August 7, 2009

Michelle Obama takes Malia and Sasha out "for a hearty lunch of burgers, fries, onion rings and milkshakes."

They had cheeseburgers and the "President Obama burger" (with "horseradish mayo, red onion marmalade, crumbled blue cheese and bacon"). Among the milkshakes was one with "butterscotch, hot fudge, malt balls, custard and whipped cream."

I hope this means Michelle and Barack will lay off lecturing us about what foods we ought to eat. Or will the next photo op be in the setting of the White House vegetable garden?

What are we to think of all this burger eating? Those little girls are slim, certainly not obese, but what are other little girls supposed to think? They want cheeseburgers and malts too. What's the secret? Maybe the hamburgers are cut in quarters and each girl gets a 200-calorie little sandwich along with a a 100-calorie portion of the malt. Really, how do you do it? (Certainly not by throwing up!) The little girls of America need some health-care info from the family that has undertaken to oversee our health.

Now, one more thing. Why was the female component of the Obama family deployed yesterday? The linked NYT blog says "Someone in the White House obviously had a hankering for an Obama burger." Now, I'm going to throw up. This is political. Here's a clue:

182 comments:

Meade said...

Did you forget the "vomit" tag?

Ann Althouse said...

Oops. Fixed.

Meade said...

I feel healthier already.

Ann Althouse said...

Meade and I are having post-breakfast lattes. We're sitting at the same table, and yet we do communicate via blog comment.

Ann Althouse said...

In the blog comments, where we met.

Methadras said...

Michelle is preparing the girls to get some junk in their trunk. Otherwise they will be called Oreo Chicken Heads and not be black enough.

Crimso said...

That's why your marriage has gone sour. You never talk anymore.

ricpic said...

I thought all enlightened people agreed that the more autonomous the little girl or little boy the better and now you're advocating eating proscriptions on the little darlings? A shanda.

rhhardin said...

Buddy wants a hamburger?

Shanna said...

Marmalade on a hamburger? Yuk.

Blue Cheese sounds good, though.

LL said...

Don't forget, the "Obama Burger" also comes with a pack of smokes.

Synova said...

"We're sitting at the same table, and yet we do communicate via blog comment."

We aren't always in the same room but my husband and I have often communicated over our computers in the same house. And yes, sometimes while in the same room. :-)

I've also had rather deep IM conversations with my kids in the next room.

Joan said...

Please... the occasional awesome lunch of burger, shake, fries, and rings isn't going to make you fat. If you do it every day, or more often than not, it will, and you'll get acne, too, but c'mon, let those girls live.

Although I have to say, my kids would scrape off most of the toppings on that burger, they'd rather have your basic bacon cheeseburger than all that fancy-schmancy stuff (which sounds delicious to me, except the malt which has way too much junk in it.)

Anonymous said...

Big deal. The girls almost certainly don't eat like that all the time, and an occasional indulgence isn't going to turn them into seacows. Should they be eating organic tofu all the time?

Peter

Ignorance is Bliss said...

...a hearty lunch of burgers, fries, onion rings and milkshakes

Just the three girls. Not a carrot stick in sight.

bearbee said...

Why was the female component of the Obama family deployed yesterday?

O and WH propagandists see the American public is too stoopid to see a sympathy pr ploy.

Why is this sort of thing worthy of space in the NYT, or in any newspaper?

hdhouse said...

the "secret" is that kids can have an occasional burger/fries/shake. so what?

Would it ease a mind to have the kids go to Whole Foods for a treat of carrots and tofu so YOU will feel better?

If it is "news" that this happens it might be "news" because it is "rare".....goodlord.

bearbee said...

Buddy was just another prop.

Fred4Pres said...

I have to say the Obama burger sounds good.

Obama had Lomi Salmon served at the White House for the 4th. Basically it is Althouse's #2 salad, sans peaches and with salted raw salmon.

I did it with salted sockeye and it was outstanding. Frankly, it would probably be great with the peaches too (but I did not try that).

So my modest proposal is for Obama not to run for re-election. Get a gig on the Food Network. And come up with some more great recipes.

Once written, twice... said...

Methadras wrote
"Michelle is preparing the girls to get some junk in their trunk. Otherwise they will be called Oreo Chicken Heads and not be black enough."

An Althouse Hillbilly is never at rest. Ann, you must be so proud.

Also, Ann, I share your outrage. How dare the First Lady of the United States encourage young people to eat health! Next she might be encouraging us to not litter or "just say no to drugs!"

ricpic said...

That's overkill on the Obama Burger: the sure sign of a crass nekulturny fellow.

Fred4Pres said...

Didn't Buddy get hit by a car and die? And Hillary drowned Chelsey's cat in the tub, or gave it away, or something like that.

Pet lovers.

Synova said...

LOL. I went to the link.

I thought Althouse was being funny with the rant about the burger eating and snark about healthy examples but the very first comment on the page at the link was exactly that, only serious.

Oh, Dear God.

We eat meat and bread and it's not considered good food?

I can see worry about the deep fried onion rings and french fries but really! We don't need to quit eating we need to get off our butts.

