Give 'Em Hell, Michelle! (It's Been Tough On All Of Us)

Who believes the First Whiner actually said this?

In an authorized biography written by French journalists Michael Darmon and Yves Derai, Bruni recalls that during her March visit to the White House with French President Nicholas Sarkozy, she asked the first lady about her post.

“Don’t ask,” Obama said, according to Bruni. “It’s hell. I can’t stand it.”

This is totally in keeping with the attitude of the woman who never in her adult life had been proud of the US, not to mention the attitude of the woman who hit the campaign trail whining about the high cost of piano lessons for her daughters.

However!  I am sure White House spinmeisters will restore the missing context, in which we will learn that Michelle's life is hell because she is so worried about disabled soldiers and unemployed workers, as well as Gitmo remaining open, and a lack of a public option in the health bill.

Comments

[Comanche Voter]

Good luck on that spin Moochelle.

[Clarice]

heh...Why would she ever be so candid with Carla Bruni?

[Danube of Thought]

She's developing a very serious butt problem that is going to become quite embarrassing by the time this couple is booted from the White House. Look for the Secret Service guys to start shooing reporters away from any rear-view vantage points.

[Those tracks you are laying?]

Hoi Polloi doesn't present you with challenges without a way to deal with them. Honey.
========

[MayBee]

At the time, she was still quite peeved at the idea she wasn't getting a pay check.

I posted this blurb from People at Althouse:

If there's anything about her new life that Mrs. Obama openly (if half jokingly) chafes at, it's the lack of a paycheck. As the former lawyer and hospital executive once pulling in a $300,000-plus salary recently cracked to a second-grade girl, the job of First Lady "doesn't pay much." Not that the family can't live very well on her husband's $400,000 alone, but Mrs. Obama says she remains a bargain hunter and, in this economy, will be turning to familiar national retailers for decorating her girls' rooms

People Magazine, March 9, 2009

[BB Key]

With all this new interest in how long it took for Christine O'Donnell to pay her college loan....Will anyone in the media ask Moochelle to document her statement during the campaign "we only recently paid off our college loans".....

[NK]

Michelle-- the feeling is mutual. -- America

[MayBee]

I remember when she told the little girl the job of First Lady doesn't pay very much. The little girl had said she wanted to be First Lady when she grew up, and that is how our Michelle responded.

Also, how hilarious *now* that bargain hunting sentence is...as is pretending their income is $400,000.

[Sometimes it's so obvious as to be blindingly so. And blinding.]

If her college loans were her lowest interest debts, then she'd have been foolish to pay them off earlier than higher rated debt. Has she ever been debt free? QED.
====================

[Twice. Only the seasoned, Son.]

So, a new qualification for office will be to have been through bankruptcy.
=============

[Neo]

Republican leaders have to decide if they want the tiny fraction of furious voters who have showed up at the primary polls to steer them into the swamp for years ahead. They have a chance to repudiate the worst of the Tea Party crowd and show that they can govern without appealing to the basest political instincts. So far, they have preferred to greedily capitalize on the nuclear energy in the land without considering its destructive effects.

Contemptuous bastards

[BB Key]

proof of payment of the "college loans" could lead to many interesting possiblities....grades ,foreign student status, affirmative action addmission....

[Porchlight]

NYT: Republicans, cast aside your angry base so Dems can win elections! It's for the good of the country!!!1!

[Clarice]

So we've gone from racists to greedy capitalizers on the energy in the land and nuts and sluts..and tax dodging richie JFK says we must be beaten..And Rove doesn't like us all that much. Nor does Carville. Perfect.
I expect MayBee and bgates have been sending the NYT, Carville, the CBC and Rove talking papers and pretending they came from that known genius, Mary Mapes.

[Sandy Daze]

16 September 2010
Baghdad

Yes, she said it.

Even with limited bandwidth, am able to watch the Hillsdale program on the Constitution (LUN). Michael Barone just beginning now.

