We are starting to see more than a few articles critical of POTUS Al O'Bama, who will be up for re-election next year, barring a Johnsonian decision to stand down rather than face the wrath of the voters. But the American lamestream media have so far ignored or covered up the Imelda-Marcos-like lifestyle of the lovely Michelle.
Not so the British media. The online edition of the Daily Mail -- by no means the worst of the tabloids -- accuses the First Lady of squandering ten million dollars ($10,000,000) of public money on vacations. Better take your blood pressure meds before looking at "Expensive massages, top shelf vodka and five-star hotels: First Lady accused of spending $10m in public money on her vacations".
Oops, did I draw a comparison with Imelda Marcos? There's a closer resemblance to Grace Mugabe, second wife (as far as we know) of Zimbabwe's President-for-Life, Comrade Robert Gabriel Mugabe. Grace is the one on the left. Or is it the right? Better check out the Daily Mail article to be sure which is which.
Walt's question for today: If the American people found out how much they're paying for Imelda's lavish lifestyle, would they still vote for her husband? Zimbabweans don't have much choice, but Americans do... if they found out. Of course in Zimbabwe the media are pretty much controlled by the government. Not like America... ... ...
For nearly all black Americans, this is a feature, not a bug. Blacks are extremely status-conscious, and they identify with a leader's display of high-status activities, or flaunting of wealth or privilege; it makes him more attractive.
ReplyDeleteBack in the 1950s and 1960s, Adam Clayton Powell was the U.S. Representative from the Harlem area of New York City. He looted his Congressional expense budget for personal luxuries, and put his many mistresses on his staff payroll.
For these misdeeds, he was expelled from House and was re-elected by his admiring constituents.
(For a sample of the black American obsession with high-status goods and conspicuous consumption, skim a "chick-lit" novel targeted to black women. The brand-name-dropping is almost continual.)