The American Spectator : Michelle Obama's Barbecue Hypocrisy

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The Obama Watch

Michelle Obama's Barbecue Hypocrisy

By Andrew Cline on 2.4.11 @ 6:09AM

The first rule of political pandering: Know what you're talking about.

The classic example: In 2004, Sen. John Kerry, trying to bolster his regular guy image, spoke of Green Bay's hallowed ";Lambert Field." It's Lambeau Field. Ten dork points for Kerry.

This week, Michelle Obama walked into a culinary version of the Lambert gaffe.

In an e-mail congratulating Charlotte, N.C., on being named host city for the 2012 Democratic National Convention, Obama mentioned that Charlotte has "great barbecue." As someone who grew up an hour from Charlotte, I can tell you that few natives would say that. Nobody travels to Charlotte for the barbecue. It might have a good barbecue restaurant or two, but the really good stuff is outside of the city.

Obama's been mocked for the obvious pander, as she should have been. But to me the offense wasn't her ignorance of North Carolina's barbecue geography. It was her blatant violation of the second rule of political pandering: Don't pretend to like something you don't.

Michelle Obama is America's No. 1 Food Nanny. Her top priority as First Lady is to end "the epidemic of childhood obesity in America." When she launched that initiative a year ago this month, she announced the creation of letsmove.gov, which provides tips to parents and community leaders on making kids healthier. One recommendation to municipal officials is: "Create a healthy food promotional campaign, and offer a 'healthy eating' designation to restaurants who offer healthier food and beverages and reasonably-sized portions."

There isn't a self-respecting barbecue joint in the South that could win that designation. North Carolina barbecue joints sell hush puppies (fried cornmeal) and sweet tea that's close to equal parts tea and sugar. And you don't want to think about the calorie count in a single slice of pie or dollop of banana pudding.

Michelle Obama praising Carolina barbecue? That's like Gandhi praising mixed martial arts fighting.

Despite the hypocrisy, Michelle Obama means well. She really, earnestly wants to save America's children from lives spent savoring the joys of Twinkies, but missing out on the joys of scoring the winning goal or leaping, à la Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, and exclaiming, "She said I'm cuuuuute!"

And to Obama's credit, she has said that it's OK to indulge now and then in a sweet or some high-fat food. But that implies that it's not OK -- as an absolute rule, not a matter of choice -- to have a burger, ice cream or barbecue sandwich often, or at least more often than a government nutritionist -- even a self-appointed one -- would recommend.

As even-handed as she has tried to sound, Obama has pulled the government further in the direction of dictating our eating choices. She already recommends that government officials tilt the playing field in favor of restaurants that offer state-approved "healthier" options. She has pressured Walmart into offering more healthy foods. It is one small step to the government actively limiting what we eat.

Also last week, a group of self-designated food police launched a national campaign to "retire Ronald" McDonald because, they say, he's making kids obese. And this comes shortly after San Francisco passed an ordinance banning the inclusion of toys in fast-food kids' meals on the theory that kids wouldn't like chicken nuggets or French fries if they didn't come with a cheap, plastic toy.

In her speeches, Obama makes a greater concession to free will than the activists and San Francisco supervisors do. But she doesn't fully endorse the idea that families ought to be free to make their own decisions about what to eat. She thinks the government should tell us what kinds of foods to eat, when, and in what quantities.

She doesn't say the government should force those decisions on us, but wittingly or not she is laying the groundwork for that. And given that her husband just forced all of us to buy health insurance, there is nothing legally or intellectually standing in the way of this administration proposing federally mandated healthy diets. The only obstacles are political: the president wants to appear moderate, and Republicans control the House. But should Democrats win big in 2012, what is to stop them from banning Happy Meals and forcing barbecue joints to sell only unsweetened tea and soy-becue? Certainly not their ideology.

I would believe Michelle Obama's compliment to my home state's unofficial state food if she actually stood up and defended my right to eat it with whatever quantity, frequency and sauce I wanted. Until then, I'll take mine with slaw, no sauce, and hold the First Lady's opinions, please.

About the Author

Andrew Cline is editorial page editor of the New Hampshire Union Leader. His Twitter ID is Drewhampshire.

Letter to the Editor View all comments (212) | Leave a comment

Robbins Mitchell| 2.4.11 @ 6:20AM

Serving hush puppies with BBQ?...culinary heresy....they should only be served with fried catfish

Alan Brooks| 2.4.11 @ 8:25AM

Youse guys really hate the Obamas, don't you? In the '90s you didn't even hate Hillary this much.

Jack Daniels| 2.4.11 @ 9:08AM

That's about right Alan. I'd take Hill over these two sanctamonious hypocritical grifters any day.
But when you get down to it, there ain't much difference in the two.

USSAlabama| 2.4.11 @ 1:35PM

Michelle Obama is fat and she knows it. Half of the Congress is FAT and I see those fat ones walking through the halls with diet cokes in hand. I'm going to stop being PC about FAT and come right out and tell 'em.

Paul| 2.4.11 @ 2:49PM

While not particularly interested in Mrs. Obama, and certainly not her fan or supporter, I have to ask: fat? really? Not even chunky, or chubby, or plump, etc., but fat? I have to ask about the semantic and aesthetic standards being used in this case. Or are we just being mean?

beebop| 2.4.11 @ 6:45PM

I think the bigger issue is this: hubby was a fat, miserable kid who was probably a fish out of water while living with mommy and step pop and so was packed up and summarily sent to the bigoted g'ma in Hawaii. He is painfully thin now and I believe it is over compensation. Why don't they just work this out with their spiritual advisor in Chicago?

USSAlabama| 2.5.11 @ 4:06PM

Hmmm. People who drink a lot of alchie are usually very thin.

Paul, wish I could get you into a spot to see her in person. Legs are logs. Huge.

Banana Puddin Head Wilson | 2.4.11 @ 9:37AM

You really hate George W. Bush, don't you? In the 80's you didn't even hate Reagan this much.

Dustoff| 2.4.11 @ 9:37AM

No Alen...

Just proving how out of touch these two really are.

Sorry if the truth bothers you that much.

Remember what we heard from you jerks for 8 long years. Bush is stupid.

Welcome to the party.

Finbarr Moran| 2.4.11 @ 11:16AM

Yeah, Alan, we all remember how Laura was always telling Americans how to live.

She was always closing down DC streets to go to the grocery store.

Rumor had it she was never proud of her country until George became President.

She was nothing like the soft-spoken, unassuming Michelle.

MikeD| 2.4.11 @ 2:56PM

It's not that we hate the obamas, it's that we hate anybody presuming they know what's best for us...and then trying to make it into LAW! Look at the butt on michelle obama. If she's concerned about obesity, she can start by looking right 'behind' her!

Libs are always trying to ban things they don't approve of instead of just letting people alone. But, that's the 'lib' way. If they don't like guns, they won't be content with not owning one, they want to stop ANYBODY from owning one. It's the same way on almost everything they get into their little pin heads. It's not enough that they approve of homosexual's life choices; they have to label us with nasty names and force us to accept them.

It's bad enough that they have this superiority complex; but they must think they are wrong deep down because they scream and cry and yell at anybody who disagrees with them.

gilbert| 2.4.11 @ 6:22PM

garbage.

she just wants people to be healthy and live longer. unlike the republican healthcare strategy: don't get sick but if you do, die quickly. why? b/c that helps the bottom line of the insurance companies.

aren't you glad that you now have a better shot at knowing how many calories you are taking in when you go to a franchise restaurant? you probably are so annoyed with that...

MikeD| 2.4.11 @ 9:08PM

Try to remember one of my posts. I do not eat at fast food joints. I have enough trouble eating anything at all. Try living on a diet that mostly enters your body via tubes. I miss taste the most. IVs and 'J' Tubes don't pass food near taste buds.

Occam's Tool| 2.6.11 @ 11:18PM

Yes, Mike, but your posts are still Red Meat. Delicious and Nutritious.

Actually, Gilbert, it is the Obamacare guys that want you to die quickly. One of us was a senior consultant in an NHS in New Zealand, and one of us wasn't. NHS sucks.

