This is downright embarrassing. You mean to say that a supposedly highly educated woman is so clueless to American history, that she thinks this holiday, a “holiday of convenience on Monday” meant to celebrate the birthday of Washington, and a silent nod after past attempts to include the birthday of Lincoln, are all about her husband?? woof….
Perhaps Ms. Obama should get off the obese kick, and on to a curriculum that teaches our history correctly. When even CNN notices, this isn’t good…
(CNN) – Count the first lady among those who may not know the official name of today’s holiday.
Michelle Obama wished her famous husband a “Happy President’s Day” on twitter earlier Monday, declaring @BarackObama her “personal favorite.” The tweet was signed “-MO,” which the Obama campaign has said means it comes from the first lady directly.
The only problem? There is no such thing as Presidents Day. The official name of the holiday is “Washington’s Birthday,” according to the Office of Personnel Management, the agency in charge of federal employees.
“Washington’s Birthday” (his actual birthday is February 22) was declared a federal holiday in the late 1800’s and moved to the third Monday of February in the 1970’s. There have since been various failed congressional attempts to rename the holiday “President’s Day” to also honor Abraham Lincoln, whose birthday is February 12.
Few, including the first lady, refer to today as Washington’s Birthday thanks to the scores of car dealerships, mattress sellers, and other retailers who long ago determined “President’s Day sale” rolls off the tongue easier.
How utterly clueless and classless can you be; yet, it is truly hilarious. Unfortunately, she will try to save face by declaring a Barrack Hussein Obama day in the near future and explain that she was merely confused and bewildered. A natural condition of those who have existed on those high pressure non-performance jobs, you know, the ones you are offered if your husband is an Illinois State Senator and you need some legitimate bribe money.
Nice ta see ya, Skook.
I saw this and thought that it’s the perfect example of why “tweets are for twits”….
But heavens to mergatroid… a First Lady, clueless to Washington’s Day? Apparently, Princeton and Harvard degrees don’t mean much in the scheme of things.
@MataHarley: They don’t mean a damn thing any more, Mata.
In fact Mata, they represent over educated creatures of the Id incapable of serious critical thinking other than how to waste their trust fund money or how to get sponsored by a Saudi money man for riding the racial preference train (or maybe for being Muslim incognito).
@Skookum:
Sigh. If this makes the First Lady “utterly clueless”, what amusing pejorative would you assign someone who refers to the Holiday as “Presidents Day” at Mt. Vernon itself?
– President George W Bush, Mount Vernon Estate, 2/19/2007
http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2007/02/20070219.html
Dr, J, does the fact GWB went to Harvard Law explain this?
Apparently, Tom, I’ll have to spell it out for you. The holiday is also (casually – look at any commercially printed calendar to figure that out…) called “President’s Day”, and that’s not the embarrassing error by the First Lady.
The error is that she didn’t know that “President’s Day” wasn’t for all Presidents… most especially not her husband. Probably has been called President’s Day for so long because Congress has made multiple attempts to combine both Washington and Lincoln’s February birthdays as the one holiday. However it still remains dedicated only to Washington formally.
Funny… you’d think that American History was a requirement before they let you in to Princeton or Harvard. Obviously Bush the younger passed his American History courses when he got in. And if you think he’s dumb, then what standard would you apply to the decidedly more ignorant First Lady?
In addition to the simple fact that “Presidents Day” has entered the common vernacular (ask George Bush), it should be pointed out that Illinois, the state in which First Lady Obama grew up, is one of several states that recognizes Lincoln’s birthday as a State Holiday. The State website lists the holiday as “Washington’s Birthday
(President’s Day)”. Was Mrs. Obama’s tweet “downright embarrassing”? I guess that’s for everyone to decide for themselves. My read on this post is it’s a pretty desperate excuse to open up the floor to slagging the First Lady. Not very classy, but effective apparently.
@MataHarley:
You’re taking a light-hearted and affectionate tweet to her husband and going to the moon with it. Please, Mata. You have more credibility than this. There are people here who do this type of thing every day. You don’t need to help.
@Tom, not sure why this blows over your head. She is the First Lady, the wife of the POTUS and leader of the free world. We don’t have that many federally recognized holidays for her to have to know.
