{"id":2776,"date":"2009-10-23T00:29:40","date_gmt":"2009-10-22T22:29:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.ultimatefatburner.com\/?p=2776"},"modified":"2009-10-23T00:29:40","modified_gmt":"2009-10-22T22:29:40","slug":"andrew-malcolm-is-losing-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ultimatefatburner.com\/ufb-blog\/andrew-malcolm-is-losing-it\/","title":{"rendered":"Andrew Malcolm is Losing It"},"content":{"rendered":"

And it’s not a pretty sight. I think his article in the LA Times<\/a>, on the recent White House “Healthy Kids Fair,” was supposed to be tongue-in-cheek, but it failed… both as humor and reporting.\u00a0 The problem?\u00a0 Malcolm\u00a0evidently couldn’t\u00a0decide who he has more contempt for… Michelle Obama for using her position\u00a0to promote healthy living, or overweight\/obese Americans, whose “…flabby thighs are hidden by their drooping stomachs.”
\n<\/p>\n

First, the buff first arms. Then the First Lady’s White House playground. Then the First Lady’s White House victory garden. Then the First Lady’s patronage of farmer’s markets for things that grow in the filthy ground or hang on trees where birds perch and do things.<\/p>\n

…Now, today First Lady Michelle Obama<\/strong> had a Healthy Kids Fair on the sunny White House South Lawn. Will this healthy stuff ever stop with these people?<\/p>\n

…We also learn Mrs. Obama loves french fries. Very much. Extremely much. But that she knows she can’t eat them every day. She doesn’t explain why not. Apparently, she thinks it’s bad somehow.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

As mean-spirited as this is, it gets worse…<\/p>\n

But M.O.’s enthusiasm is almost<\/em> contagious, making some American adults at least contemplate getting up out of their La-Z-Boys to move their enlarged bodies slightly. And not just toward the fridge.<\/p>\n

Yes, it might be a shock to the old ticker to work a little. So try walking early in the morning before your brain figures out what’s going on.<\/p>\n

Never mind sitting on your enlarged keister reading books, this first lady seems determined to drive Americans, including her burger-loving, cigarette-smoking husband, to at least feel guilty about all those fries and other gunk they swallow into their bodies.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Not… funny… at… all.\u00a0 For starters, not\u00a0all Americans\u00a0are fat and\/or unhealthy.\u00a0 And even those who are don’t deserve to be spat on like this.\u00a0 The veneer of humor can’t disguise the ugliness.<\/p>\n

Now, I realize that the political atmosphere is pretty toxic right now.\u00a0 But that’s no reason to\u00a0get snarky\u00a0about\u00a0an event designed to promote children’s health and nutrition.\u00a0 It’s a pretty\u00a0uncontroversial subject, so there’s no reason to take aim at it…\u00a0Unless, of course, your goal is to demonstrate how politically\u00a0hip and sophisticated you are.<\/p>\n

Yes, of course, it’s a political show. Playing with kids at a scheduled time that allows TV studio editors to process the video in time for the afternoon\/evening newscasts is part of American public life now, regardless of party.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Apparently, it never occurred to Malcolm that\u00a0there’s little purpose for an event like this\u00a0UNLESS\u00a0it attracts public attention.\u00a0 How else\u00a0was Mrs. Obama supposed to get\u00a0her message out?\u00a0 And – since\u00a0the Fair\u00a0involved playing with children outdoors –\u00a0scheduling it\u00a0early in the day was a no-brainer.\u00a0<\/p>\n

You’d think someone who’s truly savvy would realize\u00a0there’s little political capital to be gained by this…\u00a0 there are far too many\u00a0bigger issues in play.\u00a0 And even\u00a0Malcolm\u00a0grudgingly admitted\u00a0“Today’s Kids Fair\u00a0is a rather charming event” – so why not take it at face value?\u00a0 Whatever the motives (real or imagined), I see exactly zero harm – and perhaps even some good – coming from Mrs. Obama’s efforts.<\/p>\n

At least she’s trying… which is more than I can say for\u00a0jaded political observers\u00a0like Malcolm.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

And it’s not a pretty sight. I think his article in the LA Times, on the recent White House “Healthy Kids Fair,” was supposed to be tongue-in-cheek, but […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[6,14,19,24,28],"tags":[133,368,838,991,1107,1208,1236],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ultimatefatburner.com\/ufb-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2776"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ultimatefatburner.com\/ufb-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ultimatefatburner.com\/ufb-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ultimatefatburner.com\/ufb-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ultimatefatburner.com\/ufb-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2776"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.ultimatefatburner.com\/ufb-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2776\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ultimatefatburner.com\/ufb-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2776"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ultimatefatburner.com\/ufb-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2776"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ultimatefatburner.com\/ufb-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2776"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}