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It seems First Lady Michelle Obama is making good on her promise to volunteer in the Washington area, bagging up food for hungry children at a local food bank on the President’s 100th day in office. As you recall, she got big press as the lunch lady serving soup to the homeless last month.

Mrs. Obama and Jill Biden, wife of Vice President Joe Biden, joined more than 100 congressional spouses at the Capital Area Food Bank on Wednesday, passing out packages of wheat pasta and cans of pineapple as volunteers bagged 2,000 meals for low-income kids in the area. Foreclosures are still on the rise so this summer there will be considerably more than 2,000 meals, providing there’s anyone left with any money to donate the food.  By summer the Swine Flu might have swept the nation! Nah, just kidding.

You know the old saying “Feed a man to fish, feed him for a day. Teach him how to fish and feed him for a lifetime.” Wouldn’t this be a better plan for feeding hungry kids? Packages of wheat pasta don’t offer much nutritional value and canned pineapple,  is kinda high in sugar. Basically, this is a high carb diet. Maybe a little better than government cheese.

Just last month, the wonderful veggie garden was being cultivated at the White House, and homeowners have begun their gardens as well. What about food banks? Why aren’t they growing food to feed the hungry? Wouldn’t it be healthier to feed to kids apples? I’m talking about apples that have not been grown with Monsanto’s Roundup or sprayed with a kazillion pesticides.

You would think that poor kids would be skinny, considering they may not eat regular meals but studies show that poor kids have a tendency to be obese. Pasta is cheap and makes the food stamp dollar go a long way just like the food bank is doing by handing out grains. Most diets consist of canned goods and the old staple, mac n cheese.

Sure, the volunteering gig makes for a nice photo op but this is a smart lady who could initiate some worthwhile programs for the poor and hungry instead of  just handing out pasta. I doubt that her own kids have a steady high carb diet. Quality over Quantity fills the tummy and promotes good health which is always a good idea considering the poor state of our health care system.

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Doesn’t Californian  House Republican Darrell Issa have anything better to do than keep tabs on the First Lady?

You’d think it would be enough for the press to follow her around like celebrity hounding paparazzi. We get to comment on everything about her (including this blog!) as  she makes her public rounds but is it really necessary to sit in on all of her meetings?

Issa claims the public has a right to know the activities of Michelle Obama as well as future presidential spouses.

Being in the public eye has to be hard enough without passing a law to get in their business. Aren’t Americans spied upon and tracked like dogs with their mobile devices enough as it is? If Google had it’s way, every spy cam satellite would be streaming info on the web 24/7 and documented in a database. You couldn’t even go to the bathroom without someone knowing about it and having it broadcast on utube. Last time I checked this was akin to slavery, not the so-called ‘freedom’ that we supposedly enjoy.

What more do we need to know about the First Lady? We already know way too much as it is and more than any First Lady in history. The press is consumed with the type of hair spray she uses, when she exercises, the clothes (well, that’s ok!) she wears, or what she’s doing as First Lady.Under Issa’s amendment, any government policy group that Mrs. Obama or another first spouse regularly participates in would be subject to a law requiring meetings to be announced in advance and, in most instances, public.

Her daughters aren’t exempt either as their wardrobes are also commented on and we know they got a new swing set to play on. When the dog arrives it will be news.

If the Issa’s amendment were to pass, it would overturn the 1993 federal appeals court decision which held that First Lady Hillary Clinton could be considered the equivalent of a federal employee. The court rendered that as First Lady, Hillary Clinton did not have to tell the world about every meeting she held or attended as a member of the presidential Health Care Task Force.

Maybe Mr. Issa could spend more time working on issues on his own state like unemployment, housing, or the fact they are just plain broke. By now he’s probably regained some of the $12 million of his own money trying to get elected to the Senate in 1998. Back then he got bumped out by Matt Fong who lost to Barbara Boxer and then thought he had a chance at becoming Governor until Arnold Schwarzenegger decided to run.

Issa too bad we have people like this in office.

Michelle Obama announced she would be planting a vegetable garden on the South lawn with the digging starting on Friday.

This is the first vegetable garden at the White House since Eleanor Roosevelt’s victory garden during World War II. Though there are 18 acres to play with, no White House resident since has had the urge to dig into the dirt and, with a little hard work, enjoy the delight of harvesting peas and tomatoes off the vine.