Even if Ms. O had looked at the calendar and called it the commonly known President’s Day (which isn’t a problem), the placement of the apostrophe *before* the “s”, and not after, should have given her a hint that it’s not a day to honor *all* the Presidents. And therein lies her embarrassment.
This places her knowledge, on this particular subject, somewhere below that of a legal immigrant/naturalized citizen. And for our First Lady to be this unbelievably ignorant on one of the few federal holidays in the year is nothing short of gum chewing, foot scuffling, ga schucks embarrassing. I tend to expect more of my First Family and a knowledge of even the simplest American History.
And no… I’m not “going to the moon” with this. It’s a “Most Wanted” post… meaning just a quick link to a CNN article who, evidently, found this faux pas as embarrassing as I did. Like I said, you know it’s bad when CNN puts it in print.
Thank you Mata, I just made it back to my machine. Yes, the decisive clue is in the elusive and devilish apostrophe; as any student of elementary grammar from the era of the 50’s can attest, president is singular, the apostrophe ‘s’ signifies possession. Consequently, a president, George #1, has his special birthday and it is recognized as such. If we are to include Abe and Bo, the punctuation would be Presidents’ Day. Oh, but wait, Mo has already exhibited a clueless ability with punctuation by using multiple semi-colons without prejudice on both dependent and independent clauses. Obviously, these Ivy League educations have gaps or should we say pauses that necessitate using clauses for sentences and pretending you know what you are doing: and rather than learning the correct procedure, she is content to stumble through life making the same mistakes she made when she was writing her thesis. Of course, with a top heavy load of assistants, it would be logical to think at least one of them might be literate enough to keep the First Lady from falling down the punctuation outhouse; unfortunately, the Obama’s tend to hire political hacks through a rigid system of nepotism, without worrying over details like competency or literacy. Thus MO’s writing tends to be ridiculed by those who are not burdened with being politically correct or even kind. She has created her own legacy, and regardless of what we write or laugh about, she continues to provide us with a never ending source of amusement and embarrassment.
Trivia.
I’m glad this whole issue was brought to light as I have been lying awake at night obsessing over Michelle Obama’s various gaffes and how they are destroying America. Perhaps you could find some faults in her two kids as well. I’m sure they are equally clueless……
When you consider she had nothing to be proud of America about until her man got elected, I can see why she is clueless. She needs to go on another vacation.
Mata, Mata, Mata, apparently the Libs are overly sensitive over the First Family’s intellect; I wonder why?
Perhaps, it has something to do with that old parable about beauty being only skin deep, but stupidity is clear to the bone.
Yes, it does seem so, Skook. Apparently, the wife of the leader of the free world doesn’t need to be well versed in basic American History and our federal holidays. ’tis a small and not unreasonable demand, considering she wanders around representing the nation, don’t you think?
But of course a few have to go hyper, and think this is an attack on the kids. I dare say, had she asked them, they might have known just who President’s Day/Washington Day is for… assuming they do teach American History in that expensive private school they attend.
On the one hand, one can look at this as a simple gaffe made in error.
On the other hand, someone who tweets in the public spotlight, such as this one, even if intended for one person in particular, should at least ensure that stupidity doesn’t enter the equation. Add in that the person is supposedly well-educated and, well, it enters some doubt as to just how well-educated that person is.
On on some else’s third hand (lol) johngalt, someone who is the wife of the POTUS, and is responsible for representing out nation in the public, should at least make the effort to get educated on the few federal holidays we have a year so as to avoid publicly embarrassing moments like these that reflect negatively on the nation. If our Princeton/Harvard educated First Family is clueless to what a naturalized citizen knows, what does that say about our educational curriculum?
@MataHarley:
True enough. Just wanted to place it so that the average person could relate to it.
@Tom: I beg to differ with you Tom. I think Mata has a valid point. If it was a tongue-in-cheek light-hearted comment to her husband, I would think she would keep the rest of the world off her back by sending in a private message to him. I honestly don’t think she had a clue about it until her unfortunate tweet. I firmly believe a person’s station/title in life does NOT dictate the amount they know or the respect they think they deserve. That was a definite “FAIL” on her behalf!!!
