It’s a Slam Dunk!

After 4 years of near constant exposure, we’re seeing a few signs that the American people might be suffering a little “Lady M Fabulosity” fatigue. Which is understandable. There’s just so much to admire.

So even though we’re re-launching our weekly MSM “Lady Obama” series, we’re being  mindful not to overdo it. On the one hand, we don’t want to overwhelm anyone, butt on the other, we don’t want anyone to forget about Lady M’s fabulosity either. It’s a fine line, butt I think you’ll agree that Mary Mitchell hit the sweet spot:

Although you can’t really say Obama gave white Americans its first close-up of the accomplished black woman outside of Hollywood (that distinction goes to former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice).

Really? Condi was accomplished? Nobody in the MSM sure seemed to think so when she was serving as Secretary of State for you-know-who. And she was the first accomplished black woman? Really!!? Because I’ve known a lot of other accomplished black women besides Condi (and Lady M, of course).

Dr. Mae Jemison

Butt I guess doctors, business women and scientists are not as accomplished as Harvard trained lawyers.

But Obama showcased a multi-faceted black woman too often ignored. The Harvard-educated wife and mother is both glamorous and practical.

Her glamorous side has earned her a spot on the world’s best-dressed list, and among the nation’s elite trendsetters.

Her ability to keep it real, even under the brightest spotlight, has drawn criticism from some whites.

For instance, a photograph of the first lady in Bermuda shorts taken when she was returning to the White House from a family vacation was seized upon by her critics.

But black women likely saw the attire for what it was: practical.

  

We’re all about Practical

Michelle Obama makes black women feel more comfortable being black women.

Obama seems to have done what Oprah Winfrey and others successful black celebrities could not: She has elevated black women in their own eyes.

Despite being bombarded with skinny images, such as Angelina Jolie’s emaciated arms, the poll found that black women, though heavier, are happier with their bodies than white women…

Michelle Obama might not be able to change the image of black women, but she certainly has made them more visible.

Sometimes, waaaaayyyyy more visible!

So there you have it, Lady M: doing the work that Oprah couldn’t. Since our work on self esteem is done, MO can now turn her focus back to her real passions: Military Families and No Child’s Fat Behind. And fundraising, of course, as apparently they go hand in hand:

Michelle Obama’s efforts today, meeting with young people and military families about the issues that are close to her heart, were most likely part of a strategy to maintain the slight margin Obama enjoys in the state before a Republican nominee is announced.

So yesterday was a busy day, between greeting military families at the Raleigh-Durham Airport:

Now that’s an impressive black woman! In the uniform.

- and hugging our fat kids behinds:

Following her own motto, Obama joined forces with Democratic Senator Kay Hagen as the children from two Charlotte primary schools competed in a relay. She threw balls to the children and hugged them after the event.

while MOvin’ all over the place,

The First lady concluded her trip with a visit to the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association basketball tournament. At the event, she promoted her program “Let’s Move!” an effort launched by Obama to target childhood obesity by bringing together teachers, doctors, nurses and parents.

Check out these postmodern Hammertime pants! Tres chic & fashion forward!

Obama continued her North Carolina trip with a fundraising luncheon, thrown in support of her husband’s campaign. The audience, mostly women, gave an enthusiastic standing ovation when she mentioned that her husband had signed the Lilly Ledbetter Equal Pay Act of 2009…

According to The Republic [ed., another story in the Lady Obama Fabulosity series] the first lady went on to tell the story of her husband’s grandmother becoming the vice president of a community bank through her hard work and determination, only to “hit that glass ceiling.” For Barack, stressed Michelle, “this issue is not abstract.”

The stump speech was very special, touting all the important accomplishments of Big Guy so far so nobody forgets: the Lilly Ledbetter bill, passing Obamacare, saving the auto industry, getting us out of the ditch, out of Iraq, yada yada yada. By now Lady M knows her stump speech by heart and hardly even needs TOTUS TOO’S support anymore.

Butt clearly the two DNC fundraisers were afterthoughts: the real reason for Lady M’s visit was to drop in at the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association basketball tournament in order to give them a “close-up of an accomplished black woman” in order to bolster their self esteem.

Obama walked to midcourt and addressed the crowd about her national anti-obesity campaign. She touted basketball as a way to keep active.

“There’s no better way than basketball to illustrate the point (of staying healthy.) We are a basketball family and my husband is a crazy fanatic about basketball,” she said.

That probably explains why Lady M let’s Big Guy watch ESPN whenever he can: working out with her in the morning, late at night while reading briefings, or in between stressful meetings in the middle of the day. Even George W. Bush never had permission to do that.

“Later Bobby, I’ve got to see if I’ve covered my spread.”

And it probably explains why Big Guy agreed to be interviewed by Bill Simmons on ESPN in the first place.

While his Republican rivals are out tearing one another to pieces, and focusing on more conservative media outlets and Fox News, the president is expanding his reach to American voters in just such venues.

Keep it up, R-words, and it won’t matter where the economy goes because Big Guy will finesse you in the paint.

Linked By: Larwyn’s Linx on Doug Ross@Journal, Thanks!