Michelle Obama, her mother and daughters head to China

[proverbialwisdom]

Source: Maria Puente, USA TODAY

9:44 a.m. EDT March 19, 2014

First lady Michelle Obama, accompanied by daughters Malia and Sasha and mother Marian Robinson, is off to China Wednesday with plans to make friends, see the sights, promote education, and charm anyone willing to listen.

On this, her third solo foreign trip abroad, sticky, tricky issues such as human rights and international trade abuses are decidedly not on her agenda, at least not in an obvious way. She is not expected to be making dramatic pronouncements about, say, women's rights, as former FLOTUS (and possible future POTUS candidate) Hillary Clinton once did on a trip to China.

That's not Obama's FLOTUS style. She has turned out to be a skillful blend of first-lady convention and innovation, seamlessly switching from workouts with kids on the White House lawn, to glittery state dinners in couture fashion to "mom-dancing" with Jimmy Fallon on his late-night gab show. But she rarely says or does anything truly controversial or explicitly political, and she isn't planning to start in China.

"I'll be focusing on the power and importance of education, both in my own life and in the lives of young people in both of our countries," she said in her first post on her travel blog of the trip.


Read more: http://www.usatoday.com/story/life/people/2014/03/19/michelle-obama-her-mother-and-daughters-head-to-china/6540019/

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http://www.whitehouse.gov/issues/foreign-policy/first-lady-china-trip

The First Lady's Trip to China
Beijing, Xi'an, and Chengdu

The First Lady will travel to China from March 19-26, 2014. She will be visiting Beijing from March 20-23, Xi’an on March 24, and Chengdu from March 25-26. And she's inviting students and classrooms across the U.S. to follow her trip.

During her trip to China, as on previous international trips to Africa, Asia, Europe and Latin America, the First Lady will be focusing on the power and importance of education, both in her own life and in the lives of young people in both countries.

She will also be visiting important historical and cultural sites in China, and will share with students in the U.S. the stories of the students she meets in China, as well as interesting facts about China’s history and culture — emphasizing the importance of students learning from one another globally.

Related: The First Lady Travels to China and Invites Young People to Participate

[Drunken Irishman]

1. I'm sure the asshole right-wing will bitch and moan about 'another Obama vacation on America's dime!

Fuck 'em. You go, Michelle!

[otohara]

2. Yep, Count On It

Anything Obama = hate

[proverbialwisdom]

3. As a matter of principle never adopt a defensive posture except fleetingly- it hypes the wrong focus

Last edited Thu Mar 20, 2014, 09:59 AM - Edit history (1)

I had to actively suppress the impulse to address the snark of that article as, in fact, just yesterday Michael Pollan tweeted:

Michael Pollan ?@michaelpollan Mar 18
"First Lady Has Food Industry in a Frenzy" - http://NationalJournal.com http://bit.ly/Otchvo

http://www.nationaljournal.com/outside-influences/first-lady-has-food-industry-in-a-frenzy-20140316

First Lady Has Food Industry in a Frenzy
Michelle Obama's push for better nutrition is bringing sweeping changes to agriculture, manufacturing, commerce, schools, and American homes.

By Jerry Hagstrom
March 16, 2014

By many accounts, the Obama administration is leading the most aggressive campaign to improve the nation's eating habits in many decades. If the President and first lady have their way, the American people will cut down on sugar and sodium and eat more whole grains, lean meat, low-fat dairy products, and fruits and vegetables by the time he leaves office and in the years to come.

Many of those changes could result in multibillion-dollar shifts in how the government and consumers spend their money on food. Perhaps just as important, the efforts to reduce sodium, sugar, and fat will force companies to make changes in how they prepare, store, and ship food. But many of those initiatives are under pressure from food companies and from members of Congress.

On Friday, in a speech to the Partnership for a Healthier America—a private-sector group set up to push the administration's nutrition objectives—the first lady said:

"Because of what we have all done together, today, 32 million kids are getting healthier school meals. Tens of thousands of schools are removing junk food ads from their classroom. Fifteen thousand child-care centers will be providing healthier snacks and getting those cute little kids up and moving. Food and beverage companies have cut 6.4 trillion calories from their products. We will soon have better nutrition labels on 700,000 food items. Hundreds of new or renovated grocery stores are reaching millions of people in underserved communities."

But the very same day, at a House Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee hearing on Capitol Hill, the opposition surfaced.

<>

[VanillaRhapsody]

26. wouldn't surprise me to see it right on DU...

[truebrit71]

4. Another foreign trip?

More fuel for the right-wing outrage machine....brilliant timing

[proverbialwisdom]

5. PBS: Take a Virtual Trip to China with the First Lady March 20-26

http://whut.pbslearningmedia.org/collection/globaldiplomacy/

Take a Virtual Trip to China with the First Lady

[img][/img]

VIDEO AT LINK - Welcome ( 中国欢迎您 ) from the First Lady

From March 20th-26th, the First Lady will travel to China. Grab your passport and travel across the globe to learn more about China’s unique culture and how international trips help foster global diplomacy. Check out:

NEW Resource Collections & Top Resources

First Lady Blog & Videos: http://www.whitehouse.gov/issues/foreign-policy/first-lady-china-trip

Virtual Event

[truebrit71]

7. Like I said...

...more fuel for the fire....