Oh Mata was your statement, “But of course a few have to go hyper, and think this is an attack on the kids” referring to lil’ old me? I never said it was an attack on the kids I was merely following your logic. If the first ladies actions are representative of this great nation as you so rightly pointed out, then it would stand to reason that her kids are representative as well. I think we should hold them under the same scrutiny as the first lady. For all we know they are sitting under the covers at night, when they should be sleeping, feverishly reading the Koran. Heck I bet they both listen to gangsta rap. Have we seen their birth certificates….their names sound foreign to me…..Sasha and Malia…..clearly Muslim names. I think you should do a weekly post focusing solely on the Michelle and the kids. I mean come on Sasha and Malia are what 14 and 11 so they are going to make tons of mistakes and probably say some really stupid things just like the Michelle. They are her kids so they probably inherited the “clueless gene” .
This post was so informative and illuminating that I place it right up there with Mike A’s post about Obama putting his feet on the desk in the oval office. Riveting stuff………life affecting.
Ron H, in case it wasn’t obvious with the bulk of the story about Ms. O being in blockquotes, my comment #9 points out this is a “Most Wanted” post… a section that just points to interesting MSM stories with little to no additional input.
Therefore, if you have a problem with this being brought to light in the major news outlets, take it up with CNN. I’m just passing it on.
I find it ironic that when those, such as yourself, really can’t effectively defend the stupidity of one of your own, you find the need to expand the realm to an area where you can complain about the nonexistent by using the excuse of “..following your logic”.
sigh… moving goalposts is a hobby for you, eh?
Well, sorry… but you bring Sasha and Malia in to this on your own, as well as all the other ugly Muslim tangents you included above in order to incite. Me? Would never even think to bring them in to the discussion, nor the subject of Islam either. My sole observation of the girls was that I would wager they are smarter than their mom about Washington’s birthday.
The rest of your ugly commentary above? That onus remains solely on you. It also presents yet another clear picture of who you are.. not that most of us didn’t know already.
Mata:
Wow. Where do I even begin with you……well let’s start off with your stupid and incorrect quote. “I find it ironic that when those, such as yourself, really can’t effectively defend the stupidity of one of your own”. Hmmm help me out here Mata…are you saying I’m a black female, a former first lady……oh wait are you suggesting I’m a Democrat? Apparently you haven’t been paying close attention which is surprising as you are such a stickler for details. I have never …..let me repeat that so it’ll sink in Mata, never voted for a Democrat. In fact I have stated numerous times on this very blog that I did not vote for Obama nor do I support him, so where you come up with the “one of my own “comment is beyond me. I may not be your version of what you think a conservative should be but I am a conservative none the less. So get your facts straight before you launch into one of your long winded diatribes. Having a senior moment perhaps?
Now that I cleared that up for you Mata, let’s move along to the other earth shattering points in your response. I am well aware of the fact that this is a “Most Wanted” post… “a section that just points to interesting MSM stories with little to no additional input”, but you did in fact post this inane and silly article as well as commented :
“This is downright embarrassing. You mean to say that a supposedly highly educated woman is so clueless to American history, that she thinks this holiday, a “holiday of convenience on Monday” meant to celebrate the birthday of Washington, and a silent nod after past attempts to include the birthday of Lincoln, are all about her husband?? woof….” Your words.
So let’s not get too caught up in your “don’t shoot the messenger” defense. And I moved no goal posts as I didn’t have to. You stated that Michelle Obama’s gaffe reflected negatively on the nation so by that logic, wouldn’t anything embarrassing done by her kids reflect badly as well? If one of the girls were to get into a fight at school, get a DUI or get caught with drugs you honestly think you or some other author on here wouldn’t plaster it all over FA and make disparaging remarks? PUlease…..Oh and a quick FYI, 99% of my post is what some call “sarcasm”. It’s a device some writers use to make a point. Funny thing is most of what I posted in my last response was recycled from comments on this very site. Kinda ugly stuff I know but it all came from your house as I simply changed the name from Obama to Sasha and Malia.
Ron H, personally I don’t know your political ideology and don’t care. The only thing you reveal here consistently by your presence is to go after Hard Right, attempt to play who’s private part is bigger with Aye, and defend rich, demean Rush… and after that, any substance disappears.
In fact, the last time you ever weighed in on any subject with something other than attempting to play civility police (and that’s a joke in itself) was during the Cordoba House battles, where you (no doubt reluctantly) found yourself siding with Aye, myself and Wordsmith against the bulk of visitors here.
