| Submit your comments on this article |
| Home Front: Politix |
| The first lady goes SHOPPING! |
| 2009-09-18 |
| H/T Drudge Report Let's say you're preparing dinner and you realize with dismay that you don't have any certified organic Tuscan kale. What to do? Oh the HORROR! The HUMANITY! Here's how Michelle Obama handled this very predicament Thursday afternoon: The Secret Service and the D.C. police brought in three dozen vehicles and shut down H Street, Vermont Avenue, two lanes of I Street and an entrance to the McPherson Square Metro station. They swept the area, in front of the Department of Veterans Affairs, with bomb-sniffing dogs and installed magnetometers in the middle of the street, put up barricades to keep pedestrians out, and took positions with binoculars atop trucks. Though the produce stand was only a block or so from the White House, the first lady hopped into her armored limousine and pulled into the market amid the wail of sirens. Cause making a big entrance is everything Then, and only then, could Obama purchase her leafy greens. "Now it's time to buy some food," she told several hundred people who came to watch. "Let's shop!" Cowbells were rung. Somebody put a lei of marigolds around Obama's neck. I first read this as someone put a cowbell on Obama's neck.... The first lady picked up a straw basket and headed for the "Farm at Sunnyside" tent, where she loaded up with organic Asian pears, cherry tomatoes, multicolored potatoes, free-range eggs and, yes, two bunches of Tuscan kale. She left the produce with an aide, who paid the cashier as Obama made her way back to the limousine. Perfect for that Wagu Beef snack There's nothing like the simple pleasures of a farm stand to return us to our agrarian roots. For that reason, it's probably just as well that the first lady didn't stop by the Endless Summer Harvest tent yesterday. The Virginia farm had a sign offering "tender baby arugula" -- hydroponically grown, pesticide free -- and $5 for four ounces, which is $20 a pound. Obama, in her brief speech to the vendors and patrons, handled the affordability issue by pointing out that people who pay with food stamps would get double the coupon value at the market. Even then, though, it's hard to imagine somebody using food stamps to buy what the market offered: $19 bison steak from Gunpowder Bison, organic dandelion greens for $12 per pound from Blueberry Hill Vegetables, the Piedmont Reserve cheese from Everson Dairy at $29 a pound. Rounding out the potential shopping cart: $4 for a piece of "walnut dacquoise" from the Praline Bakery, $9 for a jumbo crab cake at Chris's Marketplace, $8 for a loaf of cranberry-walnut bread and $32 for a bolt of yarn. The first lady said the market would particularly appeal to federal employees in nearby buildings to "pick up some good stuff for dinner." Yet even they might think twice about spending $3 for a pint of potatoes when potatoes are on sale for 40 cents a pound at Giant. They could get nearly five dozen eggs at Giant for the $5 Obama spent for her dozen. I wonder of the veggies are as health as the ones in the WH guarden.... And she spoke of her own culinary efforts: "There are times when putting together a healthy meal is harder than you might imagine." Ok - Does anyone really believe that Michelle actually does the cooking at the WH? That is for little people. Particularly when it involves a soundstage, an interpreter for the deaf, three TV satellite trucks and the closing of part of downtown Washington. |
| Posted by:CrazyFool |
| #28 I'm wearing body armor, and remember we're all friends here... LOL |
| Posted by: 49 Pan 2009-09-18 23:55 |
| #27 So if the first lady went to Von's and bought ribs and greens folks would be screaming the bitch needs to act and eat like a president's wife. Good lord, she is a captive in the white house, self inflicted, but captive the same. I'm just glad the woman cooks for her kids. Her desire to go to the store is her right and the store seems to do business in DC, I say so what. As for the secret service, if any of the last five first ladies decided to go shopping, and it not be scheduled three weeks out, the same crazyness would happen. She does not decide the threat levels, the precautionary measures, or how the secret service manages the event, she is along for the ride. I'm sure after the kaos of short notice trips she will learn to plan ahead or send an aid out. As much as I cant stand this woman, she is the the wife of the president, one that a large segment of our population hate, and the other think they are rock stars, the secret service acted according to protocol. |
