Stop the presses! The First Lady is a Private Citizen???

[Norquist Nemesis]

MSNBC is on in the other room and I just overheard that the reason the WH didn't report the First Lady's cancer is because "she's a private citizen". WTF???

[originalpckelly]

1. We didn't elect her did we?

:shrug:

Last time I checked the only names on the ballot in '04 were the electors/Kerry/Edwards/Bush/Cheney.

[Norquist Nemesis]

6. Ok. We didn't elect Rice, Rumsfeld, et al either

Are they private citizens, too?

[originalpckelly]

10. Yes, but they are Constitutional Officers...

which the first lady is not. She doesn't have anymore power than to figure out when the Christmas lights will be lit or what kind of food to serve at a function.

[Norquist Nemesis]

14. Hmmm...going to have to think about this

It seems to me that her position carries quite a bit of weight and responsibility. (Pissing off a foreign leader or his/her spouse comes to mind, for one. LOL!) Not to mention that she regularly goes out publicly speaking on behalf of the President.

I'll concede that her medical 'conditions' could be held private to her discretion. But, to respond that it was 'because she is a private citizen'...just doesn't sit right with me.

[Warpy]

11. There's elected office and appointed office

and both confer salaries. The first lady has no office nor salary, so she qualifies as a private citizen.

[Norquist Nemesis]

15. Except she has a full complement of paid staff

:shrug:

[Warpy]

23. They're actually her husband's staff

but she is expected to supervise them for things like correspondence, protocol, menus, plus all the upkeep on the White House.

[Captain Hilts]

21. Yes, you did elect her. And the twins, and the dogs. And Lynne Cheney, etc. nt

[WI_DEM]

2. that's an interesting question. Is she or isn't she?

I'm not sure. She wasn't elected and she's just married to the president, so maybe she is. But on the other hand she certainly has a platform and her activities are reported, so the question is, if she is a private citizen why do they report on what the "First Lady" does or says?

[Norquist Nemesis]

8. She also receives all of the taxpaid benefits of a public official

including a high level of security. :shrug:

[Orrex]

"Private citizen" as in "not a public official"

Sure, she's a public persona, but so is Larry the Cable Guy. And as far as I know Larry hasn't killed anyone.

[Bluzmann57]

3. Well whether she is or isn't may be debateable

But in my opinion, her medical condition is none of our business. And most likely, if any president, Democrat or republic was sick, it would be kept as quiet as possible as well.

[Norquist Nemesis]

16. I don't disagree on the 'none of our business'

I just take issue that it's the WH response. They could have said it was a private matter, personal matter, or go Cheney yourself. It seems putting her in a category of "Private Citizen" is quite a reach.

[Tesha]

18. Republican illness would be kept quiet.

Republican illness would be kept quiet, as in when Reagan
was essentially completely disabled by Alzheimers, or when
Strom Thurmond was reduced to little more than being the
official vegetable of the United States Senate.

I doubt the same courtesy would be afforded a Democratic
illness; we've come a long way since FDR and his polio
paralysis.

Tesha

[Kikosexy2]

4. She's just a citizen...

showing off her privates...oops, that would be Britney Spears..har, har...

[rodeodance]

5. Pickles had great opportunity to do something for the Public Good--yet

she tried to keep it under raps.

[WI_DEM]

9. Yes, she proved she was no Betty Ford

[Left Is Write]

7. Isn't she?

I don't believe the public is entitled to personal knowledge of her medical condition.

[brook]

24. Maybe we're not 'entitled'...

but she could have used it to raise public awareness of skin cancers. I had a quarter-sized squamous cell malignancy carved out of my hand in October...and was damned relieved when the pathology report came back. I had topical-chemo and at this point, it's about a dime-sized bit of scar tissue. If my father not been plagued with skin cancers, I might not be as informed as I am about such things. So Laura missed the boat again as far as I'm concerned.

[Left Is Write]

27. Yes, she could have.

I don't think that was the point.

My mother had skin cancer too. She's had more than one melanoma removed.

[brook]

30. Oh. I guess the point really was

is she a "private citizen". In my very humble opinion, public or private, she's an opportunistic hick who married up- (she thinks) and lives on the public dole. I don't give a rat's patootie about her health or her privacy one way or another. I have as much concern for Dear Laura & Dear Leader as they have for the 'little people' who pay their freight day in and day out.

[NNN0LHI]

12. Shes not a private citizen as long as our tax dollars are paying her food bill n/t

[dsc]

34. by that standard I am a public figure too

and I don't think I am. While it may have been beneficial from a public health perspective for her to come forward, I have no problem at all with the WH not doing so.

[Not Me]

13. Hmm, let's see...

We fund her "Staff"
We put a roof over her head
She travels where ever she wants at public expense
She enjoys 24/7 Secret Service protection

Nope. She's just one of us.

[ISUGRADIA]

19. My thoughts exactly

The Office of the Frist Lady at the White House is not funded privately.

[Retrograde]

17. She is when it's convenient

But when the puppetmasters think she can bring public sympathy or support to a cause, she's right out there as the edumacation first lady, promoting her pet projects and deflecting flack from whatever Bush is doing at the moment.

[greenbriar]

31. BINGO

if they didn't think it woudl soften their image, they would not have "leaked" this info

[cap]

20. hmmmm......and all the nasty reporting on Hillary????

if you cant take it, dont dish it up! Laura, your minions were dumping on Hillary big time and now, you dont want things discussed? Sorry.

[Bobbie Jo]

22. I think the phrasing was..."because it is a private matter."

I caught it on MSNBC this morning. Of course that was this morning, and you know how that goes...

[Cleita]

25. If she is, then why are we paying for her staff and SS protection? n/t

[Judi Lynn]

26. She's also not so private when her pot shots at the "media" & other targets get covered as though

they were sent here from the Great Beyond. If she's so private, why do we have to hear her incessant commentary on everything which displeases her?

I don't think her dressing downs have changed the mind of one living person concerning her deluded, backward, self-obsessed giant child husband.




What better place for a little romance than a Pope's funeral?

[Cameron27]

29. Good lord,

I never saw that picture...eck....what the hell's the matter with them?

[Cleita]

32. Ugh! That's as creepy as catching your parents having sex. n/t

[pdxmom]

28. If she's just a private citizen, then stop putting her out front and center

to pull your cojones out of the fire. Stop sending her to campaign for those politicians who don't want to be seen with Bush because of his low approval ratings. Stop letting her blame the media for the failure of this administrations war.

She may not have been elected, but her private life sure isn't private. Just like the status of Hillary's marriage was never private.

[treestar]

33. The "job" of first lady exists from 18th century custom

In fact, technically, a president can have someone else do it - widowed or single presidents did- Buchanan appointed his niece, and Jefferson appointed Dolly Madison. A couple of President's wives were ill and someone else stepped in.

Modern times have not caught up with the concept that a man is no longer always required to, in high social circles, have a "lady of the house."

What would we do if we had

1 - a woman president with a husband?
2 - a single president?
3 - a president, God forbid, whose wife left him while he was in the WH? Or whose husband left her?

[WinkyDink]

35. Then let us dispense with the "first lady" crap, shall we? Oh, and how about

NEVER REPORTING ON HER??

And then there's the FREE TRIPS OVERSEAS.