Why Does The First Lady Need A Staff of 24?

Remember, you can't fight stuff like this with logic; because the point in the first place had nothing to do with logic, but instead, emotion.

Cycloptichorn

I don't think there's any hypocrisy shown, finn. I mean Obama's staff is 40% smaller than Kennedy's was.
Did Obama campaign on the smaller-first-lady-staff platform?

Also, these virulent e-mails I get from the right, where they skew facts to make the Dems appear to be destroying our country piss me off. Your example is typical.

I'll grant you this: if you had started a thread complaining about the size of the staffs these days I'd be right there with ya.

No.. it's all about stupidity.


I am surprised that the First Lady only has 4 people involved in dealing with the requests she must get for functions and dealing with the travel and arrangements needed to attend those functions. It would be a full time job for one person to deal with Secret Service on a daily basis so they know her schedule far enough in advance to make plans to protect her.

Does Finn really think that Michelle Obama has the same number of requests that Laura Bush had in her 8th year in the WH? It is asinine to think so.

Here's the important line:



And the answer is, no. He doesn't put critical thought into stuff like this, b/c that isn't the point at all.

The point is twofold: to complain about Obama (who he hates and fears) regardless of the veracity, and to piss of the liberals here. There doesn't have to be any real logical underpinning or factual accuracy, because he's an asshole, and that's how assholes operate.

Cycloptichorn

Here's the pertinent excerpts for those that don't wish to take the time to do the reading to find them on each of the pages dedicated to each of the First Ladies.

Mamie Eisenhower

When Eisenhower had campaigned for President, his wife cheerfully shared his travels; when he was inaugurated in 1953, the American people warmly welcomed her as First Lady. Diplomacy--and air travel--in the postwar world brought changes in their official hospitality. The Eisenhowers entertained an unprecedented number of heads of state and leaders of foreign governments, and Mamie's evident enjoyment of her role endeared her to her guests and to the public.

Jackie Kennedy

To the role of First Lady, Jacqueline Kennedy brought beauty, intelligence, and cultivated taste. Her interest in the arts, publicized by press and television, inspired an attention to culture never before evident at a national level. She devoted much time and study to making the White House a museum of American history and decorative arts as well as a family residence of elegance and charm. But she defined her major role as "to take care of the President" and added that "if you bungle raising your children, I don't think whatever else you do well matters very much."

Ladybird Johnson

In the election of 1960, Lady Bird successfully stumped for Democratic candidates across 35,000 miles of campaign trail. As wife of the Vice President, she became an ambassador of goodwill by visiting 33 foreign countries. Moving to the White House after Kennedy's murder, she did her best to ease a painful transition. She soon set her own stamp of Texas hospitality on social events, but these were not her chief concern. She created a First Lady's Committee for a More Beautiful Capital, then expanded her program to include the entire nation. She took a highly active part in her husband's war-on-poverty program, especially the Head Start project for preschool children.

Pat Nixon

Pat Nixon used her position as First Lady to encourage volunteer service--"the spirit of people helping people." She invited hundreds of families to nondenominational Sunday services in the East Room. She instituted a series of performances by artists in varied American traditions--from opera to bluegrass. Mrs. Nixon took quiet pride in adding 600 paintings and antiques to the White House Collection.

She had shared her husband's journeys abroad in his Vice Presidential years, and she continued the practice during his Presidency. Her travels included the historic visit to the People's Republic of China and the summit meetings in the Soviet Union. Her first solo trip was a journey of compassion to take relief supplies to earthquake victims in Peru. Later she visited Africa and South America with the unique diplomatic standing of Personal Representative of the President. Always she was a charming envoy.

Betty Ford

Betty Ford faced her new life as First Lady with dignity and serenity. She accepted it as a challenge. "I like challenges very much," she said. She had the self-confidence to express herself with humor and forthrightness whether speaking to friends or to the public. Forced to undergo radical surgery for breast cancer in 1974, she reassured many troubled women by discussing her ordeal openly. She explained that "maybe if I as First Lady could talk about it candidly and without embarrassment, many other people would be able to as well." As soon as possible, she resumed her duties as hostess at the Executive Mansion and her role as a public-spirited citizen. She did not hesitate to state her views on controversial issues such as the Equal Rights Amendment, which she strongly supported.

