Originally posted at American ThinkerIf it’s really true that “children learn what they live,” then the First Daughters are learning how to be highbrow aristocrats whose extravagances are enjoyed without embarrassment, in full view and at the expense of the suffering. That’s right, “the suffering,” because notwithstanding the onslaught of Obamaganda, most people in America today, thanks to Sasha and Malia’s Dad, are suffering in one way or another.
Meanwhile, when it comes to showering themselves with the perks of the good life, the Obamas exercise zero restraint. In fact, three months into the second term, they’re actually outdoing themselves. Not only that, but the elitist lifestyle the first family lives has a vindictive in-your-face, so-what-if-you-don’t-like-it edge to it that smacks of spiteful arrogance. Therefore, Sasha and Malia are learning what their liberal parents teach them, and that is to convey the following message to the unwashed masses: “Do as I say and I’ll do what I want, and I’ll do it with your money.”
And for all of Barack’s $900K Florida golf weekends, and more importantly, Michelle’s alleged $10 million vacations, haute couture, and overpaid personal staff, the tragic victims of their selfishness and insensitive lack of fiscal restraint are Sasha and Malia.
It’s common knowledge that in the Obama household, babies are sometimes considered punishment while abortion is a treasured right. Attending church is a twice-a-year photo op and vacations, since the first of the year, average out to be a once-a-month priority. While Dad and Mom talk the talk about sharing, fairness, and self-sacrifice, in their own lives they exhibit none of these qualities. Consequently, the Obama youngsters are learning through observation that concern over appearing selfish, godless, and hypocritical should be dismissed.
Meanwhile, the girls’ mother Michelle spends more time than she should proselytizing parents about their children’s BMIs, diet, and exercise. Sadly, what Mrs. Obama doesn’t seem to recognize is that plump children who possess the character traits she lacks will fare better in life than slender, vegetable-eating youngsters who are indifferent, self-absorbed, and snotty- the very qualities she exhibits, and are at the core of the example she sets for her daughters.
Although they live in a pampered, fairytale environment, the First Daughters are neither too young nor too insulated to be unaware that 48,000,000 Americans are on food stamps and that 12 million are unemployed, 23% of whom are either black or Hispanic. That’s why, rather than flaunt the next 17-day, $4-million family jaunt to Hawaii, Obama should request that Air Force One head out to California – not to visit George Clooney and Eva Longoria, but to school his daughters about the harsh effect 9.8% unemployment is having on the Golden State.
Nonetheless, as a casual observer of a seemingly insatiable appetite for all things swanky and sumptuous, one can’t help but wonder, do Mr. and Mrs. Obama ever reflect upon what they are teaching their impressionable children about life? In three months they’ve gone from the balmy isle of Oahu, Hawaii to the bunny slopes of Aspen, Colorado. Sasha and Malia even watched from afar as Dad the Duffer golfed in Florida for a cool million with the philandering Tiger Woods.
Now, in the middle of a fiscal cliff/sequester crisis, without a care in the world the Obama girls have been led to believe that having staffers drag luggage stuffed with designer duds onto Marine One and helicoptering off to Paradise Island for five days is an acceptable choice to make. Moreover, despite an economy on the edge of collapse, the Obama princesses probably can’t help but believe that airplanes costing hundreds of thousands of dollars an hour to fly are there mainly to transport them to fun locales.
Last spring, Malia Obama’s trip to Mexico allegedly cost taxpayers $115,500.87. This year, the two sisters are at a Caribbean resort being chauffeured around in a motorcade and “escorted to the held elevator,” accompanied by “a gaggle of friends.” Sans parents, Sasha and Malia are vacationing at the Atlantis, home to the Royal Tower Bridge Suite that goes for $25,000 per night. These tender-aged adolescents are accompanied by Secret Service agents who stand on the sidelines as they dance, giggle, and hang out at Club Crush, which for “teens ages 13 to 17 and tweens ages 9 to 13 vacationing on Paradise Island…[is the] ultimate nightclub.”
Meanwhile, the rest of America’s children, some of whom had humble spring break plans to ride in the family van to Washington DC, watch with their faces pressed against the wrought iron railing surrounding a closed White House. These schoolchildren are the disappointed victims of a sequester decision Barack Obama made while Sasha and Malia were preparing to party their little hearts out on a trip financed mostly with taxpayer money.
If anything, the life Sasha and Malia are living proves a few things – not about them, but about their parents – none of which are good. Most specifically, the First Couple are either profoundly arrogant, profoundly stupid or, most probably, profoundly indifferent to the effect their behavior may have on their daughters. Unfortunately, if Sasha and Malia Obama are truly learning what they live, then while their lives may be good in the material sense, the life lessons they’re learning are not.
Jeannie DeAngelis