Take good care,
Sandy

[PD]

At the time, she was still quite peeved at the idea she wasn't getting a pay check.

Maybe this was a surprise to her.

Like it appears to have been a surprise to her husband that his job involves actual work, rather than simply receiving adulation all day long.

[PD]

Republican leaders have to decide...

...whether they think the NYT really has their best interest at heart in handing out advice about how they should govern.

That fragment sounds like they expect the Dems to be tossed out in droves and they're trying for a little preemptive damage control.

[ROA]

What kind of bargains did she find on her recent vacation to Spain?

[Jane (sit on the couch or save your country)]

Jeri Thompson is talking about the sexism in the republican party here.

I saw that after my radio show where I brought up the same point - which made Dick happier than anyone could imagine.

I did say that all the republican men I deal with are the least sexist people I know, but I'm not happy with how Washington republicans deal with some women, like Palin or O'Donnell.

It wasn't easy to say that, but while we are shaking up things in Washington, we may as well shake that up too.

[matt]

why, it's time for another soiree'! Stevie Wonder and Beyonce' and J Lo giving command performances. Free food (we know and can tell you love that). Luxury travel. Hobnobbing with other royalty. What's not to like Princess Shopping Cart??

I know, mixing with the riff raff is almost as bad as making $350K/year giving the bum's rush at U of C Hospital and that you don't get a real salary, but look at the perks.

Maybe you should take up golf and spend more time with hubby? Oh, you blew off Barry's B-Day? hmmmm....

[Dave (in MA)]

You think it's easy?
The sedan chair doesn't even fit through the door of Air Force One.

[DebinNC]

For some reason the NYT didn't mention the very beatable Kirsten Killibrand who's facing a formidable GOP conservative.

[PD]

OT: I love how hotels put up these signs in the rooms how "We're going green!" and then housekeeping does stuff like run the dishwater for a plate and spoon.

[NK]

"You think it's easy?
The sedan chair doesn't even fit through the door of Air Force One.

Posted by: Dave (in MA)"

Ding, Ding, Ding-- we have a comment winner!! Outstanding sarcasm.

[Rocco]

DoT...that's what wide angle lens are for!

[bgates]

Maybe this was a surprise to her.

This is the hardest she's ever worked in her life. Just a few years ago she was making over $300,000 for doing much less, and getting raises at a rate that she could have reasonably expected to be earning $900,000 by now, if she was capable of multiplying a six-digit number by three. Though I guess that sort of thing is what the staff is for, isn't it.

[jimmyk]

"We're going green!"

They do it to try to get guests to save them money. Change sheets every day? Only if you ask? Fresh towels? Only for the ones you leave on the floor.

This "green" nonsense is a bonanza for cheapskates. Remember how grandma used to reuse aluminum foil? Ok, you may be ten times as wealthy, but now you have a pretense for being cheap. It's for the environment.

[Rick Ballard]

jimmyk,

They make up for it with extra mints on the pillow.

And free bedbugs.

[Porchlight]

Ok, you may be ten times as wealthy, but now you have a pretense for being cheap. It's for the environment.

I kind of like this actually. I couldn't care less about being green, but I am totally cheap, so now when I recycle gift bags & tissue paper I don't feel as guilty about it. ;)

But you are right in general. Many people have been fleeced in the name of the environment (*cough*carbon credits*cough*) and I say hell yeah, take their money.

[Jack is Back!]

This just in from Jim Demint and his Senante Conservative Fund PAC:

The dirty little secret in Washington is that the establishment is quietly rooting for Christine to lose so they can continue to peddle their discredited line that conservatives cannot win. They mistakenly believe that a single defeat in Delaware will discredit the work we have done this year to elect principled leaders in Pennsylvania, Florida, Colorado, Kentucky, Utah, Nevada, Wisconsin, Washington, and Alaska. They are wrong. We can win in Delaware too and prove them wrong once again.