From their home in California, she was equally frank about her successful battle against dependency on drugs and alcohol. She helped establish the Betty Ford Center for treatment of this problem at the Eisenhower Medical Center in Rancho Mirage.

She has described the role of First Lady as "much more than a 24-hour job than anyone would guess" and says of her predecessors: "Now that I realize what they've had to put up with, I have new respect and admiration for every one of them."

Rosalynn Carter

A skillful speaker and a hardworking First Lady, Mrs. Carter managed routine duties and special projects in her office in the East Wing. She attended Cabinet meetings and major briefings, frequently represented the Chief Executive at ceremonial occasions, and served as the President's personal emissary to Latin American countries.

As First Lady, she focused national attention on the performing arts. She invited to the White House leading classical artists from around the world, as well as traditional American artists. She also took a strong interest in programs to aid mental health, the community, and the elderly. From 1977 to 1978, she served as the Honorary Chairperson of the President's Commission on Mental Health.

Nancy Reagan

While her husband was Governor of California from 1967 to 1975, she worked with numerous charitable groups. She spent many hours visiting veterans, the elderly, and the emotionally and physically handicapped. These people continued to interest her as First Lady. She gave her support to the Foster Grandparent Program, the subject of her 1982 book, To Love A Child. Increasingly, she has concentrated on the fight against drug and alcohol abuse among young people. She visited prevention and rehabilitation centers, and in 1985 she held a conference at the White House for First Ladies of 17 countries to focus international attention on this problem.

Mrs. Reagan shared her lifelong interest in the arts with the nation by using the Executive Mansion as a showcase for talented young performers in the PBS television series "In Performance at the White House." In her first year in the mansion she directed a major renovation of the second- and third-floor quarters.

Barbara Bush

Barbara Bush was always an asset to her husband during his campaigns for public office. Her friendly, forthright manner won her high marks from the voters and the press. As wife of the Vice President, she selected the promotion of literacy as her special cause. As First Lady, she called working for a more literate America the "most important issue we have." Involved with many organizations devoted to this cause, she became Honorary Chairman of the Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy. A strong advocate of volunteerism, Mrs. Bush helped many causes--including the homeless, AIDS, the elderly, and school volunteer programs.

Hillary Clinton

As the nation's First Lady, Hillary continued to balance public service with private life. Her active role began in 1993 when the President asked her to chair the Task Force on National Health Care Reform. She continued to be a leading advocate for expanding health insurance coverage, ensuring children are properly immunized, and raising public awareness of health issues. She wrote a weekly newspaper column entitled "Talking It Over," which focused on her experiences as First Lady and her observations of women, children, and families she has met around the world. Her 1996 book It Takes a Village and Other Lessons Children Teach Us was a best seller, and she received a Grammy Award for her recording of it.

Laura Bush

During her eight years in the White House, Mrs. Laura Bush was a champion of President Bush's ambitious agenda and a gracious representative of the American people. A former teacher and librarian, she has dedicated herself to advancing education and promoting the well-being of women and families worldwide.

Mrs. Bush was a key advocate of the President's historic education reform " the No Child Left Behind Act " and a staunch supporter of NCLB's Reading First program, which is the largest early reading initiative in American history. Early in the President's first term, she launched "Ready to Read, Ready to Learn," an education initiative that promoted best practices in early childhood education and raised awareness of innovative teacher training programs. Inspired by her success with the Texas Book Festival, Mrs. Bush founded the National Book Festival to introduce tens of thousands of Americans to their favorite authors each year.

In 2003, Mrs. Bush answered the call to take her education agenda global, as honorary ambassador for the United Nations Literacy Decade. In this role, she has worked with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization to promote global literacy programs with measurable outcomes. She convened world leaders for annual summits that inspired successful practices, beginning with the first-ever White House Conference on Global Literacy in 2006. Mrs. Bush has visited schools and met with students in nations from Afghanistan to Zambia, with a particular focus on encouraging girls and women to pursue their education.

As the leader of President Bush's Helping America's Youth initiative, Mrs. Bush oversaw 10 Federal agencies in a groundbreaking partnership that realized the vision of the President Bush's Management Agenda. Through a national conference in Washington and six regional conferences, Helping America's Youth taught more than 1,000 community members new strategies to address the needs of at-risk youth.