Stan Redmond| 2.5.11 @ 9:34AM

HEY EVERYONE!!! Alan Grayson stopped by to say 'hello.' How cool is that.

I would like to know who the republican is that said "if you get sick, die quickly" so I can send them a campaign contribution. Obama said "just take the pill" but I don't think he's a republican.

della street| 2.5.11 @ 1:31PM

Mrs. O's food initiative is a glaring payback to the SEIU. In the first group of schools to recieve benefits, the plan is to serve breakfast, lunch AND dinner. There will also be a summer feeding program. This will require a full additional shift of food service workers in each of the schools. To fund this program, millions were 'taken' from the Food Stamp program.
I fail to see any actual goodwill in this, just politics as usual, cloaked in 'it's for the children,' which is supposed to shut up all disagreement.

Occam's Tool| 2.6.11 @ 11:19PM

Mrs. O's major contribution to Healthcare in the city of Chicago was depriving poor people of access to the University of Chicago's clinics.

Kathy| 2.7.11 @ 4:27PM

Doesn't being obese have more to do with lack of activity -- as well as life style -- families who've stopped preparing home cooked meals and monitoring good nutrition in the home? This is not a "political" problem, but more likely one that reflects a lack of self-control and personal responsibility. When did the "government" take the place of parents? Eating out occasionally doesn't create obesity. Fast food restaurants or high fat/high calorie foods can only affect you if you make the choice to use them a regular basis. You really can't be serious to think that Michelle cares about any of us living longer and healthier. What her message should be is "everything in moderation"! Seems like she could be exercising some self control of her own. Enough with the comments about "the republican strategy" ... all corporations are in the business to make money -- just ask Al Gore.

Jaded| 2.10.11 @ 6:35PM

Call me the ever pessimist but I'm more likely to believe that they want us to live longer so we'll be around longer to pay taxes!

Yosemeti Sam| 2.5.11 @ 12:14AM

" ... butt on michelle ...."

Could it be she is vying for title of Hottentot Venus West?

What kind of slim-fast chef they's got at the Peoples' White House preparing food anyway?

LOL.

Nancy in NC| 2.4.11 @ 3:51PM

Not them specifically...just anyone that think they are qualified to tell the rest of how to live. If I want to have barbeque pork every night, I should have the freedom to do just that. If it kills me, it's called thinning the herd.

True freedom means the liberty to make MY choices about MY life. It also means buying MY insurance and paying bigger premiums if I'm a big fat hog with high blood pressure. That's allowing me the freedom to suffer the consequences of MY choices.

And after all, no matter what, all of us are going to die...regardless. If some choose sooner than later, that's their choice as well.

But I don't expect too many liberals will be able to get their small minds around the concept of true freedom. They just love to tell everyone else what to do too much.

MikeD| 2.4.11 @ 9:13PM

Real libs are TERRIFIED to die. They have convinced themselves that this is all there is. That's why they don't want anybody telling them that what they do might be bad or sinful or anything with a negative connotation. Because, if there is no afterlife, then we'd better do everything here, no matter what the Bible, or the Koran, or the Torah, or mom and dad, or teachers (back when teachers made sense and actually taught right from wrong) or anybody else told us.

Since this life is all there is, nobody had better tell us we can't do ANYTHING we want to. Well, I am not the least bit afraid of dying, we're all going to do it at some time. There's an old folk song with a line in it that goes like this: "I can swear there ain't no Heaven, but I'll pray there ain't no hell." 'Nuff said.

DaveS| 2.5.11 @ 10:47AM

It's deserved, Alan. But, I agree with you on the relative merits: for being the smartest woman in the world, she did not defeat the Kenyan - thanks in part to Operation Chaos!

Cincinnatius| 2.6.11 @ 1:06PM

I never miss a chance to opine on a poll on the Obamas as stated by Alan: I don't hate the Obamas, I DESPISE them and everything they stand for! Hope I wasn't too late with my response. The poll is still open....right?

Alan Brooks| 2.6.11 @ 6:36PM

I'm Allan Brooks and I demand you pay attention to me and validate my relevance. My mom says I'm the smartest most important person in the world.
I bet your mom didn't knit you pajamas with feet in them or let you stay in her basement rent free.

Oldefarte| 2.7.11 @ 12:39PM

'Hate', as in RACISM, DISENFRANCHISEMENT, GENTRIFICATION, DISCRIMINATION, etc??????

vladdy| 3.12.11 @ 10:26PM

Your immaturity is showing. This is politics, not a scout meeting where we all sing "Kumbayah." And it's not the person, although he does come off as a jerk, it's the policies we're fighting.

In other words, BO has every right to be a pompous, arrogant jerk but we'r rather he not do it in the White House while he's in the process of destroying the country piece-by-piece and handing it out to the unions, his cronies on Wall St., and various third world leaders.

The Big E| 2.4.11 @ 9:01AM

While hush puppies and catfish do make a fine combination, I assure you they are equally comfortable on a plate beside a heaping helping of NC's finest porcine delicacy.

Stephanie| 2.4.11 @ 9:09AM

How right you are Big E, how right you are.
Pass the butter please?

Alan Brooks| 2.4.11 @ 9:15AM

Perhaps there is one thing we have in common, Big E:
N. Carolina is the one state in the South I like 100 percent. The Outer Banks, Asheville, Junaluska (a Methodist retreat), Charlotte, Chapel Hill, Wilmington.

ncatty| 2.4.11 @ 10:00AM

You forgot Cary (containment area for relocated yankees). Please stop visiting.

Alan Brooks| 2.4.11 @ 12:04PM

You forgot Cary (containment area for relocated yankees). Please stop visiting."

Well... if you say so, ncatty, okay. Not even to Junaluska for a Methodist retreat;
Methodists are too lib'ral for you, right?

ncatty| 2.4.11 @ 12:23PM

It has nothing do with liberals. Just you.

Claypoole| 2.4.11 @ 5:00PM

Mr. Brooks: Next time you are in the Banks, try to get down to Wanchese, a commercial fishing town, to Fisherman's Wharf restaurant. It is owned and operated by a fishing family and located just above the family's fish prep and packing facility. All fresh fish, cooked to perfection, and the best hush puppies you will ever eat. And, best of all, they are happy to serve liberals.

Alan Brooks| 2.6.11 @ 6:37PM

My mom cooks for me and beside I has to stay in the basement till she gets home so I don't hurt myself.

Oldefarte| 2.7.11 @ 12:41PM

Naturally, since N.C. [along with Va.] are the MOST LIBERAL/PPRGRESSIVE of the southern states!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

MikeD| 2.4.11 @ 2:57PM

I love Carolina Barbeque but I can't figure out where the cole slaw came from.

Nancy in NC| 2.4.11 @ 3:53PM

The cole slaw is to cut the grease. Tastes good too.

Consertive View| 2.4.11 @ 10:08AM

Once while in the Navy I sailed my craft down the ICW in NC. The cook was sick, so I pulled the Swamp Fox, (the name of my vessel) against the most run down, ratty, wooden pier I ever did see. Accross from the pier a run down shack of a resturant. I went to have a look. Every face in the place was black, and a woman who if three inches taller you would call round stood behind the counter.

"You'all Navy boys come in and have some dinner, you hear darlin?"

I went back aboard and told my crew, dinner ashore, uniform tropical white long. They objected but changed anyway. Then the whole crew went ashore.

Now what does this have to do with BBQ? Everything in the world. I don't care about arguments over West and East, or Willimgton or Charlotte or outerbanks. The best BBQ in the whole wide world was in that run down shack of a resturant on the ICW. To say my crew "pigged out" is an understatement.

As for Southern hospitality, why it wasn't long before the local population heard "Navy Boys" were there, and the young ladies came, and a scratch Black Blues Band, and my crew danced all night. I didn't get back underway until the next morning at ten.

I can't tell you where that place is. I have tried finding it now that I am retired. No such luck. But I can tell you, local BBQ in the back waters of NC is the best BBQ you will ever find anywheres.