But this won't be easy. Christine O'Donnell was leading her Democrat opponent in the polls by a significant margin until the party establishment began attacking her. They've done great damage to her image in the state but we can restore it. Many voters have already rejected the smear campaign against her and we can convince others to reject it too.

[Porchlight]

Oops, I should have said "reuse" gift bags not "recycle"....

[bgates]

Suggested spin:

-"You know you can't trust anything you hear from the French."

-"This proves the Obamas are Christian, because she told Bruni,'this is hell'. If she were Muslim, she would have said, 'You're married to a dirty Jew.'"

-"She felt that way at the time, but now she is grateful for the tremendous difficulties of her life because of the insight it gives her into the lives of the hundreds of millions of less talented Americans, who are suffering as never before in their lives under her husband's administration."

-"I di'int say it, and if that skinny little cracka bitch wants to see hell, she can come to the South Side and we'll throw down."

-"Oh, you want to know if I said that? I suppose you want to see my birth certificate, is that what you want? I don't even have to be born in America to be First Lady. But I was. So why you askin'?"

-"We need to rise above this petty sniping and focus on helping Barack solve all the problems he inherited from George Bush, and Clinton, and the other Bush, and Reagan, and Ford. How come President Ford never got flack for taking over a car company? Barack didn't rename GM after hisself. It's just the bar being raised because the press have it in for black people trying to be successful. But we don't blame you, you're just selling what all the Klansmen out there want to hear. You all need to quit your hating, and start being good helpers for Barack."

-"Yeah, I said it. You think this sh*t is easy? Every time something happens at the House, I'm in charge. So if it goes bad, it reflects on me. That means for everything - everything - from the Image Awards all the way down to giving a medal to some soldier for being the man of honor or whatever, I have to take responsibility to tell everybody involved, "don't f*ck this up, or I'll be on you." I try to delegate. Like I tell mama, "Mama, tell everybody this best be right, or I'll be on 'em." But she's old! Old people can't manage! So it's just....It's hard. People don't understand."

[boris]

You should stick to the good stuff like this and just skip pretending to be bubu anymore.

[PD]

They do it to try to get guests to save them money. Change sheets every day? Only if you ask? Fresh towels? Only for the ones you leave on the floor.

But what's weird is that even if you hang up the towels (the sign that you'll reuse them) housekeeping replaces them anyway. I conclude that a) the "we're going green!" sign is the only thing involved in the going-green campaign; or b) management doesn't know how to speak Spanish well enough to tell housekeeping not to take away the towels unless they're on the floor.

[jimmyk]

I kind of like this actually. I couldn't care less about being green, but I am totally cheap

Unfortunately people around me know me too well. "It's for the environment" won't pass the laugh test.

[PD]

"It's for the environment" won't pass the laugh test.

Nothing wrong with just saying, "I'm cheap."

Admittedly, it doesn't come off so well if you're not male.

[jimmyk]

I'm not cheap, I'm frugal.

[Jack is Back!]

management doesn't know how to speak Spanish well enough to tell housekeeping not to take away the towels unless they're on the floor.

Hotel Manager: Somos verde que va. Comprende?

Maid: Si. Que hago co los fallos de funcionamiento de cama?

Hotel Manager: Puseto les en las toallas que estan en el suelo.

After you translate that you will understand that going green is not always possible.

[Clarice]

I heat Boris. He's my real favorite.

[Neo]

Axelrod to be gone in a Plouffe ...

Sneed hears rumbles White House senior adviser David Axelrod will be replaced by David Plouffe, President Obama's former campaign manager, after the midterm elections, which are expected to be a Dem disaster.

[Clarice]

**heaRt, heaRt Boris** Yipes.

[Tom Bowler]

Republican leaders have to decide if they want the tiny fraction of furious voters who have showed up at the primary polls to steer them into the swamp for years ahead.

Neo, do you suppose they mean the tiny fraction that gave Mike Castle a 53%-47% thumping in the primary? That tiny fraction? I'd say those contemptuous but delusional bastards are desperate for a silver lining. It's going to be an exciting November.

