Some in China are unhappy that First Lady Michelle Obama is skipping Friday’s meeting between President Obama and newly installed Chinese President Xi Jinping, according to the Associated Press.
The first lady’s absence adds to the strangeness of the meeting, with Obama and Xi staging their first formal session together out in California, where Obama will be fundraising today, instead of at the White House.
From the AP report:
Disappointment over Mrs. Obama’s absence was palpable if not vehement in some Chinese mainstream and social media. Xi’s wife, Peng Liyuan, is a rare commodity in Chinese politics — a popular political spouse known for her style and poise who has been accompanying Xi on his diplomatic travels.
Peng holds the rank of major general in the People’s Liberation Army and was a popular singer on state television, best known for her stirring renditions of patriotic odes, often while wearing full dress uniform. Many Chinese were interested in seeing how she compares with the United States’ own glamorous, high profile first lady.
Zhang Ming, an international studies expert at Renmin University in Beijing, was quoted on social media as calling Mrs. Obama’s absence from their husbands’ meeting as “strange for normal diplomatic protocol.”
Michelle has been on a fundraising whirlwind the past two weeks, traveling last week to Boston and New York to drum up money. She recently hopscotched the country to tell kids to move their butts and eat less. But the first lady’s role of representing her country and aidingU.S. diplomacy by being present at meetings between heads of states, arguably one of her most vital tasks, will be ignored Friday.
So the buzz is Xi’s wife is cuter than Michelle, right?
Very pretty lady, unlike Mooch. Also, she is lady-like in her manners, something Mooch knows nothing about.
Mooch is an embarrassment to America with her pig-pen manners, especially table manners. She stuffs her mouth with more than one forkful at a time, she grabs her wine glass with a full fist around the goblet instead of the stem, elbows on table, etc.
Disgusting woman………..no lady.
Charles Laughton as Henry VIII style.
I have no love for Communist China, but Peng Li Yuan is more of a classy “First Lady” than Michelle…
Since Michelle (the so-called “FLOTUS” who is a crude wookie) will not met with ‘Lady’ Peng Li Yuan I would like to see this play out in the ‘media’;
“Michelle snubs the Chinese First Lady”…?
My thoughts exactly, but in fewer words and better said.
Visual not good for Mooch — Big guns Michelle, petite, pretty Peng.
Mooch would look like the big, gauche, dumb cow that she is.
Michelle needs braces. It looks like someone threw her teeth in her mouth from 50 feet. ANYONE is cuter than Michelle!
The Obamas have to be the worse couple in the White House since Bill and Hill.
I’d say (the worst) since the beginning, but that’s just me
Lots of very negative press in the British papers Daily Mail, Telegraph
were both quite good at dissing Michelle. Yippie perhaps the bloom is
off the rose and Frau Obama is getting her just desserts. About time
especially when it has global ramifications especially with the Chinese.
No excuse for this self absorbed woman to skip out on her duties and
yes all those perks she enjoys do come with a price her duty to country.
I think the uk papers realize our media tells us nothing …. more and more people rely on them more than WaPo and NYT.
If it wasn’t for the UK press we would have missed out on lots of
the Obama scrubbing of their dirty little secrets.
Same here. Except for Fox they’re the only oppositional press we have.
The UK Telegraph covers our news better than our LSM. Just another embarrassment. Add it to the ever growing list under this administration.
So does the Daily Mail but a bit more tabloid in nature. The Daily
Mail broke the double dip AF1 trip to Hawaii she couldn’t wait
you know and it was a bloody few hours!
6 JUNE 1944 , need I say more ?
Thank you men and women for your sacrifices on that momentous day.
Especially those who never returned….
Amen.
D Day. Thanks to all who served. We are forever grateful.
Here’s General Eisenhower’s Message — D-Day June 6, 1944.
Take the time — out of respect.
http://www.army.mil/d-day/message.html
Thank God those brave young men went the extra mile to save
us from the evil of Hitler. We will be forever grateful. We will
never forget 6-6 never.
Eisenhower cried when he saw those boys off, real tears.
He also had a note in case it went badly taking full responsibly
for the failure. I can’t imagine the decision to send all those men
into the hell of D-Day.
A far cry from the AWOL Obama on September 11, 2012. As I wrote my column today I couldn’t believe the stark difference between the “absence” of leadership in Obama vs the bravery of D-Day and the real leadership of one Ronald Reagan.
Obama claims credit where it not due and takes responsibility for nothing when the bill comes due.
That last sentence, bingo!
Cisco, thank you for posting your comment. I’m working on a project for a local historical society researching facts about Bronx NY WW II dead. Seeing the volume of names associated with street addresses I have known since my own childhood is overwhelming at times.
