Michelle Obama

RE FATIMAH Ali's "Advice for the Sister": I'm not surprised that a column so quickly criticizing Michelle Obama was written by another black woman. One of the things I love about Ms. Obama is that she is herself. Most black women today are too insecure to be themselves. She obviously is a confident woman. She is brilliant and attractive. I hope and pray that she won't listen to other women and their "girlfriends" who think black women are inadequate and need "jaw reshaping" and probably weaves or extensions down her back to sling and toss to give her self-esteem.

MICHELLE OBAMA used a pitchfork yesterday to pull sweet potatoes from the soil of the White House kitchen garden, and Robin Shreeves of Haddonfield was there to tweet about it. Shreeves, a stay-at-home mother of two boys and an eco-friendly food blogger for the website Mother Nature Network, was among about a dozen people selected for the first White House kitchen-garden "tweetup" and the garden's fall harvest. The tweeters were participating in a series of activities surrounding Let's Move, the first lady's initiative to end childhood obesity.

Michelle Obama told a crowd of 3,000 in Southwest Philadelphia yesterday that if they want a president who understands what it's like to be raised by a single mother who relied at times on public assistance, they need to help their neighbors register to vote and cast their ballots for her husband. "Don't you want a president who brings that perspective?" she asked. "This is personal, and I know that these issues are personal for so many of you because you're feeling this every day. " The crowd gathered at the Francis Meyers Recreation Center at 58th and Kingsessing, many of whom were women with children, cheered that sentiment.

WASHINGTON - She's mingled barefoot among Aspen's elite, stirred a Vermont utility executive to tears and bucked up disenchanted New Yorkers. The 2012 presidential campaign is well under way for Michelle Obama, and the first lady is promising to put herself into the election effort like never before. More than a year out from Election Day, she is hauling in millions in campaign cash and sketching a portrait of her husband that is drawn with an intimacy that no one else could duplicate.

The case for - or is it against? - Michelle Obama: "One, she's black," says James B. Peterson, associate professor of English and director of the Africana studies department at Lehigh University. "Two, she's assertive. Three, she's smart. Four, she's strong. Five, she's a great political mind. And we can't forgive her for it. " In a new book, The Obamas , by New York Times reporter Jodi Kantor, Michelle Obama is depicted as often at odds with the West Wing staff, pushing for health-care reform.

Michelle Obama will be in Philadelphia tomorrow to visit two sites - one of them Fairhill School in North Philadelphia - where she will discuss her initiative to prevent childhood obesity, according to a representative. She will be joined by Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack to highlight the problem of so-called food deserts - large swaths of urban areas that do not have supermarkets. They will also discuss steps that Philadelphia antihunger groups have taken to bring healthy, affordable food to various neighborhoods.

WASHINGTON - Michelle Obama was once a reluctant campaigner, but there are plenty of reasons why she's primed to play a major role in her husband's reelection bid. She's more popular than the president. She's seasoned now. And she's so careful in her public remarks that even at campaign fund-raisers, she sometimes relies on a teleprompter. Observers said her top causes - getting children fit and embracing the nation's troops - were shrewd political choices, ones that have given her allies from coast to coast.

The White House/Black Market Empire shift that Michelle Obama wore on The View featured tank sleeves and a scoop neck that showed off toned triceps. The black flower pinned to her left shoulder, along with full eyelashes and a wispy-banged pageboy, gave her a polished and strong, yet completely feminine look. When asked Wednesday morning about the crisp, eye-catching dress, she said, "It's fun to look pretty. " Thank God, Michelle Obama can say that. Women in politics are loath to admit they like fashion; it's as if the very mention of Manolos chips away at their credibility faster than city sidewalk grates clip heels.

The schoolyard at Fairhill Elementary School was abuzz. Today, a very important person with a fancy car, a lot of bodyguards, and the ear of the president will descend on the North Philadelphia school, and the students were ready. Angelica Negron, 10, was "happy and excited" about Michelle Obama's visit to talk about healthy food. Angelica said she hoped she'd be picked to meet with the first lady. "I think she's going to talk about vegetables, because a lot of kids, they eat a lot of junk food," Angelica, a fifth grader who wore a ball cap fashionably askew, said yesterday.

