Mapping the ‘Food Deserts’ with Mike and Michelle
The highly touted Michelle Obama/Mike Huckabee Fox News interview is over and the text of the transcript has been made public. Other than Mike mentioning the “horrors of our political climate today,” the dialogue was extremely courteous. Nevertheless, nestled within the discussion were revelations that an overly gracious Huckabee failed to address.
Michelle began the interview by telling the former Arkansas governor that the family’s pediatrician warned that the body mass indexes of Sasha and Malia were ticking upward. In response, the first lady said the family ate out less often and she cooked “a little bit more.” A tiny bit of pre-interview research would have revealed Michelle wasn’t the cook in Chicago; Sam Kass was. Kass, a healthy cooking specialist, worked in the Windy City as personal chef for the Obama family and is presently on the White House staff at the behest of the Obamas.
Just a few months ago the liberal press trumpeted the scandalous revelation that Sarah Palin“didn’t cook for her family.” Truth is, Palin got rid of the state-paid chef at the governor’s mansion in Juneau and was featured in Esquire magazine giving grandson Tripp’s father, Levi Johnson, a tutorial on how to marinate a roast. Governor Palin dismissed a gratis chef, but is branded as someone who doesn’t cook for her family. Meanwhile, Michelle Obama’s less than forthright family cook comments go unchallenged by Mike Huckabee.
Further along the interview trajectory, Michelle told the the former governor: “Families don’t even know how modern-day life has really changed the way our kids move and eat.” Huckabee forfeited an opening to challenge Mrs. Obama to expand on what it is she believes Americans “don’t know.” Interspersed throughout the interview was the underlying thread suggesting Michelle believed Americans are basically simpletons in need of a bureaucratic schoolmarm.
Huckabee gave the first lady a gratuitous opportunity to defend against “Let’s Move” policy critics. Mike said: “Some say, ‘Oh this is going to lead to a nanny state. The government telling us what we can eat.’ Are those fears fair, or are they unfounded?”
Michelle responded, “Well, this is the one thing that this initiative isn’t. Because I’ve spoken to a lot of experts about this issue, and the one thing that they haven’t said it that government telling people what to do is the answer. This is not a government intervention.”
Oh, give me a break. Come on, people. Take a deep breath, take a valium and get over it.
This is such a non-issue. The First Lady needs some kind of platform into which to throw her efforts, and this is as good as any, especially considering how health costs rise as obesity rises. While I don’t think the government should control what people eat, I watch people unthinkingly eat crap everyday. A little encouragement and education from the First Lady may not be a bad thing.
I think conservatives/Republicans need to save their breath and outrage for more serious issues–like the healthcare debacle. There is the danger of calling “wolf!” too many times. It would have been very bad form for Huckabee to lay into the First Lady in the way this author suggests.
Now I have another reason now to vote for the simpleton goober Huckabee. When I saw the fawning over Mrs. Fascist I could hardly control the gag reflex. Considering the way Palin was and still continues to be pummeled why give the other side a chance to be treated with kid gloves? Some leftie should have done the interview if Huckabee didn’t have the stomach to point out the flaws, hypocrisy, and contradictions in her comments. It was a cringe worthy event.
In another, isolated, incident, Obowmao gave 1Billion dollars to black farmers (only the LA Times reported on this grand larceny).
Soon Oreo Cookies and Eskimo Pies will feature as two of the five food groups I guess.
Why link to a wikipedia article if the author isn’t even going to read the first paragraph?
From the article:
“Not once did Huckabee ask why 23.5 million Americans living in “food deserts” have a chubbiness problem.”
From (literally) the first sentence of the page the article links to:
“A food desert is a district with little or no access to foods needed to maintain a healthy diet but often served by plenty of fast food restaurants.”
I can’t understand how a thinking adult can write that sentence with that link in the middle of it. It’s truly baffling.
I do not find naything wrong with Michelle and her “obesity” cause/platform what ever. Our kids and pop in general are “fluffy”…a double qt pounder with cheese is cheap!!!!! and you might as well tape it to your thighs.
It is more convenience than anything else.
I don’t like the Obama’s..don’t know them personally, don’t care to. But there is nothing wrong with her cause.
When you have a personal chef, as the Obama’s have for many years…it is easy to talk and give advice.
Huck, I feel you have deserted Conservatives!
Hurry November and 2012, let’s take our country back!
Now it’s food deserts. She’s the stupidest first lady ever.
Jeannie -
Why is Sarah Palin in your article about Huck and Michelle Obama? Clue me in here why Huck’s interview of the First Lady has anything to do with her. Or why the media’s treatment of Palin has anything to do with how Huckabee treated FLOTUS. Is your point that since Palin has been mistreated – he should have done the same to Michelle Obama.