Since the attacks of September 11, Mrs. Bush has been an outspoken supporter of the women of Afghanistan. In November 2001, she became the first First Lady to give the President's weekly radio address, speaking out against the Taliban's oppression of women and children. She has traveled to Afghanistan three times and served as honorary chair of the U.S.-Afghan Women's Council.

Mrs. Bush has been a leading advocate for the cause of human rights in Burma. She drew global attention to the ruling junta's oppression with a 2006 roundtable at the UN headquarters. After Cyclone Nargis devastated Burma in May 2008, Mrs. Bush held an unprecedented press conference in the White House Press Briefing Room and urged the regime to accept international aid. Mrs. Bush also traveled to the Thai-Burma border and met with refugees who fled the abuses of Burma's military regime.

Mrs. Bush has traveled to all 50 States and more than 75 countries. She has made five trips to Africa alone in support of President Bush's life-saving global health initiatives, including the President's Malaria Initiative (PMI) and the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). In visits to 10 of the 15 countries targeted by the PMI and 12 of the 15 PEPFAR countries in Africa, Asia, and the Americas, she witnessed first-hand the success of these historic commitments. In 2006, she joined President Bush to co-host the first-ever White House Summit on Malaria, which helped raise awareness of malaria and support grassroots efforts to eradicate the disease.

Mrs. Bush has helped thousands of women take charge of their health by raising awareness of breast cancer and heart disease. As Ambassador for the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute's Heart Truth campaign, Mrs. Bush traveled the country to educate women about the symptoms of heart disease, which is the number one killer of American women. In addition, Mrs. Bush helped launch the U.S.-Middle East Partnership for Breast Cancer Awareness and Research and the Partnership for Breast Cancer Awareness and Research of the Americas, which unite the resources of researchers and advocates in the United States and around the world.

I hate to break this to you parados, but Michelle Obama is neither the nor a VP of the United States.

She was not elected, nor does she hold a governmental position.

If she actually receives 3000 letters a staff of 50 could not read and answer them all.

Who expects her to answer them all? The American people? Her fan club?

Your point about counting WH social staff as part of her personal retinue is a fair one. Remove them and she still has 18 people on her staff which is still outrageous.

In regards to the CEO analogy, who is being disingenuous now?

White House service and security staff are not part of the First Ladies staff, and there is not on CEO in America, who has not been roundly criticized and/or investigated, whose wife has a personal staff of 5, let alone 18 or 24.

The Obamas, are millionaires, and he makes a decent salary and has no expenses. If they want to use their money to hire a bunch of personal assistants for Michelle, that's fine with me.

The staff needed to keep the White House running on a daily basis and on special occasions are not part of Michelle's large personal retinue.

This is not meant to be a criticism of Barrack or Michelle Obama alone, although it's tough to see how someone so critical of the prior "Imperial Presidency" can countenance it.

The First Lady, any First Lady, doesn't need a double digit staff.

Precisely what BS misstatements?

In your original post, you didn't post "first ladies have huge staff and I think that is unnecessary." You posted "although she has the biggest staff ever assembled, apparently it's only a mere 33% larger than the largest prior First Lady staff. (Laura Bush at 18)." You added a little quote at the beginning to imply that she is a hypocrite and stated that the size of her staff is "unprecedented." That's the BS part and you should own up to it.

As to the size of the staff, I think the question is fair game. I think it is disingenuous to say "who is she anyway?" The first lady is one of the top representatives of the country and has been for many years. She is sent both domestically and abroad to represent the President and typically champions domestic issues, lending them weight and fund raising abilities they wouldn't otherwise have. You may not think this is appropriate, but it has a long history. In terms of "showing the flag," the first lady is probably only behind the VP and the Sec. of State. If M.O. decided she wanted to keep a low profile and not act as goodwill ambassador, then she should cut staff, but she's been pretty active so far, probably more so than Laura Bush.

Come on Finn

You post about Obama having reporters in the White House.
You post about school kids mentioning Obama in a songduring Black History Month
You post Obama's picture together with Mussilini's picture.
You complain about the Nobel Peace prize.
You fear that YouTube statistics are favoring Obama.
Now you complain about Michelle's white house staff.

My dear Finn, I am afraid there is an unhealthy obsession with Obama here-- and it is not Obama supporters who have a problem.

Can you take a step back and see how silly this all is?

That would depend on what the two have been using their staffers for -- a piece of information you don't have, since you're asking about it.

Given that you don't know, isn't your conclusion a bit premature?