[bgates]

Axelrod will be replaced by David Plouffe

Finally we'll see some attention paid to campaigning.

[Clarice]

HEH-bgates, when you post I feel like a madwoman laughing at the screen.

[NK]

Hey TM--

Charlie Cook rates Ct. a "Toss-Up" between Rich "Empty Suit" Blumenthal and Linda "You Pencil Necked Geek" McMahon. Could it be that our little state will so no mas to Dodd and Empty Suit? Hard to imagine, but we can dream.

[Neo]

FOX News today filed a lawsuit against radical far left extreme disgusting puss-filled Democrat Robin Carnahan!

[bgates]

Axelrod will be replaced by David Plouffe

OMG you guys, does that mean that soon Obama will have his own new logo too?

[Dave (in MA)]

Axelrod will be replaced by David Plouffe

Soros is a stern taskmaster.

ps. Robin Carnahan is filled with cats?

[JM Hanes]

Neo:

The NYTimes Editorial you quoted above was hilarious from start to finish! More clueless parody:

Tuesday’s primaries should illuminate the growling face of a new fringe in American politics — and provide the incentive for level-headed voters to become enthusiastic about the midterm election.
[…..]
On Wednesday, Mr. Boehner invited Tea Party activists to help “drive the debate” in Washington and shape the legislative agenda. That invitation act should be a dose of adrenaline to dispirited Democrats, independents and mainstream Republican voters who had not fully grasped the stakes in November’s election.

The NYTimes, fully grasping straws! It doesn't get better than that. It also looks like they may need to dumb down their style book for editors who can write about "the extremism that now constitutes mainstream conservative policy."

They've gotten so bad, they're not even annoying anymore. It's like free entertainment. They don't yet rise to the bgates standard, but they're working really hard at it.

[Janet]

Axelrod or Plouffe? I couldn't care fewer.

[JM Hanes]

"Axelrod will be replaced by David Plouffe."

When that rat leaves the ship, you know the ship is going down. Dumb hands the wheel to dumber.

[maryrose]

Porchlight: I am cheap too and do recycle as well as re-use envelopes, wrapping paper and bows.
bgates: you owe me a new keyboard.
Plouffe eh? Looks like someone is worried about re-election....

[Rob Crawford]

"Growling face of a new fringe"? Is there a group with less self-awareness than the left?

Why don't they just hire the guys that do all the press releases for North Korea?

[Dave (in MA)]

I couldn't care fewer.

[Chubby]

JM Hanes

The way the radical Dems paint traditional Americans and common sense values as freaky and extreme, and genuinely freaky extremism as "moderate" or "centrist" is downright evil.

Boehner is obviously intelligent and knows what side his bread is buttered on.

[Clarice]

Why is Fox suing Carnahan? And how did that clan end up owning Missouri anyway? Do they own every judge in St Louis?

[lyle]

And here I thought I disliked the previous Dem First Lady as much as I could.

[Jane (sit on the couch or save your country)]

Clarice,

I'm shocked! You heat Boris? There will be a lot of jealous JOMers out there. DOn't tell Hit whatever you do.

[Jane (sit on the couch or save your country)]

Hey all you guys in MA - I just got Jim Mckenna to be my guest on the radio next week. If you have any questions for him, let me know.

[MikeS]

For the first time in my life, I'm really ashamed of my country's First Lady.

[DrJ]

Following JHM's comment on amusing editorials, here is one from the Sacramento Bee that was published this morning. I suppose one could be more without a clue, but it sure would be hard.

Newt Gingrich panders to the 'birther' fringe

The topic is on Newt's response to D'Souza's Forbes column that was discussed here a few days ago.

[Danube of Thought]

I can just feel the electricity as those level-headed voters, newly hopped up on adrenaline, whip themselves into a frenzy of moderation in anticipation of November 2.

