And by the way, I want to acknowledge our first lady, Michelle Obama, who this year is creating a national movement to tackle the epidemic of childhood obesity and make kids healthier. Thank you. She gets embarrassed.Let's put to the side the fact that Michelle Obama has chosen — as her signature issue — telling us our kids are fat. (I mean, thanks a lot. Laura Bush was all about telling kids to read. Why did Michelle go with "you're fat"?)
I was struck by the way, when Obama called on her, he had this almost frightened, serious look, as if he didn't know whether she'd play along with this public charade:
That's kind of a smile, but she looks annoyed...
When he got the smile from her, he smiled tightly and clapped... as if she'd performed a trick:
And what's with that other woman giving him the stinkeye?
Posts
168 comments:
Were you paying attention..."
Ha ha ha, you're killing me over here.
I am pretty sure he'd rather be interviewed by Bill O'Reilly, Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck than try to deal with a displeased Michelle.
What's to be embarassed for? You smile and nod. And you can even wave a hand of acknowlegement a little.
It's not all that hard.
Wow. If that sequence really happened in exactly that way (I'm just saying I have no clue about how to verify those things), then that is really....something. I don't know what, but it was strange and it was deliberately public.
Some day someone will write a fascinating insider account of the Obama Presidency, that's for sure.
I went with good old fashion thought bubbles with my take on this, but this post works well, too.
This is the kind of posts that make the Althouse Blog one of a kind. Yes she actually does frighten Barak because she says "Don't even bother to lie to me" with a look that is louder than Joe Wilson's voice and Sam Alito's face put together. Maybe FOX can get her as a replacement for Simon Cowell on AI after her gig as Judge of Obama's theatrical performances is over. She would make more money than Barak, at least visible money.
The first photo captures an image of Obama that we've not seen before: an uncertain and nervous man.
How much time did Althouse spend selecting photos for this uninteresting post?
Did she track down the tape and then go through it frame by frame?
Shouldn't the Meadhouse still be in the phase of marriage where there isn't any extra time for such trite pursuits?
BTW, I don't think MLO is scary.
Jeez, 1jbp, get a sense of humor.
Take a look at those diamond stud earrings the First Lady is wearing. They look absolutely FAT to me!
She maybe looks a little annoyed, but not angry in that picture. She maybe even looks fond. (She looked outright grumpy in a different picture of the speech, but it was really long, everyone was probably grumpy.)
Obama doesn't even look like himself.
But the more I look at the picture... I don't think he looks scared, exactly. The more I look at it I wonder if the difference is that it *does* look like him. Maybe that little smile is his real one.
It's hard not to see a picture of Mrs. B. Hussein without her looking annoyed. I mean, this is the woman who spent her whole life being disgusted by her country until a brief moment when she thought everyone loved her husband.
Now that few love him anymore, she has probably is disgusted by us again. And likely by her husband for losing that love from us.
Face it, her face is like an angry fist. It's almost Orwellian, it's the face of the person with the boot that smashes on the human face forever.
I like when people write several paragraph long comments about how uninteresting something is.
Yes... XWL's picture.
Major grumpy, and sitting next to a grinning Frau Bissida.
(The Frau is my favorite part of that picture. She makes me smile and I think she'd probably be fun to hang out with.)
knox,
Maybe you should get a sense of humor. Did it occur to you that Althouse isn't the only one who can make assumptions about the relationships of other married folks?
Reread what I wrote w/ that in mind.
"Face it, her face is like an angry fist. It's almost Orwellian, it's the face of the person with the boot that smashes on the human face forever."
you know, if the boot had a stiletto heel and Michelle were wearing a vinyl teddy a lot of men would pay for her to do it.
Better to tell kids they are fat than they are stupid. Only a vile evil Republican woman would make reading her priority. :)
We need to be thankful that Obama has Michelle and the girls to ground him to some real life that is not another fairey tale about bad ole Bankers and good ole fascist rulers doing the Lord's work to re-distribute our property. I for one am glad that Michelle is a stand up woman who lets Barack know what the score is.
I will bitterly cling to my ice cream, my cake, my candy, my chocolate, my french fries, and all the other food that is mine.
It is mine.
Stiletto-heeled boots. Vinyl teddy. Michelle Obama...
Think about it!
Mistress O thinks you're too fat, slave! Jog! Jog! Here's a taste of my majority whip!
I'm with Peter. Why is it better to tell a kid he's illiterate than that he's fat?
"you know, if the boot had a stiletto heel and Michelle were wearing a vinyl teddy a lot of men would pay for her to do it."
...and that might be the first legitimate job either Obama had where they actually earned their pay by delivering a good or service of value.
America is downright fat. Obama will make you exercise. He will never allow you to go back to your old way of life.
@ Lincolntf Some day someone will write a fascinating insider account of the Obama Presidency, that's for sure.
Given that nobody writes anything insider about Barry Obama -- except Barry Obama -- (we don't even know how he got to Pakistan) I would be surprised by that.
Of course, if he keeps pissing the Faithful off, even Rahm won't be able to protect him.
wv preferma
Before terra
"my majority whip"
LOL!
You vill eat healthy und you vill like it!
Reread what I wrote w/ that in mind.
If you have to tell someone to "reread" in order for it to be funny, then... it's not.
How's this: "Lighten up"
All this makes me wonder about LoafingOaf. "LoafingOaf" sounds fat... will he be for this or against it?
