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Michelle Obama Takes Aim at Military Weight (Yes, you read that right)
The Wall Street Journal ^ | February 9, 2012 | Carol E. Lee

Posted on 02/10/2012 12:02:23 AM PST by 2ndDivisionVet

First Lady Michelle Obama leaves Thursday for a three-day, four-state tour to mark the second anniversary of her “Let’s Move!” initiative to get Americans to eat healthier and be more physically fit.

The trip is a mix of events and announcements, including one Thursday about a program intended to combat weight gain among members of the military.

Mrs. Obama will make the announcement, along with the Department of Defense, at the Little Rock Air Force Base, Ark., which has participated in a pilot program for the initiative. The initiative melds Mrs. Obama’s two signature policy goals as first lady – combating obesity and caring for military families. The Obama administration has cast childhood obesity as “a national security issue.”

Jonathan Woodson, assistant secretary of Defense for health affairs, has said that 25% of those who want to join the military are too overweight to make it through the initial process and that weight gain is increasingly a problem among active-duty service members. The Defense Department also estimates it spends $1.1 billion a year on medical care for weight-related problems.

“The Department of Defense considers obesity not only a national problem but a national security issue,” Mr. Woodson told reporters in advance of Mrs. Obama’s trip....

(Excerpt) Read more at blogs.wsj.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Extended News; Foreign Affairs; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: michelleobama; military; obama; obesity
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

21 posted on 02/10/2012 3:36:12 AM PST by Beckwith (A "natural born citizen" -- two American citizen parents and born in the USA.)
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To: Beckwith

Look at the size of that horse!!!


22 posted on 02/10/2012 3:37:19 AM PST by Safetgiver (I'd rather die under a free American sky than live under a Socialist regime.)
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To: Beckwith

Policy Wonk Badonkadonk.


23 posted on 02/10/2012 3:41:09 AM PST by ez (When you're a hammer, everything looks like a nail.)
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To: ez

He is a repulsive individual.


24 posted on 02/10/2012 3:46:34 AM PST by DooDahhhh (ma)
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To: ez

He is a repulsive individual.


25 posted on 02/10/2012 3:46:42 AM PST by DooDahhhh (ma)
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To: Iron Munro
I always try to look on the bright side.

If we get rid of 0bambi we also rid ourselves of mooshell.

26 posted on 02/10/2012 3:57:18 AM PST by Battle Axe (Repent, for the coming of the Lord is nigh.)
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To: Beckwith

Wow..when she hauls ass she gotta make two trips.


27 posted on 02/10/2012 4:08:01 AM PST by Yorlik803 (better to die on your feet than live on your knees.)
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To: KoRn
Is it too much to ask for us to just launch her fat ass off to the Moon?

Only if we resurect the Titan II missile program as it was capable of lifting some 2 Tons which is about the weight of Moochelle's "Plus-sized" Posterior, never mind her big fat mouth!

28 posted on 02/10/2012 4:12:17 AM PST by Conservative Vermont Vet (l)
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To: Conservative Vermont Vet

The Worst Lady (mooch-elle) thinks she’s a nutritionist. The moocher is such a controlling, deluded, angry fool.


29 posted on 02/10/2012 4:14:17 AM PST by hal ogen (1st Amendment or Reeducation Camp?)
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To: Yorlik803

“Wow..when she hauls ass she gotta make two trips.”

HAHAHAHAHAHAH


30 posted on 02/10/2012 4:21:00 AM PST by paterfamilias
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

I’d like to see Moochelle run a Marine Corps PFT. Thats as many situps as you can do in two minutes (80 gets you the max points), pullups (20 gets you the max points) and a three mile run (18 minutes gets you the max points). I’ll bet 99% of the Marine Corps would be getting better scores than her. Moochelle couldn’t last a week in a Marine Corps infantry platoon. One 20 mile hike in full pack, helmet and flack jacket and she’d be done. Don’t preach to the ones in on their physical fitness Mooch...


31 posted on 02/10/2012 4:47:41 AM PST by Old Teufel Hunden
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To: KoRn
Talk about MIL Weight. I got your MIL SPEC Weight right here!


32 posted on 02/10/2012 4:48:12 AM PST by 6SJ7 (Meh.)
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To: LibWhacker; All
Something is wrong with this story, and I've been thinking that since I started hearing it on FOX News. There is a weight problem in the military but I hadn't heard Michelle Obama being connected with this until recently.

The Army has been pushing its “fueling the soldier” initiative for some time. Many potential recruits are too heavy to join. Modern American family life has taught eating habits to many kids which simply are not compatible with military life, and lifelong habits of bad eating can continue to cause problems even after people enlist.