Texas beef is good, I love a good steak. Chicken has its' place. But the good Lord done smiled on North Carolinia and I know, deep in my heart, that on ocasion he done come down and has himself a heapin' of Southern BBQ in little back water resturants.

ncatty| 2.4.11 @ 10:13AM

Was your craft a carrier? Just kidding. The ICW is pretty shallow these days.

MikeD| 2.4.11 @ 2:58PM

Are you telling me you made your men eat BARBECUE in WHITES??? They must be lots neater "Q" eaters than I was back then!

Consertive View| 2.4.11 @ 3:26PM

Had I known dinner was BBQ I wouldn't have done it, but once I found out it was too late to change the order. It did turn out for the best in the end. The young ladies who came to dance all had ways of getting the stains out of the jumpers, and were more than happy to remove same to show us sailor boys how. But then, that's a story a little off topic. LOL

MikeD| 2.4.11 @ 9:15PM

I can only imagine...and smile. great story. Makes me feel human again!

porko| 2.4.11 @ 1:17PM

Right you are about the hush puppies. If you go to Heavy's Barbeque near Crawfordville, Georgia, they put loaves of white bread on the table. Shreaded pork, Brunswick stew and white bread is the Heavy way!

Bill Hussein O'Stalin| 2.4.11 @ 6:25AM

You claim Michelle Obama means well. Does she?

Your article does a semi-good job of making her out to be a food dictator which is what she is attempting, so in fact Michelle Obama does not mean well.

Take it one step further. What are her credentials? Like Al Gore, she has none. Al Gore is no scientist. If it weren't for gullible idiots who believe in climate change Al Gore would probably be making moonshine back in Tennessee.

It's the same with Michelle Obama. She comes out of nowhere, hating her country, and suddenly she's an expert nutritionist without credentials.

In that sense she's not even an elitist because an elitist usually has some manufactured degree.

Michelle is probably setting herself up for the afterlife of politics. Making herself look like an expert at something she has no training for and no expertise. In Michelle's case it's about slogans and syllogisms, i.e., if you ingest this that will happen.

It's questionable to state that she isn't saying the government should force us to eat something. Her husband is the government, and if it weren't for that, she would be considered a meddlesome busybody, as opposed to the voice of authority.

ENOUGH ROPE| 2.4.11 @ 8:33AM

The Dragon Lady could have claimed that Charlotte had the best barbecued mastodon, and her arrogance would preclude any embarrassment.

Mr. & Mrs. Smiling Cobra can say anything they want, because Mr. Smiling Cobra believes that he can smile at us without our noticing his sinking his lethal fangs into our rule of law, consent of the governed, Judeo-Christian values, free market economy, middle class, private property, national security, and our traditional allies.

But gee by golly, he has such a flashy smile! He must be a good guy!

Alan Brooks| 2.4.11 @ 9:21AM

"best barbecued mastodon,"

Which one? Bob Dole or John McCain?

W| 2.4.11 @ 9:33AM

Again, trying to deflect criticism of your favorite politicians by making stupid, inane remarks about Dole and McCain, two men who served our country in war, and are war heroes. Doesnt mean much to a lefty like you. Ignore Brooks.

Finbarr Moran| 2.4.11 @ 11:20AM

Is this your assigned day to throw barbs, Alan.

Go back under your bridge, troll.

MikeD| 2.4.11 @ 3:00PM

Neither; grilled algore with a side of kerrypoo. Then covered with a light coat of carter grease sauce over a bed of bubba ooze.

irish19| 2.4.11 @ 8:29PM

Sounds like a bad, really bad case of heartburn waiting to happen.

MikeD| 2.4.11 @ 9:17PM

Look at the case of heartburn it gave our country...and still is! And we can't even barf it out! Maybe the analogy of waiting till tomorrow and helping it come out the other end is oh so appropriate!

Oldefarte| 2.7.11 @ 12:44PM

What, no BBQ'd JACKASSES??????????

tag| 2.7.11 @ 9:48AM

Remember: ALL 'first' ladies MUST be involved in something - food was the only thing michelle could think of so, even without any qualifications an doing a little bit of fact gathering she became an advocate for chillin' and their eating habits! Ridiculous! Think about it - all presidents wives have to have a hobby - this was hers! I had to laugh when I read that obama 'doesn't take it personally when people hate him - it's only because they don't "know" him. Hey, prez, we hate you because we DO know who and what you are - incompetent! Michell's rear end looks like the broad side of a barn!

margie cutaia| 2.7.11 @ 11:08AM

you are correct except that michelle is the presidents wife she hasn't any credentials to know
what she's talking about and by what authority
should she be giving advice - look at her butt?

Appleby| 2.4.11 @ 6:36AM

Poor Michelle is trying to find some way to elbow herself into the midst of a culture she neither likes nor understands -- lurching from manhandling Royalty to slapping Goodies out of the hands of babies, in an untutored and embarrassing attempt to pretend not only that she is like us, but that she likes us.

I have no doubt we will see King Zero wearing a NA$CAR jacket at some point, and that he will have picked a driver to photo-op with that will make NA$CAR people say *Do WHUUUUT Now?* and snicker behind their hands. (Somebody tell him that not only is Danicant NOT a legitimate race car driver, having *won* only one race) but her main sponsor, GoDaddy.com, is a well known host for pornographers).

There is nothing sadder than watching ignoranti slumming.

MikeD| 2.4.11 @ 3:01PM

Howzabout a picture of mike dukakis in a tank?

gilbert| 2.4.11 @ 6:29PM

garbage. nascar rocks though! dont pick on the only woman in nascar!

i'm a kyle busch fan #18!!!

MikeD| 2.4.11 @ 9:18PM

Finally something to agree on. See, there's hope!

gilbert| 2.6.11 @ 12:57AM

this does make me happy mike d. i love that the off season is only a couple of months. feburary and we are back in business!

Frisbee| 2.4.11 @ 9:42PM

"slapping Goodies out of the hands of babies"

LOL Appleby!

confedgal| 2.5.11 @ 2:50AM

He'll probably come to Lowe's country in a home depot jacket. And just so you know, we don't snicker behind our hands. That's rude. We laugh out loud, sometimes pointing.

FREE bee| 2.4.11 @ 6:39AM

----PLEASE, enough with the non-relevance
blizzards.

------------REALLY, PLEASE.

Doctor Right| 2.4.11 @ 6:58AM

I despise Michelle Obama, but the premise of this article is pretty dumb.

When most people say "Charlotte", they probably don't mean the geographical and political entity known as "the City of Charlotte". More likely, they mean that AND the surrounding areas to the north, west, east, and south.

In fact, many people who don't technically live in the city boundaries will still reply, when asked where they live: "Charlotte".

In addition, there is a well-known style of barbecue known as "Carolina-style". Are you actually implying that it's real hard to find that somewhere in Charlotte?

There are MANY reasons to criticize the Obamas, but frankly, this is weak.

The Big E| 2.4.11 @ 8:34AM

As a lifelong, 325 pound resident of The Old North State, I feel eminently qualified to "weigh in" here.

First of all, outside of the city of Charlotte, many of us here refer to the Charlotte/Mecklenburg County area as the "Great State of Mecklenburg," for reasons that are less than complimentary to the general attitude of the City's leaders and leading citizens.

Secondly, Doctor Right, while I generally admire your posts, I feel you may have fallen into the same "pit" as the first lady, for you see, there is not, "a well-known style of barbecue known as 'Carolina-style.'" There are TWO very distinct styles of barbecue in North Carolina, eastern style - which is whole hog with a vinegar based sauce, and western, or Lexington style, which is shoulder only with a sauce that is sweeter and more tomato-y. And I assure you, the difference DOES matter.

Personally, I grew up with - and still prefer - the Lexington style, but over my many years of indulgence in all things pig, I have developed a keen appreciation for both. In pursuit of that appreciation, I have consumed the hallowed swine in all parts of the state, and have found that wherever I go, I can always find a good place to eat 'cue.

Except for one.

In all my years of gastronomic overindulgence, I have never had a good plate of barbecue in Charlotte. Not once. At every so called barbecue joint I've eaten in Charlotte, it was like I was eating something designed primarily to not offend the palates of out-of-state businessmen. Charlotte is, as far as I'm concerned, a porcine wasteland, and its lack of good 'cue is probably the single factor which, more than any other, shows how unlike the rest of the state it is.

