The White House Sunday epically failed to practice what its first lady preaches, serving the nation’s governors a more than 2,000 calorie dinner even as Michelle Obama traverses the country promoting health eating.
While Michelle lectures children to cut out the fat and eat their vegetables unadorned with caloric sauces, she served the governors – who are in Washington for their annual meeting – a feast that included adipose-marbled steak, vegetables slathered with dairy enhancements, and dessert.
The White House has proposed mandating meals for elementary school kids that include none of these items, or anything like them. Here, for example, is the Wednesday lunch from a proposal on the White House website.
Chef’s salad: (1 cup romaine, .5 oz low-fat mozzarella, 1.5 oz grilled chicken) with whole wheat bread Soft pretzel (2.5 oz) Corn, cooked (1/2 cup) Baby carrots, raw (1/4 cup) Banana Skim chocolate milk (8 oz) Low fat ranch dressing (1.5 oz) Low fat italian dressing (1.5 oz)
Here’s what the governors got:
Garden salad Bread and butter Ribeye steak 12 oz Creamed spinach Crab mac and cheese Pear tart with ice cream White wine
Based on conservative estimates of caloric totals for each of the items that found their way to the governors’ plates, and assuming consumption of a single glass of wine from the bottles that were placed on the tables, the total intake amounted to about 2,250 calories.
The recommended intake for an adult male during AN ENTIRE DAY is about 2,500 calories. For women, it’s about 2,000 calories.
I hope the White House included a note on its invitation to the governors to fast until dinner.
Sarah Palin ripped Michelle Obama last night on Hannity. After watching a clip of the First Lady defending her husband's failed policies, she says, "Oh Lord !!! Are we just numskulls out here ???"
Right as the economy was going down the rabbit hole, the Obamas decided to host an Alice in Wonderland themed Halloween party, complete with Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter and Tim Burton-arranged decorations.
They even talked to Star Wars director George Lucas and convinced him to lend them the original Chewbacca costume for the entertainment of their guests.
The extravagant fantasy world that they created, however, was kept very much under wraps because at the time of Halloween 2009, the economy was in the slumps and the national unemployment rate was still at a dismal 10 per cent.
Tradition: The first couple hands out packets of sugar cookies, dried fruit and M&Ms with the seal of the president to kids before the lavish party
The details about the lavish affair come from the pages of a new book about the relationship of the first couple during Mr Obama's presidency.
'White House officials were so nervous about how a splashy, Hollywood-esque party would look to jobless Americans — or their representatives in Congress, who would soon vote on health care — that the event was not discussed publicly and Burton’s and Depp’s contributions went unacknowledged,' recounts Jodi Kantor in her book, 'The Obamas'.
As is tradition, the Obamas handed out treats to Washington, D.C. school children earlier in the day, and while that event was covered heavily by the press, their later festivities were very actively kept secret.
Host with the most: Johnny Depp greeted the children while standing on a table in the State Dining Room while dressed up as the Mad Hatter
Cast of characters: Director Tim Burton decorated the party and George Lucas lent out the original Chewbacca costume from Star Wars
Instead of chowing down on the presidential M&Ms, sugar cookies, and dried fruit that Mrs Obama traditionally hands out in her trick-or-treat bags, the guests at the invitation-only party had bone-shaped meringue cookies and fruit punch served in blood vials.
In keeping with her dedication to military families, the invitees were the children of military service men and women along with the children of White House employees.
Mrs Obama has invited the children of military families to many of the events she has hosted while first lady, including more recent Halloween trick-or-treating sessions and the unveiling of the White House Christmas decorations- which even had a Gold Star Families tree dedicated to the group.
Regal affair: Tim Burton decorated the White House in Alice in Wonderland theme five months prior to the release of his film
The Halloween party took place five months before Mr Burton's Alice in Wonderland film was released, so the kids served as informal taste-testers and gave an indication of how his spooky take on the Disney classic would be received.
As the children walked into the State Dining Room, they were greeted by a fully-costumed Johnny Depp standing on a table decorated with vintage-inspired table cloths and surrounded by giant stuffed animals.
First daughters Malia and Sasha, who were respectively 11 and 8 at the time, were able to invite their close friends to share in the activities, which also included a magic show in the East Room.
For the kids: The Obamas, seen here handing out treats to Washington school children before the hush-hush party for military families
WASHINGTON – First lady Michelle Obama is a behind-the-scenes force in the White House whose opinions on policy and politics drew her into conflict with presidential advisers and who bristled at some of the demands and constraints of life as the president's wife, according to a detailed account of the first couple's relationship. New York Times reporter Jodi Kantor, in a book to be published Tuesday, portrays a White House where tensions developed between Mrs. Obama and former White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel and former press secretary and presidential adviser Robert Gibbs.