You questioned whether FLOTUS cooked more after her revelation that her family needed to eat healthy. How would you know whether she did any cooking and how much? Seems pretty insignificant when you think about it.
Historically, guests on Huckabee’s show are treated with great respect for who they are and their ideas – regardless of whether he agrees with them. He is not an investigative reporter, nor does he attack his guests for the actions and policies of someone in the guest’s family. It seems like you wanted him to argue with her over things her husband has done. I’ve seen several of Huckabee’s shows and it appears to me that his goal is to discuss and highlight issues and talk to people in leadership so that Americans/viewers can get more informed. He does this so that viewers can form their own opinions – not necessarily adopt his.
Quite frankly – his method of shaping the debate is far better than yours.
Like it or not Michelle Obama is our First Lady and deserves respect and honor – which is what she got from Huckabee.
Huckabee gets it, you don’t. He was a successful governor for 10+ years and reelected twice. He understands that you can’t stand up and yell at the other side and get anything accomplished. I much prefer his methods to yours.
His ability to respectfully discuss issues are one of the reasons I think he will make an excellent president. He truly does understand how to work with anyone. Something President Obama needs to work on and hopefully appreciates after seeing how his wife was treated by Huckabee and Fox News.
Too bad the some people feel that a gentleman like Mike has to attack someone like Michelle Obama to stay in the “conservative club”. What good would it do to attack her? Mike was able to be gracious during the entire interview and bring out the best points. Anyone who watched the interview could pick out the flaws of the program for themselves and was treated to close to 100 “ums” and “you knows?” by the First Lady. Mike’s show may not be the attack dog show or the Jerry Springer show that some people apparantly want…I’m glad.
That sound you hear are the heads exploding on the far left and far right. I’m amazed at how people are spun up over Mike Huckabee talking to Michelle Obama about people needing to eat healthier diets. I watched the interview and a “food desert” is an area where fresh food is not easily available. Packaged, processed and fast foods are the norm. That is why there are chubbies in these areas. But not only these areas, our food supply in general has some real problems – that’s a fact.
So, the negative reactions are not so much against the problem of obesity as they are against a spend thrift President with a socialistic agenda. Mike Huckabee has always defended the principles of a smaller government, less taxes and a strong national defense which are diametrically the opposite of Obama. So why the interview? Well, Huckabee wrote the book “Quit Digging Your Grave with a Knife and Fork”. So we know this problem is one that he championed long before Michelle Obama got involved. He is a very strong advocate of Preventive Healthcare and wrote about this in his book, “Do the Right Thing”. I think he views the effort by Michelle Obama in this program as a positive thing.
Maybe this is the guy who can truly work with both sides without compromising his values. He continues to fight for conservative values. If you doubt that, check out http://www.huckpac.com/?Fuseaction=Petitions.View&Petition_id=13.
Since when is sitting down for a civilized conversation with the First Lady a bad thing? Kudos to both Gov. Huckabee and Mrs. Obama for finding common ground and talking to each other like normal people.
Huckabee practices vertical politics. He has not “abandoned conservatives” because he is more civil than the average with those he disagrees with. Civility would go a long way towards a better functioning government. Reagan said he had no enemies, only opponents. He worked to win them over on legislative ideas – and succeeded in many cases.
As a conservative Republican, over the past decade, I have often contacted national legislators and asked them to refrain from petty attacks. We have enough serious differences. Do we have to find something to attack in EVERYTHING about the other side? Who really cares if Michelle did the cooking or not? Huckabee allowed her to speak. You criticize the left for “talking down” to average citizens, but then you don’t give them enough credit to evaluate Mrs. Obama for themselves. Huckabee does.
Governor Mike Huckabee did a masterful job with the Michelle Obama interview. He proved once again how you can be diametrically opposed to someone politically, but still sit down and find some area of at general agreement while not compromising your principles. One of the many things that sets Huckabee several levels above his opponents is the fact he knew full well he would be attacked for this, but he did it anyway. He is a man of principle, not political expediency. He possesses a degree of character and integrity that is unheard of in today’s political circles. If Keith Olbermann had interviewed Laura Bush a few years ago and continually attacked her husband’s policies with all these “gotcha” moments, conservatives would have been livid. Our culture has developed such an attack mentality that when someone with class actually does a legitimate and thoughtful interview they are thrown under the bus for being a “liberal.” Governor Huckabee is so many moves ahead of most of the conservative talking heads in the media it’s almost comical to watch. While they are exerting all their efforts and energy smugly playing political checkers, Governor Huckabee is playing chess. Great job Mike, keep up the superb work. True conservatives appreciate your wisdom and class and find your approach refreshing.
This article is proof that Huckabee is willing to stand up for what is right, regardless of who will join him or attack him over it.