(I've done the "cut into quarters" thing when I had very small children. We'd get one double mushroom and swiss burger at Jack in the Box and fries and share a soda. The baby was still too young and the three older kids and myself would divide the rest. It really was enough, and I didn't have to throw away $15 worth of uneaten food.)

Fred4Pres said...

Who killed Buddy?

As Fred Thompson famously asked about someone else: What did Buddy know and when did he know it?

Tank said...

Let me know when they go out for a bacon wrapped cheese dog.

Ah, that's eatin.

Pair it up with some fries (fried, not baked, for cryin out loud) and a shake, or a beer, or two beers.

Oh man, I am so BBQ'in tonight.

bearbee said...

BTW, has anyone seen Bo lately?

Guess they'll keep him under wraps until there is a need for another 'humanizing' moment.

KCFleming said...

Another example of the Obama nomenklatura telling the little people: do as we say, not as we do

We lumpenproletariat will be fed on Soylent Green.

MadisonMan said...

It is possible that this was all a photo-op. But it's also possible that one of the daughters just wanted to get out and have a burger. I'm glad Mom and the daughters could have a nice lunch -- even if there probably was a lot of staff interference.

Yesterday I had grilled pork loin with beans from the garden and cantaloupe and chocolate milk (from a bottle!). But a nice juicy burger would have been great.

Anonymous said...

We're sitting at the same table, and yet we do communicate via blog comment.

I call my husband on the cellphone rather than climb the stairs.

Yes. I know I am lazy.

TosaGuy said...

Fun menu. Glad they did it.

But why does it need to be mentioned by the media? If the Obama's did not want it mentioned then we would never know. Why do the president's kids need to be in the news at all?

Jeremy said...

Sounds delicious. How is this not already an entry on thisiswhyyourefat.com?

-The Other Jeremy

I'm Full of Soup said...

If the Obama's continue to eat this Red State Flyover Country food, they could lose the support of the NY Times. Heh.

[Full disclosure, I had a burger, large fries and small frosty from Wendy's for lunch.]

The Dude said...

hdhouse is back in the house - making up words, again. What exactly is "goodlord", hdh? Come back when you can write in English, ok? Ok!

Bissage said...

Hearty?

Who talks like that?

Jason (the commenter) said...

It does seem odd for a family bent on forcing people to live healthy, environmentally sustainable lives to be constantly going to burger joints. And it's never McDonald's, it's always some place expensive and trendy. Of course, to even notice something like that you'd have to be concerned with financial sustainability, the last thing to enter a reporter's or a politician's mind.

Anonymous said...

I have an idea! Stop making a fuss over what the Obamas do, how they live. They are all in great shape, seem very healthy, have great health coverage, exercise a lot and so forth. Now let us tend our very onw lives instead turning to others. Michelle never said we are to emulate their children or her.

Synova said...

"If the Obama's continue to eat this Red State Flyover Country food, they could lose the support of the NY Times. Heh."

I think it's against the rules for Red State Flyover Country food to contain blue cheese (crumbled) or red onion marmalade (whatever the heck that is) though I'm pretty sure horseradish mayo is acceptable (if odd) and bacon is not just acceptable but necessary. ;-)

David said...

MadisonMan said...

It is possible that this was all a photo-op. But it's also possible that one of the daughters just wanted to get out and have a burger.


It's also possible for them to have a burger break without press releases and the full menu details. It's possible they could persuade the press to keep their girls out of the newspaper (as the press did with the Bush girls, once they stopped appearing in police blotters.)

However, the Obama girls are cute and photogenic and media and voter friendly. Just like Buddy and you know how that turned out for Buddy.

I'm Full of Soup said...

Synova:

I think I will copyright that "Red State Flyover Country" name for food and bullets and gun racks, etc. Heh. [I get some of my best ideas here.]

Any lawyers here that need some copyright work?

Shanna said...

I think it's against the rules for Red State Flyover Country food to contain blue cheese (crumbled)

You can find a black and blue burger in the south, but it takes some looking.

LL said...

They are all in great shape, seem very healthy, have great health coverage, exercise a lot and so forth...

FYI, our President is a smoker.

Shanna said...

I think I will copyright that "Red State Flyover Country" name for food and bullets and gun racks, etc. Heh. [I get some of my best ideas here.]

There's a place I drive by when I'm leaving Dallas and heading back to Arkansas that advertises "Guns, Donuts, Archery". Cracks me up every time I see it and it's been there for years.

J. Cricket said...

When, exactly, did Michelle Obama lecture you about what to eat, you lying liar.

Man up, Althouse,

I'm Full of Soup said...

Shanna:

I've done a bit of business travel and noticed there are a few remaining differences in the retail landscape when comparing different regions of the country.

Your example is a good one. And I can't hardly find any Waffle Houses in the North.

Ralph L said...

Of course the onions are Red and marmaladed on the Obama burger.

Socks went to Betty Currie in Jan 01 and died within the last year or two of old age. Hopefully, he wasn't shoved under the bed in a box, like the infamous gifts.