Zen fascists will control you
100% natural
You will jog for the master race
And always wear the happy face
Sorry. It was the first thing to pop up in my mind.
That has to be Chip's photoshop magic, it's just too good!
palladian, I feel guilty for laughing at your Mistress Michelle jokes, but they are the funniest thing I have read or heard this last week. And I say that as someone who likes the Fisrt Lady. I know that jokes get ruined the more they are talked about, so
Forgive me (please keep going).
I think the lady in the last frame is looking at someone to the left of , and lower than Joe Biden which means-
garage mahal might have been there.
Stiletto-heeled boots. Vinyl teddy. Michelle Obama...
I'd click right past it.
Oh, I sure hope this is a joke post because it's Friday. I mean, srsly?
Sometimes a public gesture falls flat. Maybe the FLOTUS just doesn't want to be singled out. (Did he single out anyone else in the audience?)
This is small beer. The larger issues involve his public rebuke to the SCOTUS and his absolutely crazy calls for more spending and spending cuts at the same time.
The only way they will get my junk food is to pry it from my cold dead arteries.
trust me...that is one mean lady...they never have a look of admiration and trust...always combative and unsure
To me, Obama has an adoring look. Michelle has her lips pressed together because Barack is talking about her emotional life (what, no "emotional Michelle" tag?) and so she must control her emotions.
Kids are really fat these days -- kids are getting Type 2 diabetes at unheard-of levels. Obesity is more of an obvious threat than illiteracy.
The other woman has been looking at someone/something behind Obama. You can see that even in the first picture. Maybe she's Secret Service.
knox,
You should ask yourself why you think it's funny for Althosue to speculate about BHO's marital relations?
But, at the same instant you also feel that it's unacceptable to speculate about Althouse's marriage.
My original comment sussed out this inconsistency in you. I hoped someone would fall for it. Thank you.
I think the Obamas are kind of cute. Like Rob and Laura Petrie.
Germany has criminalized home schooling, demanding that parents place their children in state schools.
Under Obama, with Michelle as food czar, America will criminalize home feeding, demanding that parents place their children in state cafeterias for feeding.
Stiletto-heeled boots.
Mrs. O is no Condi Rice.
Hey 1jpb, could you keep it down, please? Here at the Meadhouse we're trying to catch up on trite old TV reruns.
We need to concentrate.
"...place their children in state cafeterias for feeding."
It's no fun if you don't have to chase 'em.
She wants all of our kids to be bulemic. This is part and parcel of the greenie weenie crisis. We have to protect the land from being raped by those evil farmers.
We must protect Gaia from bovine, ovine, and porcine flatulence.
This is nothing more than an evil liberal plot emanating from the office of the FLOTUS. It is part and parcel of Project Soylent Green which will be implemented during term II of the Messiah's reign.
This is why the so called healthcare reform bill is secret. It gives power to the government to form the death panels.
We need an Ice Cream movement to stop this evil upon our nation.
What you want in a stiletto heel grinding your face into the ground is haughty disdain from the woman rising above said heel. In other words she should be so far above you that you don't even rate her hatred, only her scorn. I don't think Michelle My Belle can deliver those goods. She'd fall down to the level of hatred, pure and simple. She lacks that...je ne sais quoi...call it class.
Germany has criminalized home schooling
Germany is so credential conscious that even the retail clerks who wait on you have completed a retail sales apprenticeship and have the certificate to prove it. Letting an uncredentialed person do something as important as teaching is un-possible. You might as well ask to perform surgery on your kids.
1jpb said...
BTW, I don't think MLO is scary.
Thanks for sharing that. It wasn't really necessary and was way more information than we need to know.
What you do with Pictures of the FLOTUS in the privacy of your own bathroom should stay there.
Trooper York - Sara Lee - I was dumb and 2 seconds past reading it, thinking it was a serious ID.
Thinking "why didn't I hear anything about this Sara Lee black female from Chicago...wait....awwwwww!
Good one!
***Of course, unlike the angry looking Michelle, "Nobody Doesn't Like Sara Lee"****
(From a MBA business ad/marketing course, I think the catch phrase came from the same GF ad genius who just died who gave us "Uh oh! Spaghetti-Os.)
And I grew up on Spaghetti-Os and other Franco-American canned crap as a kid in the late 70s. It took dating a Lebanese-Greek girl who had a better moustache and more leg and crotch hair at 16 than I had at 17 - to show me that Franco-American pasta in a can really sucked at her sit-down big fat Greek momma cooked dinners.
(flossing afterwards was not a problem for me)
Off topic -
"The Justice Department made a judgment call, however, that it had enough solid evidence to win a conviction in federal court. Looking in from the outside and not knowing exactly what evidence prosecutors have in hand, it seems like a reasonable option."
It was a very dumb call because KSM and others had already entered a guilty plea in the military tribunals that Obama's own people said was a worthy venue of law.
What happened was Holder and some other Lefties at Justice became infatuated with the notion of how much the Europeans and leftist human rights groups would be impressed that we gave them full US Constitutional Rights to show the world how nice we are, and to "treat" NYC to seeing the attackers "convicted!!!
They lost all common sense about this. As have many Lefties who refuse to believe there are enemies that actually seek to attack us and that somehow if we only have lawyers say they are not armed enemy but civilian criminals - we magically diminish the credibility of their Jihad in the eyes of fellow Muslims.
It doesn't.