Oh, Fuck China too...

[geek tragedy]

10. Maybe you think it's not transparent when you want to attack the

President and his family and try to disguise it in terms of "oh noez more fuel for rightwing criticisms."

But, actually it is a dead giveaway that you're just trying to validate those criticisms.

[Sarah Ibarruri]

27. You know, the more BS-anti-Obama comments I see, the MORE I like Obama and the more I

support the man in every way.

I guess the efforts of whoever-these-people-are, are completely wasted on me or having the opposite effect.

[Drunken Irishman]

6. If the Obamas scheduled their lives around right-wing outrage, they'd never leave the WH.

Also, when was the last foreign trip by the First Lady? This is only her third trip outside the country without Obama.

Moreover, at this point in Bush's presidency, Laura Bush had way more foreign trips than Michelle - visiting more countries in 2005 (25) than Michelle has since becoming First Lady.

[Iliyah]

12. Thats ok since GOPers have a different set of rules and laws

It won't surprise me that RWers start attacking the children as well. They are a bunch of evil un-American assholes.

[geek tragedy]

9. Funny how people who hate the President somehow find a way to express

phony CONCERN about rightwing attacks while echoing those rightwing attacks themselves.

Maybe they think they're fooling people.

[llmart]

16. Who gives a shit what the RW says?

Do you really think the Obamas should be trying to figure out every step they make so that they can placate the rw idiots? I wouldn't give them a second thought. We already know that no matter what they do, the rw uneducated racist jackasses will criticize it.

[NYC Liberal]

17. Obama waking up in the morning is fuel for right-wing outrage.

[treestar]

20. If they went nowhere, the right wing would notice that

and find it to be a big concern too.

[rocktivity]

8. Hope the girls are on spring break

Last edited Wed Mar 19, 2014, 03:10 PM - Edit history (1)

Bon voyage, and be careful getting out of any helicopters!


rocktivity

[Brother Buzz]

11. I'm glad to see Marian Robinson getting out and about

She seems to fly under the radar and is mostly portrayed as the steady as a rock homebody. Live it up, you deserve it!

[warrant46]

21. Not everyone so awed

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2586367/Beijing-hotel-workers-fed-Obama-entourage-3400-square-foot-8-350-night-suite-inconveniencing-pretty-ladys-mother-barking-staff.html

[LeftishBrit]

25. This is the Daily Fail. Take it with a huge carton of salt!

[Nanjing to Seoul]

13. Sadly, I don't think she's coming to Shanghai, so I can't see the woman

Beijing, Xi'an and Chengdu.

Apparently, government officials, terracota warriors and panda bears are more important than me.

That's it. . .I'm not voting for any Democrat in 2014!

[Cha]

14. :)

[Sunlei]

15. a cool place to visit! a lot of Americans take this same trip.

[proverbialwisdom]

18. WaPo: Michelle Obama touts cultural exchange and free speech

http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/michelle-obama-touts-cultural-exchange-and-free-speech/2014/03/22/ef138078-e4af-4bf8-9442-0a979b147bb5_story.html

Michelle Obama touts cultural exchange and free speech
By Krissah Thompson, Saturday, March 22, 6:06 AM

BEIJING — Michelle Obama became an ambassador for cultural exchange Saturday, taking her goodwill tour of China to the Stanford Center at Peking University to discuss the importance of study abroad and the free exchange of ideas.

In a 15-minute speech she delivered before a mix of American students studying at Peking University and Chinese students who have studied in the United States, she called on young people to be “citizen diplomats” and stressed the importance of the free flow of ideas over the Internet and through the media.

“That's how we discover the truth,” she said to the crowd of about 200, which included a handful of officials from major universities in the U.S. and China. “That’s how we learn what’s really happening in our communities, our country and our world. And that’s how we decide which values and ideas we think are best — by questioning and debating them vigorously.”

<>

Link from comments section: http://www.ageofautism.com/2014/03/trutherization-of-vaccine-injury.html#more

[Supersedeas]

23. the free flow of ideas over the internet...i like this idea

[treestar]

19. Didn't Hillary and Chelsea go?

Seems to be some type of Democratic tradition (unless Pickles and her twins went, and I don't remember that.)

[LeftishBrit]

24. Seems to be a recent First Lady tradition in general

http://www.firstladies.org/blog/american-first-ladies-in-china-a-fascinating-untold-saga-part-3/

[Supersedeas]

28. apparently they draw a distinction between cultural and political visits

consider this comparison:

http://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/flashback-first-lady-hillary-clinton-china-n58001


There is no mention of Chelsea making this trip.