Michelle Obama Criticized as "Modern-day Marie Antoinette" Over Spain Vacation

When the shit hits the fan, pull out the race card. An oldie but goodie.

Most Americans could care less of the Race of the President. Please, save your anger for a story that deserves it. This one is pointing out extravagance. Almost every thread degrades to a Racial mudbath or Pro Gay shouting match. Getting old.

The whole political correctness thing is getting old and has ruined this country! Why are you a racist for speaking the truth? Why has the freedom to speak ones mind become an issue that along with all the rights our forefathers fought and died for,now become something that has become an issue of race or bias,for exercising your right to free speech? No ones comments here fall into racism! the president and his family seem to think they are a royal family and above questioning because they are African American and if you dare to disagree you are branded a racist! This is wrong and ALL elected officials must be subject to questioning because they are elected by the people and power must always reside with the people,that is what the founders intended! The Elite and their political puppets don't want us to exercise that right to free speech and with laws like the Patriot Act seek to take away the rights we do have left! Those of you that brand any questioning of Obama as racist are wrong pure and simple! This first family are the most extravagant first family I've seen in a long time, three vacations in one summer,while we are lucky to get one, and we the taxpayer are paying the cost while education,housing,and job creation suffer from lack of funds!

Yeah, because it should be McCain's family flying around the world while America burns.
My point stands valid, and yet you got nothing but the race card that I apparently pulled because people hate Obama for being both black and a democrat. That's not a race card, that's fact. Him being a black democrat is a double whammy.

"Most Americans" point to those who can look past race to see Obama about as apathetic as Bush was during the Katrina flooding, in addition to a majority of his presidency. Look at the elephant in the room(the wars) instead of the ants on the floor(the trip to Spain). I would respect you more.

This story dealt with the spending of tax payers money, so that is the direction of my comments. Thanks for the offer of respect, although I must decline. I only respect people that see past race, and keep the threads on their subjects. This story failed to mention Race or the Conflicts. My ramblings on the Conflicts are sprinkled among the proper stories.

lol that is interesting thanks for posting this! voted up!

voted up!

Well said.

It is simply careless to spend millions on lavish vacations while number of homeless is growing, and red flags of education issues, healthcare issues are across the country, and government and corporate corruption is thriving. It has absolutely nothing to do with Obama, Bush, Clinton etc. haters.

Silly and petty indeed.

vaca on your dime...you wanna send me to spain? one way would be fine my love

I agree.

Nothing legitimate about the Obamas mate. And any CONCERN over these slugs is a bit late.

To quote Grasshopper in the classic "James and the Giant Peach": You sir, are an ass.

surely you can do better than that

I don't have to. You're an ass. Pretty simple.

No they didn't. I did.

it's time to revisit what "has always been".

it doesnt really matter in the scope of just getting the message out mother. it doesnt bother me being voted down, at least i know im being read whether someone agrees or not. plus i get some sadistic pleasure exposing hypocrisy on the left even if they deny or are blind to it. not that hypocrisy doesnt exist on the right, we're just more willing to fess up to it.

Let me clarify my comment. It does not bother me a bit that my comments are voted down. In fact if there was a competition for most voted down comments I would win. The problem is the mentality of public on Current. I find it sick that people support extravagant spending of money that taken from hardworking Americans who try to survive the financial meltdown and feed their children. It is absolutely sick mentality. And those who support this careless and selfish spending choose not to comment. Michelle Obama is not the only one, I also disagree with co-paying for Chelsea Clinton wedding just to name a few. Taxpayer money should benefit taxpayers.

I think I'm the voted down champ on here.

I do not have the stats and maybe you are the winner and I join the ranks of those who speak up for the truth with out any regards for the voting stats.

Join the elite my friend. Be proud. It's a badge of honour. Every vote down is a vindication.

The Obamabots vote down cults. That and one "progressive" who recently posted on here has multiple accounts.

I suspected that much.

Actually the voting process has perverted current and turned it into a playground for adult children.

Join the elite my friend. Be proud. It's a badge of honour. Every vote down is a vindication. -- Don't make me laugh. People find pride in the strangest places. Badge of honor? Sad badge, no real honor!

I'll bet I'm voted down a lot as well lol but that will not stop me from speaking the truth either! Why is it that "progressives" can't see how wrong this is?

like crytalman said voted down on this site is like a badge of honor. I think i have the record though -29 lol. Every vote against you should give you more confidence you are correct in you convictions

i gotta be a close second then. My record is -29 on one repsonse. a vote down here is a vote of confidence in that i am correct.

wtf are you talking about?? talk about medication.
breathe deep and count to 10 then............STFU

well I've been voting you up, but can't do much about these drive by down voters.

I'll second that, I usually just ignore you, but I'm feeling charitable today, so I'll vote you down.

another red star for you my man

-29 beats my record. Congratulations. Your comment must have been undiluted truth.

funny shit cred

Congrats beats mine too although they suspended my account for two weeks for speaking the truth about Islam,and as I recall crystalman didn't the same thing happen to you as well?

