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First Lady Opens Housing for Military Families

By Paul Shepard on Dec 2nd 2010 3:25PM
Filed under: News, Politics, President Obama

Comments (8)

First Lady Opens Housing for Military Families

I have never been a big fan of news coverage for the First Lady of the United States.

In my book, the fact that she sleeps with the President shouldn't accord her any more public acclaim or scrutiny than any other woman.

For example, a friend of mine who covered the George W. Bush White House told me that Mrs. Bush was a constant cigarette smoker in non-official settings. But woe be unto any photographer who would even think of snapping a shot of her while puffing.

Likewise, during Thanksgiving dinner, a family member piped up to talk about Mrs. Obama's wardrobe, saying something about it being too plain or her leggings being too Target-like or something to that effect.

Should the First Lady's smoking or clothes shopping habits really matter? Not in my eye.

But every once in a blue moon, the First Lady does something that really matters -- something to make us think of a deserving people normally forgotten.

That happened when Michelle Obama helped to open three new housing complexes for soldiers and veterans families in Maryland. At the residences, families will get free housing for the families of 60 sick and injured servicemen and women.

To tell the truth, that number of 60 apartments should be multiplied by a thousand -- and it still would not meet the needs of America's veterans. The Veterans Administration is among the most underfunded departments of the federal government.

But maybe giving the opening of these new units the "star" treatment with Mrs. Obama at the opening will usher in a new commitment to America's forgotten fighters who often return from battle with physical and mental scars that never heal.




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