The debate in Islamic countries is not if they are or are not warriors on Jihad...they are. As sure as Apaches called braves on the warpath warriors and not criminals - no real doubt. Apache elders reined in the braves when they either brought perdition on Apache in the form of Army reprisals on all Apache or just looked at what the braves had done on some of their raids and said it transgressed all proper "codes". What finally happened was Gen Crook set up a structure of peace where the elders found 95% of tribal members accepted - treatment as honorable American subjects with limits on white man and black buffalo soldier interference - but putting the hammer down on the 5% of holdout braves that would draw the wrath of the American Army and immeasurable suffering on the 95% that wanted accomodation.
What the Muslims, like Apaches now DO vigorously debate is if the warriors are legal - if their methods and targeting civilians makes them unlawful soldiers not just in Western or Asian Law, but also in Koranic Law.
Calling them civilian criminals is at odds with the growing Islamic sense that they are criminal soldiers. Our efforts to call them "mere common criminals" actually is counterproductive because it is consonant with the hated Israeli practice of branding all resistance to their Occupation and Settlements as "common civilian criminal acts".
Most Muslim cultures are honor-based, like the Apache, and want their warriors, still treated as at least wrongful warriors. To them, even suicide bombers require sustained bravery like the Kamikaze pilots had or Apache warriors charging into certain death facing troops with Spingfield 45-70 trapdoor guns did. We give Medals of Honor to soldiers that have a split second of selfless bravery and flop onto a grenade.
The Lefty gambit that treating any Muslim terrorist as a common criminal will resonate with Islamic peoples is no more true than the S African drive to "discredit" Mandela and other insurgents by treating them as "common criminals" or the Israeli perversions of bundling fighters in with bank fraud conmen or rapists.
Generally, what is criminal is widely accepted across cultures. A black guy from Nigeria who rapes in Saudi Arabia is no different than a Nigerian who rapes here - except dead a lot sooner. A thief in France would be seen as a thief with a French record in Morocco, Uruguay, or China.
But an Iranian agent who killed civilian B'athists in Iraq would be seen by Iranians as a hero while Iraqis were trying to find, interrogate, even kill them. An Iranian who couldn't strike a Ba'athist target and decided to blow up an Iraqi school would not be seen as a warrior but an unlawful combatant and no hero.
These distinctions matter and the Left and ACLU are deeply wrong in thinking they can define who is and who is not a "common civilian criminal" in war.
WV- turdsha
Shithead in ebonics
gee, I wonder how much weight Mrs. Won has put on this last year ? Pot meet kettle ...
As to how I got these pics. When I was live-blogging the speech, I'd written: "8:45. Michelle. Oh, my! What does that expression on her face mean? I get a chill and imagine she hates him. I'll go back and get a photograph of this later."
So I had to go back, but at least I knew the time. I had the speech on my DVR, which shows the time as your scroll through, so it was easy to find the spot. Then I slo-mo'd and used my camera to catch the frames I chose. I was really struck by how Obama looked as she did the "trick" of smiling. I thought he looked really weird.
Now, if only BHO and MLO would comment about their motivations and thoughts, we wouldn't need to speculate. I'll start holding my breath no...
Cedarford, just when we think you actually have a sense of humor you go all heavy on us.
Lighten up a little dude. Have some chocolate or ice cream. Maybe pop a few trans fat fries.
Hey, some really good pulled pork, fries, and ice cold beer.
That will get the old sense of humor back.
wv iractom= Iraqi asshole
Acting embarrassed is usually more attention-drawing than just accepting the applause.
As for the childhood obesity initiative, I feel I can't comment until I know which government we are trying to compete with. Which countries do a better job at keeping its kids thin than we do?
China's kids are getting chubby. Maybe North Korea?
Thurber illustration, Psychiatrist about to call his wife.
For a few minutes while I was reading these comments I actually forgot the Obamas were Black!
I don't know about in the good ol' US but in England we'd say Obama is pussy-whipped.
lawgiver,
Did you get a tremor up your leg?
wv: astchol= a closing bartender with a speech impediment
Lawgiver, that's a might fine Min Pin you have.
Which countries do a better job at keeping its kids thin than we do?
Changed my mind. The ones without McDonald's.
Trooper
Had my laptop open and come to find my 18 month old was pointing emphatically to your icon, like her finger right on it, and talking some gibberish. Not sure what that was all about, and speaking of fat, I'm off for a huge ass porterhouse. And cocktails.
Why does Sara Lee have to make life so hard? They have the classic cheesecake, the strawberry cheesecake and the New York style cheesecake. There are times I suffer agonies of indecision in the dessert aisle. And that's just deciding which I'll have for breakfast! Thank God I can always fall back on good old reliable Russian coffee cake with veins of honey, nuts, raisins and cheese in it ack! ack! for dinner. At lunch I diet.
Remember while Obama was filibustering himself for 89 minutes during the State of the Union address he reprimanded Republicans for criticizing his lack of being tough when handling the terrorists?
Well look at this tidbit from a Quinnipiac poll that of course has gone unoticed by mainstream media-
33. When it comes to dealing with people suspected of involvement in terrorist attacks against the United States, which would you prefer: trying them in open criminal court with a jury and a civilian judge or trying them in a closed military court with a military judge?
Total:
34%Criminal court
59% Military court
Republicans:
20% Criminial Court
76% Military Court
Democrats:
50% Criminal Courts
42% Military Court
Independents-
31% Criminal Courts
62% Military Court
{had the poll used term "civilian courts" the reulsts might have been even more lopsided}
Thanks!
