Letters to the Editor on Michelle Obama

by: Jill Richardson

Wed Apr 21, 2010 at 20:08:03 PM PDT

One refers to the case of John Gardner, a convicted sex offender who confessed to murdering 2 teenage girls in San Diego. He murdered them in February but only just confessed. Yet the newspaper put Michelle O on the cover, presumably instead of the murderer.

The same letter refers to the farmers at New Roots (the community farm Obama visited) as immigrants who hardly speak English in a rather derogatory way. That makes me mad, to be honest. These folks are refugees. They aren't people who crossed the border illegally. They came here legally with the help of the International Rescue Committee. No doubt many would rather be in their own countries, which are likely too war-torn to raise children in. And they should certainly be commended for growing their own food to provide their children with healthy diets.

The other letter is just plain insulting. Why does Michelle Obama need a staff with aides? Well if you think her job as First Lady is to stay home and to cook and clean at the White House and look pretty in photo ops, perhaps she wouldn't need aides. But that's not the role of the First Lady these days. Hillary Clinton took on health care. Michelle Obama has worked with military families and now she's focusing on children's health. If you want to look at a waste of taxpayer dollars, look to the Pentagon, not at the First Lady.

See the original article here and the letters that were published below.

Three offer their views on Michelle Obama

I voted for and still support President Barack Obama, but I did not know that my taxes also were being spent to provide his wife with 25 aides at a cost of millions per year. I do not condone these excesses, whether they have been used in the past or not. I did not vote for Michelle Obama and want these extravagant costs to the taxpayer stopped.

NORMAN HANSEN

San Diego

Although not an Obama fan, I always liked Michelle Obama. She appeared to be a good mother to the girls and Bo, the first dog. That is almost all you need to recruit me as a fan.

But the front-page picture of Michelle Obama has made my admiration decline. We have two San Diego families torn apart by the death of beloved daughters from a monster that the government did not keep in jail with ample opportunity. Yet Michelle chooses to spend time with immigrants who do not even speak English well about their community gardening efforts. I, too, like their story but our first lady should have prioritized. I am disappointed.

ALLY WISE

Rancho Santa Fe

I loved your coverage of Michelle Obama's visit to San Diego's New Roots Community Farm. It accurately characterized the benefit of community gardens as providing fresh food, recreation, community, health, knowledge about where food comes from and even intercultural dialogue.

San Diego's policies currently make it very difficult to establish new community gardens. To found New Roots, it took tens of thousands of dollars, many of which could have been better spent on gardening supplies or even land for more community gardens in San Diego. It's fabulous that so many organizations recognize the value of community gardens and make funds available for them, but unless we reform our policies, these funds will be poorly spent on bureaucracy instead of gardens.

JILL RICHARDSON

La Mesa