Why didn't I think of this?

Apparently, Michelle Obama turned 51 a few days ago, and the Democrats did exactly what everyone's initial inclination would be. I mean, really, who hasn't used their birthday as a fundraising opportunity?

In possibly one of the most cynical and tasteless birthday celebrations of recent times, Mrs. Obama has featured prominently in the Democratic Party’s promotional emails and social media feeds in recent days in order to try and extract money from followers.
Firstly, and undoubtedly approved by Michelle Obama, Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz sent out the following email to party members.
“I don’t know if you’ve heard, but Michelle Obama’s 51st birthday is three days away.
And I bet that you think the First Lady is pretty great — so I wanted to make sure you got the chance to sign your name to her birthday card:
Thanks, — she’s going to love this.”
If you click the link to sign the card, you then get directed to a donor page seeking a financial contribution. Here’s what you’re greeted with.
“Thanks for signing our card for Michelle! Now, can you take the next step and support the democrats?
Unlike our opponents, we don’t take money from special interests, corporate lobbyists, and political action committees.
What we have is supporters like you. Join us by making a donation today.”

And I thought I was cynical. Put aside for a moment that of course the Democrats take money from "special interests, corporate lobbyists and political action committees. I'm used to lies coming out of Debbie Wasserman-Schultz's mouth. But this seems just a bit like bait-and-switch.

Inquisitr.com puts up all the Twitter and website solicitations for donations based on the First Lady's birthday. I don't suppose anyone wonders why polling shows record lows in respect for the institution of the presidency. This is just crass and unnecessary. On the other hand, she is the White House resident with a positive approval rating, so maybe she's the last personality the Democrats have left to inspire fundraising.

Oh my God, I've been a victim of racism and didn't know it

Apparently, People Magazine has an upcoming issue with an interview with the Obamas, in which the First Couple attempt to defuse racial tension in the wake of recent events by going on about the times they have personally been the victim of casual racism. The First Lady is only able to trot out one example, apparently, which gets cut to shreds at Ben Shapiro's Truth Revolt:

On Wednesday, People magazine released an interview with President Obama and Michelle Obama, in which the two discussed their harrowing experiences with racism. Among those experiences was a shocking incident during Michelle Obama’s undercover trip to a Target:

I tell this story – I mean, even as the first lady – during that wonderfully publicized trip I took to Target, not highly disguised, the only person who came up to me in the store was a woman who asked me to help her take something off a shelf. Because she didn't see me as the first lady, she saw me as someone who could help her. Those kinds of things happen in life. So it isn't anything new.

Being asked to take things off shelves as a taller woman is the new Jim Crow.

The First Lady is nearly 6 feet tall. That, as Truth Revolt discusses, might explain why Michelle's original discussion of the incident on the David Letterman Show saw no racism implied in any way:



These people will lie about anything to make the point they want to make at the moment. It's almost as if they don't realize that video exists. Of course, the First Lady does not, in the People interview, say the incident showed racism -- she merely cited the Target encounter while talking about casual racism she and the president have encountered in their lives, knowing that there was no racist intent of any kind. This, of course, is how we begin to heal the nation's wounds caused by racism -- by lying about encountering racism. She decided to depart from her original telling of the story, where a short woman at Target simply saw a tall person and sought that person's assistance in getting an item high on a shelf. Naturally, that could have nothing to do with a belief in most Americans that their fellow Americans are willing to help out. Must be racism. Damn, I wonder how many times I've helped somebody because I was more physically capable of performing the task when they really only sought my help because of racism? Who the fuck even makes that insinuation? Stay classy, Obamas.

So much for hashtag diplomacy

Remember back in April when an Islamist terror group called Boko Haram kidnapped a couple hundred Nigerian school girls? And remember the brilliant "hashtag diplomacy" campaign intended to put international "pressure" on Boko Haram to force the return of the captives? Yeah, that was some good shit, right? Gave us pictures like this:

Yeah, Michelle even put on her sad face to add to the pressure on Boko Haram. How did that work out? Yeah, maybe not so well. As Ace tells us, Boko Haram was unimpressed by the "international pressure" placed upon them by "hashtag diplomacy," known in the White House as "smart power" and everywhere else as "rank stupidity." Yeah, it seems that Boko Haram finally stopped laughing long enough to tell folks how effective their efforts were:

The leader of Nigerian terrorist group Boko Haram has issued a new video in which he denied claims of a deal to free the 200 girls kidnapped in April from a school in the northern town of Chibok.
Abubakar Shekau, the mercurial leader of the Islamist group, smirked as he said that the girls would never be released because they had been "married off" to fighters.
"The issue of the girls is long forgotten because I have long ago married them off," he said, laughing. "In this war, there is no going back."
Speaking in Hausa, the local dialect, Shekau denied claims made last month by Nigeria's military and presidency that they had reached a deal to end five years of deadly violence in the country's northeast, as well as agreement to release the Chibok girls.

It's almost like these guys never go on Facebook, or Twitter or Instagram. How else could they resist the irresistable, the groundswell of international disapproval that greets their every action? It's almost like the only way to influence these people is through violent action. What would Michelle hashtag about that?

Yeah, maybe that would fit.

Michelle Obama should probably do a little more homework before campaigning for candidates

I really feel like, at a minimum, if you are going to make an appearance to campaign for a candidate, you should probably get his name right. And it probably would help if you could not attribute military service to someone who never wore the uniform. Maybe I'm too picky. But Michelle Obama apparently has lower standards than I do. Wow.

Strange but true. The First Lady showed up in Iowa to campaign for Bruce Braley, the Democrat running for the open Senate seat in Iowa who likes to make fun of farmers who never went to law school. While I think not going to law school is probably a good thing at this point, the fact that Braley is a douche is not really relevant to this post. What is relevant is that Michelle O. apparently not only does not know that Braley is a douche, she doesn't know his name:

First lady Michelle Obama on Friday night urged Democrats to send “Bruce Bailey” to the U.S. Senate in November, repeatedly botching the name of the party’s candidate in Iowa before eventually being corrected by the audience.
The Democrat running to fill retiring Sen. Tom Harkin’s Iowa seat is Bruce Braley.

OK, anybody could get the name wrong. Inventing history? Now we're getting into "shoulda done a little more homework" territory, since she not only got his name wrong repeatedly, she gave Braley a Marine Corps background he doesn't have:

The first lady repeated the mistake several times throughout her speech. She also referred to Mr. Braley — who has served in the House since 2007 — as a “Marine Corps veteran.”
Mr. Braley is not a Marine. He is “the son of a Marine veteran,” according to his campaign website.

While none of that is good, it can't be any worse than a candidate in Iowa who says something like this: