I always knew politicians had an artful way with words. But if politicians are lingual artists, then President Obama is the Michelangelo. I’ve unfortunately never been able to get Hillary Clinton’s 2010 “dialogue” proposal out of my head. (Its the 1:15 mark) What a wonderful way to sound friendly and inviting, I thought…not realizing that the awkward Presidential campaign announcement would plant itself in my head for years to come. But Obama’s “evolution” on gay marriage will forever hold a place in my mind. For the rest of our lives, we’ll all be hearing a politician talk away a “flip flop” as an “evolution”. It’s a brilliant way to forgive one’s self in front of others.
But to the point, yesterday, President Obama had a father’s day photo op which drew a lot of interest. After some remarks, he dug into lunch with his guests. I assume it was to the chagrin of the First Lady and her eat healthy agenda. I see the pictures and I have to wonder if he asked his guests to hold off from getting a soda more than 16 ounces given Michelle’s support of NYC Mayor Bloomberg’s ban on soda.
Although, the First Lady did make it clear that,
"We applaud anyone who's stepping up to think about what changes work in their communities. New York is one example." And in a later statement declared that, "this is not something the administration is pursuing at a federal level and not something I'm specifically endorsing or condemning."
So, is the ‘we’, referring to both Barack and Michelle? Either way, Michelle speaking on behalf of the administration on this topic, seems to clash with her husband’s own views. In a 2009 Men’s Health interview, President Obama said that a sin tax on soda would be,
“an idea that we should be exploring…if you wanted to make a big impact on people's health in this country, reducing things like soda consumption would be helpful."
In 2009, President Obama likes less soda for the country, and in 2012, he (the administration according to Michelle) likes Bloomberg’s soda proposal, but not for the entire country. Sounds like the beginnings of an “evolution” to me.
For the record, in that same interview, President Obama also remarked,
“if we're working with schools so that you can develop nutritious lunches that are just as cheap as the pizza and tater tots and french fries that they're currently consuming…it wouldn’t take a lot for us to reverse some of these trends.”
I can’t wait to see if he or Mayor Bloomberg fights the latest instant gratification delights headed for a corner near you.
This post was written by Bill Vollono, Townhall Editorial Intern