That's Ms Pickles, she's 7 and likes to dominate our other pup, Rascal. Rascal is an interesting mutt. He is half long-haired Chihuahua and half Yorkie. He is very smart but he knows his place, which is wherever Pickles allows him to be.
Standard Poodle?
Lawgiver, that's what great about having a multiple-dog household. They teach us how one should know one's place!
Skyler: "I'm with Peter. Why is it better to tell a kid he's illiterate than that he's fat?"
We are all born illiterate and will remain so if we don't learn to read. We don't have to tell kids they're illiterate; they know they can't read. Learning to read is part of developing your natural potential as a human being.
Practically no one is born fat and fated to remain so, nor is slimming down a normal part of developing your human potential. Excepting metabolic outliers, getting fat represents a failure. Fat kids are fat because they eat too much and do too little. Their parents are mainly to blame for that.
Lawgiver, we have large miniature poodles. The one that is my avatar weighs about twenty pounds. His name is "Baci."
You should ask yourself why you think it's funny for Althosue to speculate about BHO's marital relations?
I am often less focused on posts than I am comments. The comments were fun. Yours was a buzz kill.
make that ^results^.
Hell just because it's interesting to me anyways-
Men favor the military courts 64 % to 31 %.
Women-55% to 37%
Whites 62% to 32%
Blacks 53% to 39%
and btw-
according to Quinnipiac Obama's popularity in Florida has fallen from an approval rating of about 64% to 45% in les than a year.[Jan 26th]
Can anyone say-
"Swing state!"
Can you imagine the look on Michelle's face if he had quipped that Sasha and Malia were both available?
Irene,
For a few days I'm taking care of my sister's two 8 month old Australian Labradoodles. These are really nice dogs, presumably your poodles have a similar demeanor.
If they'd stop jumping on my pug they'd be perfect.
1jpb, yes, they have great demeanors.
Which countries do a better job at keeping its kids thin than we do?
Changed my mind. The ones without McDonald's.
So Africa, the Middle East, and North Korea.
I so want to hear Obama make that comparison. It works with trains and green energy!
We had a miniature poodle, Sam, when I was a kid. He was the meanest dam dog I ever knew. He growled at everyone except my Mom who doesn't like dogs. Most of the time she ignored him but when she spoke to him he would get so excited he would lay on his side and pee.
But other than that, dog rule!
This is a fun post to read. Even the comments are generally reasonable, with a few well-known exceptions!
Cheers!
wv: kinevoy is not a condition to be taken lightly!
Michelle Obama, thankfully, has largely stayed out of the limelight and she should be complimented for that. She may even be accomplishing something positive related to military families and childhood obesity.
Having said that, and realizing this is unfair since I don't know her, I've always thought that Michelle seemed like one of those insufferable African American woman you come across occassionally in business who are elevated through Affirmative Action and who have an arrogantly over inflated ego. She received that cushy high paying hospital job in Chicago, where she claimed she was the one who would make other people confront the elephant in the room (racial prejudice) - which sounds like that kind of woman.
I also thought that Obama's lifestyle -- politics, perpetual compaigns, now frequent golf outings -- revealed that he was had no desire to spend a great deal of time at home with the honey, and she likely is a load to live with.
But on the photographs, I love Ann but think she is being unfair here. I saw it briefly on television and thought Michelle's reaction was modest and cute -- attributes I don't usually associate with Michelle.
More about dogs...
How can we turn this into another government boonDOGgle?
Surely Michelle will not rely on educational programs. I'm imagining that a certain amount of inner city space needs to become a garden, for hands-on learning. If the White House can have a garden then so can everyone else. But first we need to hire some burly unionized construction workers to raze dilapidated tenements. Then of course we need someone to raze some more buildings so they can relocate the original lot to new and improved inner city living spaces. Only politically connected contractors need apply. Money is no object. It's for the children.
I would imagine that kids are fat for the same reasons anyone else is fat. Storing up food for future famine is vital to survival. There is no survival reason in having a "I've had enough" trigger that isn't set over actual caloric need.
Three quick thoughts:
1. That digital-film thing on those screengrabs make the whole scene look bizarre, and everyone's faces are far too greasy for the HD hyper-focus.
2. Peter Bella's wv run in this thread is among the best ever.
3. Cedarford, your posts on this thread are both exceptionally good.
wv: "uptop" -- Michelle, always. Barry's more in the "America's Next Top Bottom" role in that pair.
Michelle somehow manages to look like Tracy Flick here. It's kind of eerie.
What's with those gold symbols in the upper right hand corner of the photo of the First Lady? Just a trick of the light, I'm sure...
Either that, or the fasces on the wall of the House chamber only take second place in the "most objectionable decorative elements in the room" contest.
Ridiculous post. Do you find it fun to infer meaning from arbitrary screen captures ? And lets be clear here: you find photos that reflect what you already believe to be the case, and then throw meat to your right-wing nuts that play here.
All this noise just distracts from real conversation about the actual issues that this country faces. How about a post with links that spurs real debate and learning instead of just making this a space for venting.
The other woman has been looking at someone/something behind Obama.
She is looking in shock and amazement at Joe Biden. He was talking to himself, mumbling, laughing at nothing, and futzing with his designer duds like a doddering senile old fop. She was waiting for him to smooth his hair plugs to complete teh effect.