God bless them all.
Also, 1984 was published 64 years ago today.
pardon my language.
screw the Chinese. They are our biggest Enemy. Bar none.
I am more pro-Michelle than I will ever be pro-Communist China.
Frankly, between the Obamas and the Chinese it’s a toss-up.
Who is more dangerous, your internal or your external enemy?
With the Chinese it’s very important to make a good impression
even if its just for show so it would behove Michelle to go along
it’s not much to ask.
Especially since it is her husband who has borrowed more than all of his predecessors combined from the Bank of China! She has certainly grabbed her share of the pie!
Perhaps if the First Lardy could be bothered to get off her lazy butt and show some graciousness the Chinese might not be quite as great an enemy.
For real? You’re ignoring a lot of history in your haste to blame Michelle Obama.
Are you really as schizophrenic as you seem?
I’ve wondered that too. Perhaps Mandy has Multiple Personality Disorder? That might explain her sometimes confusing and naïve comments.
Didn’t work for Hopey and the Muslims…
China has been our biggest enemy since 1949. We’ve actually fought 2 wars against them. Not just proxy wars but against their soldiers
She wouldn’t know proper ‘protocol’ if it bit her big ol’ booty:(
Don’t get me wrong if it were up to me Michelle would be confined to the White House garden and private quarters for the duration of this long and tyrannical reign. And then there is the fact that she can be unpleasant when things don’t go her way. Still this is supposedly an official visit between the heads (and their wives) of two powerful countries so Michelle should put on her big girl panties and play a long at an official duty as First “Lady”.
That said, I suspect that Mooch is simply jealous of Peng Liyuan who is quite popular and lovely. This is most likely another Obama family hissy fit. A fit of pique. There was a pretty smashing picture of China’s First Lady on Drudge the other day.
If Mooch can’t shine she won’t play. This makes her look small and petty and if didn’t make our country look bad to a country where at least outward propriety is important I could care less about Barack Obama’s wife.
Right……that photo on Drudge was stunning!
Like a mean goose.
“If Mooch can’t shine she won’t play”.
Bingo!, Grace. It’s very likely that she will be upstaged by her Chinese counterpart or, at the very least, will be forced to share the stage with her. Michelle is never pleased when she’s not the center of everyone’s attention and adoration.
Not a good week for Michelle, despite Jay Carney and the Obama apologists calling her hissy fit the other night “brilliant”.
Despite her protestations to the contrary, she is once again coming across as an “angry black woman”.
On the bright side, Michelle may be saving the taxpayers some money with her temporary “Let’s NOT move” policy, avoiding a second plane and security detail to the west coast.
Meanwhile, Mr Obama starts his day today AFTER NOON so he can make a human prop-supported photo op at another middle school full of impressionable and unquestioning future voters and then fly directly to California for two fund-raisers at private residences with those evil one percenters he loves to campaign against when he’s not draining THEIR pockets.
Where in the list of Daily Presidential Duties does it list “Sleep in late, use taxpayer dollars for a partisan photo op at which you bash the loyal opposition, and then fly 3,000 miles to meet with elites who pay more to buy your influence than many earn in a year — all the while ignoring the real needs of the country and dodging multiple scandals of your administration.” ??
Maybe the Treasury Department should audit THAT.
Peng Liyuan is pretty, but she’s still a Commie.
and so is Mooch.
Top 3 reasons Flotus is not going:
*She doesn’t have a thing to wear.
*Too much MSG in Chinese food.
*Mrs. Xi wears bangs better than Mrs. O.
Methinks this is all about MrsO and MrO, and not international protocol or relations with the Chinese.
Separate vacations, “single mother”, insults thrown at hubby during a commencement speech, a meltdown at a lesbian fundraiser, and now we see we have a woman who isn’t happy and isn’t afraid to show it.
We don’t expect much from any First Lady, other than she be the offical hostess at the WhiteHouse and act with decorum in public.
We do however expect some return from all of the luxuries and courtesies that we give to her and the President’s family, the least of which is that she accompany him to events where the visiting dignitary has brought his own wife. That’s part of the “official hostess” designation.
Peng holds the rank of major general in the People’s Liberation Army and was a popular singer on state television, best known for her stirring renditions of patriotic odes, often while wearing full dress uniform.
SNIP
***************
A popular singer, Peng spent her career belting out Chinese propaganda — songs with messages that Michelle Obama, and indeed many Americans and Chinese, do not want to be associated with. In one video, she pretends to be Tibetan and asks “Who is going to liberate us? The dear People’s Liberation Army.” (The video angered Tibetan groups for portraying China’s 1959 invasion of Tibet as consensual.)