[caro]

**heaRt, heaRt Boris**

I couldn't care fewer.

You ladies crack me up,too.

[Clarice]

DoT! Is it that everyone's comic aptitude is high today or is it that the material we are working with is so first rate?

[Captain Hate]

Why is the NYT afraid of women? Real women, not the MoDo type.

[Rick Ballard]

JMH,

Axelrod could be running down the anchor line to the pier but there is also the possibility that he swatted BOwser with that rolled up newspaper one time too many. It could be that Plouffe doesn't tire of tossing the ball as quickly as does Axelrod as well.

If we wait a bit perhaps the Whineosaurus will give us a hint.

[Dave (in MA)]

Jane, tell him that he needs to get a pickup truck.

[Clarice]

Capt..Probably for the same reason the NYT is so solicitous of homosexuals.

[Dave (in MA)]

Maybe Axelrod has another Deval campaign to run and he'll be back again after that.

[Melinda Romanoff]

Cap'n-

They're afraid of women like that because those women will tell them what to do.

And can back it up.

Women like that treat spoiled chidren a bit differently than those spoiled children at the NYT are used to.

[Neo]

Ace has reworked that new Democrat logo LUN

[lyle]

Castle's defeat at the hands of Christine O'Donnell, a perennial candidate who may be the least qualified Senate nominee anywhere in the country, does indeed mark the final collapse of the Republican Party not only of Nelson Rockefeller and Tom Dewey, but also of Bob Dole and Howard Baker.

E.J. Dionne

His concern for the GOP is touching.

"Moderate Rep" = voting for stuff the Dems want.

"Moderate Dem = voting for stuff Dems want.

[Appalled]

DoT:

I've drunk my 5 hour energy drink and am raring to take America back to the solid center!!

[ROA]

Has E. J. Dione ever heard of Alvin Greene?

[JM Hanes]

It must be National Parody Day:

Dems obsess over fork in the O'Donnell road: Nuts & Sluts or Lone Extremist? What to do?

Then it's back to FLOTUS, who "likened the anti-obesity program to the civil rights movement..."

[Clarice]

It must be, jmh.

BTW the French govt denies the MO report and says Bruni never said that about her.

[MayBee]

My son, who is not a Republican, said he would vote for tea party people just to stop what the Democrats are doing.

In his opinion, and in mine, the levelheaded voter would vote for gridlock. We need to subtract power from the Democrats just to get closer to the middle.

Voting for a moderate Dem in the midterms is NOT going to make the country more moderate.

[JM Hanes]

The French gov't disputes Bruni's authorized biography? Maybe it's Global Parody Day.

[lyle]

Damn, we're in worse shape than we thought. Us crazies have pushed out...Bob Dole. BOB DOLE, people!

[centralcal]

FNC is suing Carnahan because they used a video clip of Chris Wallace interviewing Blunt and edited it where it appears that Chris Wallace is endorsing Carnahan.

Enjoying all the chuckles provided here - a slow day at work!

[JM Hanes]

Well, it's not hard to understand why Dionne and any other Democrat might long for good old Bob Dole's good old days. I'm surprised he's only just noticed Tom Dewey's political demise though.

[daddy]

"I just got Jim Mckenna to be my guest on the radio next week. If you have any questions for him, let me know."

What's his favorite Irish Pub? Grrrr:)

[MayBee]

Oh, JMH! This just weeks after Arne Duncan told Al Sharpton's group education was the new civil rights movement.

I'm beginning to see a pattern here when they speak to black audiences.

(PS. Obesity can be overcome by the individual suffering from it. If only that had been true about the Jim Crow laws!)

[Clarice]

Cook now says Ct is a tossup.
he sober, nonpartisan Cook Political Report updated its assessment of the Connecticut Senate race today, moving the contest between Democrat Richard Blumenthal and Republican Linda McMahon from Lean Democratic to Toss Up. This will add to growing dread among Democrats that Mr. Blumenthal is letting this race slip away. The change in rating will add to growing Republican enthusiasm for Mrs. McMahon as she becomes the more visible and confident candidate in the race.

