First Lady was “spotted” doing a little shopping at a Target store in Alexandria, Virginia. She dressed like us. She pushed her own cart. She carried her own bags. And yes the White house confirmed it was indeed her rummaging through the discount Missoni chemise bin (LJ: I don’t know what that is… do they have them at Wal-Mart?) Not only that, but her “communications director” Kristina Schake explained to us common folk that “It is not uncommon for the First Lady to slip out to run an errand, eat at a local restaurant or otherwise enjoy the city outside the White House gates.” And it’s just coincidence that the Associated Press caught her this time and got some great photos.
Michele Obama at a Photo Op (in a Target store)
So you see, what we’ve learned from this little puff piece is that the First Lady isn’t some arrogant, pissed-off, U.S. hating, let them eat cake, $%!@#% traveling the globe on multi-million dollar tax payer funded vacations. Noooooooo. She’s one of us…
There is nothing I hate more than when a politician insults my (and the nations) intelligence by putting on one of these dumbass charades. I can’t figure out if they think we’re that stupid, or that they are that good at deceiving us… What is the rationale behind this crap! And while the Democrats are the masters of this stuff (appearance over substance), I’ve called Republicans on it too. Rick Perry pulled this crap for months “deciding” if he was going to run for President.
- So basically, I call Bullshit!
- First Lady Michele Obama does not “slip out to run errands”, and thus, this wasn’t one of them.
- First Lady Michele Obama does not shop at Target on even a semi-regular basis (much less, shudder, Wal-Mart).
- This “random” sighting was planned right down to alerting the store, and making sure someone with a camera was in the right place at the right time.
- The smarmy press release was written before the orchestrated trip ever occurred.
HELLO! WASHTINGTON! WE ARE NOT THAT STUPID!
The problem I have with the whole idea of this spontaneous bit of suburban pseudo-slumming is this: Didn’t the Secret Service have to go with her? And, that being the case, wasn’t it anything but a surprise? “Oh, who’s that lady being flanked by guys with earpieces and machine guns under their sports coats? Why is Target suddenly on lock down?”
If she actually broke security to go have some commoner-themed fun, I’d be seriously pissed off. You shouldn’t endanger the White House by making yourself a murder or kidnapping target.
So, yeah, I’m 99% sure this is baloney.
But, I’m also 99.9% not interested in any “first lady.” This is not the 1960s. I don’t care who’s hosting tea or promoting vegetables (or “just say no” or whatever).
Does German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s husband courtesy to dignitaries? No, he’s a quantum chemist and full professor at the Humboldt University of Berlin. Now that’s a first spouse for ya.
I stumbled upon your blogsite from Googling Cyril Blellow and have enjoyed the back and forth on The Great Divorce. Who’s Rick….some West Texan?
Way back in 1994, while vacationing on the west coast of FLA. the Bush family arrived en masse, including the recently former POTUS and FLOTUS, at the resort to attend the wedding of the owner’s daughter. The ratio of pool loungers to SS agents was roughly 3-1, for a former and his wife, before Oklahoma City, before 9-11, before Jersey Shore. No one at the pool that day reached for their suntan lotion too quickly.
Just a normal shopping outing my foot, buying cheap Missoni doesn’t make Mrs. O, one of the people.
>> I stumbled upon your blogsite from Googling Cyril Blellow and have enjoyed the back and forth on The Great Divorce.
Thank you very much. I really enjoyed doing that AND I just before we finished the book, I got distracted. I’m going to have to make Rick help me finish it over the next month. We need to do the Screwtape Letters. I know Rick likes that book as much as I do.
>> Who’s Rick….some West Texan?
Rick is a good friend of mine. We go way back (high school). He’s moved about but has mostly resided in Texas (Dallas area currently). He considers himself a “moderate”. I consider him a loon… but a likeable, redeemable loon.
>> Way back in 1994, while vacationing on the west coast of FLA. the Bush…
Loved the story! I have had a little exposure to the whole Presidential security thing. I volunteered to drive in the motorcade for the Dole campaign. They wanted young local people who knew the city behind the wheel. I drove one of many, many big black Suburbans from the Houston Airport to a downtown hotel. My passengers were a couple of SS guys. I remember they were very pleasant but professional in that they didn’t talk much. Dole rode in a limousine in the lead. We were instructed not to stop for anything (lights, stop signs, people, etc) and follow the car in front of us. Once we reached the hotel, our job was to stand beside our vehicle and make sure no one approached it. Then we did the whole thing back to the airport.
Dole made a point to meet with us drivers and thank us for volunteering which was a nice gesture.
>> Just a normal shopping outing my foot…
On Michele’s shopping trip… I just hate fake stuff; especially when it’s an insult to my intelligence.
You obviously found the reference to The Great Divorce on my blog and decided to browse. Thank you for taking the time to do that, and thank you for the comment.
As we say in Texas, Please come back.
>Who’s Rick….some West Texan?
Hmm. Not sure what’s West about me, but my dad’s folks were from near Fredericksburg. Does that count? (Maybe I mumble when I type? They all seem to mumble out there.)
> I consider him a loon… but a likeable, redeemable loon.
And Lynn’s an ogre with a heart of gold… that he ripped out of some poor hooker’s corpse. I KID.