Obama honors officers' heroism WASHINGTON - President Obama honored the nation's top police officers on Saturday, paying tribute to their sacrifices and "quiet courage" in the line of duty. Obama, joined by Vice President Biden, praised the winners of a national police association award at a White House ceremony that honored 34 officers who showed valor in an assortment of tense standoffs, shootings, and rescues. Recipients included 15 Detroit officers who confronted a gunman who opened fire in a local precinct station; five Las Vegas officers who stopped an assailant who shot an officer at a Wal-Mart; and five New York City police detectives who rescued two cadets at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point who had become disoriented while rock climbing.

FORT STEWART, Ga. - President Obama reached out to a generation of young soldiers Friday as he added new protections for veterans and military families misled or bilked by career colleges and technical programs that target their federal education benefits. "They don't care about you," he declared, "they care about your cash. " Obama signed a broad order that partially addresses growing complaints about fraudulent marketing and recruiting practices aimed at military families eligible for federal education aid under the GI Bill.

In an initiative that will be highlighted Wednesday at the University of Pennsylvania, the nation's nursing schools have pledged to increase training of current and future nurses about the "invisible wounds of war": post-traumatic stress disorder, traumatic brain injury and post-combat depression. Michelle Obama and Jill Biden will speak on campus about the new program as part of a two-day national tour celebrating the one-year anniversary of their Joining Forces campaign to help soldiers and their families.

WASHINGTON - In an annual family-friendly rite of spring, President Obama and his wife, Michelle, kicked off the White House Easter Egg Roll on Monday, joining tens of thousands of youngsters and their parents in a day of racing, reading, sports and crafts on a sun-splashed South Lawn. "We are so thrilled all of you could join us," Obama said from the South Portico, flanked by the first lady, their daughters Malia and Sasha, and the Easter Bunny. "It's a beautiful day - perfect weather," said the first lady.

WASHINGTON - Opening another front in her nearly year-old campaign to support service families, first lady Michelle Obama on Wednesday unveiled a new push for jobs on or near military bases. She also announced plans to mark the Joining Forces campaign's first anniversary with a two-day, four-state swing next week that will include stops in election battleground states Pennsylvania and Florida and a chat with comedian Stephen Colbert on his show, The Colbert Report . The Joining Forces organization said it has lined up commitments for more than 15,000 jobs in the coming years.

WASHINGTON - Mitt Romney hit an off note when he told a "humorous" story about his father shutting down a factory. Robert De Niro managed to get both Newt Gingrich and the Obama campaign riled up when he joked at an Obama fund-raiser that America wasn't ready for a white first lady. Texas Gov. Rick Perry, still nursing wounds from his failed presidential campaign, did himself a world of good with his self-deprecating jokes at a recent Washington dinner. Done right, humor can be a huge asset for a politician.

Last summer, a group of students at Stetser Elementary School in the Chester Upland School District planted and tended two schoolyard gardens as part of a healthy-eating initiative promoted by first lady Michelle Obama. The vegetables they grew were later prepared and served in the school cafeteria. Earlier that year, some students helped prepare the weekly menu for the meals served in all the district's elementary schools. The menus included stories of how the food related to the lives of famous African Americans or to historical events like the 1960 Greensboro, N.C., lunch-counter sit-ins.

Thespian's thespian Robert De Niro , 68, has issued a mea culpa for a joke he made at a Democratic fund-raiser Monday in New York. The Taxi Driver star made an off-putting quip when he introduced first lady Michelle Obama . Referring to wives of current GOP prez hopefuls, De Niro said, " Callista Gingrich , Karen Santorum , Ann Romney . Now do you really think our country is ready for a white first lady? Too soon, right?" Newt Gingrich called the joke "divisive.

Conan (11 p.m., TBS) - Ewan McGregor; David Mizejewski; comic Dana Gould. Late Show With David Letterman (11:35 p.m., CBS3) - Michelle Obama; Esperanza Spalding performs. The Tonight Show With Jay Leno (11:35 p.m., NBC10) - Jamie Lee Curtis; Armie Hammer; Robert Glasper Experiment. Jimmy Kimmel Live (midnight, 6ABC) - Jessica Simpson; Gael Garcia Bernal.