First lady went to Spain to spend time with grieving friend

[babylonsister]

I'm sure the r/w won't have the grace to be embarrassed about their criticism. And I imagine the WH didn't release this info earlier because it was no one's business.


First lady went to Spain to spend time with grieving friend
By Holly Bailey


First Lady Michelle Obama took a lot of grief for her decision to vacation in Spain last week, a glitzy getaway that prompted one New York Daily News columnist to liken her to Marie Antoinette. But now we're learning more about the trip, which, despite the furor over its alleged excess, seems to have been launched with good intentions.

According to the Chicago Sun-Times' Lynn Sweet, the first lady made the trip because she wanted to spend time with her best friend, Chicago physician Anita Blanchard, who lost her father this summer. Blanchard (who is married to President Obama's best friend, Marty Nesbitt) planned a Spanish vacation with her daughter and invited the first lady and her daughters to come along. Michelle, who missed Blanchard's father's funeral in July, agreed and brought along her 9-year-old daughter, Sasha. The first couple's older daughter, Malia, is away at camp.

According to Sweet, one other mutual friend came along with her own two daughters. And according to the White House, all parties paid for their own hotel rooms and personal expenses.

Speaking of the hotel: As The Upshot speculated last week, it was the Secret Service that booked the Obama group's rooms at the luxury Hotel Villa Padierna, in part because agents could guard the perimeter of the property much better than they could at rival facilities.

more...

http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_upshot/20100810/pl_yblog_upshot/first-lady-went-to-spain-to-spend-time-with-grieving-friend

[impik]

1. The Left won't have the grace to do so too

[CTyankee]

2. I can hear the carping now..."when I lost my dad I didn't get a trip to spain

with the First Lady..."

Yep, that's what we'll hear if we try to refute the Marie Antoinette argument...

[CakeGrrl]

7. They're not in the mood. They've been attacked by

that flunkie mouthpiece Gibbs.

:eyes:

[Botany]

3. So Michelle paid her way and went to comfort a friend?

I expect Rush and company to issue apologies ASAP.

[emilyg]

9. Who paid for plane and security?

[Kdillard]

14. The same people who paid for the security at Chelsea Clinton's wedding and pays for

the security of George Bush. We pay for the security and travel of the First Family as has been the case for a long time so I don't get your point. Unless you are advocating that he President and his family have no security and travel business class.

[Jennicut]

4. That First Lady, she is so selfish! How dare she comfort a friend and pay her own way on

top of it all! And of course, the Secret Service chose the hotel.

[Botany]

5. And they did it to ensure the safety of the First Lady, her daughter, and ....

... her friends? :wow:

:kick:

[Beacool]

6. Their argument would be that her friend could just as easily have grieved in the States.

:eyes:

[Llewlladdwr]

8. I think this is a valid argument.

I mean, there's just absolutely no way this trip couldn't have been to the Gulf Coast?

[babylonsister]

10. Obama Gulf Coast Vacation: First Family To Visit Florida In August

They're way ahead of you, but thanks for your concern.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/07/22/obama-gulf-coast-vacation_n_656152.html

[Kdillard]

12. I am sure there will be a problem with this too just as there was when Michelle visited the Gulf

Coast earlier.

[blm]

13. ^^^exactly^^^

.

[Llewlladdwr]

25. I'm not really all that concerned.

I've pretty much accepted that I made a horrible mistake in 2008...

[Kdillard]

11. Umm this was about the First Lady's Friend not the First Lady.

Michelle was invited or asked to spend time with a friend who wanted to get away during a difficult time. I see nothing wrong with it and I don't understand the unrec's or why it is so difficult for people to understand. It seems human to me and something everyone with a friend would do.

[Beacool]

20. I don't see anything wrong with it either.

It barely registered with me until the media made such a fuzz about it.

[Beacool]

23. Well, I don't know what her plans were.

Maybe the visuals were a bit unfortunate since in politics perceptions can be so important, but I think that the reactions to the trip were blown out of proportion.

[JI7]

17. the friend had promised to take her daughter to Spain which was the reason she was going

so she asked Michelle to come along.

[Beacool]

21. I got no problem with it.

But some apparently do.

[Rosa Luxemburg]

19. They expect that Michelle should be chained to the kitchen sink

they don't think that she deserves to go on a trip. She even paid for the hotel. Her critics should be ashamed of themselves!

[CreekDog]

15. Michelle should go wherever she wants to go

Spain is closer and probably priced on a par with Hawaii.

I don't honestly care where she goes, especially when she's picking up her tab.

As for us paying for security, that's the deal WE MADE when we elected Obama. The deal is, he's president, wherever she goes, she gets Secret Service protection.

:rant:

[Bluerthanblue]

16. thanks for posting this.

imo, all the 'righteous indignation' wouldn't stop if this were known- there is an agenda at work to trash anything and everything Michelle does I believe.

k&r

[ibegurpard]

18. I don't give a shit where she vacations or how many vacations she takes.

[saltpoint]

22. Facts matter.

Recommended.

And more power to the First Lady, too.

[roody]

24. Spain is wonderful. I'm glad she enjoyed it.

[killbotfactory]

26. This bullshit controversy got play on MSNBC and NPR

I couldn't believe it. Did they really just figure out that first families get security when they do, well, anything?