A Deficit of Dignity.

I read this New York Times article this morning by Timothy Egan that is ostensibly about the disrespect shown by Elizabeth Lauten toward the First Daughters. However the article makes the case that this is the kind of disrespect the President, and his entire family, have been receiving since the day he took office.

Here. take a moment to read what he says: 

We know President Obama wants a lasting deal on immigration, something to make taxes fairer, a little help from a caveman Congress on climate change. If he’s lucky, he might get some of the above. But one thing his worst opponents have never given him, and probably never will, is respect. R-E-S-P-E-C-T. 

From the day he took office, his legitimacy has been challenged, his American birth has been suspect, and he’s been personally insulted, lectured, yelled at and disrespected in public, by public figures, in a way that few if any American presidents have ever faced.

At this point Egan discusses the Lauten incident, which I think we all know quite a bit about so I will leave that out and instead share what he says a few paragraphs down:

I want to believe this is not about race, but it sure looks that way. Barely nine months into his presidency, a Republican congressman, Joe Wilson, shouted out “You lie!” at the president in the decorous setting of a joint session of Congress — a flagrant show of disrespect for the man and the office. For this, Wilson became a hero in conservative media. 

The biggest slap at the president was the smear about his birth. It’s insulting and humiliating that Obama — alone among presidents — has been forced to release his long-form birth record to satisfy a clutch of fact-deniers. Leading the attack on the president’s very citizenship is the professional vulgarian Donald Trump, who gets away with the kind of preposterous, race-based comments granted few black public figures. 

Trump’s displays of idiocy on Fox News are a staple of that network. I wait for the day when something Trump says that is both stupid and incendiary is held up as representative of all white people — and he’s asked to apologize for his race. 

Also on Fox, Sean Hannity recently blamed President Obama for the troubles in Ferguson — because, I guess, he’s black. 

The list goes on and on: Arizona’s governor, Jan Brewer, wagging her finger at President Obama while lecturing him on an airport tarmac, as if he were some errand boy and not the commander in chief. The complete fraud of the Benghazi nonstory — as even a Republican House panel had to conclude recently. The endless millions spent finding nothing scandalous about the president on Benghazi proved just one thing: how grass-roots conservative hatred of the president drives Republican congressional action.

The article goes on to talk about the disrespect demonstrated toward Michelle Obama as well, which included this rather satisfying paragraph: 

The first lady cannot go on vacation without the Drudge Report hyping elaborate travel bills, playing to race insinuations. But when the family of Sarah Palin was involved in a beer-fueled, fist-flying brawl in Alaska this year, conservative media did not call them out for bad white family values, or failures as role models.

Yeah, I always love when the brawl shows up in an article just to remind all of us that despite all of her attempts to make it go away this thing stuck to Palin and her family, like a dingleberry on a dog's ass.

I don;t know about the rest of you but I found myself yelling "Goddamn right!" over and over as I read this article.

And that is really the thing after all. When people argue that this President could have done more, or  that he failed to keep all of his campaign promises, or that he is "ineffectual," I want to grab them by the shoulders and shake them vigorously while yelling "What could YOU have accomplished with this level of disrespect, obstructionism, and  partisan entrenchment?"

In light of what this President has faced since the very day of his inauguration, he is a fucking miracle worker.

His list of accomplishments is actually quite staggering, even without considering that he is piloting the country into unrelenting partisan headwinds that essentially never let up.

I told my brother during Thanksgiving that history is going to completely exonerate this man, and that he would hardly recognize his presidency in ten to fifteen years. After the historians get the chance to wipe way all of the mud that is being thrown at him everyday by the Right Wing politicians and conservative media, they are going to reveal some amazing accomplishments of which I really think most Americans are not even completely aware.

Ultimately, and I think this is going to anger the racists most of all, President Obama might really turn out to be the "Magic Negro."

GOP staffer who criticized Obama daughters to resign.

Courtesy of MSNBC: 

A GOP staffer has been forced to resign after launching a verbal assault on Malia and Sasha Obama in the wake of their appearance at their father’s annual turkey pardoning ceremony at the White House. 

Elizabeth Lauten, who served as a communications director for Rep. Stephen Fincher, criticized the two girls in a Facebook rant which eventually went viral. “Act like being in the White House matters to you. Dress like you deserve respect, not a spot at a bar. And certainly don’t make faces during televised, public events,” wrote Lauten. 

She went on the call the first children, who largely stay out of the limelight, “classless.” 

Many have argued Malia and Sasha were behaving like typical teenagers at the event. They appeared unamused by President Obama’s corny jokes and at one point Malia declined to pet the Thanksgiving turkey by simply saying, “Nah.” 

This is far from the first time the president’s daughters have been singled out for ridicule on the right. 

I think we all knew this was coming. 

Especially with so much pressure coming from all corners to fire her.

