All first ladies have carried themselves with dignity, nothing new there.

PR nightmare any way you spin it. When Maureen Dowd (huge liberal) and NY Times columnist writes..............

Quote:In politics and pop culture, optics are all. And Michelle’s optics sent a message that likely made some in the White House and the Democratic Party wince.

She seemed to be gigging her husband a bit: I’m going to do what I want to do. I can’t worry about whether it gives the Tea Partiers ammo or makes Democrats (including you) campaigning against the excesses of the rich look hypocritical. Even if the country is sliding into a double-dip recession, I’m going abroad to a five-star hotel on Air Force Two and give a boost to another country’s economy.

In a slow news cycle, this is not what a president sinking in the polls needed.