Peng is a civilian but holds a rank equivalent to major general in China’s PLA, and she would sing in full military garb before her husband became so high-profile. Perhaps most notoriously, she allegedly sang in support of Chinese troops in Tiananmen Square in 1989, following a bloody crackdown on protesters on June 4 of that year.
SNIP
http://blog.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2013/06/05/why_michelle_obama_shouldnt_meet_with_peng_liyuan
So now your implication is that Michelle is doing this on capitalist principle?
All I did was post a link.
Mand
Sorry I cut myself off (and there is NO HAIKU here).
MM — Foreign Policy is a left leaning pro Democrat foreign policy journal. It’s staff and contributors are scholars and well credentialed, but there ideological take on things is on the side of the left. Isaac Fish was a reporter in Beijing for awhile. You can find his bio at FP.com
Check out their editorial board and contributors.
I personally was unpersuaded by your citation in support of Michelle Obama failing to perform a regular duty of a First Lady.
I’m well aware of FP and its ideological bent. My favorite creep to hate is Stephen Walt.
Hee hee, haiku. I wasn’t going to say a thing, honestly, grace.
dispo
Oh Julie — wait — i think I have the beginning of “haiku”
dispo
mand
You were calling her a “commie” etc. So I thought this is what you thought. Never mind.
They’re both Commies.
It’s an opinion piece from a WaPo owned “policy” site, speak about your propaganda.
If the First Lady shouldn’t meet with Peng, why should our President meet with her husband ?
Did Bush meet with the Chinese? Did he host them at a state dinner?
I Googled “state dinner obama chinese” and rediscovered this disgraceful tidbit.
President Obama spent more than $1.45 million on his first two official state dinners, according to White House financial documents obtained by The Washington Examiner.
The White House Executive Residence sent two invoices to the State Department’s Office of Protocol, seeking reimbursement for the White House dinners honoring visiting Indian and Mexican heads of state.
SNIP
The October 2009 Indian dinner cost $487,168.86 or $1,485 per person, according to the invoices. The May 2010 Mexican dinner price tag was $969,793.92 and was attended by 200 people at a cost of $4,770 each.
SNIP
The actual costs of the two events was not revealed by White House officials to Congress out of concern for “protocol considerations,” according to a 2010 expense report obtained by the Examiner. The White House is required to submit the report annually to Congress.
SNIP
White House officials had a massive pavilion constructed on the South Lawn that took five days to build. The temporary structure included a fully heated concert hall with adjacent satellite kitchens and a dozen hanging chandeliers to make it seem like “a magical secret garden,” reported Vanity Fair.
The Obamas rejected Cristeta Comerford, their regular White House chef and a holdover from the Bush term, preferring to import Marcus Samuelsson, a celebrity chef from New York’s trendy Aquavit restaurant.
Vanity Fair estimated that the pavilion cost as much as $250,000.
SNIP
Smoot selected celebrity event planner Bryan Rafanelli, who was famous for planning Bill and Hillary Clinton’s multi-million dollar “wedding of the decade” for their daughter Chelsea.
Rafanelli pulled out the stops for the Mexican dinner, piling up $969,000 in expenses. The regular White House chef was again replaced, this time with Chicago celebrity chef Rick Bayliss.
SNIP
http://washingtonexaminer.com/white-house-invoices-show-excessive-state-dinner-costs/article/2515228
Former White House Usher Gary Walters told the Examiner that the most expensive White House state dinner he could recall was about $200,000. As usher, Walters was intimately involved in planning the events from 1986 to 2007.
So? The president is supposed to hold state dinners–duty of office.
I’m looking at the expenses incurred by the Obamas compared to those incurred by the Clintons and the Bushes.
Wow both First Ladies are communists so you’d think they would have lots to talk about … But after Michelle’s eruption at the LBGT fundraiser perhaps she needs to adjust her meds or start drinking earlier in the day to deal with the commoners.
OT — We may never be able to recoup all the non governmental duties costs incurred by the Obamas. But the town of Atherton is not letting it slide. The Democrats need to start paying their bills for this guy’s endless campaigning. http://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2013/06/06/atherton-revolts-over-cost-of-obama-visit-targets-donors/
They even talked about putting a lien on the property owners if they didn’t pay up. And this in a county where SEVENTY-TWO PERCENT of the voters picked Obeyme in 2012.
If even the land of fruits and nuts is getting weary of this tinpot cozener, how sick of him will the Nation be in 2016?
If there’s any silver lining to that, it’s that Obama Fatigue may work wonders for the GOP in the 2016 election.
Figures. The one historical duty of the first lady – socialize with the spouses during meetings of foreign leaders – and she can’t be bothered. Maybe it’s because Peng is a major general in the Chinese Communist party and she’s just a pseudo Marxist black power rabble-rouser?