| Posted by: 49 Pan 2009-09-18 23:52 |
| #26 James, you nailed it. |
| Posted by: Barbara Skolaut 2009-09-18 21:33 |
| #25 They truly are "Legends in their own minds." |
| Posted by: James Carville 2009-09-18 20:29 |
| #24 Understand. I guess I am speaking out of turn then. Forgive me. But ultimately we are talking different lifestyles. |
| Posted by: badanov 2009-09-18 20:26 |
| #23 badanov, to me the point isn't that she went shopping at some yuppie place,it is that in order to do it, she took along a platoon of Secret Service agents and a company of DC police just to go a block from the White House. She has servants to do that - and they don't need secret service, police, bomb squad et al. to do it. It was all about the image. And trying to impress the peasants. Me, if I worked in the District, and got delayed just because Her Majesty wanted to show off, I would be royally pissed. |
| Posted by: Rambler in Virginia 2009-09-18 20:12 |
| #22 Dead is about the only way I'd be caught shopping for Tuscan kale. Just not part of my diet. More of a bok choy man myself anyways... If Mrs. Obama shoves a buncha yuppies and hippies out of her holy way to shop at a place none of us would part our hard earned money to shop, what skin is it off my ass? |
| Posted by: badanov 2009-09-18 19:55 |
| #21 They shut down several streets for the bitch to shop. Sickening. Basically... "Fuck you, peasants! Get out of my holy way!" Our political elite are about to be taught a very valuable lesson on who they work for. |
| Posted by: DarthVader 2009-09-18 19:21 |
| #20 I hope this thread doesn't descend to the level of Palin-style stereotyping. For the most part, it hasn't. "We can do better." /Actually, arugula is good. Try it. // Fever. Prescription. |
| Posted by: Mizzou Mafia 2009-09-18 19:05 |
| #19 LOL tipper - I saw that earlier today - link by Insty, I think. That was her weightlifting belt |
| Posted by: Frank G 2009-09-18 18:53 |
| #18 Was she wearing her $540 sneakers? Of course, everyone knows you can't serve $100/lb. kobe beef (a Wednesday night tradition at the Obama White House) without organic Tuscan kale (we should be happy she didn't have it flown in). I'd been wondering where that stimulus money had gotten to. |
| Posted by: Woozle Uneter9007 2009-09-18 17:45 |
| #17 More cowbell. |
| Posted by: Nimble Spemble 2009-09-18 17:28 |
| #16 Easy on her, she has to look after her old man. Using that Jedi sword sure uses up a lot of energy. |
| Posted by: tipper 2009-09-18 16:20 |
| #15 She could have sent some flunkie over to get the certified organic Tuscan kale. Alternatively, she and a low-impact security detail (3-4 people) and one press pool camera could have hoofed it over, bought the certified organic Tuscan kale, gotten a nice photo op out of it, and displayed the "common touch" that politicians so like to claim. The bull-in-a-china-shop approach only reinforces the negative (but accurate! oh, so accurate!) impression that these people are full of themselves and think they're better than the rest of us. IIRC, the Clintons would occasionally go out to DC restaurants for dinner with close friends--under the radar, small footprint security detail, no cameras--just to get out of the spotlight for a few hours. I hold no brief for the Clintons, either one of them, but I give them props on this point for showing some restraint. |
| Posted by: Mike 2009-09-18 14:47 |
| #14 Sooo, you would have her shop at Aldi's? |
| Posted by: badanov 2009-09-18 14:25 |
| #13 Ok so the Economy is in the tank. More and more people are 'scraping by' on unemployment and food stamps. So Mrs. Obama gives they all a 'They can eat If she wanted to have a 'teachable moment' she should have went to a regular supermaket or better yet a 'whole foods'. She didn't even pay for it herself. |
