"This is the dumbest story ever written in all of human history."

[babylonsister]

http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2011/07/proud-of-being-ignorant/241785/


Proud of Being Ignorant
By Ta-Nehisi Coates

Jul 12 2011, 9:00 AM ET 176


This is the dumbest story ever written in all of human history.

First lady Michelle Obama ordered a whopper of a meal at the newly opened Washington diner Shake Shack during lunch on Monday.

A Washington Post journalist on the scene confirmed the first lady, who's made a cause out of child nutrition, ordered a ShackBurger, fries, chocolate shake and a Diet Coke while the street and sidewalk in front of the usually-packed Shake Shack were closed by security during her visit. According to nutritional information on Shake Shack's Web site, the meal amounted to 1,700 calories.

Note that this was under "Politics and Policy." It's as if the purveyors of Beltway-ism and fen-fen joined forces and hatched a diabolical plot.

Adam expounds:

Yes, this is incredibly dumb--but it's a symptom of a journalistic culture that values catching a political figure in an act of hypocrisy far more valuable than evaluating the impact of their actual political views. The former, as Jay Rosen might put it, allows the reporter to maintain "innocence" because they're attacking a pol for a nonideological sin, while dealing with the facts of policymaking might actually force a reporter into "taking a side" on whose version of reality more closely resembles planet Earth.

The worst part is there no actual hypocrisy. It's just Colbert's truthiness plus a dash of "gotcha."

[Drale]

1. Um who cares?

You can get healthy and eat a hamburger every now and then. Its the people who eat giant hamburgers and other "bad" foods every day that get into trouble.

[babylonsister]

2. The Washington Post, for starters. nt

[stevedeshazer]

3. Somehow, that line makes me laugh like all hell.

:rofl:

Thanks!

[beyurslf]

4. And if she had ordered a smaller meal, they would decry the lost business just so she could get a

diet soda!

[jimmyflint]

5. Oh, give me a break.

The first lady Had a burger and fries, so freaking what. These chuckle heads try to make it a big deal, but just makes them look stupid.

[politicasista]

6. Nothing wrong with treating yourself

every now and then. :)

[Tx4obama]

7. Michelle Obam has always said that it is fine to have burgers, fries, etc ...

as long as it is a treat and not a daily/weekly habit.

I guess the reporters didn't pay attention to what she's said in the past.