Maureen Dowd Dines with Meme Roth

OK, I know Maureen Dowd might be unhappy that the Obamas are happily married and s she has less fodder for her weird version of cultural "critiques" but her column today is just plain silly. In it she tries to paint the Obamas as hypocritical for working out and eating well and eating the occasional burger. She wants to say Obama's trying to be a regular "Joe" when he has his burgers and nobody's buying it. But the American people had a regular Joe in George Bush and they (we) were pretty sick of him by the end of his term. I think, given Obama's positive polling numbers, that people are pretty happy to have someone leading this country who seems special. Different. Someone of whom you wouldn't say "he's just like me," but you would say, "This guy cares what happens to me."

Plus, Dowd doesn't seem to understand that even the healthiest eaters like to eat foods you wouldn't ever find on a spa menu. Quoting Michelle Obama Dowd writes:

"When she was growing up, she recalled that desserts and fast food were rare: “It was a special treat. And we would beg to get it, and it was exciting if we drove into a fast-food place and got a hamburger. We were thrilled. It was like Christmas. ... If we got pizza on a Friday night, that was a treat.”"

Yes! That would be the point! Dinners at McDonald's should be a treat not a nightly thing! Is that so hard to get? Dowd sounds like she's been sitting down with Meme Roth and Anne Coulter and the result is just, what's the word, blechy.