddy said...

Too bad Hillary! didn't have such toned arms to take the emphasis off her badonka-butt.

Hoosier Daddy said...

Don't get me wrong, I'd rather look at her arms than President Barely's bare chest.

Then again I'd rather chew glass if given the option of either of the above.

The Dude said...

Little Mikey wrote "stop talking about her arms and support the president."

But I don't want to support the president. I don't like the president. Don't like his lard ass prognathic wife, either.

Why is she always on top when they have sex? Because Obama can only fuck up. Which explains her manly arms.

knox said...

They are evidence of a forty-five-year-old woman’s refusal to give up every free moment in service to husband, kids, and all the nagging distractions that could have filled her days and left her tuning in to “Oprah,” trying to figure out how she’d lost herself along the way.

A pox on those flabby-armed Oprah watchers. They represent everything that's wrong with this country.

ricpic said...

What's beautiful about chick arms with man shoulders?

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

Oh if only Obama shed those minions of his, lamented Paglia.

Oh if only Michelle showed us more than her arms, lamented Lem ;)

I feel a sexist tingle up my leg.

garage mahal said...

What's beautiful about chick arms with man shoulders?

Seeing one of them come up and smack the taste out of your mouth?

TWM said...

For the life of me I do not get why people think she is remotely attractive. No accounting for taste I guess.

Shanna said...

Her arms are nicely toned, but can't we move on to some other topic now? Can we talk about how half the time she looks fab and half the time she looks like she's wearing grandma's couch?

TMink said...

"Seeing one of them come up and smack the taste out of your mouth?"

Come see the violence inherent in the system! Another reightard wing nut talking violence! When will you Rethuglicans learn that violence is not the answer! When, um, wait just a second.

A liberal wrote that?

Nothing to see here. Move along.

Trey

TMink said...

The fascination with her arms is the same as my mother's fascination with Jackie's hats.

My mother never forgave the first lady for killing the wearing of gloves.

Hero worship is odd to those on the outside.

Trey

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

For the life of me I do not get why people think she is remotely attractive.

Power is the greatest afrodisiac.

I think Kissinger said taht BTW.. so dont go calling me the r word.

Paul said...

Jesus she looks like a praying mantis except for the big ass. I prefer soft, rounded and curvaceous arms, and legs, and...well, everything else on a woman.

What makes people think a cut, muscular body is in any way appealing?

And her husband, no matter what people say, is not an attractive man. He has a goofy looking face and a thin but soft body (those "pecs" look like small man-boobs to me).

Affirmative action all around with these two clowns.

Titusworkitworkitworkit said...

This is ridiculous. I go to the gym religiously and see beautiful sculpted arms on both males and females. Michelle Obama's arms are nothing like what I see and want on a daily basis.

I think part of it is that those arms look attainable to some, similar to what this story says. No you are not going to eve have Madonna arms but you could definitely get Michelle Obama arms. Now get to work.

I do admit arms are my favorite body part on a man. There is nothing better than a man that fills out a tshirt with nice round guns. I just want to bite them or least make him flex them while he is blowing me and then I can feel them-that is one my favorite things to do sexually.

What do you guys like to do sexually? Let's really get to know each other here and talk about our inner sexual feelings. Don't be shy. What do you like, fantasize about, desire? Do you walk by someone during the day and say I need to get that?

Paul said...

"What do you guys like to do sexually?"

Well it involves women, sumthin you might not never know nuthin about.

Ann Althouse said...

"Michelle Obama's arms are nothing like what I see and want on a daily basis."

Arms + fame = better arms

Add fame to magnify any asset.

KCFleming said...

"Do you walk by someone during the day and say I need to get that"
I say that more often about appliances, cars, books, and tools.

Any dog can hump a chair. What's the point?


Add fame to magnify any asset.
Except intellect, which seems to decline proportionately.

David said...

Do these arms make my ass look big?

LordSomber said...

"Arms + fame = better arms"

It worked well for Popeye, so it can't be all bad.

steve said...

And all this time I thought they were arms

MayBee said...

Michelle's arms are the new Britney Spears.

Anonymous said...

titus,

I was on the street once and closed my eyes momentarily and felt a man's soul. I opened my eyes and saw a man that reflected the lavishness of his poor decision in the tone of his silver hair like silk stockings, but nary a worry of that in the few lines on his face that was at peace with the soul that i felt.

Are your eyes so wealthy or just sexually dis-eased?

Titusworkitworkitworkit said...

Arms + fame = better arms. I may put that on my coffee mug.

I like that.

What about Jill Biden's arms? They are nice. She's cute.

