Goodness people! Why does Michelle need to be the NEW Jackie? She is going to be the FIRST Michelle and that is quite enough in my opinion. Here is a strong, opinionated and intelligent woman who is raising lovely and polite children. Her clothes are fine and will probably even get better since she will have world class designers competing to dress her.
I am a great admirer of the late Jacqueline Kennedy but she was NOT the paragon some people try to make her....she was a chain smoker who had stained teeth as a result...the trademark white gloves hid large peasant like hands. But what she did have she used well...a briliant literary mind...a gift for lanquages(she spoke French fluently and could handle herself in Spanish and Italian) She never followed trends and wore clothers beautifully. She set the standard for my Mom's generation and there will never be another like her. BUT...there doesn't need to be! Let's give Michelle a chance...she will bring her own unique gifts to her experience as First Lady.
By the way...for those of you morons who keep questioning Michelle's patriotism...are you all aware of a comment Jackie made on the morning of June 5 1968 at the bedside of her assasinated brother-in-law Robert F. Kennedy?? She said..and I quote..."I HATE this country. I hate it...and I don't want my children to live here and I don't want to live here anymore either". Shortly afterward she left the US to marry Aristotle Onassis and live in Greece.
Do you want t accuse HER of the same things you accuse Michelle Obama of?
FIRST LADIES
Very Little in Common But That ‘O’
Published Nov 29, 2008
From the magazine issue dated Dec 8, 2008
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Posted By: DreaminInCalif @ 12/01/2008 1:56:13 PM
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Posted By: Forty4 @ 12/01/2008 6:26:03 PM
Those two comments were made under very different circumstances for very different reasons. In all fairness, Michelle Obama has not had a husband and a brother in law assassinated. I would think that would have a tremendous influence on her statement. Also remember JKO returned to the US after Onassis passed away to work and live in New York until her death.
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Posted By: DreaminInCalif @ 12/01/2008 8:20:31 PM
I agree that Jackie was facing an incredible amount of stress when she made those comments. I think they should be taken in context, same as Michelle's. She wasn't dissing necessarily dissing the US when she made that comment and I am sick of hearing people throw it at her when others have made similar comments...like John McCain when he got out of prison camp. He made a similar comment.
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Posted By: Forty4 @ 12/01/2008 9:00:13 PM
McCain's comment referred to not really loving his country until he was separated from it and gone through the agony of incarceration and torture in a foreign land. Neither his or JKO's remarks are similar to Michelle Obama's comment of "For the first time in my adult life, I am really proud of my country," The reasons for what they said are completely different for all three.
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Posted By: 40YearR @ 12/01/2008 9:56:44 PM
So, McCain an Academy grad and son of a military lineage "not really loving his country until" is understandable and excuseable to you? That's different because it only took imprisonment and torture to bring him around? It's 'different' than Michelle, how? Sounds like a distinction without a difference to me.
Aside from all the generalities that grew from it, do you think that one comment presents the sum of her? She's been bashed enough for one comment that was probably a mispoke to begin with. Before you and the rest continue this certitude and denigration of her patriotism, you should take care to present that to all of us. Unless you can convince me that you really know her patriotism with abundant knowledge, and share it with us all, then stop the uninformed judging.
I heard about all the swirl about that comment and all the efforts to turn that speck of dust into a mountain, but for all I could see or find, wanting to know, is that there is no there there. By contrast, she has presented herself with exquisite grace and decorum. That's good enough for me. Stop the lynching if you don???t know for sure.-
Posted By: Forty4 @ 12/01/2008 10:41:13 PM
If you reread my posts, you will find that I (semi) quoted both McCain and Michelle Obama. The only one that I found "excusable" was JKO for the reasons I mentioned. All I know of McCain and Michelle Obama is the quotes they made, which I mentioned. McCain gave the reason for making his. I do not know why MO made the comment she made, and therefor didn't find fault with her. If you know, please tell us.
My point was that the original poster compared Kennedy's statement to Michelle Obama's, and then another to McCain's. All three made comments about their feelings for America for very different reasons.-
Posted By: 40YearR @ 12/01/2008 11:01:47 PM
So your whole 'point' was that they made their comments for different reasons, like your contrasting of Jackie's statement and providing historical relevance for that? Your two posts on the subject seem to indicate that you had more to say, otherwise those posts were pointless.
Do you think that the one statement Micelle made is significant? In what way?
Everything Michelle has said and done since have presented her as a patriot, worthy of being First Lady.