The Dude said...

fred, you make a great point - we should ignore the fact that Obama chain smokes menthol cigarettes and that his wife has an ass the size of a side of beef, because they "seem" healthy.

Keep drinkin' the Koolaide - there is no way you will get diabetes from all that sugar.

LL said...

JurisDentist: When did Michelle lecture us about what to eat?

From a June 17, 2009 Washington Post article by Jane Black entitled, Young Eaters Mind Their Peas & Cues: First Lady Hopes Lessons Of Gardening Take Root

"Michelle Obama also explicitly linked healthful eating to two major legislative initiatives: the reauthorization of child nutrition programs, which fund school breakfast and lunch programs, and health-care reform. American eating habits, she noted, have changed dramatically since she was growing up -- "and I don't think that was that long ago."

During her childhood, she said, fast food was a treat, desserts were reserved for special occasions, and all the kids in the neighborhood went home to have dinner with their families. Since then, childhood obesity rates have skyrocketed: Nearly one-third of children in the United States are overweight or obese, and diet-related health issues cost $120 billion annually. "Government has a role to play," Obama said.

Hoosier Daddy said...

Well that explains her backside.

Supersize me!

Maxine Weiss said...

Oh my goodness, where are my manners? I forgot to send a little wedding gift.

Enjoy:

http://www.playboy.com/articles/sweetest-tweets-girls-of-twitter/index.html


_____________________

Penny said...

The President's kids are off base, except when the opportunity exists to use them to reshape the dialogue.

To all you wingnuts out there who think that this health care legislation will lead to the government forcing us to make healthy choices, it surely won't involve giving up the burgers, shakes and deep fried food that Michelle and the girls are eating.

OR...

Dad might be in the dog house, but we're still a family unit, and still living in the White House.

Unknown said...

"The little girls of America need some health-care info from the family that has undertaken to oversee our health."

No. No they don't.

Ralph L said...

The President's kids are off base
I think you mean "off limits." They may be off base in 8 or 10 years, when the O's leave the White House.

Alex said...

That kind of food is off limits for me right now - on a serious diet. Of course Michelle is not off limits due to her hypocrisy of lecturing us about how we should live.

LE Lee - I'm a proud Althouse hillbilly.

Chennaul said...

There was an article about sludge that popped up all over Michelle's vegetable garden and had lead in it.

Turns out the sludge was used by the Clintons and now Michelle's garden will not be certified organic and they should not eat the carrots.

Chennaul said...

Sludge=recycled sewage.

The Dude said...

Sludge that "pooped" all over, I think you meant.

Which also means, Titus is back in town. Yee haw!

LE Lee - tell us what your racial background is - it's no fair that you get to call white people racial slurs without allowing us to return the favor. Liberals are all about fairness, right?

reader_iam said...

I think it's against the rules for Red State Flyover Country food to contain blue cheese (crumbled) ...

Oh, I don't know, Synova. Some terrific blue cheese is made right here in Iowa, and you see it on menus in the area all the time.

As for horseradish mayo, a regional variant is to mix a terrific local [just across the river in Rock Island] horseradish mustard with mayo. I'm not so much a mayo fan, but I could almost eat Boetje's with a spoon. (Yeah, yeah: I'm weird.)

Chennaul said...

I think Titus is having troubles at work.

reader_iam said...

By the way, I heartily recommend this potato-salad recipe** from the Maytag website--no, not EVERY day, of course, because that wouldn't be healthful.

**(Personally, I skip the garlic salt and substitute fresh garlic and salt to taste. Live free: Experiment!)

Alex said...

Don't worry , I'm sure they eat arugula salad 6x a week with lots of exercise!

reader_iam said...

A spicy potato salad made with Boetje's is a wonderful thing, too.

reader_iam said...

/OT

Dust Bunny Queen said...

There's a place I drive by when I'm leaving Dallas and heading back to Arkansas that advertises "Guns, Donuts, Archery". Cracks me up every time I see it and it's been there for years.


Ha. There is a convenience store here that caters to the seasonal sportsmen/tourists.

The sign says: Beer, Boats, Bullets, Booze. What else do you need? Maybe some potato chips.

reader_iam said...

Broads?

bearbee said...

Aaron Copland - The Promise of Living

Maybe O could learn something about America.

BJM said...

rdkraus @11:48

Let me know when they go out for a bacon wrapped cheese dog.

Ah, that's eatin.

Pair it up with some fries (fried, not baked, for cryin out loud) and a shake, or a beer, or two beers.


Amen Brother Dogster! Squirt some Russian mustard on that bacon-cheese dog with a side of garlic fries and a pint or two of Red Hook and you're on.

btw- for the best dog in the SF Bay Area get yourself to Top Dog on Durant in Bezerkely, a grotty, anarchist-infested walk-up with the best Polish dog evah!

Shoot, now I'm hungry.

Joan said...

Reader, you're not weird at all, at least by my standards. Pass the spoon, that stuff sounds delish.

exhelodrvr1 said...

L.E. Lee,
You're obviously not getting enough irony in your diet. You might want to try supplements.

