Michelle Obama considered not moving to the White House immediately
at Inauguration, so the children could finish their school year in Chicago
and take more time to adjust to life under the bubble-- just like Mrs.
Santos in West Wing!
They always tell you that that sort of thing is just not possible, that
the Secret Service would have to shut down the whole block and search every
neighbor entering or re-entering the neighborhood and that she wouldn't be
able to walk the dog anymore and blah, blah, blah.
They would have you believe that sophisticated Al Qaeda agents would
spring from the sky in black ninja suits, smash through the windows, and
snatch the first family and hold them hostage until America turned over a
nuclear bomb so they could solve the Israel problem for once and for all.
This attitude towards security is what creates the
hysteria around certain public people in the first place. Check other countries and you
will find that few of them engage in this kind of psychotic delusion about
the importance of politicians or celebrities. It's not the product of the public's
attitude towards famous people: it's the product of famous people doing
everything they can to convince people they they are so unbelievably
different from you and I that they must be treated as gods.
Even as Mrs. Obama dazzled Americans with her warmth,
glamour and hospitality early in the presidency, she was also deeply
frustrated and insecure about her place in the White House. NY Times
The New York Times announces to the world that
Mrs. Obama -- not Ms., of course-- Mrs. Obama "dazzled" Americans.
Well, sure they were: the New York Times told them to be dazzled and they
were.
Well, what can you do? John Edwards gets a $400 haircut and it
causes a sensation! Wait-- the New York Times makes it sound like
people are idiots for making a big deal about a $400 haircut. Maybe
they are. Then again, maybe Edwards should have gotten a $35 haircut
like most other women do. Maybe he should have announced beforehand
that because he was now a contender, he would have to spend a ridiculous
amount of money on haircuts. And shrug.
“She has very much got his back,”
said David Axelrod, Mr. Obama’s longtime strategist, in an interview. “When
she thinks things have been mishandled or when things are off the track,” he
continued, “she’ll raise it, because she’s hugely invested in him and has a
sense of how hard he’s working, and wants to make sure everybody is doing
their work properly." NY Times 2012-01-06
There's a lot of euphemism in there-- she's "invested" in him. She
wants to make sure everybody is doing their work "properly". She might
think things have been "mishandled".
Without a doubt, Michelle Obama is a smart lady. She might even
be very smart about politics, but we'll never know because it's not
likely she'll ever run for office and be elected by voters to have authority
and do things. No.
She reminds me of Hillary Clinton, another very smart lady, who didn't
actually run for any office until 2000 (when she ran for the Senate in New
York), but wielded considerable influence, especially
on the Clinton's failed health care proposals... You could
say that their husband's "appointed" them to a kind of "position".
The part that concerns me is this: it appears Obama's advisors would
sometimes meet with him and
discuss possible strategies and goals and policies and reach some
kind of decision and then Obama would go home that night and have dinner and
read stories to his kids and go to bed and the next day, he would announce
that he had changed his mind.
It was obvious to his aides and advisors that Michelle had spoken.
A lot of people will read about it in People Magazine-- and look at the
flattering photography to go with it's article on the first lady-- and
think, this is wonderful. What a wonderful lady. She's so...
so... invested.
Personally, I find it appalling. Here's the reason why: Michelle
didn't attend the meeting and raise her issues and debate them and deal with
opposing ideas and contrary facts like everyone else. She gets to have
her say one-on-one with the President, a circumstance any other aide or
advisor would kill for. No one to contradict your view of things.
No one to point out something you missed. No one to raise facts and
information that do not support your view. Just you and the most
powerful man in North America.
If I was one of those aides and I had participated in a meeting in which we
made our case for a certain policy or strategy and heard all sides of it and
then found out, the next day, that Michelle Obama had changed the
President's mind, I would move to Chicago and run for mayor-- that's what
I'd do. Especially if I was good at my job. Especially.
But also if I was bad at my job. If I was more concerned with
political success-- getting re-elected--than with policy objectives.
The story is that the Obamas accepted the idea that they might not be
re-elected in 2012. Initially.
Now, if I sucked at my job, I would just spend a lot of time sucking up to
the First Lady.
The inconvenient truth here is that Michelle might have been right about
some issues-- she felt that the aides were too concerned with the
political side of things-- but we are also hearing about this through a
filter. Yes, exclusive access to Michelle Obama, for a book.
"The Obamas" by Jodi Kantor.