What IS your point, anyway?-
Posted By: Forty4 @ 12/02/2008 9:08:30 AM
They were not "pointless", as the reply to the original post suggested that JKO's statement and MO's statement were essentially the same. The were not. MO's "I've never really been proud of America until now" statement is what it is. Since she didn't say why she felt that way at the time, she later said America is "just downright mean." I can only assume that's why she made the comment in question. JK and McCain made their statements for entirely different reasons, which was my point. All three are incomparable.
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Posted By: Pia1981 @ 12/02/2008 1:14:15 PM
I would think Michelle made these comments because of her experience as a black woman. Wouldn't you agree?
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Posted By: DreaminInCalif @ 12/02/2008 2:05:13 PM
Yes Pia, I agree 100% and it's why I made the comment I made above.
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Posted By: 40YearR @ 12/02/2008 7:27:00 PM
Dreamin, You go girl! With you all the way!!!! It is remarkable to me that some here say they've felt racism (haven't we all?), but can't muster the human understanding to at least try to understand how people of color might have some residual feelings. Have been in and out, but it just disgusts me that you have offered supportive comments about Michelle, and then at least twice you have tried to be reasonable and offer different perspectives, just to show that there are different experiences for everyone, including faithful patriots, but the response is that you didn't offer the 'right' example. Then, count to 10, here come the declarations that we're not prejudiced.... The 'distinctions' so lamely offered in no way suggest that either Jackie or McCain are better patriots, or had 'better reasons', or that Michelle is any less a sincere or real patriot than either of them..... You go girl!
Yeah, I know Forty, you were just trying to point out the 'differences'......riiiigggghhhhhtttttttt-
Posted By: Skypoint @ 12/02/2008 8:52:35 PM
Once again, you demonstrate your pathetic smallness. Maybe in time, you be able to help America move forward from racism, rather than hold her back.
And "you go girl?" How do you know californiadreamin is a girl? And what difference would that make?-
Posted By: 40YearR @ 12/02/2008 9:45:31 PM
Let me guess, would it be that you're such an upright, square-dealin', all-cards-face-up-on-the-table kind of guy, you're just the guy to be calling me small, right?
As to my inferrence on gender, sexist I'm not. I might have been wrong about California's gender, but I would owe that apology to California (if it offended California), on whose side I am, in the little exercise of judgmentality to which California has been subjected above.-
Posted By: DreaminInCalif @ 12/04/2008 1:15:33 PM
Enter Your Comment.. I am definitely a GURRL...I least last time I checked LOL!
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Posted By: 40YearR @ 12/04/2008 1:54:50 PM
Thougt so,Dreamin! You are just too sweet to be a Dude. Women are from Venus, ya know....
Just want to say also that I have admired tremendously your grace and aplomb in the face of the dispicable posts you received. 'Their reasons were good enough, but yours aren't.' Don't know how you kept your composure. As you can see, I was a little bit more...plain.
So ya know, there are those of us who don't have to rationalize what we're doing here. There are also others who think that having special targets doesn't really say something about their true nature, and there are some who have a track record of picking on or disrespecting girls too.
Keep doing what you are doing. It is admirable. I have discussed with others that I do not believe I could be so gracious and cogent if our roles were reversed. Good on you!
A new day comes every day. You are more than just doing your part. I also would like to say that we, our country, are as proud of our country that we elected Obama, as we ever have been proud of it. We all should feel that pride and keep moving forward in spite of the rest....
As Hawaiians say: Me Ke Aloha Pumehana
A 40 year republican white dude-
Posted By: DreaminInCalif @ 12/04/2008 8:26:03 PM
Comment..Why thank you 40Year...you sound charming yourself! The USA, for all it's faults...is the greatest country on Earth. This is the place to be. I am proud as hell of our country and I am sure Mrs Obama is too!
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Posted By: 40YearR @ 12/04/2008 8:36:54 PM
Well thank you, Dreamin, :-)
A difference is your aplomb compared to my in-your-face when I see people up to what he was up to.
I have told many that I considered myself one the luckiest people ever to have come of age and to see the flower power cultural change. Now, I believe we live in the greatest country on earth at the time our country took such an historic step.
Having been there at that time, my first thought when I saw your name was the Mamas & Papas song California Dreamin'. That made me smile. And then I got to read your posts... :-)
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Posted By: Skypoint @ 12/02/2008 10:01:38 PM
You keep referring to people who question Michelle Obama's statement as racists, not I. And I didn't say you were sexist. I asked how you knew Cadreamin was female.