So, if you're down this way, and want the real McCoy, you've got to get well outside of Charlotte - Shelby, Hickory, Lenoir, even Winston-Salem. And of course (at this point everyone should remove their hats and bow their heads in homage) - Lexington. Until you have experienced what Lexington has to offer, you haven't fully experienced the true splendor of God's creation.

I say this to you, not as a criticism of the First Lady (though, I must ask, why in the world would anyone think a girl from Chicago would know anything about where to find barbecue in North Carolina?), but for the purposes of edifying your spirit, and hopefully, expanding your horizons, and your waistline. Indeed, this is not a political issue at all. I can honestly say that I have never asked the pig its stance on healthcare, or the pitmaster his feelings on the budget. Many a fight has begun and many a family split over the issue of barbecue in North Carolina. But I seriously doubt if either has occurred as a result of anyone taking offense to comments made about their favorite barbecue joint Charlotte, because frankly, from my experience, there is no barbecue in Charlotte worth fighting for.

So you see, it's not a political issue at all. Really. It's far more serious than that.

ncatty| 2.4.11 @ 10:03AM

As a resident of Davidson County, of which Lexington is the county seat, I heartily endorse your comments.

Doctor Right| 2.4.11 @ 10:24AM

Well, it's kind of how I feel when I see "Maryland Crab Soup" on a menu in Illinois...

...Regardless, for those of us who live in the 49 states that AREN'T North Carolina, when someone says "Carolina Barbecue", it's generally known to mean the "eastern" style you describe in your post.

And it's still a weak issue to criticize Moo-chelle with, when there's so many other more noteworthy issues out there...

Stoddard| 2.4.11 @ 1:32PM

Lexington barbecue rules. Especially the "red slaw."

irish19| 2.4.11 @ 8:33PM

I trust that wasn't a knock on BBQ from the Windy City and its environs.

Occam's Tool| 2.6.11 @ 11:22PM

I, myself, can't stand the vinegar based BBQ. We didn't have that in 'Bama, but it was all we had in Kentucky. I appreciate the fact that there are different tastes, but I have a soft spot for 'Bama BBQ. (and 'Bama.)

da monk| 2.4.11 @ 9:41AM

Dr Right (aka Dr No) You say, "I despise Michelle Obama". Why? Do you know her personally? Did she do something to you personally to give you reason to "despise" her. If not, maybe it be better you say "I despise Michelle Obama food suggestions
because..." Keep the personal afronts out of the conversation and be a legitimate Dr. Right and a gentleman.

Old Joe| 2.4.11 @ 9:51AM

Sorta like you Democrats never said anything personal about the Bushs???

Doctor Right| 2.4.11 @ 10:20AM

"da monk":

I'm sure you were no fan of GW Bush; why? Did he do something personal to you??

I despise her because she is a sanctimonious poseur and a hypocrite who has grown fat off of a country she hates, and who criticizes the very people who have bent over backwards to help her solely because her skin is brown. She proudly admitted that she'd NEVER been proud of her country until her Party was dumb enough to nominate her husband (an equally vapid and empty suit) to lead them.

She's a foolish, spiteful, chip-on-the-shoulder leftist. In short, she's an idiot.

Don't like my opinion, "monk"? Too bad. Deal with it.

Jack Daniels| 2.4.11 @ 2:14PM

Now Dr. Right, tell us how you really feel!
Damn, that was good and you echo my sentiments spot on.

Frisbee| 2.4.11 @ 9:45PM

Thanks for saying what we are feeling Dr R.

da monk| 2.5.11 @ 8:42AM

No, I am not a GW Bush fan, but I DO NOT DESPISE HIM! In fact if I met him personally I bet you I would enjoy his company. He seems to be a a very personable man. I just don't agree with his personal political philosophy. I have no complaint that he's a Born Again Christian. Even though I disagree with his religious philosophy. Why should you have complaint about her skin color? What does that have to do with her opinions? From your comments I can only surmise you're a White Supremist and a chip the shoulder Rightest

Occam's Tool| 2.6.11 @ 11:24PM

I hate her because of her rank hypocrisy and evil. Making $300,00 plus yearly to deny medical care to poor people and then boasting about your concern for the poor is despicable. And perfectly defines Michelle the scumbag. As a native of Chi-town, yeah, I do take that personally.

Occam's Tool| 2.6.11 @ 11:25PM

$300,000. Sorry. And, to answer the "Gilbert" below, I hate Hitler, Goering, and Arafat, too---and have never met them. Sometimes one can tell about someone from the STENCHHHHH!

vladdy| 3.12.11 @ 10:37PM

Do some research. From her paranoid Princeton paper (alliteration intended) to her "proud of America" comment to grabbing the Queen to her frequent jaunts with 30 or so friends, there's a lot more to despise about Michelle than just her food policies.

Why? Are you her official caretaker? This is politics; it's okay to get personal. Remember the Bush days? Or if not, how 'bout Palin?

gilbert| 2.4.11 @ 6:30PM

how can you despise someone you don't know? you probably love god too but have never met him.

weirdo.

MikeD| 2.4.11 @ 9:21PM

God never lied his way through an election. and, we ALL know exactly where he was born. We're still not sure about barry. I'm very confident that God loves me and is waiting for me. Barry and his death panels want the authority to kill me and hurry me along to my final reward. Who gave them that kind of power? Not us..

Stan Redmond| 2.5.11 @ 9:51AM

By that logic one can't despise Hitler or Pol Pot because we don't know them. Can we admire people we haven't met? MOs actions have defined what kind of person she is and to many she is worthy of contempt by her actions, statements, and lack of class.

confedgal| 2.5.11 @ 2:55AM

Bubba's Barbeque right off 77 on 21. Awesome food.

Ret. Marine| 2.4.11 @ 6:59AM

If she were not the impostors wife, I'd bet she would only raise the hairs of a nobody with a penchant for being somebody. If only horseshit was horsehairs. And lets not forget this little sweet talk to the idiots out there a couple of years back, "barack is not going to let you". you know the rest.
I can't make up my mind on of the two obamas Bin Lyn I despise the most, the won who is constantly wrong every time he opens his pie hole, or the one trying to convince me I should listen to the lies he tries to sell to intelligent people, some thing they just don't have a clue as to who they are. Anyway I'm with you on this one, leave me the hell alone, I neither want or desire to hear from a couple of nobody's who say nothing every time they think they say something intelligent. In this life I'd rather talk to a story teller, at least they have a line that can be followed and keep my interest.

alice moore| 2.4.11 @ 9:36AM

Your quote of "Barack is not going to let you...." probably was uttered by Pol Pot's wife; substituting Pol Pot for Barack, of course.

Let's hope and pray that the American people do not suffer a version of the Khmer Rouge. To paraphrase Edmund Burke, this is how evil flourishes when good people do nothing.

irish19| 2.4.11 @ 8:35PM

Alice, 'fraid not. The First Klingon actually did utter those words during the campaign.

MikeD| 2.4.11 @ 9:22PM

Didn't I tell you about that "Retired" stuff? All Marines are ready and willing to serve, regardless of age or anything else.

confedgal| 2.5.11 @ 2:57AM

Thank you

Chalkdust| 2.4.11 @ 7:11AM

So Mr. Cline, a slow news day is it? I mean a whole article on ....whats-her-name obama and BBQ? Golly, she's so far down on my my list of ignorant/mean people that need a good hickory switchin', I can't even get past those tacky garmets she wears to be bothered to look for one.

vladdy| 3.12.11 @ 10:40PM

Yes, but it's March and she's hired a stylist now. (Why do I get the feeling I'm paying for it? And what does that make...her 26th or 27th personal staff member? She must be having a competition with Obama and his czars.

Purple Lips| 2.4.11 @ 7:12AM

The First Lady only commented on a subject dear to her heart: Chow. She loves food, and it tells.

"I like Big Butts...."

MoeBlotz| 2.4.11 @ 7:31AM

Perhaps Michelle My Butt should have added "..and great corn likker".

confedgal| 2.5.11 @ 2:58AM

She couldn't handle good moonshine.

