First Ladies have traditionally used their status as a cause celeb to advance important social issues. Let us just touch on the living former First Ladies.
Laura Bush worked for furthering education and literacy by establishing the annual National Book Festival in 2001 and advocated women's issues for The Heart Truth and Susan G. Komen for the Cure.
As maligned as she was for her efforts in health care reform, Hillary Clinton worked hard in advocating her views. Even after "Hillarycare" failed, she worked for the passage of the State Children's Health Insurance Program in 1997 and promoted nationwide immunization against childhood illnesses and encouraged older women to seek a mammograms.
Barbara Bush's cause during her term as the Second Lady and as First Lady was also literacy. She called it, "the most important issue we have."
Nancy Reagan founded the "Just Say No" drug awareness campaign. She remarked in 1981, "Understanding what drugs can do to your children, understanding peer pressure and understanding why they turn to drugs is... the first step in solving the problem."
Rosalynn Carter advocated strongly for mental health research and helping refugees, especially children. Mrs. Carter also was a strong proponent of the Equal Rights Amendment.
Betty Ford was noted for raising breast cancer awareness and was a passionate activist for the Equal Rights Amendment. She has remained active even since by founding the Betty Ford Center for substance abuse and addiction.
No matter what your politics, you have to respect the fact that these women all worked tirelessly to support the causes they loved.
What has Michelle Obama supported?
To be honest, I don't really know. All I see of her in print and on TV is fawning reports about her fashion sense.
I don't want to be unfair to her. I am sure she has done things that are unreported. But that is my point, they are unreported. I had to do some digging on the internet to find out she has visited homeless shelters and soup kitchens.
I am not criticising the First Lady in this post. I am criticising the MEDIA. And maybe I am criticising the citizens of our country that seem to think that what she wears or how she styles her kid's hair is important news. I have read some things about her using her "Star Power" as a role model. But role model for what? Come on Main Stream Media, stop fawning over the Obamas and do your jobs.
