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| Official White House Photo Totally Captures International Female Empowerment |
While Hillary Clinton and Michelle Obama talked up female empowerment at an International Woman's Day press confab in Washington today, the First Lady made sure to thank visiting Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard for hanging out and playing catch with her husband on Monday, so she wouldn't have to.
According to "West Wing Week", that really fun daily email somebody sends me to let me know about all the inside info in the White House, the zany World Leader duo dropped by a local elementary school for "Show and Tell" after the game. First, they sang "Happy Birthday" to the teacher, and Obama giggled about how he and his new pal had almost knocked over the Lincoln Bust in the Oval from all that fooling around. But no way did that football crack any ceilings! Then Ms. Gillard shared a veggie spread recipe with the kids.
Today, Ms. Gillard shared the stage with Hillary and Michelle, and gabbed, air-kissed and hugged at the heavy-security, invitation-only power hour. Michelle told Julia she and Barack hoped to drop by Australia to do lunch, but that the schedule wasn't up to her. She's already had to cancel twice because of volcanic ash, or an oil spill, or a monthly vacation or something, and doesn't want to disappoint yet again. But not to worry, Hillary will get there, because that's her job.
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| Oh. That Empowering Feeling |
Meanwhile, Barack was in Boston, at about his 14th school in a week, to give yet another speech about Winning the Future, because the present so totally sucks. Back in Washington, even his own Party is starting to wonder about this guy. Senator Joe Manchin loudly complained on the Floor that he just isn't leading on the budget. Senator Sherrod Brown, ever the polite one, offered that they would always welcome the president actually doing his job or even saying something, not that he's being critical or pushy or anything. It could always be that the intoxicating fumes of kindergarten paste have been getting to the president. Maybe it's time for a friendly intervention from some fellow Democrats.
"...yet another speech about Winning the Future, because the present so totally sucks."-Karen Garcia
ReplyDeleteKaren, this is why you're my #1 favorite Times commenter.
The present does kind of suck. I was talking to a friend of mine, and we were trying to figure out if this present sucks worse than the 1970's, or is simply on par with it. Can you ask your readers? It's, you know, such an important question. I think this is worse, personally, because in the seventies we could claim we didn't really know any better, and now of course we know, we've known since those awful 1970's, and we've still bleeped it up. BTW, "Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore" is a terrible movie, except for Diane Ladd.
I agree with draft spitzer--great line about winning the future.
ReplyDeleteAnd, this is much worse than the 70s, because we hadn't then been so deeply brainwashed to silence ourselves and accept the truth of the market; in the 70s we still had remnants of ideas of the public good, and the civil rights movement, the anti-war movement, and the women's movement hadn't been twisted into narratives to meet the needs of our corporate masters (MLK wanted us to not see color and just get past it! those protesters were just awful to soldiers! that feminist thing just made women cranky ugly and lonely!).
Much worse.
But, maybe the tide is turning? On Wisonsin!