Indeed it did

Thanks. Some people just swallow everything their TV is telling them. They need not think about what is even the issue here. They call their chance to vote down the comments an American freedom. Those Americans are in coma and no one will be able to wake them.

lol

It's very apparent we will never agree on most issues, but your responses are striclty insults rather than substance The origin of this last round shows you butted in on a response i left for someone else. Please mind your own god damn business, DO NOT REPSOND TO MY POSTS, and lastly stop drinking the kool-aide.

That's a sad view of current. The voting process has truly corrupted the conversation. Being voted down is a 'badge of honor'? I liked it better when we just communicated our various views, without such hostility.

I wasn't happy when George W. was in office. I didn't agree with many who supported him, or his actions, but many of us tried to discuss the issues. Facts should carry the conversation, not 'petty' hostility. Taking pride in negative votes, is just that, negative.

While I can agree a trip to Spain is expensive. I also agree Michelle Obama should be able to go on vacation. Even if it's Spain. I have many more concerns than where Michelle vacations. (deleted possibly offensive comment) ooops, my fingers went crazy.

I really hate this anonymous voting up and voting down. I like the old recommendations with the names of the people recommending. If you felt a strong negative reaction to something that someone wrote, you actually had to respond instead of just hit a button. Button make people lazier than they already are.

but 40 people IS a lot...

She is not royalty she is a spouse of "public servant" and should act in the best interest of public.

her success? can you name a few of her accomplishments that could give her the entitlement to a super lavish break from it all?

I would like to know what are the accomplishments of any First lady? I am tired to hear things like "literacy initiative", "anti-childhood obesity initiative" etc. Many first ladies visit schools for the photo opportunity while reading to children. Let's face it this is a title only job.

tellin fat kids what not to eat

I read an article a few months back that none of the former first ladies were even remotely as extravagant or pampered as Mrs Obama. .

Wow, there is amazingly little easily found First lady records of expenditures, but I did find this interesting.

Mary Todd Lincoln was thrilled to become First Lady, a term that had recently entered the American lexicon to describe the President's partner. Mary held elegant buffet dinners, invited intellectuals and literary figures to the White House, and welcomed visitors and guests to her Thursday night receptions and spring and winter receptions. She balanced her social role with an interest in public affairs, reading political journals and newspapers, attending congressional debates, and advising her husband on administration appointments. But even as the public began to regard her as "First Lady," she referred to herself as "Mrs. President." Regardless of which term was used, as her husband assumed his duties under the toughest of circumstances, Mary Lincoln endured hardship simply by being the First Lady.

By the time the Civil War had broken out, criticism of the President and his spouse had become acceptable, and a new fleet of female journalists, focused on the most famous woman in the nation. Articles about Mary Lincoln were plentiful, detailing her spending sprees, her coarse, western ways, and her role as a Southern spy. Despite the latter charge, Mary was committed to the preservation of the Union and showed her support by housing troops in the East Room, ministering to sick and wounded soldiers, and twice refusing to leave Washington, D.C., when the capital was under threat of invasion.

But reporters ignored her courage and caring, often because Mary chose to keep such actions private. Instead, journalists focused on the high costs of her clothes, her frequent New York shopping binges, her trips to the shore, and her expensive redecoration of the White House. At a time when many American families were reeling from financial deprivation because husbands, fathers, and sons were going to war, Mary's lavish lifestyle and indiscriminate spending seemed offensive. When many of these same Americans were experiencing the loss of those same husbands, fathers, and sons, her excursions and activities seemed frivolous and callous.

As a result, when Mary Todd Lincoln mourned the death of her son Willie, few Americans offered their sympathy. She received few condolences and endured rumors that she had beaten her children. Even before she became First Lady, Mary had been sensitive to criticism; after the death of Willie, an already insecure Mary Lincoln had a nervous breakdown and began to suffer from severe depression. She sought solace by consulting mediums who promised contact with her dead son. She even held a seance in the White House.

Despite her grief and the rumormongering, Mary Lincoln rallied and involved herself in the prosecution of the Civil War. Abraham Lincoln shared military secrets with her, and Mary, like many others, encouraged the President to replace the slow and passive General George McClellan. When France's Prince Bonaparte visited the United States, Mary spoke with him in perfect French.

But while Mary could be an asset to her husband, she was also a liability, often draining the President's energy and patience -- commodities already in short supply. Her frivolous expenditures for French wallpaper and china irritated Abraham Lincoln, who referred to them as "flub-a-dubs." Little did he know that by 1864 his wife was $27,000 in debt and was sharing political secrets with officials who she then pressured for personal loans. Lincoln suffered the embarrassment of Mary's jealous rages and acquiesced in her change of protocol so that on state occasions the President would escort the First Lady only. He -- and his campaign for reelection -- survived a rumor that Mary had become drunk with Russian sailors on one of her trips to New York. Nevertheless, the First Lady continued to be a campaign liability and a source of stress at a time when Abraham Lincoln did not need further strain and anxiety.

