The First Lady hard at work

At first glance this photo made me think of Sylvester Stallone as Rambo cutting his way through the North Vietnamese jungle. But no, it’s Michelle Obama doing … I’m not sure what she’s doing. Clearing weeds from the White House Rose Garden? Expressing her solidarity with Third World peasants? Advertising her favorite gym? Or continuing her national campaign to make freakishly overdeveloped trapezius and deltoid muscles a symbol of femininity?

Comments

Paul K. writes:

I too was struck by that photo, with the scowl, the inevitable sleeveless top (which on a man would be called a muscle shirt), and the sweat highlighting the First Lady’s impressive thews. It is important to keep in mind that photos like this are not taken by some paparazzi looking to make the FLOTUS look bad, but by an official photographer and posted at the White House Flickr site, presumably with Michelle’s approval. Meaning that she likes that image.

LA replies:

The Rambo-like scowl.

Mark A. writes:

In contrast to this picture, I find it interesting that photos of Barack generally capture him relaxing (golfing, playing basketball, etc.). Perhaps Barack instinctively likes this portrayal in order to reinforce the image of him as the African Big Man who relaxes while his wife does manual labor…

Mark Jaws writes:

You are so funny, but so terrible. Michelle reminding you of Rambo! You, Mr. Larry, is bad. You were probably like me, the class smart aleck in junior high. I was smart, but incorrigible. I played tricks on my teachers all the way through college. Even on my blind physics professor.

LA replies:

I didn’t play tricks on teachers, but I could be pretty fresh. For example, in eighth grade, in the class on … it was some kind of health class, sort of an adjunct to phys ed … the teacher, who had been in the service and was something of a tough guy, was telling us a story of how a girl friend had rejected him when he was in college, and he was broken hearted about it, but that “the next year, I had five girlfriends.” I chimed in, “Had ‘em?” Laughter erupted, and the teacher was a little nonplussed, but recovered and said that in his time, I would have gotten in trouble for what I had said.

Mark Jaws replies:

That was fresh. I was more of a harmless prankster. For example, Professor Greenburg back in CCNY had lost his vision and could barely see. He would arrive a few minutes before my Thermodynamics class, and run his hands along the chalkboard to feel for the eraser and proceed to erase the board whether it needed or not. One day, I got there early with my two friends and replaced the eraser with a tuna fish sandwich. He felt for the eraser, but encountered the sandwich, put it to his nose, and blindly looked at the classroom and said, “I prefer bologna next time, Mr. Jaworowski.” Smart guy.

Dan R. writes:

See “Michelle expands the White House garden,” in the Christian Science Monitor.

After all the hard work she’s been doing there, I’m sure Barack must have told her, “Honey, I think you, the kids, and your 40-person entourage deserve a trip to Spain.”

I wonder if the gardening helps build her delts and traps? Myself, I’m waiting for the day she does a double-biceps for photographers.

July 18, 2011

LA to Mark Jaws

“I prefer bologna next time, Mr. Jaworowski.”

“That is funny—that your teacher knew that it had to be you who did that.

I didn’t sufficiently appreciate it when you posted it last September.

Mark Jaws replies:

The story of my life—appreciated after the fact.

Posted by Lawrence Auster at September 06, 2010 08:08 AM | Send