NOW UPDATED! SCOLL DOWN FOR IMPORTANT WHITE HOUSE PRESS RELEASE!
Oh, that Obama. The internets are on fire about the big news out of the White House.
Who says the MSM is not doing their job? In what other country in the world would you find the media, as if with a single voice, revealing the truth about what is going on with the president right now? First the dog story, then the bipartisan Superbowl party, the grey hair and now, the really big investigative scoop: children got a swing set.
And this has created a rift in blogging opinion like nothing we've seen since ... well, since the Obama girls were paraded in front of the Access Hollywood cameras. There are only 2 camps: (1) leave the little girls alone and (2) those poor little camera props. I firmly believe that this is a sincere gesture from loving parents solely for the benefit of their daughters.
And this is why:
1. How can you even think that the swing set is a calculated device for image boosting? Just because it's set down in the line of vision right outside the windows behind the president's desk doesn't mean that we are going to be seeing pictures of the man hard at work while his daughters frolic right behind him in plain camera view. The swing set was placed a few yards from the Oval Office because that's the only place on the White House grounds that they could think of to put it. You can clearly see that in this photo of the south lawn, which is essentially the back yard of the White House.
2. They would never use those little girls as political props. Yes, they stood out in 18 degree weather for hours with bare heads during the inauguration but that's was only because there was no pre-arrangement to promote J. Crew hats. Child abuse? No, they're from Chicago - they've been on stage for extended periods in much colder weather without hats.
3. What do you mean that elder daughter Malaria is too big for a swing set? Despite the fact that she's mature enough to have a crush on pop stars like the Jonas Brothers, most likely already gets her period and is nearly 7 feet tall, she is is not! at all too big to enjoy the swing set.
4. They needed a swing set right now - even if that meant setting it up in the snow - because they live in the fishbowl of the White House and they need some kind of release from all that pressure. Thank heaven they are already toughened up for this kind of life. There has never been a time in either one of their lives that they have not been children of a very visible politician who never hesitated to display them whenever necessary. They know no other life except at the edge of someone else's spotlight. And anyway, it's about time they had a swing set because for unexplained reasons, they sure didn't have one at their family home in Chicago.
5. Safety first! According to the federal publication Handbook for Playground Safety publication #325, "a playground should never be installed without protective surfacing of some type. Grass and dirt are not considered protective surfacing because wear and environmental factors can reduce their shock absorbing effectiveness."
So don't be so cynical, you internets, you.
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