Brian Mc| 2.4.11 @ 7:34AM

This incrementalism reminds me of the game we played as children, "Red Light, Green Light". They attempt small steps while we aren't looking but unfortunately for us, they don't go back to the start when caught.

clark| 2.4.11 @ 7:53AM

I am guessing that in Charlotte and its surrounding area that one can indeed obtain "great barbecue." I recommend Ro's in Gastonia.

This is rightwing cultural politics at its most asinine. and that's saying alot.

Old Joe| 2.4.11 @ 9:26AM

Clark,

Sorry you aren't bright enough to appreciate satire. You must be a Democrat. I suggest you take a pill and go back to sucking your thumb.

Melvin| 2.4.11 @ 7:57AM

Many Black Americans are remigrating back to the South. Many of these Americans are as nice as can be, because they despise the Northern States. But Southern society can't have everything, there are those few mostly from the urban environs of Detroit, Columbus and the like that want to set up their thug shops and continue like de was back in da hood.
We just had two idiots from Detroit get into a shootout and guess what they are headed back to Detroit in Pine Boxes.
But this is just a side note, what Lady Michelle is doing is trying to relive or re-inject herself and her husband as being with the Civil Rights cause of the Martin Luther King days.
She wants to come down here in North Carolina and get all share cropper on us, so she and her husband can give the illusion to the Black Americans down here in North Carolina (The South) that they stand in solidarity with them just like it was still 1960.
But there is one small problem with that premise. I live in NC and it is a great place to live in-spite of the Democrats taxing us to oblivion.
For the most part Blacks and Whites get along working, raising families, having the same issues with teenagers ect.
We're starting to have allot of that single mother crap, but I guess society really never gets away from that.
Personally I think that if the Barrack and Michelle show are trying to fire up the Civil Rights struggle, it may fall upon deaf ears for the most part.
Beside the fact that real honest to goodness NC barbecue is fattening as hell, but I wouldn't trade it for all the rabbit food in Michelle's garden.
When I came to the South, to make it my home, I quickly realized that attending a Pig Pickin is the glue that draws North Carolinians together. It is at social functions, family gatherings, or just friends getting together to sit a spell and gossip.
North Carolinians are the salt of the earth in my book, not that I'm partial mind you, but we're friendly, hospitable, and just plain enjoy the simple things in life without all the hubbub of technology, cell phones and IPads.
I have extreme reserverations of how much the DNC is going to stick North Carolinians with the bill for their convention. The DNC has a terrible track record of paying it's bills to the cities that host it's conventions.
North Carolina is not Chicago, nor do we strive to be Yankees. I hope that Michelle and Barrack come down here and embrace the Southern hospitality and charm. Because the South did rise again, it rose again as a better and stronger society but still keeping it's Southern charm and roots.
The single most uttered comment is when Yankees come back down here to live is, "Boy it's crazy up there, life down here is slower."
For all my Yankee friends that I have here in American Spectator. "Ya all come down here and sit a spell, I'll go in the house and get some ice tea."

ncatty| 2.4.11 @ 10:06AM

Are you trying to encourage migration here? Shhhh...

Alan Brooks| 2.6.11 @ 12:00AM

"Are you trying to encourage migration here? Shhhh..."

The West is best. Why do you think Palin loves Alaska? She is no fool as far as her own livings go. That's why i think she might v. well be POTUS someday. She is smarter than she seems.

Timothy L. Pennell| 2.4.11 @ 10:38AM

I hear you, my brother. We all get along, just fine, if we're left to our own devices. It's the CIVIL LIBERTARIANS who's JOB it is, to divide us. We play sports together. We WATCH sports together. And we LEARN on our own, that we are the same.
DIVIDE and CONQUER. Rich vs. Poor. Black vs. White. Old vs. Young.
Leave us alone and we'll be fine.
But they never will.

Alan Brooks| 2.6.11 @ 12:06AM

"Are you trying to encourage migration here? Shhhh..."

Only thing wrong w/ the South is its justice. If all those convicted were guilty, then no problem- but the rate of innocent convictions is far too high. Please: trial first, then sentence, always. Every time an innocent is DNA-freed, that is millions in comp.
And who pays for it?: look in the mirror.

Occam's Tool| 2.6.11 @ 11:28PM

Must agree with you on this one, Alan. Attorneys are a verminous breed in general (I'll except you, RCV), but Southern ones are a certain brand of slime. America's two slimiest attorneys, Clinton and Edwards, are Southern boys.

Oldefarte| 2.7.11 @ 12:48PM

Ah, yeah, they're all 'innocent', or haven't you heard the ACLU [or SPLC] WORD yet [and the cow jumped over the moon, while the dish ran away with the spoon]!!!!!!!!!!!

Nancy in NC| 2.4.11 @ 4:14PM

But they don't have to stay.

I was born and raised in NC, and have lived here most of my life. I even married one of those GD yankees. However, they don't make many points when constantly telling us "hicks" how they did it up North and run up property values so they can have all the amentities they paid dearly in taxes for up North.

MoeBlotz| 2.4.11 @ 9:12PM

In Texas circa 1985,my friends around the Texas metroplex referred to northerners who visited the area and then left as yankees. Northerners who visited Dallas,liked the area and chose to stay were labelled as damn yankees. In my long haul trucking career,I would deliver a load in Texas and drink cold beer with my buddies in Dallas. We always had a good time. They told me I was a G*d d**n yankee Mother F*****r.

confedgal| 2.5.11 @ 3:04AM

Oh yeah, I know what you mean. I don't know about you but that usually gets my back up and I'm likely to tell them if they don't like the way we do things here they're welcome to go back up north.

MikeD| 2.4.11 @ 9:24PM

Remember the difference between 'Yankees" and "Damned Yankees"!

Bob Knutson| 2.7.11 @ 4:15AM

As I was raised in rural Tennessee, I would have to put our brand of BBQ up against that of NC. Not disparaging yours, of course. Sure it is delicious. Otherwise, fully agree with your comments.

Ken (Old Texican)| 2.4.11 @ 8:02AM

North Carolina my butt....heh.

I'll take Texas Bar-B-Q any old day.

Especially our beef !
What civilized person could even imagine smearing mustard all over good Bar-B-Q Yuck!

The Big E| 2.4.11 @ 8:40AM

You have the wrong Carolina. It's SOUTH Carolina where they smear mustard on their 'cue. And with all due respect to the Texas beef industry, until you've had pig, you haven't had barbecue.

Melvin| 2.4.11 @ 8:47AM

No, no, no Ken. No mustard just plain old barbecued porker with a side of vinager based sauce. I season my pig but not to heavily, because it covers up the taste and many people can't eat pork really spicy, so I more or less leave it up to them. People enjoy more that way.
Granted I'll give Texas the title of barbecued beef. I hope one of these years I can go through Texas again and partake in some barbecued brisket.
One of our project superintendents is from Texas and Ken, this guy makes a brisket that I would kill for. Damn it's good.
Now that you mention it, at least where I live we don't put mustard on Pork, in fact I never even had it that way. Doing it that way would be way would overpower the flavor of the oinker.

The Big E| 2.4.11 @ 9:04AM

I've always found that when the pig smoked properly, the need for sauce is minimal.

Dustoff| 2.4.11 @ 9:42AM

HEY YOU TWO.... stop it, your making me dang hungry. (-:

ncatty| 2.4.11 @ 10:07AM

In Davidson County its called "dip", not sauce.

loulou| 2.4.11 @ 11:45AM

AMEN. In fact, sauce is unnecessary.

MikeD| 2.4.11 @ 9:27PM

At the end of the day, how many of you can REALLY say you've EVER had really bad barbecue? That's like bad sex or a boring Harley. "Ain't never happened".

Occam's Tool| 2.6.11 @ 11:30PM

Dear Mike,

I must respectfully disagree with you. Moonlite BBQ, Owensboro, KY. Very. Bad. BBQ.

