Michelle Obama, her mother and daughters head to China
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/
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, Xian 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 Chinas 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
(34,857 posts)Fuck 'em. You go, Michelle!
otohara
(24,135 posts)Anything Obama = hate
proverbialwisdom
(4,959 posts)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:
"First Lady Has Food Industry in a Frenzy" - http://NationalJournal.com http://bit.ly/Otchvo
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 Americaa private-sector group set up to push the administration's nutrition objectivesthe 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
(21,115 posts)truebrit71
(20,805 posts)More fuel for the right-wing outrage machine....brilliant timing
proverbialwisdom
(4,959 posts)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 Chinas 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
(20,805 posts)...more fuel for the fire....
Oh, Fuck China too...
geek tragedy
(68,868 posts)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
(21,043 posts)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
(34,857 posts)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
(25,111 posts)It won't surprise me that RWers start attacking the children as well. They are a bunch of evil un-American assholes.
geek tragedy
(68,868 posts)phony CONCERN about rightwing attacks while echoing those rightwing attacks themselves.
Maybe they think they're fooling people.
llmart
(15,552 posts)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
(20,136 posts)treestar
(82,383 posts)and find it to be a big concern too.
Response to truebrit71 (Reply #4)
Post removed
rocktivity
(44,577 posts)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
(36,463 posts)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
(2,205 posts)LeftishBrit
(41,210 posts)Nanjing to Seoul
(2,088 posts)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
(297,655 posts)Sunlei
(22,651 posts)proverbialwisdom
(4,959 posts)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. Thats how we learn whats really happening in our communities, our country and our world. And thats 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
(20,630 posts)treestar
(82,383 posts)Seems to be some type of Democratic tradition (unless Pickles and her twins went, and I don't remember that.)
LeftishBrit
(41,210 posts)Supersedeas
(20,630 posts)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.