NotWhoIUsedtoBe said...

I feel a need to emulate the first family.

Alex said...

OT, but I wonder if Althouse is working on another post addressing the political grenade thrown by
Steven Pearlstein:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/06/AR2009080603854.html?hpid=topnews


By poisoning the political well, they've given up any pretense of being the loyal opposition. They've become political terrorists, willing to say or do anything to prevent the country from reaching a consensus on one of its most serious domestic problems.


Dammit, I might be an Althouse hillbilly, but I am not a terrorist!

Once written, twice... said...

Yes I must not have a sense of "irony" because I don't find the humor of one of the Althouse Hillbillies posting "Michelle is preparing the girls to get some junk in their trunk. Otherwise they will be called Oreo Chicken Heads and not be black enough."

Synova said...

"Shut up and sit down" is not reaching a consensus!

PJ said...

Man up, Althouse.

Mission Accomplished!

Alex said...

What I am flabbergasted by is - does Obama and Rahm really think the American people like:

* Obama demonizing the tea party activists

* Obama drawing up enemies lists

* Obama trying to ram through health care reform all at once?

Because the polls are indicating otherwise!

Synova said...

I particularly "liked" a comment I read somewhere or other today that said... "They aren't *real* Americans. They are just angry, stupid people."

Or the rather "cute" video clip where the one guy says "why did you attack me, I didn't do anything to you" and the other guy in the union T-shirt shouts back, "you attacked America!"

I guess that settled that.

Oh, for the wonderful days of yore when dissent was patriotic. *sigh*

Alex said...

Bill Maher is huffing glue:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bill-maher/new-rule-smart-president_b_253996.html

"Obama is smart, the American people are dumb"

I guess that's popular with his glue-huffing fans, but I really hope he goes ALL across America and tells that to the American people how DUMB they are!

Alex said...

Synova - and the frightening thing is that when libDems say things like "they aren't real Americans", that feeds the Glenn Becks with their "we are on the verge of a Civil War 2.0" rhetoric. I'm afraid real violence might break out in these town hall meetings due to this potent vicious brew...

Bissage said...

Eat Hearty.

exhelodrvr1 said...

L.E. Lee,
As suppose that's fair. As long as you were always out there complaining when Ms. Rice, Justice Thomas, Colin Powell, etc. were called Uncle Toms, house n-words, etc.

Synova said...

I don't know about Glenn Beck, Alex. I only catch him in bits and pieces when someone links to You Tube or some such. I've been warned against him by a liberal friend who insists that it's a horrible thing to even listen, which seems odd because I expect to disagree if necessary. So far, though, what I've seen seems pretty unexceptionable.

And if he's warning about Civil War 2.0... is that different than what you just did worrying about things turning violent?

It's not TOO hard to see, I suppose, if well dressed old people can be transformed into Anti-American Mobs who have to be shut up by mobilizing labor unions, well, it will hardly be because Glenn Beck told Grandma to get in anyone's face.

Alex said...

Synova - believe me Glenn Beck is riling up normal Americans. I had to tell my mother to stop watching that blowhard because she was ranting every day to me his garbage! I think if we have a Civil War 2.0, Glenn Beck will be remembered as on of the primary instigators.

Synova said...

So... your mother is going to get violent?

Alex said...

Synova - lol no. But she was irritating me every day with "Glenn Beck said this and that...". So I made her stop watching it.

Roger J. said...

Congratulations LE Lee--you are the house honky for the Obama administration--what a loser

Zachary Sire said...

It's called having a hamburger and a milkshake every once and a while, not every fucking day, which is what most of the people who are obese do. Duh.

reader_iam said...

I have to say that Glenn Beck does indeed seem to be riling up some folks, Synova, my (sincerely) beloved father-in-law, with whom I just spent a week, among them. I do make a point of watching his show once a week, at least, because a number of people close to me reference him often and because I like to keep up along the spectrum. In my opinion, while he certainly makes some good points, he does tend to go over the top, to appeal to fears and in some cases the more hysterical strains of political fever.

As I said, just my opinion. FWIW.

The Dude said...

So Le Lee is a self-hating white person? Where did he state that he is white? If he is white and his last name is Lee, then he is probably a hillbilly. A self-loathing hillbilly. And that's just sad. Stand up and be proud of your roots in American soil. Don't be an insane hater like Cookie or an illiterate tax-dodger like hdhouse. Be a man. Man up. Quit being such a liberal pussy.

Right, like that's going to happen...

Shanna said...

My brother loves Glenn Beck. The only time I ever caught any of his show there was a funny fake commercial about how the dollar store down the street took a government bailout so now they are 5 bucks.

I don't think being concerned about violence is the same thing as insighting it. And so far, it's the union guys who are throwing the punches as far as I can tell (Synova, that quote "you attacked america" says it all doesn't it?)

People must be allowed to have their voices heard and when their congress criters are so obviously ignoring them about something so important, they are going to get angry. People complain about lots of things, taxes and whatever else, but healthcare is something that will affect everyone on a very personal level. This is not just another random waste of money.

ricpic said...

