Auditioning for Stardom: President Obama and the First Lady

By Crystal Wright, CP Op-Ed Contributor Thursday, February 28, 2013

The Obama's think they're celebrities instead of public servants. They appear on late night talk shows, shaking their booty and crooning slow jams with Jimmy Fallon, luxuriating in fundraisers with Hollywood's elite, golfing with Tiger and of course presenting Oscars. By the looks of it, President Obama and the First Lady seem to enjoy mingling with celebrities more than doing the jobs they're supposed to.

Instead of staying in Washington to work out a deal with Congress to avert the sequester, which was Obama's idea, Obama jetted off to play golf with Tiger Woods in Florida during the Presidents' Day holiday weekend. With ten days before the sequester hysteria March 1st deadline, one would think Obama might remain in Washington to hammer out a compromise with Republicans.

Yet, with the sequester clock four days away from ringing it's bell of "harm," Obama hit the road, like a rock star. He appeared in Newport News, Virginia to adoring crowds, predicting doom and demanding Republicans find a solution for the sequester, as it he has nothing to do with the process of governance. That's how he rolls. And his wife isn't standing still swooning over his celebrity.

Michelle Obama is chasing her own stardom. When America thought the Obama's' stars couldn't rise to new heights of poor taste, Michelle Obama, First Lady of the United States, popped up at the Oscars via satellite from the White House to present the best picture award to "Argo". It looks like the First Lady's second term agenda may focus on paying back Hollywood for helping elect her husband to a second term.

Remember the $40,000 a person plus fundraisers hosted by George Clooney, Jay-Z and Beyoncé, and Sarah Jessica Parker? Or Obama's campaign video bursting over with female celebrities who gushed over Obama the defender of women's free birth control.

Michelle Obama is not a celebrity and neither is her husband. He was elected by the people to serve this great nation not himself or his personal desires. What made the First Lady's Oscar appearance trite, "frivolous" and insensitive was that it did nothing to help Americans struggling in the worst economic recovery in 80 years. The job of the First Lady is to champion issues that affect all Americans like healthy eating and childhood obesity, not an awards ceremony that benefits a scant percentage of Americans.

Two days before the Oscars, Michelle danced the "Dougie" with Jimmy Fallon and declared that "was so much fun." The First Lady needs to focus less on her own stardom and having fun and more on issues becoming of a First Lady such as the epidemic rate of 73% black babies being born to single mothers. Wouldn't it be great if Michelle Obama championed character building programs for young girls like the one offered by the Best Friends Foundation which teaches girls to delay sexual activity until after high school and focus on going to college.

For that matter Michelle could take the same message of self-esteem to young boys, particularly black boys who are incarcerated at a rate six times that of their white peers. Best Friends Foundation has a character-building program for boys too. While she's at it, why doesn't Michelle Obama add marriage to her second term platform? The First Lady has a strong marriage and is the product of a strong marriage. She knows firsthand how important being raised in a family with two parents is to a child's future.

Ever since President Obama was elected the country's first black president, he and his wife have viewed themselves as special, somehow above it all, including past presidents. Of course the mainstream media fueled the Obama's' obsession with themselves and the media continues to do so to this day. But after four years, going on five, of the unemployment rate stuck above 7.5% and our debt (76% of gross domestic product) at the highest level since 1950, it's time for Obama to start governing for real and the First Lady to rub the stars out of her eyes. Neither was brought to Washington to become famous.

Crystal Wright is a black conservative woman living in Washington, D.C. Some would say she is a triple minority: woman, black and a Republican living in a Democrat dominated city. By day, Crystal is a communications consultant and editor and publisher of the new website, www.conservativeblackchick.com. Ms. Wright holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from Georgetown University and a Masters of Fine Arts in Theatre from Virginia Commonwealth University.