Have the Obamas Lied?
Published in Le Figaro
(France) on 10 January 2012
by Véronique Saint-Geours (link to original)
(France) on 10 January 2012
by Véronique Saint-Geours (link to original)
Translated from
by Gillian Wright.
Edited by Anita Dixon.
Jodi Kantor's book, "The Obamas," does not seem to reveal unbearably juicy details about the White House. The pages chime out often-read anecdotes from the past three years provoking, above all, tired comments from former or current collaborators of the 44th administration such as Robert Gibbs, former White House spokesperson or Valerie Jarrett, friend and advisor of the Obamas. Yet again it's the occasion for “snake” Rush Limbaugh, the radio host, to give free rein to his conspiracy theories and usual racism toward the Obamas and to harp on a small omission by the Obama administration concerning the two celebrity guests of Halloween 2009!
The Daily Beast tries hard to rejoin and give relief to the incident of the “Alice in Wonderland” themed party thrown for Halloween 2009. With Tim Burton directing and Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter, where is the mistake? Surely not in the casting. No, but imagine that the names of the two stars didn't appear on the guest list that was released by the White House. It's irregular and surely not completely innocent. Lying by omission is lying, and in the U.S., lying by the White House is unforgiveable. With the Obamas having, without a doubt, realized that this dear party was a little extravagant during the financial crisis, why did the press not reveal the names of the stars at the time? Were they under a spell? An early indulgence? Only one newspaper from Tennessee reported it and it was on a Johnny Depp fan site... To say that the White House — and therefore the Obamas — lied is a small step for Rush Limbaugh.
Never running out of pure spite and conspiracy theories, he fulminates against the media which have "covered up" this lack of communication by the idea that if the media kept quiet about this, what else will they lie about while covering the Obamas? He finishes with the usual racist bite about the Obamas’ philosophy. Thus "they live high on the hog” — you would think they were — "owed this because of what's been done to us and our ancestors." No comment.
The Daily Beast tries hard to rejoin and give relief to the incident of the “Alice in Wonderland” themed party thrown for Halloween 2009. With Tim Burton directing and Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter, where is the mistake? Surely not in the casting. No, but imagine that the names of the two stars didn't appear on the guest list that was released by the White House. It's irregular and surely not completely innocent. Lying by omission is lying, and in the U.S., lying by the White House is unforgiveable. With the Obamas having, without a doubt, realized that this dear party was a little extravagant during the financial crisis, why did the press not reveal the names of the stars at the time? Were they under a spell? An early indulgence? Only one newspaper from Tennessee reported it and it was on a Johnny Depp fan site... To say that the White House — and therefore the Obamas — lied is a small step for Rush Limbaugh.
Never running out of pure spite and conspiracy theories, he fulminates against the media which have "covered up" this lack of communication by the idea that if the media kept quiet about this, what else will they lie about while covering the Obamas? He finishes with the usual racist bite about the Obamas’ philosophy. Thus "they live high on the hog” — you would think they were — "owed this because of what's been done to us and our ancestors." No comment.