Here’s a summary from the Cook analysis of the race:

[Democrats] say that ultimately voters’ concerns about McMahon’s record will trump any concerns they have about President Obama’s agenda. This, too, might be true to a degree. The larger point, though, is that with seven weeks left to go, McMahon has made this a race and Democrats’ best efforts to stall her candidacy have not worked. This, of course, could certainly change as they start airing negative ads against her, but for now McMahon is in the hunt, handing Democrats a race in an expensive blue state that they weren’t expecting. [Emphasis added.]

Oh, why won't the righties listen to Dionne and the NYT editors.

***

Is it her AUTHORIZED BIO, Jmh? HEH

[Rob Crawford]

perennial candidate who may be the least qualified Senate nominee anywhere in the country

Al. Franken.

[lyle]

Howard Baker, you h8ters. Howard freakin' Baker! Have you no decency? Who's next? George Herbert Walker?? Where does the madness end?

[Clarice]

Did Dione or the NYT say a thing when half dead Robert Byrd ran the last time?

When Carnahan took her husband's seat after the plane crash?

I don't want to be in the position of touting mediocre candidates but except in their own minds, which Senators are not in that category?

[Jane]

Neo,

Ace must have stolen that from Janet.

[lyle]

I can't imagine how disappointed the voice of the GOP, Andrew Sullivan, is right now.

[Dave (in MA)]

perennial candidate who may be the least qualified Senate nominee anywhere in the country

Al. Franken.

I was going to bring up Alvin Greene, but at least he won his primary fair and square; he didn't sue after the election was over and manage to "find" enough "votes" to "win" an "election" like Smalley.

[Melinda Romanoff]

Clarice-

Roland Burris.

EJ thought the pick "enlightened" on some talk show, can't remember where, now.

[Jane]

Where in Ct was the Messiah today? - since I live about 5 minutes from the border I wonder if I must detox.

Daddy, I'm so sorry about the Irish Pub. He really did say he didn't have a favorite. If you like I could make one up - if I knew one.

My son, who is not a Republican, said he would vote for tea party people just to stop what the Democrats are doing.

I am seeing a ton of that. I think America has pretty much had it.

[Danube of Thought]

White House insider tells all:

Obama loved to campaign. He clearly didn’t like the work of being President though, and that attitude was felt by the entire White House staff within weeks after the inauguration. Obama the tireless, hard working candidate became a very tepid personality to us. And the few news stories that did come out against him were the only things he seemed to care about. He absolutely obsesses over Fox News. For being so successful, Barack Obama is incredibly thin-skinned. He takes everything very personally.

[PD]

I'm beginning to see a pattern here when they speak to black audiences.

Assume that they're clueless fools, just like the one doing the speaking?

[PD]

Al. Franken.

Knows how to steal an election.

Seems like qualification enough, to be a Democrat, at least.

[Danube of Thought]

the final collapse of the Republican Party not only of Nelson Rockefeller and Tom Dewey, but also of Bob Dole and Howard Baker

And here I thought this day would never come.

[Clarice]

When WH insiders tell all, it is the same at the rats filing out on the ratline.

The revolt is underway and each is seeking his own survival.

[Danube of Thought]

Ole E.J. appears to have a soft spot for Republicans who run for president and lose.

[Chubby]

After their one term is up they'll both be dining out on "mean America" for the rest of their lives. They will never see their failure as their own fault.

[centralcal]

I followed DoT's link and read the WH insider's tale.

The part about "issues" in the marriage, before and during the Presidency has me wondering. Maybe MO's too tight, plunging neckline, too short, too immature or juvenile clothing choices are an attempt to be more appealing to her husband?

She has people on the payroll to help her be classy and well dressed, and she just isn't. Trying to lure a disinterested hubby might explain a lot of her clothing choices.