Our Model Marriage

As an older person I find the Barrack phenom disturbing. Yet not surprising. Overt social message pumped through the tv at kids filled thier minds with images of Morgan Freeman as God, Oprah as the virgin mary and Denzel as Jesus. Worship of black atheletes and singers with more bravado than talent in very common these days. The amazing power of television "programming" propelled Barrack to the top.

There is no doubt that the Republicans are trying very hard to discredit the Obama admin at every turn, that they are stubbornly unified in a non-cooperative stand and hoping to manipulate public opinion with their subterfuge. What should happen, what would be logical and appropriate, is for them to lose all creditability and be recognized for their irresponsible focus on their political games rather than on what is best for the country. Then maybe we could see some real bipartisanship and conscientious efforts towards resolving the drastic problems affecting this country. The last eight years of self-serving politics has been more than enough and exceedingly costly, we really shouldn't accept more of the same, we literally can't afford to!

Nice article on the President and First Lady, and I enjoyed their photograph too.

We all know that no one is perfect and we each readily admit, as long as we don't have to get specific, that it includes us. Off the record I will humbly acknowledge that it includes my own phobia against dishonesty. I get really upset when I am confronted with dishonesty, worse when I am expected to accept it, and it can then render me stubbornly uncooperative - which I realize is not a plus. After being raised by a devoutly Catholic but paranoid mother who felt people should be honestly and conscientiously driven yet who really saw no one as ever being that way, I developed a scrutinizing and demanding attitude for sincerity and for having a real conscience. I only hope I actually live up to my own demands. Politics and politicians simply do not. It isn't a matter of Republican or Democrat as they all act pretty much the same as they concentrate on their own interests, on their politics, instead of on their responsibility to the people. It doesn't matter if it is Pelosi or McCain, Reed or Boehner, Dean or Steele, Kyl or Clinton, Palin, Graham or Dodd or even Limbaugh or Olbermann, Hannity or Maddow, or whoever, so many are just literally controlled by their self-interests rather than by a sincere and rational conscience. We have seen the absolute worst in the Bush-Cheney administration and to minimize that is to simply irrationally and irresponsibly ask for more of the same. If we admit the truth, in general we simply see a too frequent attitude of 'more for less' that corrupts our society. Now with Barak Obama, for good or bad, we are confronted with an apparently sincere and conscientious leader who wants to honestly resolve our many and drastic problems for the benefit of the average American. Whether that is too auspicious or just unreal isn't as important as is it being a sincere and real effort. The Republicans are literally being irresponsible in their stubborn and belligerent self-serving obstructionist attitude that fails to demonstrate any real concern for their constituents - as Limbaugh says, they just want Obama to fail - and that is absolutely detrimental to all of us. Their bold and obnoxious dishonesty in their deceptive and spurious criticisms and in their failure to be constructive is totally offensive. It strikes me that we the people, the voters, have to first be honest with ourselves and then to firmly reject the dishonesty of the politicians and let them know we hold them to a higher standard. Whoever we support, we need to demand from them an honest and conscientious effort, one which deals with reality. If we continue to accept their self-focused BS, then we can only blame ourselves

does anyone know what has become of vera baker? those of you close to the obama's with intimate, inner-circle knowledge of their loving, devoted relationship to eachother might know.

Hey Andy - your writing is as shallow and empty as your general, oh-so-inexperienced outlook on life. Here's some free advice: why not consider becoming an even more useless life-long academic? Get Mommy & Daddy to "supplement" the Princeton degree they already bought you with a masters (hell, a COUPLE masters degrees) and then top it off with a doctorate. I'm sure they won't mind paying your way while you continue to write lefty lib tripe like this well into your 30s...

my two comments on 2-17 and 2-18 were sardonic.

We had good friends, who had the MODEL MARRIAGE too - publicly, but privately it was apparently a living hell and they divorced after their children moved out. I do not consider my marriage a model marriage but despite the ups and downs my wife and I have been together 30 plus years and are very happy but not always happy with each other at times. I hope their marriage is all it is reported to be but Bill and Hillary put up a pretty good front too until all interns broke loose.

why confine ourselves to the superficial qualities of these two outstandingly accomplished people? michelle's striking beauty and extraordinary sense of fashion is apparent. i prefer ennumerating all the important social causes she has tirelessly immersed herself into over the past four weeks and the significant depth of consciousness this reflects. president obama , in like, is dedicating every waking hour in the white house attempting to create a new, transparent government that will provide the nation with a healthy economy, jobs, etc. he is scrupulously selecting cabinet members who will only contribute principled idelals in this endeavor. let's change the rhetoric and address issues that affect our lives and well being. i think a brief getaway for the couple would not be amiss.

I love the Obamas. Precisely, because of the equilibrium they've established in their relationship and the roles that they've carved out. While I understand that it's very difficult to tell what's really going on in a marriage from outside, they certainly exude confidence in their relationship that I can only hope to achieve in my own marriage someday.

A great couple and a great example to us all. Good article

regrettably, objectivity is absent in the majority of articles written about our beautiful first lady who has established herself as a fashion icon. instead of focusing on physical attributes or the absence thereof, why not consider the numerous causes the first lady has tirelessly immersed herself into since the inauguration and her depth of social consciousness.