Why are the Obamas the first in more than 60 years to put in a vegetable garden?

Full article

Good question. After the Bush’s left the White House it was revealed they dined on organic vegetables so why not grow them in their own garden? It’s not like Laura would have had to do any actual digging or get dirty. Maybe a photo op once in awhile wearing some clean, brand new gardeing gloves.

Of course, in this picture, Michelle is hardly dressed for doing any real garden work and the guys wearing the white kitchen garb might be picking the tomatoes off the vine but cultivating? Probably not. Everybody knows the White House gardeners are really the ones running the rototiller.

Anyway, having your own kitchen garden is always a good idea. When Russia collapsed the citizens didn’t go hungry because 90 percent of the food consumed was grown in kitchen gardens.

It’s Spring. Get your tools ready and since you’re not the First Lady you’ll need some old clothes and gloves to prevent blisters and a ruined manicure. Plan to get dirty.

Read the whole story: mediabistro.com

We’ve already established the tremendous impact that Michelle Obama has on the fashion industry but why compare her to Carrie Bradshaw? While the Brooke Shields character on Lipstick Jungle is lesser known (and short lived) at least she wasn’t an airhead. We only remember Carrie for her Jimmy Choo’s and Prada labels, not for her writing ability. Our First Lady is not some clothes hanger and to compare her to Carrie Bradshaw is really insulting. Isaac must be the President’s bowling partner.

We agree that Michelle is the new Jackie-O but the influence of fashion has been around for ages and we like Marie Antoinette because in addition to promoting fashion, she was a woman in her own right.

From lucidcafe:
The stories of Antoinette’s excesses are vastly overstated. In fact, rather than ignoring France’s growing financial crisis, she reduced the royal staff, eliminating many unnecessary positions that were based solely on privilege. In the process she offended the nobles, adding their condemnation to the scandalous stories spread by royal hopefuls. It was the nobility that balked at the financial reforms the government ministers tried to make, not the King and Queen, who were in favor of change. In truth, Antoinette and Louis were placed in harms’ way not only by elements of their personalities, but by the changing face of political and social ideology in the 18th and 19th centuries.

If you let your hand rest naturally, all 4 fingers and thumb fall evenly and in order for the middle 2 fingers to curl back, one would have to consciously position them so.  Try it for yourself!

You might be old enough to remember the popularity of wearing orange and yellow back in the 1970s. It didn’t work then and it doesn’t look any better today. I’m guessing Michelle’s cardi is none other than a J. Crew import.

Oprah gets it right is her purple dress. It goes great with her skin and who knew that big gals could wear shirtdresses with such style? This dress looks great on her! It seems like Oprah is always struggling with her weight (aren’t we all) and maybe she should try some cleansing diets. Beyonce’s Lemonade diet is for those that aren’t overburdened with toxins and that’s usually the case with younger people.

The older you get the harder it is to lose weight and it takes longer to clean the junk out. Unfortunately, that’s what it takes to really get the metabolism working again. Oprah probably has a healthy diet with a personal chef and all the expert talk show guests have supposedly the best advice. It’s unlikely that she’s loading up on twinkies because she knows better!

Maybe Oprah has some good ideas on how America can recovery from the economic crisis. According to this picture, she’s got Michelle’s ear.

” First Lady” is not an elected position, carries no official duties, and receives no salary. Nonetheless, she attends many official ceremonies and functions of state either along with, or in place of, the President. There is a strong tradition against the First Lady holding outside employment while occupying the office.^[2] The first lady frequently participates in humanitarian and charitable work; over the course of the 20th century it became increasingly common for first ladies to select specific causes to promote, usually ones that are not politically divisive. It is common for the first lady to hire a staff to support these activities. Additionally, many have taken an active role in campaigning for the President with whom they are associated.

Serving lunch to the homeless does provide a photo op but we predict Michelle will soon tire of this as a regular gig. The woman is an attorney! She didn’t pass the bar by dressing up in a salmon sweater and serving lunches.  Mostly, it  gives the press something to talk about and reminds us that we have a new President and “change is coming”. We suspect the Asian factory worker who made her J. Crew sweater could care less about the American economy. They’re not watching the news and feeling any pride that she’s wearing a sweater that they made.