WV: testn= generic viagra or cialis
She needs to work on her own over sized caboose, thunder thighs and puffy pooch before she starts telling us what foods to eat.
danielle, are you actually new here? This blog does the flat out best, hands down airing and discussion of real issues of any blog in the world. Sometimes, it's just for fun.
It's Friday: I suggest that you follow garage's lead above and go out for a nice meal and evening. Chill. I know what I'm talking about.
I am waiting at the pharmacy for the prescription for my wife's bronchitis and actually typing this on an iphone the pharmacist was nice to let me use while waiting. New experience for me!
danielle said...
All this noise just distracts from real conversation about the actual issues that this country faces.
You are right.. people should be quiet when our president is enjoying himself.
"danielle, are you actually new here? This blog does the flat out best, hands down airing and discussion of real issues of any blog in the world."
Not true at all.
Althouse herself has acknowledged that she doesn't care about policy (and it shows). But, this blog may have a shot at some sort of world wide contest for being interesting.
And, this blog seems to attract a fair number of reasonably informed, not completely earnest A-hole commenters, which is a good thing, IMHO.
I would love for Michelle Obama to take on the issue of slavery worldwide. She could fly to places where slavery is still common, especially places of forced sexual slavery of women and children, and she could bring the press with her. She could go to the areas where these people are held and demand an end to it.
A big dose of sunshine might go a long way.
Plus, it's a great First Lady issue because it is totally uncontroversial. Everyone would support her efforts.
Ahhh, Danielle, liebchen, this is the playground of issues- large and small, significant and insignificant, important and meaningless.
My little rose thorn, this is a salon of ideas and creativity; where the adults and grown up teenagers can come out to play, have fun, insult each other, and make fun of the body politic in general.
Now my little petunia, I must leave for a while. A cold bottle of Merlot is awaiting my attention.
wv: cocat= southern coquette
Oh and BTW I don't buy that was an unscripted shout out. Everything those two do is choreographed and scripted. The look on his face seems more of a "Did I do it the way you told me to." moment.
Freeman,
That would require her going to places where she might get her $400 Lanvin sneakers dirty. Nope. Won't happen
She should have gone with Freeman's suggestion but something like that would never occur to her. The Obamas are not good at thinking of large issues.
At the SOTU, when Barack called her out, she was thinking, "Shit. And here I look like the biggest organic eggplant ever."
The reason that Michelle smiles "that way" is because she has a prognathous jaw and protruding teeth. She can't help it and there is nothing she can do about it. Lots of people have this.
BUT... to minimize the effect she tries to smile with her lips closed and it makes her look constrained.
AND she probably really is somewhat P.O.ed at Obama for making her be front and center publicly when she has already taken quite a shellacking about Pro Wrestling belts and other horrific fashion statements.
It HAS to be embarrassing to be artificially held up as some sort of fashion icon, when in your heart of hearts you know you are nothing of the sort.
Great idea Freeman.
Maybe someone should suggest it to Ms. Obama. Unless of course, BHO is reading this blog this weekend -- you know -- one of the "off beat blogs." He could suggest it.
But I don't think highlighting 21st century slavery around the world fits the Obama / Alinksy / Wright / Ayers / Soros playbook.
It would draw attention away from Evil Amerika.
How about a post with links that spurs real debate and learning instead of just making this a space for venting.
Hey... Danielle.
How about getting your own fucking blog? Hmmmm?
Then YOU can post about anything that spurs you on. Yeee haaah.
I found myself uncomfortable with that call out by the Pres. Didn't anyone else find it patronizing toward Mrs. Obama? OK just me then.
DBQ,
Uh, that has got to be the first time I saw you swear. Cool.
"All this noise just distracts from real conversation about the actual issues that this country faces. How about a post with links that spurs real debate and learning instead of just making this a space for venting."
Chase is right.
And frankly, the idea that someone is not talking about the right things is pompous, and pompous does not spur conversation or debate.
The best and most real conversation flows freely from the absurd to the serious to the complex and the miraculous and back again.
Conversation that is self consciously serious is too much about the persons having it.
Michelle Obama doesn't seem entirely unlike Hilary Clinton to me. I always get the feeling that she feels it's unfair that her husband is in the limelight, while she is relegated to "softer issues".
Would she pick childhood obesity as her pet project? I doubt that, and even imagine that there was quite a bit of dialogue behind the scenes about this. During the campaign, wasn't Obama talking about setting up something just for women's issues? Now that is a MUCH bigger bucket, and something Michelle might find worthy of her talents.
Was she embarrassed about being called out, or was she embarrassed about what she was being charged to do as first lady?
Who like's Michelle's eyebrows?
I don't.
Too thin, too arched... not sexy.
Why do women insist on doing that?
What's wrong with straight eyebrows. Worked for Brooke Shields, and she was my first crush way back when I was in grade school and saw her on Bob Hope TV specials...
Maybe I'm revealing too much.
Am I the only one who thought it was odd that Michelle didn't stand up after a bit and wave to the chamber? (113 comments and counting without that, so I guess the answer is yes). At first I thought that's what the President was referring to when he said "she gets embarrassed"
Uh, that has got to be the first time I saw you swear. Cool
Ooops.
One scotch over the line. Sweet Jesus.
:-)
Oops. Left a spare apostrophe in the last post.
If I were designing my own font, I'd make sure the apostrophes were straight and not curved.
By the way, folks, tonight is the wolf moon, the biggest full moon of the year. It will appear 30 percent brighter and 14 percent larger.
Feel free to proceed with your howling.
