the Bitch in the house

So yesterday was a rough day at the big white house on the hill of world opinion. B.Obama was taking the heat for upholding his ethical standards and I sat watching the grilling of his press secretary on cspan while M.Obama and he wisely skedaddled off to a local school (not noted for Sasha and Malia’s attendence) where they chatted with schoolkids. What a great idea! When the bubble of political life caves in… sneak out the back door and meet the regular people affected by policywonking.

M.Obama has largely been credited with the civic service and organized voluntariness that has recently made a resurgence in the american landscape, which has effectively knocked down the serious business of tele shows like Heroes or American Idle as chattering banter on the lips of most people. Yet I don’t notice any real changes in the behaviors of those talking and actual people toward giving of themselves for the betterment of themselves and others. I’m thinking that most folks thought B.Obama would fix that whole ‘economic crisis’ thingy without any real changes from the proletariat.

I mention these two significant observations because (though my readership is slight) there are more important goings on than the appearance of political misstepping. The Obama’s went out to public schools rather than mire in the foolishness of a “story.” And though it seems likely the new presidential family has worn out their VHS copy of ‘Dave,’ it is nonetheless a laudable goal to establish stringent ethical standards for high-ranking public service and it is equally significant to highlight the hardworking efforts of low-ranking government-types such as M.Obama’s visits do for lending her shine.

And by the way… B.Obama’s likening of Spiderman just strikes me as much more interesting ‘copy’ than say who isn’t going to be appointed to the cabinet. If we got to know more about eachother and focused less on the latest and greatest failing, we might find ourselves a whole lot better off – with or without all that moolah. And I think that was the point of M.Obama’s efforts the last few days.