tagged w/ Sasha and Malia
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Fred Phelps’ Westboro Baptist Church is a hate group that goes around the country staging anti-gay rallies at some of the most inappropriate places (e.g. the funerals of former White House press secretary Tony Snow, victims of the Minneapolis bridge collapse, and U.S. troops) with messages like “Thank God For AIDS” and “God Hates Fags.”
This week, they’re bringing their hateful message to children in Washington, DC, planning pickets at a handful of local schools. This morning, they showed up outside of Sidwell Friends, the school that Sasha and Malia Obama attend. On Twitter, Megan Phelps-Roper — one of Fred Phelps’ grandchildren — posted a picture of the protest (above).
Washington Post education reporter Michael Birnbaum said that he spent the morning at the protest, and MSNBC host David Shuster wrote, “Hopefully, some of the more rational conservatives/republicans will condemn this stuff today. It was beyond the pale.” ThinkProgress contacted Sidwell for more details on the protest and are awaiting a response.
In the past, extreme anti-choice activist Randall Terry has also targeted the Obama children’s school, saying, “We will continue to show images of aborted babies at high schools, no matter what the cost.”
http://thinkprogress.org/2009/11/09/westboro-sidwell/Fred Phelps’ Westboro Baptist Church is a hate group that goes around the... more
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"Barack and Michelle Obama and their daughters spent the evening of Feb. 6 in the presidential box at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., applauding the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. Evidently, it was the first family’s idea of a fun Friday night out.
But in a capital where every presidential inflection and turn of phrase is parsed for glimmers of meaning, that front-and-center display of enthusiasm for one of the “high” or “classic” arts boomed like a 21-gun salute. It fed increasing hopes among arts advocates that the Obamas would generate a greater buzz for the arts simply by smiling in theater seats or strolling through museum galleries.
If outings to arts venues become a habit with the first family, “it would be a huge boon to the arts community in Washington and for the United States and the world,” says David Andrew Snider, president of the League of Washington Theatres. “There’s a widespread feeling that he ‘gets it.’ He gets the importance of the arts.”
“They could indeed lead by example,” agrees Mariana Nork, senior vice president of the Corcoran Gallery of Art, across the street from the White House. “We’re going to have new trends set.”""Barack and Michelle Obama and their daughters spent the evening of Feb. 6 in the... more
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Jenna and Barbara have written a letter to Obama's daughters to help them transition into the position of First Kids.
They suggested sliding down banisters and trick-or-treating on Air Force One.
That's some good advice.Jenna and Barbara have written a letter to Obama's daughters to help them... more
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