KFC Alert! 1st African't Lady Michelle 'Clyde' bin Obama to visit Mexico!
Patriot Games
Q+A: First lady Michelle Obama to visit Mexico
Mon, Apr 12 2010
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Michelle Obama travels to Mexico from April
13-15 on her first solo international trip as first lady.
The self-proclaimed "mom in chief" says her principal responsibility
at the White House is to make sure her daughters Malia, 11 and Sasha,
8, are well taken care of and have settled in to their new city and
schools.
Here are some questions and answers about the first lady and what she
has been doing at the White House:
WHAT ARE HER PET CAUSES?
Since her husband Barack Obama took office in January 2009, Michelle
Obama has had a relatively low profile role as first lady. She has
focused on children's health and nutrition, gaining much attention by
planting the White House Kitchen Garden -- an organic vegetable garden
on part of the South Lawn of the White House.
As part of an effort to battle childhood obesity, she also launched
the "Let's Move" campaign to get people exercising.
Obama has also focused on supporting military families and encouraging
Americans to perform national service.
HOW HAS SHE CHANGED THE WHITE HOUSE?
After the inauguration, Obama said she felt a "responsibility to make
it feel like the People's House." As part of an effort to cement that
idea, the Obamas decided to surprise visitors on White House tours
after the inauguration.
This year on the one-year anniversary of the inauguration, Michelle
Obama and family dog Bo did the same thing.
The Obamas have opened up another room -- the China Room -- to tours,
and visitors are also occasionally invited out to the South Lawn to
watch the arrival or departure of Marine One, the presidential
helicopter. Some visitors are also given tours of the Executive
Residence.
On St. Patrick's Day, the fountain in front of the White House is dyed
green -- a nod to the Obama's hometown of Chicago, which dyes its
river green on the Irish holiday.
Obama has invited groups of school children to various events at the
White House. Some local high school girls were invited to a formal
dinner with her and cooking students were invited to talk to the head
chef and first lady as they prepared for the Obama's first state
dinner last November.
Obama also holds different themed music events, like bringing in jazz
musicians to play with students from a local performing arts high
school.
When she moved in, Obama said she planned to make the first family's
residence more family friendly, with comfortable couches where the
children can hang out or use the cushions to make forts. But she also
insisted that her daughters make their own beds, set the table and be
treated as normal kids.
HOW IS SHE DIFFERENT FROM OTHER RECENT FIRST LADIES?
Despite fears by some and hopes from others that the Ivy League lawyer
would take on a strong role in the White House, Michelle Obama has had
a surprisingly low profile. This sparked a Washington Post columnist
recently to dub her "Michelle Milquetoast", calling her low profile
and light schedule one of the biggest surprises of the Obama
presidency.
Laura Bush, a former teacher and librarian, focused mainly on
education and literacy when she was first lady.
In contrast, Hillary Clinton played a major policy role in the
government of husband Bill Clinton, who promised voters "two for the
price of one" during the campaign. After taking the unusual step of
having an office in the West Wing, Hillary Clinton took control of the
administration's plans to overhaul the nation's health-care system --
a mission that failed.
Barbara Bush, like her daughter-in-law Laura, was more of a
traditional first lady, focusing mainly on literacy.
IS THE FIRST LADY POPULAR AT HOME?
Yes. In fact, she's more popular than her husband. During the
campaign, critics seized on her comment that "For the first time in my
adult life, I am proud of my country" as evidence of a lack of
patriotism.
She was also criticized during the campaign for talking about her
husband's bad habits, like not picking up his dirty socks, and said he
was "stinky" when he woke up.
She became only the second first lady (after Clinton) to appear on the
cover of Vogue magazine. Though she wears designer clothes and has
become a fashion trend setter, Obama has worn off-the-rack sweater
sets on TV interviews and shorts and casual clothes while on vacation.
She also likes to show off her well-toned arms, and is often
photographed sleeveless.
Compared to Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Obama's poll numbers improved
after becoming first lady when she focused on her children and on
issues like family, the homeless, military families and fighting
childhood obesity.
Her approval ratings sit above 70 percent, while her husband's have
dropped to just over 50 percent.
WHAT DOES THE PRESIDENT SAY ABOUT HIS WIFE?
Barack Obama regularly refers to his wife as "my rock" and said he was
lucky his wife never did not enter politics. In his book "The Audacity
of Hope" he wrote "If I ever had to run against her for public office,
she would beat me without much difficulty."
Describing his impression of his wife, Obama wrote in the book "Most
people who meet my wife quickly conclude that she is remarkable. They
are right about this -- she is smart, funny and thoroughly charming."
He also recalled during an interview that Michelle was asked what it
was like to be a political wife, and she responded that it was hard.
"And that's why Barack is such a grateful man," she said.
Her husband agreed. "As usual, my wife is right," he wrote in "The
Audacity of Hope."
Obama also calls his wife "the boss" in the family and says their
daughters see her that way too.
In speeches with an element of showing how normal their family is,
both Obamas mention that they struggled financially with all their
loan payments for college and law school and that at times it caused
friction in their marriage.
Anonymous Infidel - the anti-political talking head
> http://mobile.reuters.com/mobile/m/FullArticle/CPOL/npoliticsNews_uUS...
Will also cause vomiting.
Patriot Games
anti-political talking head <messi...@yahoo.com> wrote:
>On Apr 13, 8:32 am, Patriot Games <Patr...@america.com> wrote:
>> http://mobile.reuters.com/mobile/m/FullArticle/CPOL/npoliticsNews_uUS...
>> Q+A: First lady Michelle Obama to visit Mexico
>> Mon, Apr 12 2010
>Will also cause vomiting.
Yeah! And if you own stock in Yum! Brands, which owns KFC, you better
watch out!