Times - they are a changin'

Via Oyster at First-Draft: Should Michelle Cover Up?

Let’s face it: The only bracing symbol of American strength right now is the image of Michelle Obama’s sculpted biceps. Her husband urges bold action, but it is Michelle who looks as though she could easily wind up and punch out Rush Limbaugh, Bernie Madoff and all the corporate creeps who ripped off America.

In the taxi, when I asked David Brooks about her amazing arms, he indicated it was time for her to cover up. “She’s made her point,” he said. “Now she should put away Thunder and Lightning.”

I’d seen the plaint echoed elsewhere. “Someone should tell Michelle to mix up her wardrobe and cover up from time to time,” Sandra McElwaine wrote last week on The Daily Beast.

Washington is a place where people have always been suspect of style and overt sexuality. Too much preening signals that you’re not up late studying cap-and-trade agreements.

While MoDo has been a recurring hemorrhoid of repressed sexism, I think this was one of her best smacks at the Washington establishment (and Brooks will never share a goddamn word with her again . . I'm sure she's crying about it. Really). This is the first time I've ready her column focusing on a woman higher up the power structure than her and not ad infinitum nitpicking.

The nitpicking section on the diplomatic gifts, which I didn't quote, was all MoDo though, just in case we thought she was replaced by someone with talent. At the same time, you have to wonder who's the idiot in charge of same gifts.