Stephanie| 2.4.11 @ 9:20AM

Ken, nobody here in VA smears mustard on their BBQ! I'v never heard of that. We have vinegar style and red sweet sauce BBQ with FF's or hushpuppies. Yummy!!!!!!!!! And again, pass the butter! PS I love beef BBQ too :-)

Old Joe| 2.4.11 @ 9:45AM

Ken, it is South Carolina that has mustard based sauce and then that is primarily around the Columbia area. That mustard based sauce is sort of sour and sweet and it marries with pig in a wonderful way. Take that from an old South Carolina boy who has cooked many a hog and pleased many a friend with his pork BBQ and a big plate of Carolina Hash and Rice.
I will acknowledge that Texas has the best beef BBQ in the country. Your tomato based sauces are perfect for the meat. Be glad to have that there because here in south Louisiana we are in a BBQ waste land. There is no decent BBQ to be had, only great gumbo.
This article and all the responses has started my mouth watering so I think this spring, I will go out to my white trash zone, clean my pit, and cook up a pit of South Carolina Redneck BBQ. Now where did I set that beer down?

Consertive View| 2.4.11 @ 3:42PM

Old Joe:
Some modest observations having lived in Charleston SC for a great many years. First, SC BBQ is good. Not great mind you, but certainly good. BBQ is not the claim to fame for South Carolina.

Having said this let me say all is not lost. There is nothing in the world to compare with a South Carolina oyster roast and she crab soup. South Carolina, and Charleston South Carolina, make the best she crab soup there ever was, or is likely to be. I have attended many an oyster roast in Charleston, eaten many a bowl of she crab soup, and there in lies the food heart of South Carolina.

So, give North Carolina its' due. If you want a pig pickin head north a state. If you want oysters and crab done right stay right there where you is at.

Old Joe| 2.4.11 @ 5:57PM

CV,

I too lived in Charleston and a times miss it dearly but living in Chaleston doesn't get you to the heart of SC BBQ.

I have eaten BBQ al over the south including both ends of NC. Still the best pork BBQ for me is in Lexington, SC and in my backyard here is Covington, LA. If we all had the same taste, we would all be eating the same thing.

gilbert| 2.4.11 @ 6:32PM

yes, texas bbq is the best! mesquite!!!

MikeD| 2.4.11 @ 9:28PM

New Braunfels Smokehouse...

Stan Redmond| 2.5.11 @ 10:00AM

Do they have good arugula salad in Texas? I hope not, then the Obamas would know where Texas is and turn your BBQ joints in to tofu and humus joints. For those of you who don't know Texas is up there by Canada.......

jd| 2.4.11 @ 8:05AM

Call me petty but I don't know who I hate looking at more -- Odumbo with is his big ears and empty head or his Rupaul lookalike of a wife.

loulou| 2.4.11 @ 11:44AM

Except that RuPaul is actually good looking. Michelle is a tranny wannabe, tatoo-ed eyebrows and all.

Martine| 2.4.11 @ 11:57AM

RuPaul dresses better.

WilliamInWien| 2.4.11 @ 8:13AM

Add it to the "expert" testimony of Meryl Streep on the danger of Alar to Apples. But then again she rooms with the ChiSOX fan who could not name a single player, past or present.

Louis Jenkins| 2.4.11 @ 8:33AM

Old Texican:

The mustard based bbq comes from South Carolina. Not NC. It ain't bad. In NC you have three different varieties, all of them tomato based. Of course there's the chopped and pulled types, but best of all is the pig picking style. Now I too prefer the Texas style over the Kansas City or the NC types. Can't get enough of it, but that's seldom.

Michelle is trying to appear to be wholesome, but that's about impossible. Obama keeps losing weight because of Michelle's eating program, and some of us may be happy over that. Heck, if he hangs around long enough he may have to take sick leave.

PaulD| 2.4.11 @ 8:43AM

"Slice of pie or dollop of banana pudding." What you talkin' 'bout, Willis? In real NC bar-b-q country, it's peach cobbler or nothing!

Melvin| 2.4.11 @ 8:49AM

Oooooo, especially when peaches are in season, and allowed to ripen and sweeten on the tree. Dagum Paul makes when want to go out and fire up the cooker.

Melvin| 2.4.11 @ 8:50AM

Jeez, the fingers and the brain don't seem connected today. I meant was Dangum makes me want to go out and fire up the cooker.

loulou| 2.4.11 @ 11:43AM

SC BBQ is better.

Old Joe| 2.4.11 @ 5:59PM

Amen

cuban pete| 2.4.11 @ 9:44AM

Every time the president, his wife or any other Democrat( most often the veep) misspeaks or reveals their ignorance of a given topic I think of Dan Quayle. He advised a youngster to use an antiquated spelling of potato and was declared a dunce by everyone in the MSM. The MSM rode that horse forever.
I know that Mr. Obama is a Brobdingnagian intellectual as verified by his academic record and legal publications so I suppose he and the First Lady are entitled to the slack afforded them by the press.
Also, the next time the subject of the president's favorite team,the Chicago White Sox, comes up he should lobby to get Billy Pierce into the Hall of Fame. I'm sure he could make a great argument and Billy's behalf.

Claypoole| 2.4.11 @ 5:16PM

What academic record? What legal publications? If anyone has seen transcripts or writing, please let me know.

irish19| 2.4.11 @ 8:42PM

I think Pete forgot the /sarc tag.
Now let's get back to BBQ talk. And please, please, please, no more about RuPaul.

Occam's Tool| 2.6.11 @ 11:32PM

Claypoole,

Remember that the Dean of HLS had fewer than 10 publications when she made the Supreme Court. Obama is a poseur.

Jeff| 2.4.11 @ 10:05AM

all I know is that her husband seems to be losing weight while she seems to be gaining weight ...
maybe we should be taking diet advice from him ?

ncatty| 2.4.11 @ 10:08AM

He is smoking more. I just hope they are Camels.

TnT| 2.4.11 @ 10:06AM

For all my friends here allow me to make one point on the discussion of Q ....

You must remember that barbecue is a NOUN ... not a VERB .... is is always cooked 'low' and 'slow' and ALWAYS begins with an 'Oink' ....

The Big E| 2.4.11 @ 11:30AM

Amen!

gilbert| 2.4.11 @ 6:33PM

nice!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ned the Red| 2.4.11 @ 10:16AM

To avoid confusion when referring to Mrs. Obama, rather than call her Obama, she should be called Oba-Ma.

alice moore| 2.4.11 @ 10:41AM

This is just my .02 on Barbecue. I was born in Idaho and transplanted in Virginia. I have visited other Southern States. ALL of these states have wonderful types of Barbecue. It is The 100 Flowers in Bloom; literally come to life. I never thought that I could only love one and eschew the other versions. We can like them all.

The Big E| 2.4.11 @ 2:11PM

Please don't misunderstand me, I do not just love one and eschew the others. They all have their own special virtues, and as I said in my earlier post, I have come to appreciate them all.

After all, in the immortal words of Anthonmy Bourdain, "It's just not a party till someone kills a pig."

Dagny Taggert| 2.4.11 @ 11:02AM

Damn you guys are making me hungry!

Ken (Old Texican)| 2.4.11 @ 11:25AM

All kidding aside,
At my favoritest BBQ joint, ((County Line)) in Texas, I ALWAYS GET THE SAUCE ON THE SIDE!
When one gets truly well cooked, (slow smoked) Q whether beef, chicken, or oink, it is pretty wonderful straight up.
I may dip a little sauce on the last bite or two just for fun....then I take the remainder of the sauce home for left-overs like roast or something.
yum yum again.

irish19| 2.4.11 @ 8:44PM

Sauce on the side is always a good idea.

MikeD| 2.4.11 @ 9:31PM

Do any of you know about the little cement block joint outside Oxford Miss. on the way to the interstate? You're bringing up memories that I can still taste!

loulou| 2.4.11 @ 11:41AM

"Despite the hypocrisy, Michelle Obama means well."
Says who? Thunderthighs loves her ribs, kobe beef, caviar, lobster, foie gras, ice cream but only for her. Not for the tax paying little people who are too fat.

Martine| 2.4.11 @ 11:58AM

It's all about controlling the rest of us. Everything they do is about control. Everything.