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Posted By: 40YearR @ 12/02/2008 10:06:58 PM
Ooooh, thanks for clarifying what was already in my posts....
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Posted By: Forty4 @ 12/02/2008 9:22:04 PM
You think everyone here that has an opposing opinion is racist. Stop pandering. It's very unbecoming.
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Posted By: DreaminInCalif @ 12/02/2008 1:43:38 PM
This is my guess...maybe Michelle was one of the millions of AA's who saw or heard about fire hoses being turned on Black children in the streets by law enforcement. Maybe she remembers seeing the autopsy photos of those four little girls who were blown to smithereens by a bomb while in Sunday school by the KKK. Maybe she remembers George Wallace vowing to keep public schools segregated with his own body. Or maybe she was like my older sister who went to Burger King in some rural town in Ohio and heard "Look mommy...a n-gger!" by some little White kid whose mommy didn't even blink.
Unless you are a minority in this country you will never experience the shame, anger and frustration experiences like that will teach you. And that's why I understood Michelle's comment. And it's why I feel she was at LEAST as entitled to make them as John McCain and Jackie Kennedy did when they made similar statements.-
Posted By: Forty4 @ 12/02/2008 3:09:02 PM
It looks like you feel most of white America is racist. I assure you, they're not, as the election of Barack Obama has just made clear. Likewise, there's many good and wonderful things about America, and as ugly as racism is, there's no reason label the entire nation as nothing to be proud of. That said, I can empathize with your sister. I have been on the receiving end of racism also, and I'm white. It would be a mistake to think it doesn't happen both ways.
I hate racism in any form, and if racism is what MO was speaking of as you think, maybe she can be more specific. That way she won't over shadow all the otherwise great things that Americans are proud of.-
Posted By: DreaminInCalif @ 12/02/2008 4:16:51 PM
Do I think American society is inherently racist? Based on my own experiences and those of my friends and family...yes I do. Do I think ALL Americans are racist? No indeed not.
Am I an American citizen who loves the country of my birth and would not choose to live anywhere else in the world?
A resounding YES.-
Posted By: Forty4 @ 12/02/2008 9:27:07 PM
I'm sorry you feel this way. It seems unlikely however, that most of America has just elected their first black president but are still somehow racist.
Maybe one day we can somehow reconcile all this. Good luck, and I mean that.
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Posted By: Pia1981 @ 12/01/2008 5:57:45 PM
Excellent! Thank you for this information about Jackie O's comments over the assassination of her brother-in-law. I had not heard of this before.
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Posted By: DreaminInCalif @ 12/01/2008 8:22:45 PM
Jackie was a patriot who loved this country...look how fiercely she tried to restore the White House to make it a place we could be proud of. I just posted her angry and grief stricken comments when Bobby was assasinated to make a point.
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Posted By: Pia1981 @ 12/02/2008 1:21:17 PM
Of course and she had every right to make that statement, her life had once again been hit with a terrible tragedy. That said, I will add that I have always admired and respected Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis.
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Posted By: RockgateOne @ 12/03/2008 2:28:43 PM
While Mrs. Bush received a fine education at SMU and UT, her Master Degree in Library Science is no match to the Juris Doctorate degrees earned by Michelle O'Bama and Hillary Clinton (from Harvard and Yale respectively). This oversight by Katie Connolly leads me to wonder about the level of education that prepared her for her job at Newsweek! The inaccurate statement, "Obama will be only the third First Lady with a master's degree, after Hillary Clinton and Laura Bush," would have earned this article an F in my high school journalism class!
For heavens sake Katie! Michelle and Hillary are LAWYERS! Write about that . . . . . not their clothes!
Maybe you could give the public some details of their serious contributions instead of fanning fierce urgency of their fashion!
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Posted By: Bran @ 11/30/2008 6:15:33 PM
To all you Michelle Nobama lovers--just because people disagree with you about her qualities does not make them hateful, jealous, ignorant, and racist. Everyone is entitled to their opinions, so STOP with your narrow-minded, defensive comments!
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Posted By: Pia1981 @ 11/30/2008 7:26:19 PM
I agree but what of posters whose comments imply that she is "ugly to the bone?" Would you consider Michelle's looks to be one of her qualities?
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Posted By: Bran @ 12/02/2008 11:50:29 PM
Anyone's looks are a quality of that person whether their looks are positive or negative. The comment, "ugly to the bone", may be another way of saying that Mrs. Nobama's facial features are oddly disproportioned.
