Book Claims Michelle Obama Stated Life In White House Is Hell

Michelle Obama thinks being first lady is "hell" and that she "can't stand it," according to juicy revelations put forth in a new book.

In the new book, written by Michael Darmon and Yves Derai, France's first lady Carla Bruni claims she asked Obama about being the president's wife during a private discussion earlier this year, according to London's Daily Mail newspaper.

"Don’t ask! It’s hell. I can’t stand it!" Obamareplied, according to Bruni's bombshell account in excerpts obtained by the newspaper.

Details of the closed-door conversation -- which took place during a visit by French President Nicolas Sarkozy last March to the White House -- are part of the book, "Carla And The Ambitious."

Obama's spokeswoman, Katie McCormick Lelyveld, said today that the first lady never described her White House life as "hell."

The French Embassy in Washington also released a statement denying that Obama ever said those words. The Embassy said Bruni "distances herself completely" from the book, which is due out Friday.

According to the Daily Mail, the outspoken Bruni, 42, also laces into French government officials, accusing them of trying to "kill" her husband by loading him up with work -- and that Sarkozy lets himself be "bullied" into doing it, the newspaper reported.

Aside from dishing dirt on Obama and her hubby, Bruni also takes a swipe at Princess Diana when discussing a recent visit to an Aids hospital in Africa.

Bruni married Sarkozy in 2008 after the French president divorced his wife.

Their quickfire relationship raised eyebrows in France at the time -- especially given Bruni's assertion in a 2007 magazine interview that she was "crazily bored by monogamy."

Asked about that famous comment in a recent TV interview, Bruni pointed out that Sarkozy was her first husband.

"Well I was never married, so I think monogamy has to do with marriage, right?" she said.

Bruni once described herself as a "man tamer" and has had a number of affairs with intellectuals and rock stars, including Mick Jagger and Eric Clapton, and has a young son from a previous relationship.

In the book, Bruni said she refused requests by French cameramen to snap a photograph of her carrying a baby in her arms "like Lady Di" -- adding that there is "something obscene in promoting yourself when you are giving of yourself."

The book, released to combat an unauthorized biography of Bruni out this week, will hit French store shelves later this year.

www.nypost.com

Closure Of The Detention Center Is Becomming More Difficult As Time Passes

President Barack Obama came into office pledging to close the Guantanamo Bay detention center in Cuba and to try terrorist suspects in U.S. courts rather than in military tribunals overseas. Yet, a year and a half into his presidency, Mr. Obama still has not succeeded in closing the facility, and the first trial of a terrorist suspect opened there this week before a military tribunal.

That trial is rightly being closely watched now as a bellwether of how the Obama administration plans to deal with the thicket of political, legal and ethical issues raised by the Guantanamo facility's role in the war on terror.

The case involves a 23-year-old Canadian citizen, Omar Khadr, who was captured by U.S. special forces in Afghanistan eight years ago, when he was only 15. Prosecutors allege that during a four-hour firefight around an al-Qaida compound, Mr. Khadr threw a grenade that killed an American soldier, an act to which he later confessed to military interrogators at Bagram Air Base outside Kabul.

Mr. Khadr's lawyers argued the confession should be thrown out because, they allege, their client was tortured and made the statements only after he had been threatened with death and rape. But that claim was rejected by the Army colonel overseeing the trial.

More troubling are the charges of United Nations officials and human rights activists, who say that because Mr. Khadr was only 15 when he was captured, he was essentially a "child soldier" who was forced to participate in armed conflict, not a willing enemy combatant. Instead of facing trial, they argue, he should be offered help in rebuilding his life.

Mr. Khadr's case has highlighted the divisions in the Obama administration over how to deal with terrorist suspects at Guantanamo. Ever since the president signed an executive order two days after taking office directing the closure of the facility within a year, U.S. Attorney General Eric H. Holder has insisted the detainees could be securely held and tried in the U.S. But state and local officials have consistently thrown up roadblocks to that plan, arguing terrorists on U.S. soil would endanger American citizens.

Even New York's Mayor Michael Bloomberg, known for his unflappable approach to problems, balked at the prospect of trying Sept. 11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Muhammad in his city after realizing the security arrangements required by such a proceeding would likely be prohibitively expensive.

Meanwhile, there are still about 50 detainees at Guantanamo who remain in a virtual legal limbo. The government admits it lacks enough evidence to convict them, but they are nevertheless considered too dangerous to release. So the administration seems resigned to holding them indefinitely without charges and without bringing them to trial — in effect, continuing the policy of indefinite detention that Mr. Obama so sharply criticized as a candidate.

In the long run, that's not a sustainable policy. All the reasons Mr. Holder has advanced for closing Guantanamo — that it's a propaganda tool for al-Qaida, that it alienates us from our allies in the fight against terrorism, that it undermines the basic principle of the rule of law in a democratic society — remain as cogent as ever. Political reality has forced Mr. Obama to backpedal on his promise to shut Guantanamo down quickly, but he shouldn't abandon it as a goal by the end of his first term in office. It's never going to be an easy decision to make, but it
will only get harder the longer he waits.
www.baltimoresun.com

Obama Supports Mosque At Ground Zero

WASHINGTON (AP) - After skirting the controversy for weeks, President Barack Obama is weighing in forcefully on the mosque near ground zero, saying a nation built on religious freedom must allow it.