In the upcoming health care summit the President has these words to say in his opening speech:

“The cost of health care now causes a bankruptcy in America every 30 seconds. By the end of the year, it could cause 1.5 million Americans to lose their homes,” according to an excerpt of his opening remarks released by the White House.

“If we want to create jobs and rebuild our economy, then we must address the crushing cost of health care this year, in this administration. Making investments in reform now, investments that will dramatically lower costs, won’t add to our budget deficits in the long-term – rather, it is one of the best ways to reduce them,” according to another excerpt.

A bankruptcy every 30 seconds?? At this pace Mrs. Obama won’t be able to keep up with all the lunch photo ops.

How can there possibly be economic recovery when most of our manufacturing has moved offshore and we’re nearly 11 trillion in debt?

These are sombering numbers. We should all be wearing black.

Her arms are becoming the stuff of legend.
I think I am developing a crush on America’s first lady. Michelle Obama is more compelling than her husband. He’s good, but she’s utterly fascinating.

Here she exercises good judgement by covering up with a pantsuit and a vest. Well, baby, it IS cold outside. The shirt has gotten some prior press (yea!) and the pants and jacket look like good staples from any woman’s closet. I doubt that any of her gowns will get a repeat performance as fashionistas will be the first to point fingers as they did with Mrs. Carter.

In 1977, Rosalynn Carter infuriated the U.S. fashion industry by recycling a blue chiffon evening gown and sleeveless coat trimmed with gold embroidery that she had worn during her husband’s gubernatorial celebration. Carter had purchased it off-the-rack at a Georgia store and most likely recycled the dress because we were in the midst of a recession. Maybe if the re-do had been well executed, Rosalynn’s thrifty ways wouldn’t have been so ill received.

This visit was the first tour in honor of Women’s History Month. Long and repeat tours of duty affect grandparents, parents, spouses and siblings, some of whom are left to look after the servicemember’s children, said Mrs. Obama at her visit to the America Memorial Center at Arlington National Cemetary.

Luckily, Mrs. Lisa Pagan will get to stay home with her 2 kids after a lengthy appeal to not repeat a tour of duty.  Maybe the individual ready reserve program should be repealed or modified so that a reserve can only be called up for a different war so they have time to live and raise families before called to active duty again. It seems that once you enlist, the government owns you. The excellent movie, Stop Loss, portrays how the men, women and their families are affected by repeat tours of duty. We’re guessing this wasn’t the topic of conversation at the Arlington Memorial Cemetary.

Public scrutiny is nothing new for First Ladies.  This sleeveless dress worn by Mamie Eisenhower for her official portrait in 1953 also caught media attention. Lest you think the baring of arms is some kind of Democratic affiliation, Mamie was the wife of a Republican.

Mamie was known for her outgoing manner and especially her love of fashion and jewelry.  She was a popular hostess during her husband’s term at the White House as we suspect Michelle will be as well.  From a diplomatic standpoint, this is a good thing.

Imagine if Michelle Obama were to wear something as revealing as Dolley Madison’s choice in 1809.  And we think the styles are slutty today? Oddly enough, the “girls” look like they are defying gravity on their own without the benefit of a corset. Maybe this is what prompted former First Lady, Abigail Adams, snide remark that she looked like a “nursing mother”.

Francis Cleveland, wife of President Grover Cleveland, was also partial to sleeveless gowns, prompting the Women’s Christian Temperance Union to circulate a petition in 1988 trying to get her to cover up. They believed she was an immoral influence on young girls. Yeah, well, that didn’t work because she continued to keep showing some skin and her style was widely copied by other women.

Mamie led the way in the armsgate controversy with Jackie Kennedy continuing the trend in the early 60s.

That was the style in the day and Jackie wore it like it was a uniform. Her look was considered to by classy and elegant, emulated by women all over America. Such is the power of dress! After being criticized for her penchant for French design, she took up with American designer, Oleg Cassini who produced more than 300 outfits for Jackie. It is said that her clothing bill far exceeded the President’s salary, but was paid for by her father in law, Joseph P. Kennedy.

In today’s world it is not uncommon for designers to send gifts to celebrities so they’ll wear the gown on the red carpet. Should this be the case for First Ladies? Who pays for Michelle’s wardrobe? The simple black Michael Kors dress Michelle wore for her official portrait retails for $3,195 but her dress was custom made especially for her. Such was probably the case for Jackie too but history tells us they weren’t freebies.