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Posted By: 40YearR @ 12/03/2008 12:27:56 PM
Yes, I'm sure of it now, you are lovely inside, aren't you?
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Posted By: Bran @ 11/30/2008 1:50:07 AM
Ihave always admired Jacqueline Kennedy for her style, grace, and intelligence. How anyone can place Michelle Nobama in the same league is abominable! Her style, or lack thereof, will not represent her well in the White House. And, how graceful can she be? Michelle Nobama is built like an Amazon with a ghetto butt that seems to have no end! As for her intelligence, all one needs to do is read her thesis to see that her writings are the ramblings of an idiot! The only reason she was accepted into Ivy League colleges is because Affirmative Action was alive and well.
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Posted By: LisaWhite @ 11/30/2008 3:31:13 PM
Just curious...did you actually read her thesis? I seriously doubt it, racists are usually ignorant bigots who resort to insults in lieu of well thought-out arguments. You are truly a sad example of the ugly American. You are right, she will not be representing you in the White House, she is much too intelligent and classy for your kind.
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Posted By: Bran @ 12/02/2008 11:46:19 PM
Every word, Lisa, including her formulas! Michele Nobama classy and intelligent--I think not!
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Posted By: 40YearR @ 12/03/2008 12:20:38 PM
You must be lovely inside...
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Posted By: bshields @ 12/03/2008 12:10:26 PM
Your authors state that: Obama will be only the third first lady to hold a masters degree, after Hillary Clinton and Laura Bush. This is incorrect. As lawyers, Ms. Obama and Senator Clinton hold JD degrees, which are recognized as earned dotorates, awarded only after completion of three rigorous years of law school .
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Posted By: bshields @ 12/03/2008 12:05:04 PM
Your authors say that: "Obamawill be only the third first lady with a master's degree, after Hillary Clinton and Laura Bush." As lawyers, Mrs. Obama and Senator Clinton hold JD, degrees, which are recognized as doctorates, not masters-level degrees.
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Posted By: kashmirtogas @ 11/30/2008 1:49:51 PM
Michelle O, is no Jackie. She went to Princeton on affirmative action program and according to Christopher
Hitchens wrote a thesis in a language that was was incomprehensible in any language (including lack of basic spelling skills and sentence structure).
If mediocrcy is the the new standard, we sure have a lot to celebrate-
Posted By: DreaminInCalif @ 12/02/2008 2:14:04 PM
Barack and MIchelle Obama are many things, mediocre is not one of them. Mediocre would be the lame-duck President Bush we will mercifully all be waving sayanara to in a few weeks...you know...the guy who barely squeaked out a "C" average while during his cheerleading career at Yale?
As for Christopher Hitchens, well. That is one bitter old dude if there ever was one. There is apparently not a soul on Earth he admires or even likes. He has spent the last decade writing bitter invective against the late Mother Theresa of Calcutta for crying out loud! Enough said.
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Posted By: gehern @ 12/02/2008 10:18:27 AM
I agree. This is a woman of substance. Substance that goes beyond pure fashon. She is a woman who sets an example every single woman for the 20th century no amtter their unbringing. It is about potential and motiavation.She will develop her own style which will be a plus, not the center of her agenda.
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Posted By: Pia1981 @ 12/02/2008 1:22:03 PM
Very nice comment.
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Posted By: gehern @ 12/02/2008 10:19:47 AM
Sorry for the spelling errors in the previous comment. It is very early ;)
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Posted By: Ethel @ 12/01/2008 8:16:38 PM
Jacqueline Kennedy was sui generis. Why does anyone have to be the new Jackie? Michelle Obama will have her own niche, which she will create herself.
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Posted By: mlbuie @ 12/01/2008 5:24:55 PM
Some men like a woman with some "back". ;~)
If there is no curve to that hip, then what separates them from a boy or a man? :~) At least she won't be paying for surgery like some of you, to make more curvature. :~D
That said ... i hope they focus on her humanitarian efforts and other substantive contributions rather than her clothes or her body parts ...-
Posted By: Pia1981 @ 12/01/2008 5:53:25 PM
Excellent comment, thank you! Rocky2001, I hope you learned something here!
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Posted By: Rocky2001 @ 12/01/2008 3:24:46 PM
Not to mention her huge forehead...bucked teeth and giant @ss!! LOL!!
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Posted By: cardee98 @ 11/29/2008 5:38:12 PM
Of course they don't compare. Jackie O had a wonderful fashion sense, and didn't have a big fat butt, and is probably rolling over in her grave for being compared to Obama.