Feel free to proceed with your howling.
I will not make another OT doggie remark.
Not OT: lipliner has got to go.
By the way, folks, tonight is the wolf moon, the biggest full moon of the year. It will appear 30 percent brighter and 14 percent larger.
@ Penny. I went out in the 20 degree evening and stared at the moon. IT IS INCREDIBLE. So bright; it actually hurt my eyes and left an after image. Mars is also very bright and visible.
Of course, it helps that I live somewhere where there is no light from city or town. Very dark, and the stars are always extremely bright and the Milky Way is like a brush of white paint over the sky.
This was the brightest moon that I have ever seen. Fantastic.
Everyone ..go out and look.
The more I look at the pics of O the more I see a young Fernando Lamas.
Then YOU can post about anything that spurs you on. Yeee haaah.
Spurs? Cool. The Spurs won tonite, but man, that OJ Mayo can shoot the ball, he's like a mini-Kobe.
And my Rogue would own your big loser cow.
DBQ @10:29
I think DBQ is onto something there with Michelle's caught in between looking smile.
I know people who put their hands on their face when this happens so as not to show their protuberant pearls ;)
And my Rogue would own your big loser cow.
Really!!?!?
Here's what we should do...and it could be fun.
Everyone who posts on Althouse's blog and who plays WoW... make a toon on a designated server and we start a guild and play together. Even Jeremy, although I'm sure he would be a Ninja or a Leroy and probably a fruity Night Elf. :-)
Think of a guild name.
VW: bledrowf. Good start on the guild name...doncha think?
Sorry for the total thread hijack.
Can you embarrass a woman who tooka $300,000 a year job to be a glorified quota checker for the University of Chicago?
LOL.
It's almost enough to get me to load WOW back on my machine. I'd probably be patching until next Tuesday. ;-)
Heck, I could think of a guild name. It's the rest of that pesky technical stuff that would get in the way for me. I haven't even figured out how to post links in the "professional" way.
And, yes, Chip, I even made a copy of your very specific instructions that you left in the comments about four months ago.
I'd rather see Michelle embarrassed than Laura xanaxed out of her mind any day
(flossing afterwards was not a problem for me)
Eww
There was a Greek-American boy in my hs class who had a heavier beard at 14 than I did at 25. I didn't check any lower.
Ann Althouse, a law professor? With this topic of conversation, I had you pegged for Waffle House staff.
Princeton Scholar
TY
Ya gotta get outta Bklyn once in awhile.
Best cheesecake in NYC is just North of Inwood, in Kingsbridge, down from Manhattan College:
S & S Cheesecake
222 West 238th Street (B'way)
in Da Bronx
Subway: #1 to 238th St Station.
Trivia, I lived next door to "Junior" years ago. He was a good guy. Gave us samples of his cheesecake. Mrs Junior looked down zee nez at us arriviste (though she had obviously been in the same position 30 years earlier), especially when she saw me doing my own home repair work. She was finally convinced when I, well never mind, maybe she was right. I am déclassé. But I knows me cheesecake.
Lawgiver 6:34 PM
Wittiest comment on this thread!
Peter V Bella 6:26
Cedarford...Lighten up a little dude. Have some chocolate or ice cream. Maybe pop a few trans fat fries.
Good thing you didn't say cheesecake. You know, Joos eat that stuff!
C4
Your "off topic" @ 6:16 PM.
C'mon. The real story is that this trial is meant to be red meat to The Anointed One's Loony Liberal Base. A show trial of War Criminals in the Bush "Regime", including, but not limited to, Bush himself, Chaney, & Rumsfeld.
KSM would be the baby at the Christening, the groom at the Wedding, the Corpse at the wake: necessary for the fun of the guests/spectators.
I've got it (seriously).
First, this whole "fat kid" thing is not Michelle's idea. How could it be, it's like some PR company's idea of what sort of cause a first lady should take on.
So, she's been told to take on this cause because FLOTUS's take on such causes and she needs one that is bipartisan, not too threatening, something "womanly" (like dealing with kids). She ain't really happy about it and doesn't own it. Plus, she's not comfortable in the limelite at the best of times.
Therefore.
picture 1: Obama's a bit nervous because he's actually calling in a favor from his wife. He's using her as a prop, and it's not even something (fat kids) that she wanted to do. Axelrod's idea, probably.
picture 2. Michelle: "yeah, yeah, I guess I'd better smile and pretend I'm so proud to be the Patron Saint of Fat Kids (PSOFK)."
picture 3. obama thought-bubbling Michelle. "See honey, that worked out pretty well, and look how impressed everyone is."
I thought military families was supposed to be her cause?
Baloney. Maybe she had hemorrhoids. And, sad but true, we're fat and getting fatter. (not that it's any business of The Guv'munt)
Gotta say, glad we've got our own of the Zapruder film - so, we know what was really going on...
It's a good thing this country isn't so fat that we could have a reality show called, oh I don't know, "World's Biggest Loser".
She's thinking ,"If I have to stand in this very expensive dress they'll see how big it makes my butt look and that will make my anti-obesity drive seem, well, ridiculous."
And you know what, she did have to stand, people did get rear view shots and she looked like there was a hummer in her bustle.
1jwb said:
>"These are really nice dogs,
>...
>If they'd stop jumping on my pug they'd be perfect."
TMI.
Maybe you should keep your pug in your pants...
WV "Picker". Deliverance Banjo Boy
Kinda makes you long for the days when we hired actual ACTORS for these roles, doesn't it?
