I Give Up ***Headdesk***

Filed in National by on July 12, 2011

The US is at a critical time in its history right now. The economy is on the brink and the president and the GOP are in the midst of a delicate negotiation right now. Unemployment is at 9.2% and the latest numbers show only 58% of adults are employed. So what does our media cover?

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.

Really WaPo? Who cares, even if she was a hypocrite?

Of course, our very serious politicians are doing something important, right? Of course not, we are talking about the do-nothing, no we can’t Congress. They do have a bill up for debate right now – the so-called light bulb freedom act. Republicans want to repeal bipartisan legislation (passed in 2007) to require higher energy standards for light bulbs. Because forcing people to buy CFLs (even though this isn’t true, incandescents will still be available) is government tyranny.

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Opinionated chemist, troublemaker, blogger on national and Delaware politics.

Comments (11)

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  1. cassandra_m says:

    Does the Washington Post have someone following Michelle Obama to count her calories? This was a really stupid use of journalistic resources (and they’ve already revised down their calorie estimate) — and do note that you got more detail of what she ate AND its calorie content than you do on the actual state of play of the debt negotiations, say.

    And I’m going to take issue with the idea that Michelle Obama indulging in the occasional high-calorie meal is somehow hypocrisy. Her effort is for people to eat smarter and healthier. Which isn’t to say that you can’t have an occasional Shake Shack meal. Lots of trendy diets encourage a *cheat day* — a day to relax your discipline. Not unlike a rest day for workouts. This meal would be hypocrisy if she ate like this all of the time.

  2. puck says:

    Now if she had orderd a $300 pinot noir while calling for austerity she’d be fine.

  3. puck says:

    The light bulb bill isn’t worth fighting for. The market is doing away with incandescents anyway. The fight is better spent promoting development of better and cheaper LEDs for residential light fixtures.

  4. skippertee says:

    I’m surprised the WaPo didn’t report her ordering her Diet Coke in a 55 gallon drum.

  5. I am also having some trouble with the cognitive dissonance produced by the media covering the wrong things in the wrong way and the Repubs suddenly on the side of incandescent light bulbs while Rome metaphorically burns.

    The crazy spending cuts supported by the Repubs on the topic we should be discussing are really going to hurt some people who need the help, but that won’t be anywhere near as painful as a default. Also please add some tax hikes for the upper class in there if you care so much about the debt. Every time Boehner talks about not raising taxes on “job creators” I say, they haven’t used there money to create the jobs yet, perhaps some one else could use it to greater effect.

    Anyway, I’ll see you at the apocalypse on Aug 3rd, when we will find out the number of calories in a cupcake that Michell Obama is eating, as I read this blog by a “freedom” whale oil lamp light because the Repubs caved to the whaling lobby.

  6. Joanne Christian says:

    UI and cass–I was just thinking about the journalistic waste this AM too. TNJ reads like PEOPLE anymore, and has for some time. I mean Kate Hudson–Marine dates–Tiger Woods–all top news in one day? Gone are the days when we had to “reach” for our literary Prozac thru subscription or a trip to the hairdresser. Now the locals and some nationals are doing that for us. Any real content is left (since mags are fading too) to WSJ and the Times.

  7. Miscreant says:

    “The fight is better spent promoting development of better and cheaper LEDs for residential light fixtures.”

    I’m all for that. All the bulbs in my house are now Compact Fluorescent, and I’m experimenting with a few LED lights as well. The LEDs aren’t nearly as bright, and a nice warm white tone is hard to find. They’re made in China. Both technologies could use a little improvement, but the power savings have been very noticeable. I even replaced most of the bulbs in my Airstream travel trailer with LED bulbs. They’re much easier on the batteries. Believe it, or not, right now the best deals on 12 volt LED lights are at truck stops.

    Nothing to fear, our president is on the job. Recently, he took a tour of Cree Inc., a LED manufacturer in Durham, NC. Cree has donated thousands to his campaign, spent about a quarter million bucks lobbying for LEDs and against incandescent bulbs in 2010, and was the recipient of $39 million bucks via the Advanced Energy Manufacturing Tax Credit from the Recovery Act, much of which they promptly sent to China where 50% of their employees now reside. In late 2010, the company opened its first plant in Huizhou City,China. That made Cree the first global LED company to locate a manufacturing plant in China.

    Is this what you had in mind?

  8. puck says:

    The CFLs are made in China too. The factory workers are coming down with mercury poisoning.

    I think homes need a low-voltage wiring system installed along with the 110v AC. That was Edison’s vision anyway. And think of all the wall warts you could get rid of.

    It will always be too expensive for most folks to retrofit their wiring, so I’d be for a mandate on low-voltage systems in new construction, plus subsidies for retrofits.

    That, plus a mandate for installing ground-exchange loops for heat pumps in new construction (in most climates). It’s far cheaper to install the ground loops when you are building the house, and the energy savings are huge.

  9. Miscreant says:

    “I think homes need a low-voltage wiring system installed along with the 110v AC. That was Edison’s vision anyway. And think of all the wall warts you could get rid of.

    It will always be too expensive for most folks to retrofit their wiring, so I’d be for a mandate on low-voltage systems in new construction, plus subsidies for retrofits.”

    Excellent idea. It would make it easier to connect to individual solar, wind, and may provide me with an incentive to complete my project of harnessing the power from the stream and spillway on my property.

  10. cassandra m says:

    Actually Mis, the reassurance ought to be in the fact that the original author of the new efficiency standards for incandescents (Fred Upton, R-MI)has been busily scrubbing his original handiwork, largely because Rush Limbaugh, Glen Beck and the Teajadis tried to make sure that Upton would not chair the Energy committee in the House. And since the Koch Bros are among Upton’s Top 10 Donors — well, you see where this is going. Because we know that the Koch Bros have the interests of Americans at heart.

  11. Miscreant says:

    Energy policy is where I part way with some so-called conservatives.