Posted on 03/04/2009 7:09:17 PM PST by tobyhill
First daughters Malia and Sasha Obama got a big surprise after school Wednesday: a brand-new swing set.
They squealed with delight upon seeing it, a spokeswoman for the first lady said.
President Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle, went to work while the girls were at school, having the set installed on the south grounds of the White House within sight of the Oval Office, where their father spends plenty of time.
Late last year as the couple planned the family's move to Washington, they had discussed with the chief usher at the White House ways to make the historic residence feel more like home for their girls, said Katie McCormick Lelyveld, a spokeswoman for Michelle Obama.
Malia and Sasha, ages 10 and 7, had never lived anywhere but Chicago.
"Many first families have made these sorts of changes to make the White House feel like home," McCormick Lelyveld said. "This one is like their little mark."
The 100 percent cedar and North American Redwood structure has four swings, including a tire swing, a slide, a fort, a climbing wall and climbing ropes. There's also a picnic table with brass plates etched with the names of all 44 presidents, she said.
(Excerpt) Read more at google.com ...
You have got to be kidding. Right? If not, seek help because the derangement syndrome is getting the best of you. There is nothing 'trashy' about that setup for the kids.
Splash II, the Portuguese Water Dog-in-waiting, was unavailable for comment.
Why is it an eyesore? Is the horseshoe pit an eyesore? The tennis court? The basketball hoop? (These were all there before Obama) Is the swimming pool Ford put in an eyesore? What about the Amy Carter treehouse? The swingsets for the Roosevelt grandchildren and Kennedy children? What about the tree swings George H.W. Bush put in for his grandchildren, Jenna and Barbara?
We laughed at Bush Derangement Syndrome but many here are showing signs of ODS. When you criticize someone for EVERYTHING they do, no matter how benign, you lose all credibility on legitimate criticisms.
Did you see the picture that was posted?
It IS an eyesore! And if Bush or Reagan himself put it there, it would STILL be an eyesore!
I saw the picture. I see a pretty typical playset, the kind I see in many suburban yards. What do YOU see?
It’s cute. I hope the girls enjoy it. I think the Kennedys had one for Caroline and John-John.
“We” did not laugh at BDS at all, you did...not us. It was destructive, just as it was intended.
Hussein will have lay in the bed he and his supporters made.
I don’t give a sh*t what he and his manbeast wife do and I don’t care what their kids do either. I’m sure we paid for it, God forbid they use their own money to pay for it. They all make me sick.
I see an eyesore.
If my neighbor put one is sight of me, I'd tell him to move it somewhere that I don't have to look at it. Just like I told him to NOT put his kids eyesore of a trashy treehouse in sight of MY windows but conveniently not HIS!
Certainly they could have found a more asthetically pleasing swingset for the most important and historic house in the Country!
You must be a joy to have as a neighbor.
Isn’t one of his daughters about 12? I don’t know how much longer she will be into a swing set. I suppose the younger one can play with her friends.
Ain't that the truth! I'd be the worst nightmare of a neighbor like that ... I'd do things just to see the veins in his/her/its head dance. LOL!
Agree ... the little girls are OFF LIMITS, IMO. Anybody dissing them is a cad ... or bitch, as the case may be. If they become political in their own right, later (as Amy Carter and Chelsea Clinton did), that’s different.
I actually am. I have very good relationships with my neighbors except for the idiot next door (the one with the treehouse) who doesn't take care of his lawn which is nothing more than weeds, hasn't painted the house in over 12 years, lets his 130 pound dog crap all over the lawn but only on either side where both of his neighbors have to smell it and be careful not to step in it when we are working on OUR lawns, has noisy teenagers who park their cars all up and down the street at all times of day and night ...
And I think YOU are judgmental and think that anyone can do anything anywhere as long as its for "the children."
And YOU'RE the reason why so many of us have had no choice but to start neighborhood associations to protect the value of our property and the quality of life!
Um, I hardly think the fact that I find nothing wrong with a playset means I think anyone can "do anything anywhere". Nice strawman argument, though. Bravo.
YOU are the one criticizing ME for finding the "playset" distasteful. Fine. Difference of opinion. But you must ALSO realize that youa re beginning to sound like a DimoRAT for your amazement, shock, and horror that someone has the audacity to disagree with you.
I find it to be an eyesore. And yet at no time did I make an ad hominem attack upon YOU for YOUR opinion.
Of course not - he's getting them each a rainbow-colored unicorn that craps Skittles. Wasn't that one of his campaign promises to all of us?
You’re the one in a tizzy about a swingset for two little girls. Whatever. I don’t see the big deal. To each his own, I guess.
Pres. Raising Kids To Be Swingers "
Or didn't read:
"Pres. to swing from redwood on WH lawn"
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