Here is FactCheck.org's full article, which Finn's article cites as an authority.

http://www.factcheck.org/2009/08/michelle-obamas-staff/

It confirms that the Michele Obama's staff is larger than that of her predecessors, but not out of line compared to Hillary Clinton's and Laura Bush's.

Also interesting is the chain of sources FactCheck uncovers. It adds some perspective to the judgments in Finn's source.


So what Finn is spinning here comes from a conservative propaganda, website based on a chainletter spun by a militant Christian crusader website based on an (admittedly reputable) conservative newspaper.

Nuff said.

Well, you can parse my comments as you like but I didn't exempt a Republican First Lady from my criticisim and I didn't imply that that the size of Obama's staff was unprecedented.

When I received the originating viral e-mail, I researched its claims (As much as this seems unbelievable to so many clowns on this thread), and I found that Michelle Obama is not alone, among First Ladies of recent years, in creating and maintaining an outrageously bloated staff. Read my post, I acknowledged this.

Did I take an extra shot at Michelle Obama?

Clearly I did, and I'm happy to explain why it isn't BS.

Unfortunately, too many posters in this thread focused only on this shot and assumed much more from it.

All too typical.

I don't want the position of First Lady to be anything more than the person who walks with the wives of foreign leaders behind her husband and his reciprocal world leader. (Nothing sexist here. Woman president, same deal with her husband)

I don't care what causes she want to promote if it means my tax dollars pay for her generosity.

If you or anyone else thinks it is appropriate that a First Lady has a staff costing the taxpayers more than a million dollars a year, try defending that position rather than attacking me personally.

To suggest that my argument is "silly" without explaining why the counter position is serious is, at best, intellectually lazy, and at worst, intellectually void.

Given the silliness of the thread, neither of these options seem inappropriate (there are plenty of things worse then intellectually void).

Not at all Thomas

If you can't wade into the discussion because you don't feel you have enough information, then don't wade in.

If you feel that my conclusion is erroneous, than offer a counter-argument.

How easy it is to respond to every post with:

"You don't know everything and so your conclusion is premature?"

You don't know what I know and do not know and so your conclusion is premature.

Your telling me that my argument is not substantiated, without offering an alternative, is vacuous.

Offer a meaningful response or deprive yourself of your smug self satisfaction and bugger off.

Nuff said oh self-annointed European Intellectual.

What a crock.

Read what I have written and respond to what I have written.

I stand by what I have written and will argue for everything I've written.

This ridiculous attempt to assert a geneology for my argument is rather pathetic.

Do you really think that you have uncovered the vile clandestine plot of Finn?

Cut the the **** Thomas - Nuff said.

I always assumed Thomas was born European.

Oh, how so clever!

If the threads on A2K could reduce the number of silly ass posts by people who think they are being clever, we might have an intellectually interesting forum.

God ebrown, did you really think this was a clever quip?

I love your inebriated posts!

Cycloptichorn

How cool!

Cyclo had some smarmy comment to make and as I have him on "ignore" I didn't actually see it, and I felt no compulsion to respond to it.

In all likelihood it was an idiotic or base coment, but I don't have to care.

Now he gets to rant and rail about John Galt and me and I couldn't give a sh*t.

I love "Ignore!"

I went back and read your post and went to the original link to see what you added. You wrote

OK, that is clearly wrong. Her staff is the same as Bush's and smaller than previous first ladies. That's the BS part. You ask a reasonable question, but this part distorts the argument and people have called you on it.


I did explain that position, thank you. How it evolved that way is probably an interesting thread, but the first lady is one of the countries premier "show the flag" diplomats. Is that the way we should do things? Maybe not, but certainly potential presidential spouses are vetted very heavily on the campaign trail. Cindy McCain and Theresa Kerry can attest to that. When electing the President, the public certainly wants to know what they are getting in terms of a first lady and there is an expectation that said first lady will play her traditional role in her husband's administration. I think if she failed to do so, there would be an ugly murmur from the public about how the first lady doesn't love her country, etc. If she oversteps that role, you can expect she will hear about that as well (Hillary Clinton.) I can understand you not wanting it to be that way, but it is and probably has been our entire lives. She plays a key role as diplomat, hostess for the White House and still has to be a parent to her young children whose schedules must also be managed with security, etc. Does this take 24 people? I think that is a fair question, but I don't think it is out of the question.