We all know that Barack Obama, if he isn't actually divine, at least qualifies as a Superman. So I guess it's fitting that he's married to a Superwoman. Or at least that's the impression we get in today's Chicago Sun-Times article "Michelle: Her first month as first lady THE EAST WING | In just a month, Michelle Obama has put her mark on her new domain, as she embraces an activist agenda." Authored by Washington Bureau chief Lynn Sweet, the gushing appraisal begins:
It's Friday in the East Wing of the Obama White House, the realm of first lady Michelle Obama.
Many of the cream-colored walls are still bare. The Obama administration, after all, is just one month old.
But there is a growing photo collection in the hallways that charts the increasing activity of the first lady in the last two weeks as she settles in to her new role and starts expanding her portfolio of issues.
The newest item on her non-controversial agenda is healthy living. That's in addition to assisting military families, pushing work-family balance, national service, women's concerns and opening up the White House to the community.
Wow! Can you imagine one woman accomplishing so very much so quickly? But the fawning has just begun as Sweet moves on:
In this first month in the White House, Mrs. Obama has:
†Visited five federal agencies on her meet-and-greet tour. Besides Transportation, she has stopped at the Departments of Education, Interior, Housing and Urban Development and Agriculture, where she plugged fruits and vegetables.
†Become more familiar with her new city. She has lunched with Washington Mayor Adrian Fenty and Jill Biden, taken in a ballet with the family at the Kennedy Center and visited a community health center.
†Hosted an African-American History Month event at the White House. "African-American slaves helped to build this house," she said.
†Discussed balancing family and work at a panel aimed at women at Howard University.
†And, of course, continued her key role as mom-in-chief to daughters Malia and Sasha, with an assist from her mother, Marion Robinson.
Now some spoilsports might question why Obama is spending time at so many Federal agencies. It's not, after all, as though she's the one who was elected president and chief executive of those agencies. Yet Sweet apparently sees such activism from Obama as positive.
And some grouches may point out that going to two lunches, showing up at a ballet and a community center, hosting an African-American History Month in your home, participating in a Howard University panel, and having your Mom help take care of your daughters doesn't come close to filling out a month. Especially when you have a staff of 20 to lend a hand.
Lynn Sweet knows better. So she quotes the first lady's chief of staff, Jackie Norris. Obama is an "active presence" and "comes in wanting to be value-added and wanting to support the president and the president's agenda." Thank heaven. Would we want a first lady who's an inactive presence or - even more worrisome - doesn't insist on being value-added?
Sweet's puff piece is just the latest in a series of slavish Obamamania we've come to expect from the mainstream media. If Obama's chief of staff ever leaves, Sweet would make an ideal replacement. She knows an activist, value-added gal when she sees one.