1jpb said...
BTW, I don't think MLO is scary.
1jpb: You are much braver than I am.
And Danielle: Perhaps this is posting is a humorous attempt to get a gripe on who Barrack and Michelle are. How they interact might give us a clue as to how President Obama will behave in some future situation.
I would think the only sensible response to a smile like Michelle's would be to cringe.
Didn't she know, when Barrack decided to run for the Presidency, that she and her children would be in the limelight? And yes, marital discord will effect the President's ability to do his job.
The embarrassment line is nonsense. They have the look of a married couple at a very large party who had a fight in the car on the way over and didn't have the time to work it out before they arrived.
In two days, they won't think about it anymore. But the blogosphere will keep it alive forever
Peter Ryan got it right.
I see these photographs as more loving than Althouse does.
But.
I wish women would not tweeze their eyebrows. Maybe if it's one big brow but only then. Real eyebrows are more beautiful than
phony geometric wisps floating above one's eyes.
Make America beautiful. Please, don't tweeze.
@DBQ Everyone ..go out and look.
1/29/10 10:51 PM
@ 10:51 6-8" snow coming from clouds which obscured fantastic moon.
Just checked the map. DBQ not impacted by missed The Winter Storm Warning.
Cfud is still a raging anti-Semite.
My hope is that there is some reward for the Secret Service people who have to deal with Michelle Obama. I have not met her but I have met Hillary Clinton, who is frightening. Secret Service people have told me that in her day Rosalyn Carter was so bad that they would send someone needing an attitude adjustment down to Plains to wash her car for two weeks. They always came back a happy camper.
There is a pattern of these angry controlling women who shove damaged men forward. It seems more prevalent on the Left. Perhaps to their sense of moral superiority and entitlement to rule is added a projection onto society of their own marginal ability to perform and succeed on their own merits and resentment at the men they are piggy-backing onto.
Rosalyn was a small town nobody who dreamed of being a naval officer's wife. She resented the reality that sent her back to Jimmy's peanut warehouse in Georgia.
Hillary was a bag lady for her husband's payoffs when she was at the criminal enterprise Rose law firm and has proven to be a train wreck level running disaster as Secretary of State. In fairness Obama set her up for that role and she should have known it going in.
Michelle had an unsuccessful four year career as a lawyer and then apparently gave up her license to take a series of publicly funded jobs in advocacy. The jobs that she and her husband received at the University of Chicago were arranged at the behest of Trustees, probably Penny Pritzker, and not through normal hiring processes.
Gee, LifeOfTheMind, misogynist much? My thoughts as I watched the exchange between Prez Obama and his wife during the SOTU was that they'd had a fight just prior. An ordinary, everyday, husband-and-wife fight. They looked just like me and hubby look after we've been fighting and then we're out in public and I have to look like I don't want to kill him. It passes. It's completely human. So give them a break.
I watched the SOTU, and the first thing I noticed was Michelle Obama's scowl and tepid clapping when the president walked into the room. And when he mentioned her working with kids, he definitely looked ill-at-ease, and she did look pissed off. It was umistakeable if you were paying attention at all. You'd almost think they had a hellacious fight just before the SOTU, and I'd love to know over what.
I am not a Michelle fan at all, but man she has gorgeous skin.
I didn't read the long thread of comments, and pardon me if someone already said this, but who is she to criticize fat kids when she's got that giant ass?
On the Haiti commercial, why does she say "parentsh" and "deshtroyed" when she makes perfectly crisp sibilant s's in other words?
You can take the girl out of the ghetto but you can't take the ghetto out of the girl.
(Nothing wrong with that, I'm the same way with the residual Iowaness.)
I got some ice cream
I got some ice cream
You can't have none
Cuz your mom's on welfare
--Eddie Murphy
Change the last line to
"The First Lady said so"
There ya go.
Big O speaks and he strikes a good pose
But is wary for he surely knows
If Michelle he does irk
She'll give a hard jerk
On the ring she has put in his nose
....uuuu..'o^o'..nn!n....algie
Illegitimi nOn carborundum
Maybe her first health nag priority should be getting her husband to quit smoking.
Has anyone noticed that both of them seem to have extraordinarily developed musculature directly below their lower lip?
Is this from a lifetime of petulance? I can't say whether they're good people or not...I don't know them.
I can say they have no class. It's demonstrated with regularity.
"On the Haiti commercial, why does she say "parentsh" and "deshtroyed" when she makes perfectly crisp sibilant s's in other words?"
Kyliz, it's a speech impediment and she does this more than you might have noticed. I'm no speech therapist, but had a friend with the same problem. He called it a "lazy s".
why does she say "parentsh" and "deshtroyed"
Palatization of /s/ in st clusters is common in many urban American dialects, most notably in Philly speak. Traditionally it was also associated with Jews -- I note that Michelle grew up not far from the old Jewish neighborhood of Pill Hill.
who is she to criticize fat kids when she's got that giant ass?
She's a mommy, that's why:
Scientific American May 15, 2006
Why does fat deposit on the hips and thighs of women and around the stomachs of men?
.
Patrick J. Bird, dean of the College of Health and Human Performance at the University of Florida, explains.
We all do tend to fatten up with age, although there are interesting differences based on age and gender. Hormones drive the deposition of fat around the pelvis, buttocks, and thighs of women and the bellies of men. For women, this so-called sex-specific fat appears to be physiologically advantageous, at least during pregnancies. But it has a cosmetic down-side as well, in the form of cellulite. The potbelly, on the other hand, is a typical male form of obesity that has no known advantage and can be life threatening.