Glenn Beck doesn't eat the liberal crap sandwich.

Ergo Glenn Beck is a b-a-a-a-d person.

reader_iam said...

If you want to know the truth, in terms of the gut, Beck and Olbermann give me very similar sets of the willies.

Alex said...

reader - exactly. Beck and Olbermann are 2 sides of the same rabble-rousing coin. I say put those 2 in a cage and let them fight to the death. Leave the rest of us out of it.

Freeman Hunt said...

Glenn Beck, at least the times I've heard him, goes on and on about how there shouldn't be any violence. That people have the change the system peaceably.

If things someday come to violence, the politicians can blame themselves for thinking they own us. They don't, and we won't be owned.

Once written, twice... said...

Why re you Althouse Hillbillies so obsessed with race?
Go do your race hustling with someone who doesn't mind being pestered by you twits.

Freeman Hunt said...

L.E. Lee needs a hug today.

{{{{hugs!}}}}

Bet no one ever thought they'd see me type that.

Alex said...

LE Lee - if you're feeling pestered why are you here?

Freeman - sure now that the media has shone a spotlight on Beck's rabble-rousing he suddenly claims to not be for violence. Never mind he stirs up the birthers and talks about "Civil War 2.0".

reader_iam said...

Freeman, I think people are responsible for themselves (and you don't need me to tell you here how much I agree we aren't to be owned). But while Beck does make a point of saying "peaceful," it does, often enough, smack of bit of a "don't throw me in that briar patch" vibe, at least to me. Nudge, nudge. Wink, wink. It's hard to put a finger on it, and I'll accept the consequences of my not being able to explain my gut caution better. He just sets off my radar, and I simply can't view him without caution. He doesn't scare me, but I don't trust him, either.

ricpic said...

Honk for honkies on the Obama highway,
Better that than hit 'em;
But either way they're in the way
Of the black-brown-beige avenge-men.

reader_iam said...

Plus, he has such soft hands.

Synova said...

Maybe it's a combination of that baby face and the buzz cut.

Synova said...

Really, that hair cut just gives off hostile vibes.

reader_iam said...

All this race-baiting back and forth. Gross.

Methadras said...

Pogo said...

We lumpenproletariat will be fed on Soylent Green.


SOYLENT GREEN IS PEOPLE!!!

Sorry. Someone had to say it. :D

The Dude said...

Hey, Lee Lee - you started the hillbilly name calling, and now you have the audacity to call us racial? You are indeed a stupid person. Clueless and stupid. Clueless, liberal, stupid and, what's more, you never answered the question. What's the matter lil fellow, ashamed of what you are? You know that as a liberal, all you have is what color you are, and anything else that you have accomplished matters not one bit. Which box did you check on the form in order to get special treatment, eh little guy? Come on, tell us all about it. You can trust us...

reader_iam said...

Hey, my son has a buzz cut! And a cute baby face, too.

Nope, that's not it.

Freeman Hunt said...

I think my brain has a automatic Scan Past function for any race-bait comments I see on here.

reader_iam said...

Hey, my son has a buzz cut! And a cute baby face, too.

Nope, that's not it.

reader_iam said...

Freeman: I guess my scan-past button short circuits when it hits a certain saturation. Must be past its prime. : )

Methadras said...

L. E. Lee said...

Methadras wrote
"Michelle is preparing the girls to get some junk in their trunk. Otherwise they will be called Oreo Chicken Heads and not be black enough."

An Althouse Hillbilly is never at rest. Ann, you must be so proud.


Let me help you out here. If I was black and I said this very thing, would you have called me a Hillbilly then? You see, I don't go around having to disclaim myself when I can use perfectly good stereotypes to help someone like you try to understand humor. But then again, liberal, weepy vaginas like yourself are always feeling mushy and guilty whenever they see a tinge of what they think is bigotry or racism. But then again, leftist ilk like you are humorless dicks.

Automatic_Wing said...

There's nothing worse than a self-loathing hillbilly. They're so preoccupied with their existential angst and search for inner meaning that they tend to do a really shitty job of setting up the still.

The Dude said...

Humorless and dickless dicks.

"It's true, your honor, the man has no dick."

The Dude said...

Maguro - you are correct! And what's worse than an improperly set up still? I mean, what, did he marry his second cousin instead of his first cousin? Did he go to a dentist? He's not shiftless and unlettered?

NOOOOOO!!!11!!!

Methadras said...

LL said...

Don't forget, the "Obama Burger" also comes with a pack of smokes.


Kool menthols to be specific. Oh no, there I did it again. I've made an egregious stereotype about black smokers. Oh no, how will I ever pass the L. E. Lee self-hating Caucasian, sandy, weeping, gaping vagina test now?

Methadras said...

NKVD said...

Humorless and dickless dicks.

"It's true, your honor, the man has no dick."


That would then make him a Nullo.

Harsh Pencil said...

Anne and Meade:

http://comics.com/f_minus/2009-07-27/

Methadras said...

lawlrcheerioskates!!!!1!!!eleventy!@!!

reader_iam said...