Or Beau Biden's arms. Now those are some arms I would like to see. Can we get a picture of him in a tanky anywhere? Maybe lifting something?

Titusworkitworkitworkit said...

I find you a little frightening commenter. No offense, just a feeling.

rhhardin said...

Aristotle favored carving ducks at the joints, when he spoke of analysis.

rhhardin said...

Arma virumque cano.

The Obama couple praised.

Anonymous said...

no offense taken. In fact, I took it at as a compliment.

I once met a man who had no soul. He was so content on convincing me of his atheism. Now i am not a congregational person, but religiously I was frightened because his eyes were hollow, but blue

no… hollow and blue

dang, conjunction. I don't know which.

traditionalguy said...

Michelle Obama is one strong lady. Who makes fun of strength? It seems that the news stories are implying that she is being being talked about negatively. That is a Strawman argument that Mrs. Obama cannot lose. All publicity is good publicity, especially pictures that form a permanent mental image. Good job Demo PR guys.

MayBee said...

I think Michelle built up her arms pushing poor people out of her emergency room.

Anonymous said...

I met another man who lost his brain in bed. That one tried to convince me of the same, too.

The most frightening nightmare was waking up and seeing my mind runaway with some great legs on it. Luckily, we've all caught up with each other because my soul, the one following close behind, was in fast action backwards.

It's hard work moving about stacking things up. I'll be in one place sooner than I know it.

The Dude said...

Virgil would never have written about these mutts. Ok, maybe as shades in Hades, but they deserve no better than to be on the other side of the river Styx.

Dust Bunny Queen said...

but what about her thighs?

Thundering.

raf said...

So when Biden called Obama "articulate" he was referring to joints.

I'm sure there is an offensive joke in there somewhere.

Anonymous said...

thundering is accompanied by lightening.

for your information safety:

Lightning and its subsequent thunder can be used in lightning safety to protect yourself and others. The flash-to-bang method of protection considers the time between seeing lightning to hearing its thunder. Light from lightning travels at the speed of 186,000 miles per second (300,000 km/second), arriving at the observer in about 10 microseconds when the strike point is 1.85 miles (3 km) away. The sound wave, at an air temperature of 68° F (20° C) and atmospheric pressure of 29.92 in of mercury or 1,013.25 millibars, arrives more slowly in about 10 seconds. Figure 1 shows how a time interval from flash-to-bang of 5 seconds = 1 mile (1.6 km) can be approximated.

The Lightning Safety Group (LSG), an interdisciplinary group of the nation's lightning experts, met at the 1998 American Meteorological Society Annual Meeting. New lightning data showed that most CG flashes in a storm were within 5-6 miles (8-9.6 km) of the previous flash. The LSG recommended what has become known as the 30/30 Rule. Using the flash-to-bang method, lightning that has a 30-second count between the flash and the thunder is 6 miles (9.6 km) away. This translates into 5 seconds per mile (1.6 km). It is possible that the next flash of CG lightning may occur at your location.

Anonymous said...

forgot the credit there:

The Science of Thunder by
R. James Vavrek, Richard Kithil, Ronald L. Holle, Jim Allsopp, Mary Ann Cooper to be read at


http://www.lightningsafety.com/nlsi_info/thunder2.html

The Dude said...

Her thunder thighs should be accompanied by lightening.

Lightning is something else altogether.

Titusworkitworkitworkit said...

And what about her tits or lack of tits?

Is it better for the straight guys that his women has nice arms or big tits? Which is preferable? I am guessing big tits.

You will notice that the many that are highlighting Michelle Obama's arms are women. They are attractive to them because I believe it may be something that they would like and feel they could get those kind of arms. Also, again, I think the women would like to wear the sleeveless dresses, blouses etc but may feel conscious about doing it because they don't have the right arms. I mean really, how many men even look at this kind of stuff? Besides the gays of course.

knox said...

I think Michelle built up her arms pushing poor people out of her emergency room.


LOL!

Susan said...

The first time I ever saw Michelle Obama was in the video in this Althouse post: http://althouse.blogspot.com/2007/05/he-still-didnt-put-butter-up-i-was-like.html
And the first thing I noticed about her were her arms and the way she put her hands on her hips. It gave her a confident aura and I liked it enough to comment about it. Those arms say a lot.

Athena DePaul said...

Am I the only one who's head is spinning that she thinks self-confidence is based on VANITY and POWER?

In addition to the mind-bogglyness of vanity flipping from sin to virtue, she's also wrong. The most self-confident people are also the most humble.

Not that the Obamas don't ooze vanity and power - it's just the opposite of everything we ought to want in our leader.