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Posted By: Lexusv @ 11/29/2008 7:09:07 PM
You have no idea how right you are. There has never been a firstlady in the white house with a decent shape. I know so many who would (and many already have) pay good money to have that hinney that Michelle carries very well. And add a intellectual mind to the mix and she is almost perfect...if such a person ever existed.
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Posted By: DreaminInCalif @ 12/01/2008 2:02:44 PM
Many women pay big $$ to have an ass like Michelle's. If Barack likes it that's all that matters and I get the feeling he loves it!! Jackie was a beauty but she was bow-legged and flat chested, you know!
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Posted By: Lexusv @ 11/29/2008 7:06:11 PM
You have no idea how right you are, there has never been a first lady in the white house with a shape. I know many who would pay (and many have) good money to get a hinney like Michelle's. And add to the mix a intellectual mind and she is just about perfect.
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Posted By: cnsjasmbs @ 12/01/2008 1:23:42 PM
Michelle Obama does not have a masters, she has a docterate (a JD is literally, a "doctorate of law"). And she is only the second first lady with one of those. A bit sloppy Newsweek.
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Posted By: Pia1981 @ 11/30/2008 10:57:28 PM
The similarity I see between Jacqueline and Michelle are their charismatic personas
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Posted By: DreaminInCalif @ 12/01/2008 12:48:08 PM
i agree....that's what I see as well.
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Posted By: kristyc3 @ 11/29/2008 10:17:06 PM
If you were to read MO's college thesis, you would be wondering how she passed third grade, not debating the difference between a masters and a JD. Thank goodness for affirmative action or she would probably be in the hood right now. Google Michelle Obama thesis.
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Posted By: white trash @ 11/30/2008 2:57:50 AM
Comment: Give it a rest Kristy, the American populace has spoken. You now represent the minority. Take a rest. Why not read a good book, "How America's brainwashed drones just love Bush and Laura, the lady who fails to speak but spreads subliminal messages with the batting of her eyelashes.' Go Einsteins.
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Posted By: Forty4 @ 11/30/2008 10:36:55 AM
White Trash, Kristyc3 commented on MO's college thesis.... how does that have anything to do with "American politics have spoken?" By the way, Laura Bush has made many significant contributions as First Lady, too many to list here, but they can be found here:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/firstlady/flbio.html-
Posted By: Pia1981 @ 11/30/2008 1:56:57 PM
I respect and admire Laura Bush. I think she's great! Good to read you and thanks for posting this.
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Posted By: Forty4 @ 11/30/2008 2:32:51 PM
Hi Pia...Thanks, I've always liked her.... grounded and not pretentious. I think she's looking forward to getting out of DC. Who wouldn't after eight years?
I hope you had a beautiful TG with your family.-
Posted By: Pia1981 @ 11/30/2008 7:20:27 PM
Hello F4! I like Laura Bush for the same reasons. Very down to earth. The Pres. isn't too bad either. They will be relieved to finally get out of Washington. They will get on the plane and wave and I will cry ...I do every time any president leaves office. No matter what, it's always sad.
My TG was great, thank you. Hope yours was too! Which reminds me, I have some pumpkin pie I took home, time to eat it..yay!-
Posted By: Forty4 @ 11/30/2008 9:22:50 PM
Hey Squirt! Glad you had a good time with your family.... I just had a huge slice of pumpkin pie with whipped cream myself....
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Posted By: Pia1981 @ 11/30/2008 10:41:20 PM
Good you enjoyed it but I hope you saved some for tomorrow. Pumpkin is my very favorite.
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Posted By: Skypoint @ 11/30/2008 10:01:38 PM
There is no comparison between Jaquelin Kennedy and Michelle Obama. They couldn't be anymore different.
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Posted By: Hariharan @ 11/30/2008 7:19:25 PM
What kind of crap article is this.. who cares about dress and style, when there is important work to be done in the country like the economy and terrorism.. get real.. Newsweek.. get something better to write about!
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Posted By: sheikwil @ 11/30/2008 4:02:47 PM
denimill, stop showing your hate and jealousy because Michelle Obama was born smarter than you and Jackie O. This is a brilliant women with taste, so stop drinking the hateraid, your klan hood is showing.
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Posted By: msh22 @ 11/30/2008 3:36:28 PM
i will try once more as i was told to 'come back later'.
this is a meaningless article. it was waste of time to read and
of money to pay someone to write it. the country is going through
too much to make this matter one bit.
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