First lady Michelle Obama is under fire after she appeared as a long-distance award presenter on the Oscars Sunday evening, flanked by active-duty American service members.
The well-dressed members of the military stood attentively behind the first lady inside the White House as she presented the award for best picture to the movie “Argo.”...
Jennifer Rubin, a conservative columnist for The Washington Post, noted that Michelle Obama didn’t even acknowledge the military during her appearance:
She declared of the Best Picture nominees, “They reminded us that we can overcome any obstacle if we dig deep enough and fight hard enough and find the courage within ourselves.” Alas, none of the films nor her aides reminded her to mention the military, not those personnel behind her nor those serving overseas, an odd omission for the White House that nevertheless was pleased to have them arrayed behind her like, well, set decoration.Among her other critics for this stunt were Laura Ingraham and Ed Timperlake, a former Marine fighter pilot who served as an assistant secretary in the Department of Veterans Affairs under President George H.W. Bush.
He was quoted as saying,
“I thought it was unseemly. I think the use of the service members crossed the line.”
“Putting her up on the stage to award an Oscar is fine. However, putting uniformed military behind her is coming up, maybe perhaps crossing the line where you’re using active duty military in their dress uniform as a prop … for commercial purposes.” We all know nothing will come of this misuse of the military but just what the heck were they doing there anyway? When I saw pictures of this ridiculous display, I wondered who those people were. I was thinking they might be WH staff dressed up in silly outfits so this whole sham with Michelle would look meaningful and sophisticated.
You have to wonder who authorized this misuse of the military in the first place.
http://dailycaller.com/2013/02/25/michelle-obama-slammed-for-using-military-as-props-during-oscars-appearance/2/