The logical guess is Michelle Obama is jumping on a bandwagon that started moving long before she got on it. However, Michelle Obama’s interest in military families appears to be real. She and her husband were exposed in their Iowa campaign in 2007-08 to rural America, including lots of military families, perhaps for the first time. My read of the situation is that between the Iowa campaign and Michelle Obama’s work with Joe Biden, she has gotten interested in military families. I don't have any way of assessing her motives, but supporting the troops is good politics.

Even broken clocks are right twice a day, and if the wife of the Democratic president of the United States wants to work with the Vice President to try to make life better for military families, hey, let's take what we can get.

11 posted on Friday, February 10, 2012 2:36:10 AM by LibWhacker: “Yeah, when I was in, there were only three people in “my” company who we considered fat: The 1st Sargeant who was 38 and therefore naturally a little heavier than the rest of us, and one E-4 and the XO, neither of whom was more than about 10% overweight (but of course us young guys thought they were blimps). Truly obese soldiers just weren’t a serious problem for the Army in those days, imo. Are they now? Is it really that bad? The guys I see on tv who are in Iraq and Afghanistan right now... I haven’t seen any fat ones... What is Moochelle on about?”

33 posted on 02/10/2012 5:22:53 AM PST by darrellmaurina
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To: darrellmaurina

Michelle Obama’s interest in Military Families will only be an interest as long as it looks good for her to be interested.It’s all as phony as she is.


34 posted on 02/10/2012 5:28:46 AM PST by Venturer
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

I have to admit that her “Let’s Move!” initiative is working because everytime I see her face I feel a “movement” coming on.


35 posted on 02/10/2012 5:41:56 AM PST by UglyinLA
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To: darrellmaurina

Michelle Obama was the wife of a state, then U.S. senator all during the war on terror. Only when her husband was running for president did she and he magically discover the “issue” of military families. Sure helps gloss over that ‘first time proud of my country’ bit.


36 posted on 02/10/2012 5:42:58 AM PST by kristinn (Dump the Chump in 2012)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

I can’t lose weight, I live in a food desert. /S

The military had a lose weight or out policy before I retired 30 years ago.


37 posted on 02/10/2012 5:43:46 AM PST by CPOSharky (The only thing straight, white, Christian males get is the blame for everything.)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

Shelly is like Mayor Bloomberg. They both want to control every aspect of every one else’s life. Yet, they don’t want to live the same way.


38 posted on 02/10/2012 6:08:34 AM PST by crosshairs (Liberalism is to truth, what east is to west.)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

“Michelle the Moocher” should STFU, the military has already addressed this issue a long time ago.

All servicemen are ‘government issue’ (GI’s) and according to guidelines if they do anything to damage their bodies they can face court martial for damaging government property.


39 posted on 02/10/2012 6:18:53 AM PST by RetSignman (I take responsibility for what I post not for what you understand.)
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To: kristinn; Venturer
Just to avoid any misunderstandings, kristinn and Venturer, we agree on Michelle Obama’s likely motives. I am certainly not a fan of hers.

In any case, with some important exceptions, most politicians who “support the troops” do so for political reasons. If they're Republicans, I'll call them out for hypocrisy if it becomes obvious they really don't care and are just saying what voters want to hear with little or no followup. If they're Democrats, I'll take what we can get since a half a loaf (or a tenth of a loaf) is better than nothing.

President Obama needs to be voted out of office. In the meantime, we're stuck with what we've got.

We may never know for sure why Michelle Obama’s name got linked with the military “fuel the soldier” initiative. Why would she want to claim credit for something like this? It's fraught with political peril for her — images of soldiers challenging her to come to morning PT come to mind. A few years ago I could have passed the Army's PT test, but today I'd fail, and Michelle Obama would probably fail, too.

That's part of what makes me wonder why she got involved — either it's a media screwup connecting dots that had no reason to be connected, or a political mistake by her handlers, or possibly, just possibly, she really **IS** behind some of this “fueling the soldier” initiative. Sometimes when politicians do things that make no sense it's a clue to what they'd do if their handlers aren't around.

36 posted on Friday, February 10, 2012 7:42:58 AM by kristinn: “Michelle Obama was the wife of a state, then U.S. senator all during the war on terror. Only when her husband was running for president did she and he magically discover the “issue” of military families. Sure helps gloss over that ‘first time proud of my country’ bit.”

34 posted on Friday, February 10, 2012 7:28:46 AM by Venturer: “Michelle Obama’s interest in Military Families will only be an interest as long as it looks good for her to be interested. It’s all as phony as she is.”

40 posted on 02/10/2012 6:23:24 AM PST by darrellmaurina
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