Tom in Michigan| 2.4.11 @ 12:44PM

Even I (nobody would ever accuse me of being an Obama supporter) think this is a bit thin as a criticism of Michelle Obama. There are so many other things about her and her husband more worthy of criticism than what appears to me to be a slight exaggeration of geography. I'm sure she meant the Charlotte "area" has great barbecue just as there's great barbecue not only in Memphis but in the surrounding environs.

I strive to eat a healthy diet myself but, whenever my wife makes ribs-buddy, I'm there but just not over-indulging. Let's concentrate on the real issues and leave this kind of knit-picking to the leftists.

Jack Daniels| 2.4.11 @ 2:22PM

No, let's not. This has given us a good outlet for a start to a great weekend.
The two occupying our White House make me gag and she is a know-it-all who wants all of us who pay her way everyday, to do as SHE says, NOT as she does. No, no, no. She knows better and she has more money. I cringe everytime I see the two of them.

MacDaddy| 2.4.11 @ 1:26PM

Michelle is a fascist oportunist narcissist who is trying to impose her will and values over the rest of America. And to show that she has a 'human' side, she condescendingly communicates her ignorance by trying to descend from her throne occasionally and show she is a "woman of the people." If Barrack wanted to be a two-term president, he should have divorced Michelle and married Oprah. For now, though, we have an Oprah Wannabe in the White House....

Real American| 2.4.11 @ 3:27PM

what's hilarious is that during the Obamacare/individual mandate arguments, the left scoffs at the notion that govt wound EVER require us to eat broccoli or green leafy veggies (or other healthy govt approved food) under their interpretation of the commerce clause. That'd be absurd! Of course, then we see Michelle Obama running around the country telling people what to eat, how much, when and where (and likewise telling restaurants and stores what they ought to sell) and laying the groundwork for the govt fulling mandating our diets to us (infantilizing us even more, in the process). These leftards have no credibility.

gilbert| 2.4.11 @ 6:35PM

you dork. she's no telling you what to eat - they're suggestions and healthy ones too.

it's diet leadership b/c odds are, you're a self-indulger...that's the math, dude!

Stan Redmond| 2.5.11 @ 10:03AM

None of there business!

Stan Redmond| 2.5.11 @ 10:04AM

oops... Their!

gilbert| 2.6.11 @ 12:59AM

prosperity should be the business of our government: health.

Juju| 2.4.11 @ 3:42PM

Mrs. Obama would better serve the country if she would practice what she preaches. First off she needs to let kids SEE her exercising which is a big part of a healthy lifestyle. If she doesn't do something herself, pretty soon, she and Oprah are going to have the same size behind.

gilbert| 2.4.11 @ 6:24PM

anyone that is not open to hearing about healthy and well-balanced diet is probably obese or overweight.

who's lean, healthy and physically fit here for their age? if you are then you can't be mad at her for trying to make you healthy. geez, she just cares about your health.

Oldefarte| 2.4.11 @ 8:31PM

I'll bet Michelle My Belle could beat [and elbow him into the bushes] Billy Clinton through the door of any BBQ joint [or at least a Mc D's] in Carolina... what you bet???????

irish19| 2.4.11 @ 8:47PM

Tough call! Although I think I'd give Algore the edge over M'chelle in the same contest.

Oldefarte| 2.5.11 @ 10:23AM

You're probably right, but I'll bet you that she wears the pants in her household.....and rather large ones at that!!!!!!!!!

Dewey Brockman| 2.4.11 @ 8:59PM

Andrew Cline - You're a fucking moron.

Oliver| 2.4.11 @ 9:05PM

You petie little bastard. Anything to promote your stupid right wing ideology. I hope your readers are not as stupid as you but then again I may be not

Occam's Tool| 2.6.11 @ 11:33PM

"Petty," Oliver. Petie is the name of a parakeet.

Oldefarte| 2.7.11 @ 12:52PM

Never knew the Constitution was 'right wing ideology' until now!!!!!!

candymatthews| 2.4.11 @ 9:08PM

So ... YOU have a really, really strong history of understanding weight control, do you Mr. Cline. Because from where I sit, it looks like you are pointing at someone who IS doing something while you ... do nothing. Personally, I am an expert at weight loss, and I have not one iota of a problem with Mrs. Obama's statements and efforts in her attempt to help the youth of America. YOU, on the other hand, might have a body mass issue. I'd suggest getting your head checked before you pass judgement on something about which you clearly have neither understand nor authority.

Rick| 2.5.11 @ 1:00AM

Your a rasist!

David Shanahan| 2.5.11 @ 1:10AM

Andrew,
Have you ever seen the "food pyramid"? Some version of it has been around for about 100 years now. Ever heard of farm subsidies? Sure you have. They've been around for a while, too. Government has been involved in our diet for a long, long time, and they have not done the best job of it. It's a fact: we are a fat bunch, and our fatness costs us all in health, wealth, happiness and productivity. But you already knew all that, didn't you Andy. I suppose you have to write something to tickle your base, eh?

JiveBomber| 2.5.11 @ 2:03AM

Either Michelle Obama is ignorant, or is just a silly woman. I lived in the Tarheel State for six years, and during that time, I never used the words "great", "BBQ", and "Charlotte" in the same month much less the same sentence.
Here's the words she needed to know: Wilber's, Great Barbeque, Goldsboro, North Carolina.

DaveS| 2.5.11 @ 10:44AM

Why are we so obsessed with the marginal? So, she eats shoe leather (excuse me, sneaker sole), now and then. But it's not like a spoken gaffe: she wrote it. Nobody outside of the residential quarters of the WH wakes to see if Michelle has said anything. Don't worry: you didn't miss anything. After the WH garden photo-op, and this, can we just please leave the poor girl alone?

DaveS| 2.5.11 @ 10:46AM

Oh yes, Alan Brooks, what sympathy did you have for Quayle when he spelled exactly what was on the public school teacher-provided flash card (the famous 'potatoe' debacle)?

Alan Brooks| 2.6.11 @ 12:18AM

I liked Quayle. If he had headed the ticket in '92 I would (did not vote that year; in '96 voted for Gunderson, a 3rd party nut- didn't know he was a conspiracy-nut at that time) have voted for him. But this world was not created to make us happy. All the GOP we have had since '89 is Bushes.

I MIGHT vote Palin as a bone to throw to rightwing feminism. And she is pretty.

Oldefarte| 2.7.11 @ 12:57PM

What's your BONE with the 'Bushes' [maybe their wealth or their Yankee Carpetbagism]?????????

Tom| 2.5.11 @ 7:58PM

No surpise, like all Fascists, their motivation is power, their hearts are but full of EVIL. The Demonrats spawn them, or attract them like maggots.

WAKE UP| 2.5.11 @ 10:31PM

Some of us have been saying all along that MICHELLE is the problem.

Alan Brooks| 2.6.11 @ 12:11AM

"Oh yes, Alan Brooks, what sympathy did you have for Quayle when he spelled exactly what was on the public school teacher-provided flash card (the famous 'potatoe' debacle)?"

DEAD WRONG.
I liked Quayle. If he had headed the ticket in '92 I would have voted for him; I almost voted for Bush, but on election eve I decided not to vote. I never voted for Clinton, only Gore and Kerry-- as a protest against RINO #2.

A vote is second only to God in importance, if She exists..

DaveS| 2.6.11 @ 11:42AM

That a non-starter. The 'She' is a non-starter also.

Oldefarte| 2.7.11 @ 1:01PM

Oh, 'She', He or It exists, alright; as you [and everyone] will discover upon the AND UNTO DUST THY SHALT RETURN moment!!!!

St. Thor| 2.6.11 @ 11:21AM

I'll pay attention to Michelle Obama's advice on food when Carl Levin drops 200 pounds.

philfl63| 2.6.11 @ 6:18PM

Yes, we live in a free country and she can tout what she wishes. However, I am free to tell that disgusting she-rilla to shut her pie-hole and mind her own business.

zinka milanov| 2.7.11 @ 1:53AM

Let us hope that the Ist Lady never goes to Utube and finds that great documentary Werner Herzog Eats his Shoe. (He boils the shoe with some garlic and onions and does eat it.). And maybe Michelle's campaign will bring back an interest in Mrs. Nesbitt, the FDR family cook, who served food to the potus from the NY State extension service cookbook, on Eleanor's orders. (
sweetbreads and scrambled eggs for weeks at a time).