Considering the last Cordoba House issue, your twinkie dance off into the LaLa land of Muslims and the kids was a foray you chose to make on your own, and quite fitting with your empty, combative presence here over time. I made no mention of anyone but Michelle Obama, and her embarrassing ignorance on one of 11 federal holidays that any POTUS and First Lady should know as the adults representing our country.
So don’t blame your hyperbole and fantasy insults on me. You left the world and reality, and into the extreme all on your own because you can’t effectively defend Michelle O’s ignorance. But perhaps she’s not as worthy of your championing as rich wheeler is, eh? It was just another excuse to make personal insults against other here… something you share in common with another shallow commenter who dwells here regularly.
Mata:
Wow do you actually read any of my responses? Your responses keep twisting and changing to fit some internal narrative inside your head. You clearly stated, ” I find it ironic that when those, such as yourself, really can’t effectively defend the stupidity of one of your own” which is completely incorrect and I rightly called you out on your mistake and yet you obfuscate. You were wrong in your assertion but yet you persist on dancing about flailing your arms as if to create a distraction from the fact that your comment was wrong plain and simple. You misspoke, it’s okay it happens to all of us.
And please Mata show me where I defended Michelle Obama. You are confusing me with Tom. He tried to explain her gaffe as well as defend her. I have called what she said a gaffe from the very beginning….perhaps you should go back and read what I initially wrote….wait I’ll save you the trouble. Here’s what I said:
“I’m glad this whole issue was brought to light as I have been lying awake at night obsessing over Michelle Obama’s various gaffes”
Is your reading comprehension a little off today? So I called it as a mistake did I not? Where’s my defense of Michelle Obama? There is none….keeping grasping at straws.
Ah yes.. that’s so obviously agreeing this was a gaffe instead of hyperbolic satire. Pathetic attempt at the backstroke, ron.
If you’re a conservative, and considering your history of comments here, you’re not a conservative I want in my corner. With peers like you, who needs political enemies?
Done with cha now. Guess you’ll have to try to go assault someone else. Aye’s been MIA, but I think Hard Right is still around for you to abuse.
Mata:
Since my entire point is obviously lost on you I’ll make it really simple. Trivial garbage like this is unimportant and making personal attacks on any politicians family is cowardly and childish regardless of what political affiliation. I have better things to read about than how many times Michelle misspoke or how ugly her dress is. Again trivial and insignificant. This doesn’t effect me in the least. Sorry your so tightly wound that you find this so embarrassing. That’s kind of sad really.
Funny that you reference “empty presence” as I think your article and commentary show quite a bit of “emptiness”. And as for my combativeness….give me a break. I have been personally attacked numerous times by commenters so excuse me while I call you out on your hypocritical statement. You guys can dish it out but you whine when you get it back. Figures.
Mata:
You can’t be this obtuse. Backstroking? Spare me your defense mechanisms you employ when trying to convince yourself you didn’t misspeak. You and Aye read the same playbook. Okay I’ll break it down so even you can understand it. The hyperbolic satire part of the sentence was the “I’m glad this whole issue was brought to light as I have been lying awake at night obsessing”. Do you get that? I was using sarcasm to say that who really cares about trivial mistakes that Michelle Obama makes. Seems to me you are the who keeps obfuscating. Keep rearranging the meaning of what I said Mata yeah that’s a winning strategy. And as far as being in your corner….no thanks I don’t pal around with extremists……..I’m sure I’m going to need to explain that sarcastic remark to you as well.
John Galt What if we asked 100 Americans, half of which are school kids 10-14,”Who does President’s Day honor?”
Guess on responses?
30% honors all American Presidents
30% honors Washington and Lincoln
30% honors Washinton only
5% a day for presents
5% what’s a president?
What say you? lol
@Mata
I wouldn’t be so sure about – apparently 70% of Americans don’t know what the Constitution is – so chances are that many Americans born and bred would also be clueless. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1368482/How-ignorant-Americans-An-alarming-number-U-S-citizens-dont-know-basic-facts-country.html
And…
“84% believe that the U.S. Constitution is the document that states that “all men are created equal”, thus confusing it with the Declaration of Independence.”
.http://ratify.constitutioncenter.org/CitizenAction/CivicResearchResults/NCCNationalPoll/HighlightsofthePoll.shtml