The Associated Press obtained a copy of the book, "The Obamas," Friday evening and The Times posted a 3,300-word adaption on its website that appeared to capture its most revealing accounts. The book is based on interviews with 30 current and former aides, though President Barack Obama and the first lady declined to be interviewed for the book.
The book portrays Mrs. Obama as having gone through an evolution from struggle to fulfillment in her role at the White House but all the while an "unrecognized force" in pursuing the president's goals.
She is seen publicly as the friendly and popular face of the softer side of the White House, the one reading to school kids or promoting exercise as a means to reduce child obesity.
According to Kantor, early in 2010 as the president's health care agenda seemed in danger of collapsing, Mrs. Obama let it be known she was annoyed by how the White House was handling the strategy. After media reports indicated Emanuel was unhappy pursuing the health care overhaul, Emanuel offered to resign, Kantor wrote. The president declined the offer.
By that spring, however, Kantor writes that Mrs. Obama "made it clear that she thought her husband needed a new team, according to her aides."
Among the book's most provocative anecdotes, Kantor recounts a scene in which Gibbs, frustrated after tamping down a potential public relations crisis involving the first lady, exploded when presidential adviser Valerie Jarrett told him the first lady had concerns about the White House response to the flap. The initial commotion had been over an alleged remark by Michelle Obama to French first lady Carla Bruni-Sarkozy that living in the White House was "hell."
We're back to Michelle Obama, and as much as I hate to say it yet again - it's all about the double standard. Here we have a woman who preaches financial abstinence, but whose personal expenditures are promiscuous beyond belief. Mrs. Obama is a harbinger of 'safe-spending' and then uncontrollably prostitutes herself on the altar of sartorial elegance and sumptuous living.
The latest controversy surrounds a $2,000 designer sundress the first lady wore to church on her $4 million Hawaiian vacation. That's right - a $2,000 muumuu; the damned thing didn't even have sleeves. Michelle wore the unassuming frock to church to worship the humble birth of Jesus.
You remember Jesus? He was the one wrapped in swaddling clothes, placed on a bed of hay in a manger as many years ago as dollars made up the cost of that dress.
Besides appointing herself the guru of healthy eating and then dining at high-calorie Shake Shack, the only thing more inappropriate than donning designer duds for Jesus' birthday was when Michelle wore $575 Lanvinsneakers to ladle out soup to the homeless at a food bank.
The current cause of the ruckus is a flimsy white/striped number from Sophie Theallet's Resort Collection, which, at the time it was purchased in late 2009, cost between $1000 and $2000. For 2012, similar pieces from the newest Resort collection sell for that and much more.
Therefore, it appears as if "1,960 dollars less than I need toward another Sophie Theallet sundress" might be Michelle Obama's answer to Barack's most current question: "What does $40 dollars mean to you?"
Here's the point: Michelle Obama can wear diamond-encrusted undies if she wants, but not on America's dime, and not while advocating for personal sacrifice. Some would say she finances her excessiveness with her own money, but this is only partially true. In essence, she is not.
Here's why: She flew to Hawaii early, at a purported $100K extra in tax monies. Not only that, but lately the first lady is making a habit of premature departures. This is the third time this year she's ventured forth ahead of her husband, bringing the 'Michelle leaves early for vacation' total to over $300,000.
In the interest of those less fortunate, if Mrs. Obama really wants us to give up more of our pie so others can have more, she should lead by example.
In fact, on the day Michelle wore the $2,000 dress, that afternoon she changed into a $950 skirt, which means with two or three outfit changes, not including pajamas,
Mrs. Obama could have financed a one-way $100K flight for both herself and the dog.
If one frock cost 2,000 bucks and is only one of 17 outfits worn on a 17-day, $4 million vacation, then at a minimum Michelle, who travels with a military cargo plane full of God knows what, probably has spent almost enough money at $2,000 x 3 outfits a day x 17 days to chip in a large chunk of change toward her exorbitant tax funded flight expenses.
In 'piece of the pie'-speak, to set an example for the rest of us Michelle could have skipped the couture and chosen instead to kick in for jet fuel.
Moreover, after the nation found out that the vacation expense was in the millions - millions! - you'd think the first lady would have the common sense to tone down the nouveau-riche exhibitionism for a spell. But no! Instead she showed up in a $2,000 'Sunday Go to Meeting' outfit.
Ah, and who can forget Michelle telling us: "The truth is, in order to get things like universal health care and a revamped education system...someone is going to have to give up a piece of their pie so that someone else can have more."
I say: "The truth is, in order to save the hard-earned tax money provided by American blood, sweat and tears, Michelle is going to have to start giving up her 'piece of their pie' so that the rest of us can have more," and that may have to start with Mrs. Obama offering to do something other than wearing a $2,000 dress twice.
