At a time when the unemployment rate stands at 9.9 percent, when jobs are still being lost, when worries about the global economy are causing breathtaking volatility on Wall Street, when millions of Americans who still have jobs are worrying more than ever about the safety of their retirement savings — at a time when all that is going on, the Obama White House has turned itself into a showcase of glitzy extravagance.

 

 

It was a scene the most ostentatious party-giver would have envied: the White House turned into a luxurious, high-dollar nightclub. (Club 1600, perhaps?) But there’s no need for further description, because the White House photographer has posted several pictures of the action on the White House Flickr photostream, and they tell the story best. For example, there’s this shot of the crowd listening to the entertainment:

 

 

There’s this Hollywood-on-the-Potomac shot of Beyonce performing on the dramatic stage set:

 

 

Then there are the ornate monarch-butterfly arrangements that White House decorators hung from the ceiling, “to honor Calderon’s birthplace of Michoacan, Mexico, where the butterfly’s annual migration from Canada ends each spring,” according to one press account:

 

 

And finally, there’s the First Partier himself getting down:

 

 

While it’s true that at any given time, critics of any administration can claim that the First Couple is insensitive to this or that hardship Americans are enduring, the fact is, at this particular moment, Americans are enduring lots of hardships, and lots of anxieties to go with them. Is transforming the White House into a glam nightclub the best message for Barack and Michelle Obama to send to a suffering and nervous nation?

 

Link

I'm sorry, but Obama and Calderon aren't Franciscan monks. I can't agree with the premise that state dinners (especially one featuring the President of one of our bordering NAFTA partners) should somehow be austere affairs.

I'm sorry, but Obama and Calderon aren't Franciscan monks. I can't agree with the premise that state dinners (especially one featuring the President of one of our bordering NAFTA partners) should somehow be austere affairs.

True, but they could certainly tone it down a bit. That was a bit excessive.

True, but they could certainly tone it down a bit. That was a bit excessive.

According to ??? You ?

According to ??? You ?

And anyone being honest with themselves.

How is this different and more excessive than recent past state dinners?

How is this different and more excessive than recent past state dinners?

Not saying it is, just (as the article points out) it's during a time when it would be best toned down a bit. It certainly makes the administration look a bit out of touch.

Not saying it is, just (as the article points out) it's during a time when it would be best toned down a bit. It certainly makes the administration look a bit out of touch.

 

And THAT is different from recent past administration's state dinners how? What makes this time better to be toned down than post 9/11 or after the invasion of Iraq?

Sounds like a page was taken from the RNC playbook.

 

No, wait a minute. They held their annual winter meeting in Hawaii.

And THAT is different from recent past administration's state dinners how? What makes this time better to be toned down than post 9/11 or after the invasion of Iraq?

 

(In my best Arnold Horshack voice) Oooh, oooh, Mr. Kotter! Oooh! Just look at the initial (it's a D) after the current President's name.

And THAT is different from recent past administration's state dinners how? What makes this time better to be toned down than post 9/11 or after the invasion of Iraq?

 

The economy?

 

BTW, I do seem to remember the same accusations being bandied around then also.

The economy?

 

BTW, I do seem to remember the same accusations being bandied around then also.

 

Certainly, I understand that we are in times of a bad economy. What's the point that you are making? Why does the economy outrank post-terrorist attack and wartime as reasons to "tone down" a STATE dinner?

And applaud the guest of honor as he disses our country... http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100520/wl_afp/usmexicodiplomacy_20100520211522

And applaud the guest of honor as he disses our country... http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100520/wl_afp/usmexicodiplomacy_20100520211522

 

Really? Where in the article that you linked does it say that Obama applauded Calderon? It seems to me that the article is describing a speech to a joint session of Congress.

I didn't say Obama ..