NickP| 2.7.11 @ 9:40AM

And you get bet all the crap for the White House Super Bowl party was not bought at her favorite walmart.

tag| 2.7.11 @ 10:04AM

I'll always judge the Silverback by what I saw when they were campaigning! Her, giving HIM a thumbsup, and hand clasp after he made this acceptance speech with her face CLEARLY showing "you did it, you fooled them all, they all fell for it"! That will stay with me for a very long time. This whole thing, prez, is a joke for them. It's a trial run because this jerk doesn't have a clue about what he is doing just like he knew nothing in the senate without Ted Kennedy who held his hand the entire time! He was worthless there, and he isn't doing any better now. That whole family is a blight on American history - he has no right to that office and he knows it. He pulled off one of the greatest hoax's ever perpetrated on the American people! Blacks came out of the woodwork, registered and voted for the first time in their entire life ONLY BECAUSE THIS GUY IS BLACK! No other reason, and this what we got! They need to go BACK into the woodwork and stay there!

wbheff| 2.7.11 @ 10:35AM

I have read through the U. S. Constitution many times, and cannot find a single reference to the "First Lady." There is no authority whatsoever for spending one penny of money confiscated from the taxpayers to fund any activities by the President's wife. She is a private citizen, who happens to be married to the President. She has no authority, nor responsibilities under the Constitution, and spending money on her whims constitutes Fraud, Waste and Abuse (which sounds like the name of a "liberal" law firm), and should be ended forthwith.

Gerald Treffinger| 2.7.11 @ 10:56AM

Did anyone notice the menu at the White House Super Bowl Party ? GHT

GotFreedom| 2.7.11 @ 11:15AM

This woman lives in a "do as I say, not as I do" world! Who died and made her "queen"; giving her the right to tell us what to eat when she herself does not live by her own "rules"? Just look at what was served at the WH for Superbowl Sunday--bratwurst, kielbasa, cheeseburgers, deep-dish pizza and Buffalo wings with sides of German potato salad, twice-baked potatoes and assorted chips and dips. Stop dictating what we should/should not eat--lead by example and then maybe we'll consider what you have to say Mrs. Obama!

Vicki| 2.7.11 @ 5:13PM

You said it! The pathetic thing about it is, they say these things, but we all see what they do as far as eating at McDonalds, having ice cream, etc... everything these people do is hypocracy.

Larry| 2.7.11 @ 12:08PM

I disagree that she has anyone's good intentions at heart. Do you really think that she gives a rat's ass about the "little" people?

It's about control. Witness the food at the White House Super Bowl party.

Vicki| 2.7.11 @ 5:15PM

I agree. They don't care about anyone except their own little circle, and who pull their strings - all without the USA health in mind.

Betty-Jane Osborne| 2.7.11 @ 1:01PM

She should start with Monsato, GMOing and ring the FDA

Evie| 2.7.11 @ 12:33PM

I don't care for Obama & his wife, but I believe articles like this is petty, and more like a gossip column--not worthy of a serious organization. I want to be kept informed of issues of importance, not those that just tear down.

RME KRNL| 2.7.11 @ 1:09PM

Oh, I'm surprised Madame Michelle "Antoinette" Obama doesn't want us "little people" to just eat cake.

Kai| 2.7.11 @ 1:42PM

You want to eat all the barbecue and drink all the sugar-laced sweet tea you want? ok then, go ahead. but when your health insurance premiums go up because you take a bigger piece of the healthcare pie, don't complain and expect healthier individuals like myself to pay your costs. Yes, the government should NOT be mandating dietary guidelines to people. That is not their business. However, if Americans cannot show the responsibility necessary when it comes to things like health and finances, then I and other people who HAVE been responsible and made sacrifices should not be expected to cover your gluttony by paying higher insurance premiums or pay for Socialist programs to support your poor choices through higher taxes. Go ahead....eat what you want and how much of it you want. Just be prepared to pay out of pocket for your diabetes medications, Bariatric surgery, Cholesterol meds, or health bypass surgery and don't expect the government to send you a check each month when you get to fat and sick to work. Obesity and diabetes are NOT diseases; they are lifestyle choices. You eat a bigger piece of the pie (healthcare), you should pay a bigger chunk.

mp| 2.7.11 @ 1:44PM

this might be the dumbest thing I've ever read. will the next one call out rock bands for saying "*insert your city* has the best fans!"?

Seriously. Grow up.

T| 2.7.11 @ 2:25PM

Michelle Obama has done nothing to ban your Twinkie and corn syrup supply, you stupid rednecks. She's trying to put salad bars in schools so that your kids have the option to walk to class instead of roll.

Pettiness is the refuge of the weak, Andy.

Vicki| 2.7.11 @ 5:17PM

Give me a break. What these kids eat in school is one small meal, 5x a week. That will not do anything about their weight or health. ITS THE PARENTS who are to put healthy food on the table and bring their children up where they know the healthy choices. NOT THE GOVERNMENT!

Jim in Virginia| 2.7.11 @ 2:58PM

Mr. Cline: it must have been a VERY slow news day when you came up with the idea for this article. Your fear of government eventually dictating your food choices reminds some of William F. Buckley's resistance to laws requiring motorcyclists to wear helmets. Yes, those clamoring to ride helmet-less often claimed helmet laws infringed on their liberties and rights. Fortunately, the cost to society of head injuries to helmetless motorcyclists convinced the majority of citizens and their legislators that it was in society's overall best interest to force riders to wear helmets (or, for that matter, seat belts in their cars). If one wants to be a member of a society, one should strive to do what is acceptable to or best for society and not go off in 308 million directions doing what his or her mind has concluded is best for him or her as an individual. By that I do not suggest no place exists for individual rights. It is just that individual rights have a limit (try yelling “fire” in a crowded cinema when no fire exists!).

Layne in Virginia| 4.28.11 @ 9:11PM

You Sir,are a plain and simple IDIOT.The reason seat belt and helmet laws were enacted was INSURANCE companys wanted them enacted.The same people that had the national speed limit dropped in the 70s.Was proven it didnt stop highway deaths.Cops used to say I have never unstrapped a dead man,nother lie.Only a hardcore liberal that wouldnt know how to find his own food would try to tell others how to live.

L. Bakon| 2.7.11 @ 3:17PM

There isn't one thing the Obama family could do to my satisfaction either Mr. Cline. Ever.

Some would say that you and your fellow journalists are souless partisan twits who walk down the boulevard trying to determine the political affiliation of everything in view.

Is that fire hydrant a Republican or Democrat. probably a socialist it was provided by the government. Is the sun a Republican? How about the clouds.

Never stray from your team.

Excellent journalism. Well played sir.

David| 2.7.11 @ 5:24PM

Occam's Tool, you hit it on the head with the reminder that when Michelle had that cush $300,000 per year job, only getting it after Bam Bam became a U. S Senator, that she sent poor people to other facilities.

If that were a repub who did that, the media would never let us forget it. Where is conservative media to remind us when the dems really, really do something outrageous???

FedUp| 2.8.11 @ 1:52AM

I was in a McDonalds a while ago, sitting in front of the play area watching the kids play...... yes playing at a McDonalds!!!.... after eating their lunch. There were about 12 kids there and none of them seemed to have a problem with their weight!

J Shirley Cowan| 3.10.11 @ 2:25PM

Lead me to the BBQ (with slaw), tea and a side of fries on the side!!!!

jacky| 3.20.11 @ 5:59AM

I was in a McDonalds a while ago

jacky| 3.20.11 @ 6:00AM

I was in a McDonalds a while ago

jacky| 3.20.11 @ 6:00AM

I was in a McDonalds a while ago

Christian Louboutin| 6.23.11 @ 6:06AM

The classic example: In 2004, Sen. John Kerry, trying to bolster his regular guy image, spoke of Green Bay's hallowed ";Lambert Field." It's Lambeau Field. Ten dork points for Kerry.