President Obama takes those "disrespectful" daughters of his shopping.

Courtesy of Steven Garcia: 

President Obama, went shopping Saturday at Politics and Prose, an independent bookstore in the capital, joined with his daughters. Going out the Saturday after Thanksgiving has become a Thanksgiving weekend tradition for the first family. 

The president and his daughters, Sasha and Malia, chatted with customers before buying 2 bags full of books from the local store. This is the same store that they shopped at this time last year.

In the video you can hear the President talking about Chuck Todd's new book. In response Malia, the eldest, calls Todd  "sad" and the President jokingly agrees.

This was reported on by the New York Post:  

“Oh, Chuck Todd!” Obama exclaimed. “Let’s see what Chuck has to say here!” 

“How is he writing a book already? asked his 16-year-old daughter, Malia. “Sad.” 

“He’s just sad,” the president joked in response.

However the Post also goes on to say that the President has every right to be frustrated with Todd's book which paints the President as "detached" and characterizes him as a "flip flopper" as well as blaming him for his inability to work with Republicans.

Of course that last part seems incredibly unfair as the Republicans gathered on the night of Obama's inauguration to plan how they would undermine his presidency and ensure his defeat in 2012.

Really not much the President could do in an environment like that, as I think most rational people would agree.

Gee I wonder if the ways the two girls are dressed, and conducted themselves, finally meets with Elizabeth Lauten's approval?

Communications Director for Tennessee Congressman trashes the First Daughters. Immediately regrets that decision.

Courtesy of Raw Story:

A staffer for Republican Rep. Stephen Fincher (TN) took to Facebook this week to attack Sasha and Malia Obama, President Barack Obama’s daughters, for failing to show what she deemed to be sufficient respect for their father’s annual pardoning of a Thanksgiving turkey. 

According to Gawker, Elizabeth Lauten, former new media political director for the Republican National Committee, wrote an open letter to the two girls, attacking their facial expressions and clothing choices. 

“Dear Sasha and Malia,” wrote Lauten, “I get that you’re both in those awful teen years, but you’re part of the First Family, try showing a little class. At least respect the part that you play. Then again your mother and father don’t respect their positions very much, or the nation for that matter, so I’m guessing you’re coming up a little short in the ‘good role model’ department.” 

She continued, “Nevertheless, stretch yourself, rise to the occasion. Act like being in the White House matters to you. Dress like you deserve respect, not a spot at a bar. And certainly don’t make faces during televised, public events.” 

For the pardoning ceremony, elder daughter Malia wore a long-sleeved sweater, a plaid schoolgirl skirt and opaque tights. Sasha Obama wore a mini-dress that hit her at mid-thigh with a long-sleeved cardigan sweater. 

Both girls rolled their eyes when their father made a joke, as teen girls typically do when their father says something he thinks is funny.

Seriously?  Lecturing the Obama girls for acting their age?

That seems like a REALLY bad idea.

And guess what, it was:

Nine hours after her initial post, Lauten had a change of heart or, more likely, her boss called and flipped on her, or she was tired of getting cursed out on social media. In any case, she removed the initial post and apologized, also via Facebook: 

"I wanted to take a moment and apologize for a post I made on Facebook earlier today, judging Sasha and Malia Obama at the annual White House turkey pardoning ceremony. 

… I reacted to an article and quickly judged the two young ladies in a way that I would never have wanted to be judged myself as a teenager. After many hours of prayer, talking to my parents and re-reading my words online, I can see more clearly how hurtful my words were. Please know that these judgmental feelings truly have no pace in my heart. Furthermore, I’d like to apologize to all of those who I have hurt and offended with my words, and pledge to learn and grow (and I assure you I have) from this experience."

Gee I had no idea that daughters of Presidents were held to such high standards. 

I wonder what Ms. Lauten would have had to say about this?

Or about the antics of a daughter from a certain famous half term Governor from Alaska?

Kind of makes folded arms and an eye roll seem sort of innocuous, don't you think?

President Obama expertly trolls the Republicans while performing the Thanksgiving traditional of pardoning two turkeys.

President Obama could not resist poking a little fun at the opposition while providing amnesty to Mac and Cheese, two potentially delicious undocumented main dishes.

Here is more from TPM: 

This year he used the official pardoning ceremony as an opportunity to comment on and poke fun at the conservative backlash over his recent executive actions on immigration. 

"I am here to announce what I'm sure will be the most talked about executive action this month," Obama said. "Today, I am taking an action fully within my legal authority, the same kind of action taken by Democrats and Republican presidents before me, to spare the lives of two turkeys, Mac and Cheese, from a terrible and delicious fate." 

"They'll get to live out the rest of their days respectively at a Virginia estate with 10,000 acres of roaming space,” Obama continued. “I know some will call this amnesty."

Stupid tradition, but at least the President makes the most of it.