"As a citizen, and as president, I believe that Muslims have the same right to practice their religion as everyone else in this country," Obama told an intently listening crowd gathered at the White House Friday evening to observe the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.

"That includes the right to build a place of worship and a community center on private property in lower Manhattan, in accordance with local laws and ordinances," he said. "This is America, and our commitment to religious freedom must be unshakable."

The White House had not previously taken a stand on the mosque, which would be part of a $100 million Islamic community center two blocks from where nearly 3,000 people perished when hijacked jetliners slammed into the World Trade Center towers on Sept. 11, 2001. Press secretary Robert Gibbs had insisted it was a local matter.

It was already much more than that, sparking debate around the country as top Republicans including Sarah Palin and Newt Gingrich announced their opposition. So did the Anti-Defamation League, a Jewish civil rights group.

Obama elevated it to a presidential issue Friday without equivocation.

While insisting that the place where the twin towers once stood was indeed "hallowed ground," Obama said that the proper way to honor it was to apply American values.

Harkening back to earlier times when the building of synagogues or Catholic churches also met with opposition, Obama said: "Time and again, the American people have demonstrated that we can work through these issues, and stay true to our core values and emerge stronger for it. So it must be and will be today."

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, an independent who has been a strong supporter of the mosque, welcomed Obama's words as a "clarion defense of the freedom of religion."

But some victims' advocates and Republicans were quick to pounce.

"Barack Obama has abandoned America at the place where America's heart was broken nine years ago, and where her true values were on display for all to see," said Debra Burlingame, a spokeswoman for some Sept. 11 victims' families and the sister of one of the pilots killed in the attacks.

Building the mosque at ground zero, she said, "is a deliberately provocative act that will precipitate more bloodshed in the name of Allah."

Added Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y.: "President Obama is wrong. It is insensitive and uncaring for the Muslim community to build a mosque in the shadow of ground zero."

Entering the highly charged election-year debate, Obama surely knew that his words would not only make headlines in the U.S. but be heard by Muslims worldwide. The president has made it a point to reach out to the global Muslim community, and the over 100 guests at Friday's dinner in the State Dining Room included ambassadors and officials from numerous nations where Islam is observed, including Saudi Arabia and Indonesia.

While his pronouncement concerning the mosque might find favor in the Muslim world, Obama's stance runs counter to the opinions of the majority of Americans, according to polls. A CNN/Opinion Research poll released this week found that nearly 70 percent of Americans opposed the mosque plan while just 29 percent approved. A number of Democratic politicians have shied away from the controversy.

Opponents, including some Sept. 11 victims' relatives, see the prospect of a mosque so near the destroyed trade center as an insult to the memory of those killed by Islamic terrorists in the 2001 attacks.

www.wavy.com

Michelle Obama To Speak On Obesity At Camden Yards

Will promote baseball's participation in her anti-obesity campaign

First Lady Michelle Obama is due at Camden Yards this morning to enlist Major League Baseball in her campaign to end childhood obesity within a generation.

Obama will join Orioles players and team majority owner Peter Angelos to announce a joint initiative between the White House and professional baseball that will address what has become her signature issue. The "Let's Move!" campaign promotes healthy eating and increased activity for children.

Orioles players, including Matt Wieters and Adam Jones, and Tampa Bay Rays players, including All-Star Carl Crawford, are expected to join Obama in announcing the new initiative. Sue Selig, the wife of Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig, and several MLB and players' union officials are also expected to attend.

After the announcement, the players are scheduled to conduct a baseball clinic for 50 kids from the Reviving Baseball in Inner Cities leagues and the Boys & Girls Clubs. Whether or not the First Lady would jump into the action herself was unknown, although in the past, she has hula-hooped and jumped rope to promote kids' health.

She is, however, scheduled to throw at least one ball during her time in Baltimore — later in the evening, she is scheduled to throw out the first pitch before the O's-Rays game.

www.baltimoresun.com

Citizen's cellphones confiscated during Michelle Obama visit to burger joint

Evolved-------------------------------------->

I would have been in trouble here, they would NOT get my phone without a court order. This is the typical LEFT wing radicals we have in the white house. Not to mention they have no regard for our rights per the U.S. constitution, but then again some of us knew that before we pulled the lever.

MICHELLE Obama, like her husband, enjoys a good burger, but not as well done. The first lady brought daughters Malia and Sasha to former "Top Chef" contestant Spike Mendelsohn'sGood Stuff Eatery in DC for cheeseburgers, onion rings, fries, and milkshakes. "They got the burgers medium," says a spy. (President Obama was mildly ridiculed after ordering a burger medium-well in January.) "Three starving Secret Service guys were literally standing over the grill as Spike made the burgers, but didn't eat," our source adds. Fellow patrons had their cellphones temporarily confiscated to prevent pictures from being taken.
VIA