| Posted by: CrazyFool 2009-09-18 13:59 |
| #12 This administration is starstruck. With itself. No matter the message, they are more than ready to step out into the SPOTLIGHT and ham it up for the camera. Never miss an opportunity. |
| Posted by: Jame Retief 2009-09-18 13:56 |
| #11 Yeah...dandelions as in the weeds that I find in my back yard? You mean I should be eating those things instead of spraying them with RoundUp? |
| Posted by: Abu Uluque 2009-09-18 13:13 |
| #10 I have never seen a grocery store where the greeter has a cowbell and lei just sitting around ready. Know what - tumbleweeds are very nuitritous and quite tasty; strengthens the colon. Let me know, I only have a limited supply but call now and I'll get you one for only $20 plus shipping. This reminds me of that article which came out a while ago where the writer seemed starstruck that yes, you too could prepare a homecooked meal for less than $200. |
| Posted by: swksvolFF 2009-09-18 11:35 |
| #9 Conservations can use this kind of thing in a comparable way that liberals blast them oversexual indiscretions. THOU SHALT ONLY EAT ORGANIC FOODS AND THOU MUST DISPLAY THY PURITY AT EVERY OPPORTUNITY. That, or something like it is one of their sacred commandments like not fooling around is one of the Christian commandments. If they get verbally challenged on these things they wont be able to ignore it like they do when charged with infidelities. If you worship Gaia then what Michelle did was a moral sin. |
| Posted by: Richard of Oregon 2009-09-18 11:27 |
| #8 I seem to be missing a bet. "organic dandelion greens for $12/lb?" contemplates his yard ... |
| Posted by: James 2009-09-18 11:21 |
| #7 tooo funny. |
| Posted by: newc 2009-09-18 11:15 |
| #6 Hopefully in another 3.5 years she can put that arugula - food stamp theory to the test herself. Nicely done Michelle. I hope we see more of this kind of buggering public extravagance again very soon. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2009-09-18 11:12 |
| #5 All heil your new royalty! |
| Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2009-09-18 10:48 |
| #4 how about sending "the help" to buy it, and avoid the waste of staff time, disturbance of the neighborhood, and yeti-sized carbon footprint? Then it's not a 'Teaching Moment'. (So what if it cost the taxpayers thousand and thousands of dollars and screwed up the businesses and people on H Street, Vermont Avenue, I Street and the McPherson Square Metro station. |
| Posted by: Mullah Richard 2009-09-18 10:44 |
| #3 So ... the defense agency I work at has a big push on right now re: obesity, nutrition and physical fitness for employees and family, too. I'd rather there were rah rah awareness campaigns on such health issues than that we start seeing very intrusive So yeah, this was a photo-op with more than a hint of overdoing it. But not totally indefensible IMO and a far better approach than some alternatives. |
| Posted by: lotp 2009-09-18 10:08 |
| #2 how about sending "the help" to buy it, and avoid the waste of staff time, disturbance of the neighborhood, and yeti-sized carbon footprint? Oh, but then "several hundred people" wouldn't get the opportunity to watch those excellently toned arms squeeze the veggies. Typical Milbank tongue-bath. We can agree to disagree, Lotp |
| Posted by: Frank G 2009-09-18 10:02 |
| #1 I'm no fan of this administration, but I think the veggie thing is actually a positive move on their part. There are a whole lot of inner city people who have no model for healthy choices and who don't have easy access to affordable fresh fruits and vegetables. Mrs. Obama is respected there and can serve as a good role model and educator. Nutrition is tied to health status, which in turn enables people to be more productive and less reliant. Moreover this is a savvy move politically, because the urban farming / apartment container garden theme resonates with a lot of urban professionals. Whether it's for health, to lower costs or to have a bit of self-reliance in the case of emergencies, urban farming is starting to be a real trend ... there are a couple buildings in NY whose roofs have been turned into commercial herb/vegetable farms, for instance. |
| Posted by: lotp 2009-09-18 09:35 |