Harsh Pencil: I LOVE that!

(And, in fact, I just gave my husband a mild what-for for not answering his phone in his office, just downstairs. He claims he was playing his guitar so loud he couldn't hear the phone right next to him. I, on the other hand, in effect was claiming I couldn't walk down one simple set of stairs. LOL.)

Freeman Hunt said...

I think that Beck reaches an audience that might not otherwise hear about what's going on, and I think that's good. And I don't mind a little rousing because the truth is that we've been WAY too complacent, and statism has been making huge gains.

Freeman Hunt said...

Reader:

Haha, I always call my husband on his cell when he's in the basement.

paul a'barge said...

I hope this means Michelle and Barack will lay off lecturing us about what foods we ought to eat.

bwah hah hah.

Hey, all you who voted for Obama, raise your hand.

How's that working out for you now?

Once written, twice... said...

No, my race is none of your business you racially obsessed twits. Why don't you organize a boycott at your next NAAWP meeting of the Nickelodeon Channel for continuing to show reruns of the Beverly Hillbillies.

ricpic said...

Weepy vaginas, hanging in the trees.
Tread softly, and above all -- mustn't sneeze!

Synova said...

I will admit that I really don't like it at all when people talk about Michelle Obama having a large rear.

The woman is six feet tall! What choice does she have? She can't have a small rear any more than she can wear size five shoes.

ricpic said...

Althouse hillbillies happy as a lark, doo-dah, doo-dah,
Scowling lefties in the dark, all the doo-dah day.

reader_iam said...

Synova, I don't get the obsession with her butt, which seems fine to me, either.

Boys.

Unknown said...

Again with the "enchanted"!

The NYT just can't get enough.

The Dude said...

Ah, the post-racial Lee, hates white people and is proud of it.

As for Michelle's enormous ass - if she got up off it and did an honest day's work it might shrink of its own accord.

Michelle's got a big butt, Michelle's got a big butt...

And so on.

Mian said...

So what's up with this new Imperial Presidency, that the First Lady is not to be photographed eating a burger?
http://dougpowers.com/2009/08/07/michelle-obama/

"First they came for our cell phone cameras..."

exhelodrvr1 said...

L.E. Lee,
"so obsessed with race?"

We're not. Just using this as a "teaching moment."

rhhardin said...

Hamburger in nature, from today's bike commute.

kalmia said...
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master cylinder said...

Salutations old white people!
Love to hear what yall are kvetching about- it's like visiting my grandparents, God rest their souls.
So glad they passed on before Obamacare could exterminate them.

Beth said...

The Obamas went out for burgers and fries? And the liburuhl press covered it? Those bastards!

WE ARE SO SCREWED!

I'm buying more guns and Crisco, right now, before the Health Care Death Squads come right to my door.

Freeman Hunt said...

Might want to be careful with that Crisco. Obamacare, you know.

Joan said...

Beth: LOL. I can always count on you to be level-headed.

reader_iam said...

Et tu, Beth?--sweep in, broad sweep, sweep out?

reader_iam said...

We're in the the twenty-first century, now. It's important to specify:

WHICH Crisco?

(I love you, Beth; you are still, as always you have been, one of my favorites. Still. Or[/and], maybe, especially.)

reader_iam said...

But only if you don't just fall in line, Beth.

Beth said...

Thanks, reader. You're always dear to me, too. But expect some sweeping - there's a lot of crap on the floor these days.

Beth said...

Freeman, you can grease your sidewalk with the Crisco, and the Obamacare Death Squads won't be able to get to your door. Stock up now!

BJM said...

Mian said:

So what's up with this new Imperial Presidency, that the First Lady is not to be photographed eating a burger?

Because Targ heart burgers are very messy?

reader_iam said...

This *and* this.

reader_iam said...

FWIW.

reader_iam said...

Addendum.

Nichevo said...

Beth, Obama will tak your Crisco and give it to Titus, DTL & such - their need is greater than thine.

I'm sure you understand.

And if not I'll have a union guy cold-cock you, mmkay?

;>

Beth said...

reader-Levon Helm is a god. And I miss Freddie Mercury constantly.

Thanks for those.

LoafingOaf said...

No one on the Althouse blog (including the blogger) seems happy that the Obama administration apparently just killed the Taliban's top terrorist.

If Obama captures Usama bin Laden himself (something Bush had the best chance to do at Tora Bora, but FAILED), I'm sure the right-wingers of the Althouse blog will be obsessing on some trivial bullshit that day instead.

Freeman Hunt: If things someday come to violence, the politicians can blame themselves for thinking they own us. They don't, and we won't be owned.

Is this a threat? If you hate Obama so much, win the next election.....

No need for violence....

BTW, Glenn Beck is mentally ill.

In case you didn't notice.

reader_iam said...

@loafing oaf: You seem to be prone to a common virus: absence of a specific statement at the moment you need it = indifference (or worse).

Penny said...

"BTW, Glenn Beck is mentally ill."

No doubt.

But are you feeling freer because he is?


"See, see! He is not like me!"