Throughout most of their lives females have a higher percentage of body fat than males. By 25 years of age, for example, healthy-weight women have almost twice the body fat that healthy-weight men have. This gender difference begins early in life. From birth up to age six, the number and size of fat cells triple in both boys and girls, resulting in a gradual, and similar, increase in body fat. But after about eight years of age, girls begin gaining fat mass at a greater rate than boys do. This increase appears to result from a lower female basal fat oxidation rate (a measure of the use of fat to fuel the body at rest), and it is accomplished by expanding fat cell size, not number. ...
During the adolescent growth spurt, the rate of fat increase in girls almost doubles that of boys. It is marked by more and larger fat cells, and it is seen mostly in the gluteal-femoral area--pelvis, buttocks and thighs--and, to a much lesser extent, in the breasts. This general acceleration in body fat accumulation, particularly sex-specific fat, is attributed mostly to changes in female hormone levels. After adolescence, the accumulation of sex-specific fat more or less stops, or decreases dramatically, in healthy-weight women, and there is usually no further increase in the number of fat cells.
...
As most women know, it is more difficult to shed fat from the pelvis, buttocks and thighs than it is to trim down other areas of the body. During lactation, however, sex-specific fat cells are not so stubborn. They increase their fat-releasing activity and decrease their storage capacity, while at the same time fat storage increases in the mammary adipose tissue. This suggests that there is a physiological advantage to sex-specific fat. The fat stored around the pelvis, buttocks and thighs of women appears to act as reserve storage for the energy demands of lactation. This would seem to be particularly true for habitually undernourished females.
kentuckyliz said...
I got some ice cream
I got some ice cream
You can't have none
Cuz your mom's on welfare
--Eddie Murphy
Change the last line to
"The First Lady said so"
ha ha ha.
Now read this very remarkably telling remark from
"Remarks by the First Lady at Event on Surgeon General's Report"
But we also know that the solution can't come from government alone.
That's something that we just have to remind ourselves.
My question is: Why do they have to keep reminding themselves that solutions don't come from government alone and when exactly did they forget that very simple truth that they now have to remind themselves to remember?
This is a mean-spirited and content-free post.
What's wrong with the First Lady taking it on?
"Let's put to the side the fact that Michelle Obama has chosen — as her signature issue — telling us our kids are fat."
Guess what, your kids ARE fat.
"In 2006 scientists at the Harvard School of Public Health reported that the prevalence of obesity in infants under 6 months had risen 73 percent since 1980. "This epidemic of obese 6-month-olds," as endocrinologist Robert Lustig of the University of California, San Francisco, calls it, poses a problem for conventional explanations of the fattening of America."
http://www.newsweek.com/id/215179
Whether a First lady can do anything about it is another issue.
This is a mean-spirited and content-free post.
What's wrong with the First Lady taking it on?
"Let's put to the side the fact that Michelle Obama has chosen — as her signature issue — telling us our kids are fat."
Guess what, your kids ARE fat.
"In 2006 scientists at the Harvard School of Public Health reported that the prevalence of obesity in infants under 6 months had risen 73 percent since 1980. "This epidemic of obese 6-month-olds," as endocrinologist Robert Lustig of the University of California, San Francisco, calls it, poses a problem for conventional explanations of the fattening of America."
http://www.newsweek.com/id/215179
Whether a First lady can do anything about it is another issue.
Sophia, you may not be an obessive
carbohydrate binger anymore, but you still are a fathead.
As far as Michelle Obama getting embarrassed, I don't think so. If she was the easily embarrassed type, she wouldn't dress in reflective foil outfits all the time, nor have rush hour traffic stopped in WDC so she can take cameras to a farmer's market and show people how to shop.
Everything about these two is fake and contrived. Except the meaner-than-a-bitin'-sow look that Michelle has on her face most of the time. If I ever saw that up close and personal, I'd duck or run.
I think that ultra-gloss lipstick Michelle wears is not flattering. I noticed it on the TV ads for Haiti relief she's doing too. I don't really have opinions on lipstick but when it's overwhelmingly distracting, like Tammy Faye Bakker's, I figure that's not the desired effect.
Obesity is a critical issue, but then I can see why you'd be offended, Ann. I mean, how many people keep telling you you're an alcoholic, but will you listen? Of course not. No self-respecting alcoholic ever does.
Paul said..." I think that ultra-gloss lipstick Michelle wears is not flattering."
I thought the exact same thing about Laura Bush's vampire red lipstick. it was the only one she ever wore. Hideous!
Sigh ... it's pretty plain "the stinkeye" is being directed at the person behind Obama, & I flat-out didn't see any of the other fascinating sociological theater Ann did either ... hmm.
Can blogistan's tiny rudimentary collective mind bear the furious incandescence of a similar take on Obama's GOP-pout-inducing guest-appearance on CSPAN at the end of last week?
"STAY TUNED!"
PROTIP: bongwater is not a beverage.
Jeez...get a friggin' life ya lush.
Let's put to the side the fact that Laura Bush chose — as her signature issue — telling us our kids are stupid and illiterate. (I mean, thanks a lot. Michelle Obama is all about telling kids to live healthily. Why did Laura go with "you're dumb"?)
OMG ANN. You're SO RIGHT.
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