In this rare case, the FLOTUS is tackling an important issue, so Huckabee stated that if she was looking for a bi-partisan advocate, he would be available. He has her on his show and treated her with the respect that a FLOTUS should always be treated with, as they discuss an issue that Huckabee had enormous success with, while Governor or Arkansas (Arkansas child obesity dropped significantly under his leadership). For this, Huckabee gets raked over the coals by a stanch conservative. They act like he was supposed to ask a bunch of “Gotcha’!”-type questions.
Jeannie – Puh-Leeeeze realize how uncalled for this was. If you’re truly a “staunch conservative” and if you have any research skills at all, you’ll realize that Gov. Huckabee is the most conservative shot we have at the White House in 2012. I hope that you’ll turn this negative into a positive and start supporting Gov. Huckabee, instead of looking for possible opportunities to viciously attack him, as this commentary as shown.
I’ve been wondering if anyone is going to challenge the “food deserts” and ask for specific locations. If these deserts exist I would like a real examination of the factors that created them. I was appalled by the idea of the federal government offering incentives to locate grocery stores in these “deserts”. I would not be surprised if such deserts had fought hard to keep Wal-marts or fast food operations out. Or perhaps the local tax rates and regulations did the trick.
I didn’t see the interview, but it made sense to me that Huckabee and Michelle Obama would have a lot to talk about. Didn’t Huckabee famously lose 100 poundson his own a couple of years ago?
So what Michelle is saying is if you live in a “food desert” its impossible to maintain a healthy lifestyle? There are no grocery stores so you have to eat at McDonalds … maybe the people who are overweight in the “food desert” could order small fries and a plain hamburger instead of a quarter pounder with cheese and super-sized fries and Coke? Or instead of beer and Fritos at 7-11 — water and an apple? So if you live in a food desert, why are you fat? Because of lack of food…obviously not — but because you need Michelle Obama to tell you what to eat. I will say it again — “personal responsibility”
The point of the article was 2 things:
1. Mike let Michelle get away with saying things that demanded an answer that we didn’t get.
2. Food deserts, although they lack grocery stores…does not force a person to be overweight — I tend to think either way, grocery or no grocery the people who live in food deserts will end up with weight issues. Either Michelle dictates what is in the grocery store or Michelle is going to have to go shopping with the food desert people — because salads are on the menu at Wendy’s but the people who eat there tend to pick the gargantuan less healthy choices.
3. The comment about not reading newspapers was a perfect opportunity for Mike to redeem Sarah Palin’s reputation by asking Michelle, “Do you think the media was fair when Sarah answered the same question the same way you did and was made to look stupid for it?”
The issue isn’t about Mike being a nice guy or Michelle being a tad controlling its about government making its way into our lives and into our refrigerators and how all of this relates to Barry’s plans to control America through health care and quite frankly I’m perplexed as to why Mike Huckabee would assist in that effort.
The truth is, there are fat rich people and fat poor people. It’s about choice. My mother made HUGE one-dish meals out of staples like green peppers, onions, beans-n-rice and that gawdawful gubment cheese from hades and we had to LIVE on that same dish for a week until it was all gone. Believe me, you can’t get ‘fat’ on that kind of food. People just don’t want to actually cook any more! Teach people to COOK!
P.S. Growing up poor meant that we grew up believing ‘fast food’ and name brand junk food cereals et al were for ‘rich people’. Now ‘fast food’ is the quick, easy fix for rich and poor alike. UGH!
Oh, Jeannie,
Do you SERIOUSLY think that Mike Huckabee was supposed to bring Sarah Palin into that discussion???
Okie:
I just thought it was interesting that Michelle said she didn’t read the newspaper…now I ask you, if any conservative woman had made a comment like that would it have gone unaddressed? Before or after the interview…I’m just asking?
The fact that Michelle can say something like that, which was the source of most of Sarah’s stupid controversy, is downright stunning.
The FLOTUS doesn’t read the newspaper … come on people? Either she’s fibbing a tad — or she thinks we’re all stupid — either way, the fact that Mike didn’t say, “What?” was odd to me.
Maybe its just me and I’m hypersensitive to the double standard, but I found it amazing.
Mike Huckabee is the worlds greatest communicator.
To bring about real change, one has to be a very effective communicator with experience to back it up. Huckabee exceeds both those requirements. As the Health Care Bill is struggling to pass in the House and Senate, Huckabee has the ability to bring in both sides to lead this country back up to higher ground.
The Gigantic Network of Huckabee Fans continues to grow at a blistering pace around the country.
Two words “Nanny State”. Huckabeen practiced it very well as governor. It’s the same old story, we see a problem. Form a government program to fix it. The program does more harm than good, and we are stuck with the bill forever. Total PR move on Huckabeen’s part.
23. Except it didn’t. Otherwise, how do you explain Arkansas running a surplus and seeing massive improvements in the public school system and roadways under Huckabee?