Can only imagine the conversation between the two grifters when Barry told her the new Chinese Mata Hari was coming with her hubby. If only the walls could talk…
If only a fly on the wall… (and I’m sure there many surrounding that trash) could talk… Keith, does anyone know if moochie brought her fly swatter from chicago to the WH? If nothing else, she can use it for swatting the kids like HER mother did to her….
Why would anyone expect any less from our first spoiled children Mr. and Mrs. Obama? We are the laughing stock of the world. I believe Obama can chalk this up to ONE mission accomplished…his only one.
She’s too busy preparing for the family outing to So. Africa at the end of the month – it’s the gorilla mating season.
Wow, quite a snub of Peng. Seems like a no-brainer that Moochie should attend and be a gracious hostess. ( Oops,I just realized how silly that sounded!)
You made me spit coffee! Don’t do that again.
Sorry, Ginger! I even caught myself off-guard with that one!
I choked on a Frappuccino and then spit on my IPad. Old MO
sure has an odd effect on us wicked witch of the east!
On the upside, yours may be the first recorded instance that has the words “gracious” and “Michelle Obama” in the same sentence.
Being a “China student” (re :History-Culture-Language)
This is interesting… just goes to prove the “USA” today has NO CLUE what “China” (a Communist nation) is when it comes to ‘International Relations’
We do know. And as you know, there is quite a bit of good China expertise available. And bad. What this Administration chooses to do with it, eh.
But this. This is about Mooch. And Mooch Do Not Care. About the country or what we might think, or what China might think. This is about Mirror Mirror on the Wall Mooch.
And you– Mr. Langley Spook– you best mind yourself. You have heard of the IRS and audits …..not to mention the reach of our greatest law enforcer Eric the Red Holder…. :) :)
“Peng holds the rank of major general in the People’s Liberation Army and was a popular singer on state television, best known for her stirring renditions of patriotic odes, often while wearing full dress uniform. ”
Moochie is outclassed here, as she is everwhere. Whatever you think of China, I doubt that her husband’s elevation was the FIRST time that Peng was proud of her country; she actually did something other than carp and sue about real and imagined injustice; she served in her country’s military; she actually KNOWS “patriotic odes”, AND she’s bound to look WAY more fashionable in a dress uniform than Strongarm will EVER look in a sun dress that’s too young for her.
Can you imagine Michelle Antonette stumbling thorugh the National Anthem? She’d probably hack it worse than her pal Bouncey, and wouln’t even be able to choke back her bile about America long enough to record it…
“Many Chinese were interested in seeing how she compares with the United States’ own glamorous, high profile first lady.”
EXACTLY why Her Bileness won’t show! She doesn’t compare well to ANYONE’S First Lady, with the possible exception of Eva Peron…
AND, the one thing she’ll NEVER be is,
“a popular political spouse known for her style and poise”.
She’s more the poisonous political HACK known for her LACK of style and venomous poise.
Trust me, America, it’s for the best that there be no comparison. The Chinese are just disappointed because they KNOW it would be an EXCELLENT opportunity to clown us gweilos (鬼佬) again for our poor political choices, much like the time a town in America elected a dog Mayor, and they thought we were serious…
Unfortunately – for us – the Obamas are real. You can understand why the Chinese wouldn’t mind gloating a litte.
Yipes! The Chinese are taking this issue seriously. My local Chinese restaurant has posted a special for the weekend: “Moo Bam Missing”
I did not spot to see the contents of the dish………..
LMAO! Thanks Rick.
And again the Obama’s “unite” the world…….against them.
Honey wookie don’t care, honey wookie’s already got her head in Martha’s Vineyard.
Memo to any future Americans who stumble onto this blog years from now: “Ghetto Fabulous” and “First Lady material” are mutually exclusive. Don’t make the same mistake we did in 2008.
“This comment deleted due to inappropriate praise of the FLOTUS”
It’s being reported Reggie will fill in for MO, and was approved by ValJar. She has had a busy day, already approving Holder to stay.
When asked while she will not accompany her husband to California and events welcoming Chinese leader and wife, mooch responds, “One of the things I don’t do well is this.”
[…] reason was given for the absence, a breach of protocol that caused a minor uproar in China. According to the Associated Press, “disappointment over Mrs. Obama’s absence was […]
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First time reader……Mooch is such a perfect name for Michelle.
It is an outrage and an embarrassment to the whole country that Michelle Obama will not be meeting the Chinese first couple. There is no acceptable excuse other than serious illness, and she is not reported to be sick.
China is one of the biggest players on the world stage and throughout our history Chinese immigrants have had a huge impact on our culture. I am ashamed of our “first couple, again.
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