Huckleberries Online

Sleevegate Dogs Michelle Obama

Posted by DFO

March 30, 2009 9:02 a.m. • 59 comments

All of Twitter was aflame with that burning fashion question until even heavyweight pundits such as The New York Times’s David Brooks felt compelled to weigh in, joking that as far as he could tell, “one of the main reasons Barack Obama ran for president was so Michelle would have a platform to show her biceps, Thunder and Lightning.” There’s no doubt that the new first lady, tall and fit (she works out “like a gladiator” according to one friend), has a head-turning physical presence. Just by virtue of her skin colour, she already looks like no first lady before her. But apart from invoking her “right to bare arms” (that joke was instantly everywhere) and no doubt inspiring legions of women to get to the gym, how is Michelle Obama performing so far as first lady?/Judith Timson, GlobeLife. More here.

Question: Do you believe First Lady Michelle Obama has a right to bare her muscular arms?

59 comments on this post so far. Add yours!

JeanieSpokane on March 30 at 9:16 a.m.
Absolutely!!! She looks fantastic. If I were half in shape, I’d go sleeveless, but I’ll spare ya’ll a bad fashion look.
BigMac on March 30 at 9:18 a.m.
Sure, she has a right to dress however she likes.
JBelle on March 30 at 9:19 a.m.
Jesus, Mary and Joseph. You did not just ask this question!

Not since Nancy Reagan had her linen on the beds has the White House been lit up with fashion style and sense that is Michelle Obama. What a visual and sensual oasis she is!

Do you remember Cher’s very famous remark, in response to questions about the propriety of any kind of breast surgery? Something to the effect of

“If I decide to have one sewn on my back, whose business is it?”
jazzyvandal on March 30 at 9:19 a.m.
She looks great! Why not show the arms off?
toadman on March 30 at 9:22 a.m.
Oh please.. this is a silly issue. Of course she has the right to bare her arms. She looks strong and confident. Too bad so many men fear strong, smart, confident women. I don’t. I welcome them.
JBelle on March 30 at 9:31 a.m.
yeah! :p

:)
MikeK on March 30 at 9:32 a.m.
As a supporter of the 2nd Amendment, I think all women have the right to bear arms.
MikeK on March 30 at 9:34 a.m.
Oh, and JBelle - growing up in my neighborhood a friend’s mother would always use the exasperated statement you made above, though hers was amended slightly from yours. She said (with her fervent faith and religiosity unquestioned): Jesus, Mary, and Bald-headed Joseph!

I can find nothing to support her historically, but it’s stuck with my and still makes me smile about 30 years later.
Fishwife on March 30 at 9:42 a.m.
You go girl !!
Mariannel on March 30 at 10:14 a.m.
If you DON’T have it (unsightly flab), flaunt it for the rest of us who do! Go, Michelle.
scootermom on March 30 at 10:40 a.m.
What a stupid distraction.

Let’s marginalize the First Lady by talking about her sleeveless dresses. Hey, she’s a Harvard grad and a successful attorney. But apparently her arms are a more worthy topic of discussion than her brains.

(Bangs head on desk). Yea, we’ve come a long way baby.
notright on March 30 at 10:46 a.m.
scootermom nailed it. Little minds involved big time in non-issues.
cantyoureadthesigns on March 30 at 10:49 a.m.
“muscular” arms?

They don’t look muscular.

They look trim, fit, and curvaceous.
Kage_Mann on March 30 at 10:59 a.m.
She’s just accentuating her strengths.
marmitetoasty on March 30 at 11:39 a.m.
Isnt it an American right ‘to bare arms’ or is that talking about shotguns :)

x
JeanC on March 30 at 12:00 p.m.
What scootermom said! +5

Marmite, there is also the right to arm bears :D
toadman on March 30 at 12:04 p.m.
I think we should arm the unemployed, and sit back and see what happens.

;-)
Charlie on March 30 at 12:06 p.m.
Aren’t there more important things going on besides sleeveless dresses? She can wear whatever she pleases, I don’t care!
toadman on March 30 at 12:14 p.m.
Well said Charlie. Still, this thread has garnered over 18 comments as of my writing, so apparently, we are more interested in Michelle’s (strikingly lovely) arms than anything else DFO has posted this morning.

Personally, I find her to be a very beautiful and smart woman…a total turn on, man. I’d also like to point out that I haven’t mentioned the word “boob” even once since Jbelle said her thing about Cher earlier on….

oh.. bugger…sorry scootermom. I believe in total equality of the sexes, I really do…but I still love boobs…sorry.
DFO on March 30 at 12:28 p.m.
>Jesus, Mary and Joseph. You did not just ask this question! — JBelle.<

Alas, I’m a weak blogmeister. I love questions like this. I would have no idea that there was a hubbub re: Michelle Obama’s sleeveless look, if I hadn’t been looking for material in the blogosphere. I see absolutely nothing wrong with her look, with or without sleeves. She’s toned. And would look swell in almost anything she wore for her official portrait (this side of that weird black-and-red dress she wore to her hubby’s acceptance speech). I’d conclude that the many responses to the question show that Merry Hucksters enjoy the offbeat (even when it’s ridiculous), too.
Cindy_H on March 30 at 12:41 p.m.
I think the only hubub comes from women who envy her toned arms and her personal trainer, and men who are know darn well Michelle could beat them at arm wrestling.
JBelle on March 30 at 12:45 p.m.
Alas, I’m a weak blogmeister. I love questions like this. —DFO

well, all right. At least it wasn’t a weird animal picture.

;)
JBelle on March 30 at 12:48 p.m.
but hey, how about a questions somewhere along the lines of this:

how come the Democrat First Ladies are graduates of prestigious universities and have heavy-weight post bac degrees? And the Republican Frist Ladies are…..forgive me, librarians?
JBelle on March 30 at 12:48 p.m.
;)
Cindy_H on March 30 at 12:52 p.m.
Hey! What’s the matter with librarians? That library science degree is no cake walk.
toadman on March 30 at 12:53 p.m.
“well, all right. At least it wasn’t a weird animal picture.”

Jbelle, the day isn’t over yet.. give him time, he’ll find a three headed half goat half fish yet…
cantyoureadthesigns on March 30 at 2:58 p.m.
Didn’t Nancy Reagan have an (honorary) Doctorate in Astrology?
Cis on March 30 at 3:25 p.m.
toadman, guess the reason there are 18+/27 commenters
because we couldn’t figure out why DFO would lower the bar on a stupid question, when there are so much better out there.
and what possible could people comment on it to justify it.
So I guess it is like a car wreck, you don’t want to look but you do.
inlandempiregirl on March 30 at 9:26 p.m.
I am glad she is baring her fit and trim arms and I am also delighted that she is using those muscles to break ground for a White House vegetable garden.

« Back to Huckleberries Online

You must be logged in to post comments.
Please create a profile or log in here.

About this blog

D.F. Oliveria is a columnist and blogger for The Spokesman-Review. Huckleberries Online was judged the best 2008 Idaho newspaper blog by the Idaho Press Club. And the best 2007 news blog in the Pacific Northwest by the Society for Professional Journalist. Print Huckleberries is a past winner of the Herb Caen Memorial Column contest by the National Association of Newspaper Columnists. The Readership Institute of Northwestern University cited this blog as a good example of online community journalism.