Matt said...

LoafingOaf
Republicans think their country has been taken from them and many can't handle a man named Barack Obama being their president so, naturally, they will never acknowledge that the head of the Taliban has been killed on Obama's watch. I expect Rush on Monday to say something like, "They killed the leader of the Taliban while he was relaxing and smoking a cigarette in his cave - it wasn't a fair fight."
Recall when the Somali pirates were killed the attitude was that it was somehow a bad thing because they had in fact killed teenagers. As if brainwashed teenagers with guns are somehow less to be feared than twenty-somethings with guns.

Synova said...

"No one on the Althouse blog (including the blogger) seems happy that the Obama administration apparently just killed the Taliban's top terrorist."

Killed his wife, too.

I knew about that, what... day before yesterday?

I don't read Althouse for HooRah, Dead Tango.

Sorry.

Got other blogs for that.

Synova said...

"...they will never acknowledge that the head of the Taliban has been killed on Obama's watch. I expect Rush on Monday to say something like, "They killed the leader of the Taliban while he was relaxing and smoking a cigarette in his cave - it wasn't a fair fight.""

He, and his wife, were killed by bombs dropped in an attack within the borders of a country with which we are not at war.

Glad he's dead. Hope it was the Air Force got him.

It's got nothing to do with being "fair" but please don't pretend that you wouldn't be crying like a baby about war crimes if Bush did it.

"Recall when the Somali pirates were killed the attitude was that it was somehow a bad thing because they had in fact killed teenagers."

A clue, for free.

That was sarcastic commentary on the extreme hypocrisy of the anti-war left.

I understand you can't tell the difference.

Synova said...

Oh, another free clue for the clueless.

Bush did everything he could including hampering our own efforts not to destabilize Pakistan.

Obama campaigned on the promise that he'd show Pakistan what-for.

Congratulations, he did it! The marginal government was toppled, Butto returned in the aftermath, the now rapidly cooling tango orchestrated her assassination... but we got him!

Whoo Hoo!

GO'BAMA!!

Synova said...

Bush did everything he could not to destabilize Pakistan even when it hampered our war efforts.

(better)

That the anti-war left criticized him for *not* violating Pakistani sovereignty only showed that they were first and foremost anti-Bush and all of their protests about international law and the evil of pre-emptive action, the dread Bush Doctrine, and were all bald self-serving out-right liars.

Synova said...

I could be correcting my grammar all night. ;-)

Anonymous said...

What would really be newsworthy is if the Obamas went out to Walter Reed or some place like that and visited some people less fortunate than themselves.

KCFleming said...
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KCFleming said...

Beth, if you think Obamacare won't evolve to meddle into every small aspect of your life, especially what you eat, you're not terribly observant.

These things are happening every day in the UK government (not limited to the NHS), the eventual aim for Obamacare.

Mian said...

Loafing Oaf Said:
"If Obama captures Usama bin Laden himself..."

He'll probably get him a good ACLU lawyer and send him to the Supermax, or worse, Bermuda...

Now about Michelle and her expensive fast-food addiction...

Michael Haz said...

Now, one more thing. Why was the female component of the Obama family deployed yesterday?

Because Obama's approval numbers are falling. Things go badly, send out the girls, or the girls and the dog in times of extreme need.

Ralph L said...

or the girls and the dog in times of extreme need.
As Bill did in the photo shown. And don't forget to bow your head or stride purposefully, depending on amount of contrition required.

Ralph L said...
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Ralph L said...

Meade said...
Did you forget the "vomit" tag?

Isn't he romantic?

Kirby Olson said...

What did Saul Alinsky say about dieting in his Rules for Radicals?

Michael Haz said...

What did Saul Alinsky say about dieting in his Rules for Radicals?

"Identify the hamburger, isolate the hamburger, surround the hamburger and eat the hamburger."

Bissage said...

Isn’t he romantic?

Perhaps unsurprisingly, we find there are competing notions of what constitutes the essence of that which is “romantic.”

One can begin to explore these subtle differences by clicking HERE.

John Althouse Cohen said...

the family that has undertaken to oversee our health

Have they?

Meade said...

Have they?

They haven't?

LouisAntoine said...

Maybe the secret is having fast food every once in a while and not every day? Common sense?

Or actually, I've read this post three times, and I really can't figure out what it's getting at. Can someone translate? Where is the beef?

Freeman Hunt said...

Yeah, Beth, goon squads are funny--especially during a time when the President's goon squads are actually attacking people at protests.

Never thought I'd see the day.

garage mahal said...

Amazingly, the right does believe they are the real victims at these townhalls. They shout down speakers, proudly display swastikas and effigys, and accuse the other side of being nazis. The full blown psychotic projection is quite the spectacle. Bill Maher is right. This country is too fucking dumb to survive.

LouisAntoine said...

My problem with the Teabaggers is that, when I look at them, their appearance, their tone, their voices... they are people whose idea of what's "American" clearly excludes many of the people I love. AND they are aggressive about that exclusion. I can understand their arguments such as they are, but these are not very interesting or sophisticated arguments. They leave out or don't even see large chunks of what makes the world turn.

