Let's Drink…to Getting Rid of the Office of the First Spouse…
I've got a piece up at Time.com discussing First Lady Michelle Obama's bold new intiative to encourage Americans to drink more…water.
Here's a snippet:
Screw "Let's Move," Mrs. Obama's previous crusade, which was designed to make us exercise. Now it's time for "Let's Drink." But only water. Even in this economy – and despite ubiquitous government surveillance, constant rumors of war, and the slim but real possibility that any of us might accidentally show up on her husband's secret kill list….
Can we please make it stop? And by it, I don't just mean Mrs. Obama's seemingly non-stop nagging and noodging about our weight. (In 2010, she transformed the South Lawn into a fitness boot camp for the White House Easter Egg Roll.)…
No, I mean the entire Office of the First Lady, which consists of about two dozen people whose salaries are paid for by taxpayers. Isn't there a budget crisis going on? Money is supposed to be so tight at the federal level that White House tours have been canceled and the president is down to employing just two (count 'em) calligraphers. And yet we can afford a publicly subsidized entourage for the First Lady?
It's not simply a question of money, of course. And it's certainly not a question of gender, either. Who can imagine what fresh horrors await the American public if and when Sarah Palin or Hillary Clinton gain the Oval Office? Could official "Let's Snowmobile!" or "Let's Kegel!" crusades be far off if Todd Palin or Bill Clinton become First Dude?