At a time when many a career has been toppled by any whiff of Obama Hate, The Buzz has to give culture critic Robin Givhan credit for daring to ask the question of who will deflate the myth around Michelle Obama, in the way the First Lady did for her husband during the campaign. Speaking of Michelle's Vogue new cover spread, Givhan wrote: Michelle "Obama is extraordinary. But she is not exceptional." We totally agree. Michelle's just your run-of-the-mill Ivy-trained lawyer, spurned-by-the mother-of-her Princeton roommate, 5' 11," stacked, great-great granddaughter of slaves living in the White House.
What's exceptional about that?
In all seriousness, Givhan gets to a point we've been mulling over for a minute. She writes: "Obama's champions act as if they know her, that they understand her and she them. All that passionate support, however, comes at a price. They have wrapped her in a protective cocoon that could soon border on smothering."
Indeed just this weekend, The Buzz was chatting poolside with another swimming parent who attended the same Alvin Ailey show at the Kennedy Center as the Obama family last week. "After a while it became kind of embarassing," Swim Mom reported. First, the Kennedy Center audience gave a rousing standing ovation when the Obama family arrived. Then, at some point of the evening Barack took his daughter on an apparent bathroom break. When they returned to their seats the crowd stood up and clapped again. Swim Mom was not pleased. "I mean, she just went to go pee!"