I also understand why people are so sick of being accused of racism... it's a cavernous subject, race. It requires you to be introspective which I understand many people find irritating. Racist attitudes are also deeply ingrained and passed down, so it makes sense that they are hard to perceive/change. But it would be nice if folks would approach such topics with a bit of humility and mutual respect, rather than over the top contempt.

For my part, when people talk about Michelle's fat ass and fish lips, it makes me sick and I want to hurt that person... you have to understand that there's a history that informs such sensitivities.

Anonymous said...

I think Garage should point out just exactly when and where the protestors were "proudly" displaying swatstikas. I know SanFranNan said the same thing, and I think it's a deplorable low point in our political history when the leader of one-third of our federal government is so totally clueless as to assert such a thing.

John Althouse Cohen said...

Meade: That article quotes Michelle Obama as saying, “You know, we want to make sure our guests here and across the nation are eating nutritious items." Wow! You're absolutely right that that makes it sound like the Obamas are going to "oversee our health."

But does anyone actually believe that the Obamas are going to make sure that Americans in general eat nutritious food? That's so implausible that it's hard to imagine that she's being at all accurate in describing anything the administration is actually going to do.

The Dude said...

Montaign now says that pointing out that Michelle has an ass the size of an aircraft carrier is racist. Nice.

And that he is driven to violence against people who point out said enormous ass. Nice, again. Typical liberal - if you disagree I shall strike thee.

Just keep in mind, shitwad, that non-leftists believe in self defense. So bring it on, you brave anonomous interweb dweeb.

And for those of you who care so deeply about Michelle, her giant butt and manly arms, can you explain why the bitch doesn't have any tits?

I think she was born a man, unlike the liberal pussies that swarm here.

Ralph L said...

the Obamas are going to make sure that Americans in general eat nutritious food?
Look at what the Democrats did to the tobacco industry when they stopped getting their campaign extortions. All in the name of recouping state-provided healthcare. So yes, they'll raise the price of "unhealthy" foods in the name of cost-saving.

dick said...

JAC,

so your point is that we as a nation need to just ignore what the president and his family say because nobody can believe what they say they will do? Can I quote you on the healthcare bill also since that tells us what they intend?

BJM said...

Althouse, this post inspired me to make hamburgers last night.

Thick patties of Bison topped with Jarlsberg, crispy bacon, sauteed portabellas, home grown beefsteak tomatoes and home made dill pickles between Semifreddie's brioche buns.

Messy good they were, wouldn't want to eat one in public for sure.

I recommend trying ground Bison if you haven't, makes a damned good burger.

Synova said...

"I also understand why people are so sick of being accused of racism... it's a cavernous subject, race. It requires you to be introspective which I understand many people find irritating."

No. Being accused of racism does not require introspection at all. All it requires is having a liberal disagree with you.

"Racist attitudes are also deeply ingrained and passed down, so it makes sense that they are hard to perceive/change."

They didn't used to be hard to perceive at all. Racism was simple and forth-right. It had to do with whether or not you felt that there were inherent racial differences or attributes or if you did not. And if you did not believe that was true, it had to do with whether or not you made assumptions about people you did not know based on prejudice or if you did not. That was a little less obvious and might require some introspection, but it was still mostly forth-right.

"But it would be nice if folks would approach such topics with a bit of humility and mutual respect, rather than over the top contempt."

Certainly some mutual respect would be nice.

I'm not at all convinced that the modern, hard to detect and change theories of racism deserve anything other than contempt, however, particularly as they seem to have nothing at all to do with one's beliefs about racial differences, superiority, or prejudice. Not a thing to do with personal attitudes or subconscious assumptions but simply the color of your skin and whether or not you accept without rancor your inherited and inherent racial guilt.

Meade said...

John Althouse Cohen: "But does anyone actually believe that the Obamas are going to make sure that Americans in general eat nutritious food? That's so implausible that it's hard to imagine that she's being at all accurate in describing anything the administration is actually going to do."

Make sure? As in dictate? No, I don't think the Obama's plan to dictate what we can or cannot eat.

Is it implausible that they plan to supervise (oversee) the health of Americans in general, including regulation of our diet and nutrition?

No, I don't believe that is at all implausible.

SukieTawdry said...

Didn't Buddy get hit by a car and die? And Hillary drowned Chelsey's cat in the tub, or gave it away, or something like that.

The inside word is that Buddy committed suicide. And they gave Chelsea's cat to Mrs. Currie, I believe. I think it was in payment for her not ratting Bill out to the Grand Jury.

As for photo ops in the WH veggie garden, isn't it currently under a layer of toxic sludge?

Beth said...

Freeman, some union thugs at an event attacked a guy. What other events are you referring to? How do you get to the statement that those guys are Obama's goons? Note: I'm asking for facts, not defending the union thugs in question. But you're making a much broader accusation.

Methadras said...

So when Barak's alarm goes off in the morning does the iPod turn on to Sir Mix-A-Lot's I Like Big Butts? Just asking.