Women in the public eye

When did it become acceptable to pick on Michelle Obama?   Social Media, the Court of Public Opinion, is blasting Michelle for her campaign to get better food choices into schools.  WHY is good food for kids a hot button issue?  Let's see......   The kids won't eat it and the toss it out, then they are hungry.  Hmmm, when I was a kid, if I threw out food my mother would have whipped my butt not said "Oh you poor thing, you need a Happy Meal"  The kids complain it's not enough- or at least that is what one group is posting, pictures of half empty trays.  you can SEE where the food was removed from the tray.  Honestly. My mother packed a lunch for me when I went to school. People these days think they are entitled to things and need to be taken care of by government, but complain when what they get isn't what they think they deserve.  Michelle Obama is at the eye of the storm because she had the nerve to make childhood obesity her "cause".

Almost every First Lady had a publicly stated cause, that they supported.  People say "well I didn't vote for her"  DUH!  And she ISN'T GETTING PAID for this!  The "job" of  First Lady is an unpaid position.  She's expected to work on something, but not be paid for it. 

I wonder about the women who have been in that position, at least in my memory.  Jackie Kennedy, who took on making the White House an American showplace, Lady Bird Johnson who ran the "Beautify America" Campaign.  Nancy Reagan with "Just say No" ( I doubt she came up with that one on her own)  Hillary Clinton was trying to improve healthcare, but she had an uphill battle with that one.  Betty Ford championed Breast Cancer and later substance abuse, having battled both.   I had to look up Pat Nixon to see what here "Cause" was.  She didn't rally have one, just what she termed "quiet diplomacy"  She traveled with Tricky Dicky and probably humanized him to some degree.  It has been said that the private Nixon was a lot different from the public one.  I just know I was not thrilled with him as a president.

So, I am thankful ( see, you knew I would get there) for women who choose to take on the role of First Lady and to take the nonsense that is thrown at them for this unpaid job with their heads held high. I think the fact that Michelle Obama got us talking about the problem of childhood obesity and what can be done about it is a good thing, no matter WHAT her detractors might say.