Criticized in the North for being a Southern spy, and censured in the South for betraying "the Cause," Mary Todd Lincoln could not win. Of course, she was, at times, her own worst enemy. In one instance, she tried to acquire the salary of an employee who had left the White House and whose responsibilities she had assumed, believing she should be compensated for her work. She, and the President as well, were fortunate that her padding of White House expenses to pay off her enormous personal debt remained a secret during Lincoln's reelection campaign of 1864.

Yet the accomplishments of this chameleon-like First Lady are notable. She willingly accepted the duties of hostess and fashion leader that had become synonymous with the role of First Lady and further cemented the idea that the White House was a gathering place for intellectuals as well as entertainers. Although Mary refused to support women's suffrage, she backed the establishment of a female nursing corps and helped women acquire employment in the Treasury and War Departments. Her interest in the abolition of slavery evolved as her friendship with dressmaker Elizabeth Keckley developed, and she became the first hostess to welcome African Americans as guests to the White House.

When Abraham Lincoln was assassinated, Mary Lincoln grieved doubly as she lost her beloved husband as well as her coveted role. Of the latter, she remarked, "God...what a change! Did ever woman have to suffer so much and experience so great a change? I had an ambition to be Mrs. President; that ambition has been satisfied, and now I must step down from the pedestal." As with those who had come before, and those who would follow, Mary Todd Lincoln lamented her demotion in station and loss of power.

So if Laura Bush jetted off with 40 friends to Spain in "Air Force Two" to party for a week, that makes it okay? It's not a matter of whether the story is blown out of proportion, it's simply a matter of if you think the first lady should take a taxpayer owned 747 to Spain with 40 guests?

Exactly!

The security guards are not an option, they are a necessity. It's not like they are 'bar hopping' and making the security guards chase them around. They are the First Family children, what would you expect? No security?

Are you sure Security does not chase any of the current or past president's family in a 'bar hopping'? Are you ok with millions spent on private parties held by grown children of past presidents while many americans having hard time feeding their children?

Yes, accept the bank account from which they spending from for these lavish trips is not their own.

Lies. You might be jealous, is all...

The count of voting me down will be used as a count of Cowards on Current. Let see how many we have.

I don't think your comments have anything to do with courage. On this topic, I think they are more along the lines of ignorant and why would I want to support ignorant? Gotta vote ya down!

Here is my comment again, "Taxpayers money are better spent on our children's education and smaller class sizes then paying for "all girls" vacation in Spain."
It is very sad that you find my comment to be as you called it "ignorant".

As if? As if their not going to Spain would have any bearing on the education of children. Talk about grabbing at straws. That's a stretch. What's with the cowards comment any way? What are you trying to say? How does one show courage by making outlandish comments?

My mom died two years ago. What I wouldn't give to have a 'girls weekend' with her and my sister. Sorry, but her children are growing up in the spotlight of some real rude Americans. I hope she spends her time showing them, it's not all madness. Their lives are more important than mere politics. Kudos to Mechelle for putting her daughters first.

I have voted your comments up, all of them, and I agree with you 100%! It's taxpayers money she is spending in Spain,not her money! Where does it say that we the taxpayers have to pay for her vacations? What has she or her husband done to better the lot of Americans? SPEND OUR MONEY! Money that is needed for education,housing,and important social programs! I am not right or left just someone who uses common sense and this makes no sense1 The Obama's should pay for this trip not the taxpayer and that's that,and if you Obama junkies can't see that,can't see how wrong this is,then you have lost any ability to function as a free thinking Americans ,and you are little better then robots,marching in goose step to an administration,that has no real regard for the American people and their wellbeing! OBAMA and his wife have acted less then wisely in this situation,and to me that fact is quite troubling!

Thank you for your support. It is unfortunately the sad truth that majority of Americans lost the ability for critical thinking.

Actually the comment I was referring to as ignorant was the 'courage and coward' comments.

I am sorry to hear your mother died. I really do understand your sadness. But my comment has nothing to do with loss of loved ones.

Shouldn't it be Family first? Why should the focus be on mothers and daughters only. Didn't president himself call for fathers to be more involved in their children's lives?

Sorry I was not very clear about commenting on cowards on Current. I respect opinions and comments even if I disagree. I have absolutely no respect for silent voting down practices here on Current. There are some people who follow others just for the sake of voting down everything they say. Those who do that are cowards.

Added. While all current and past presidents, their wives and even children are provided security for life our children suffer from further cuts in educational programs and teacher layoffs. Someone should use calculator and add up all of the taxpayer's money spent on Chelsea Clinton wedding, Michelle Obama vacation and every current and past president and their families.