nice abuse of power by the first lady

[BlaqueKatt]

I agree it would've been a pretty blatant abuse of power ... if it had actually happened.

This is what actually happened. Paragraph five pertains to the subject at hand.

hmmm a government blogger-with nothing but "reports" of what wonderful things the white house tells her about-yeah that's trustworthy.....

[linguist]

Seems as if the original story is no longer available...wonder why that might be?

[Flyndaran]

hmmm a government blogger-with nothing but "reports" of what wonderful things the white house tells her about-yeah that's trustworthy.....

Not only that, but it didn't really deny the accusation of those very phones being taken.
Since the secret service has a long history of taking people's stuff for non-existant reasons, I am likely to believe it happening at the behest of the wife of the president, or heck, even done of their own volition.

[Boozy]

First of all, the Secret Service was not in the kitchen to make sure her burger was prepared to her liking. The article may have implied it, but saying so outright would have been a lie. The Secret Service were there to ensure that the First Lady was not about to be poisoned.

Second, there is nothing that indicates that the agents were in the kitchen. I have a feeling this was an open grill visible to the dining room.

Third, the Secret Service will, on occasion, temporarily secure camera equipment to prevent intelligence gathering.

I see nowhere in the article that any of this was done at the behest of the First Lady.

[Slytovhand]

What I'm amused about on that link were the first few comments I glanced over..."OMG, hamburgerz are so bad for you..."

What?? What do you guys put in them over there?? (granted, I know you don't have the sanity to include beetroot as standard... so that's pretty sad!)

[AdminAssistant]

Honestly, I think it's very tacky of people to openly take pictures of the First Lady with her children. They're little girls, they didn't ask to become famous, and they deserve to not have cameras in their faces while going out for a hamburger. I feel that way about all celebrity kids; they should be off limits. Mrs. Obama out by herself? That I can swing with, although I can understand why she would get annoyed by it.

That said, I agree with Boozy. When President Clinton visited the local university to dedicate a library, the Secret Service took over the entire campus and did pretty much what they gosh darn well pleased. Funny thing is, if a POTUS were assassinated, everybody would be up in arms, "The Secret Service didn't do enough to protect them! It's their fault!" Damned if you do, damned if you don't.

Yes, the "OMG They ate hamburgers!!" comments made me laugh. Fact is, hamburgers aren't that great for you if you eat them everyday. But the occasional hamburger, french fries, and chocolate shake, that's the classic American meal.

Why am I suddenly hungry?

[Slytovhand]

Thread de-rail....

Fact is, hamburgers aren't that great for you if you eat them everyday.

Why not??

Well, over here at any rate, a well made hamburger is quite healthy... a bit of bread (which is probably the worst part of it), good quality meat (esp if it's a steak burger) and some nice salad - lettuce, onions, tomato... beetroot! (and let's splurge, pineapple, ham, cheese and an egg). Quite healthy! If you work off the calories (of which, there's not really a stack), it's fine (tad low on the vege count, but hey...)


As for their kids - yes, I would agree... such is the problem with 'celebrity' status anywhere.

Funny thing is, if a POTUS were assassinated, everybody would be up in arms,

hmmm... well, not everybody...

[BroomJockey]

Thread de-rail.... Why not??

'cause RED MEAT CLOGS YOUR ARTERIES AND KILLS YOU IN YOUR SLEEP WHEN YOU'RE TWENTY-SIX!

[AdminAssistant]

good quality meat

And that is the problem. The majority of hamburgers eaten in America come from places like McDonald's, Burger King, etc. Not that an occasional Whopper, Jr. isn't tasty (cause it is), but they're not made from great cuts of meat. Eating a well-made hamburger regularly would probably be fine, but eating Whoppers and Big Macs every day, not so much.

Personally, I like lettuce, pickle, mustard, and pepperjack cheese.

[Flyndaran]

'cause RED MEAT CLOGS YOUR ARTERIES AND KILLS YOU IN YOUR SLEEP WHEN YOU'RE TWENTY-SIX!

Eating high cholesterol foods daily vastly increasing your risk for heart disease and stroke is not hype. It's fact.

[Rapscallion]

Can we get back to the secret service and abuse of powers, please? Thread derails are kind of funny, but it's a bit too far off the track and really deserves its own thread.

Rapscallion

[Tanasi]

Folks don't let their status fool you into thinking they're better than you. She has no more rights than you. She's just a regular person that happens to be married to the POTUS. FLOTUS isn't even mentioned in the Constitution.

The secret service can only take your phone/camera/what ever if you let them. If it's not illegal for you to have it, nor illegal of you to use it then they can't by law take it even for one second. So to quote a former first lady "Just say NO." If they do for even one second then they've violated you rights to be secure in your papers and property. That's one of the big 10. They can't run you out of the place (especially if you were there first) they can't stop you from taking a picture, after all they're in public just like you are and anyone that wants to can take your picture. While in the store they only person that legally stop you is the owner and all he can do is ask you to leave.

Earlier this week a New Hamshire man came to one of the President's meetings openly carrying a handgun. He has a right to so and the secret service didn't take it away from him either (I'd put good money on it that there was a cross-hairs on him the whole time.) Some fool talking head on MSNBC was more concerned that he was strapped than what the man had to say.

[SimplyAnother]

Some fool talking head on MSNBC was more concerned that he was strapped than what the man had to say.

Considering we've had more than one president assassinated and more than a few attempted assignations, I can see why he was concerned.

[AFPheonix]

^ Also considering how many threats the sitting president has received from various crazies, I don't blame them for being cautious either.

[ExiledV20]

Seems the TV people didn't notice the confiscation either:

http://www.nbcwashington.com/news/lo...-52679587.html

In fact: The patrons outside saw the Obama girls getting out of the van and were immediately thrilled, whipping out their cell-phone cameras to get photos. "People were really happy to get a shot, and especially to see the girls," said Robinson. "Michelle has been here before, but this was the girls' first visit."

I've not seen anywhere else on a news site about confiscations, so I think the NY Post is being a bit, ah, infactual. As it's kind of known to be.