Little did I realize that the media would instead go after his daughters. Briefly. Until one GOP staffer took it too far and then everyone turned on her.
Here's what happened...
President Barack Obama pardoned two turkeys from the butcher's knife. As in past years, he was joined by his two daughters, Sasha and Malia. Apparently, they weren't presidential enough with their behavior during the ceremony. They occasionally folded their arms and rolled their eyes at their dad. Of course, other times they smiled and laughed politely.
But the 13- and 16-year-old girls weren't stepford enough for one GOP staffer. US Rep Stephen Fincher (TN)'s communications director, Elizabeth Lauten, posted the following message on Facebook:
Lauten's criticism of the First Daughters went over about as well as a couple of lead balloons. After receiving lots of negative feedback, Lauten posted this message on her Facebook account:
I reacted to an article and quickly judged the two young ladies in a way that I would never have wanted to be judged myself as a teenager. After many hours of prayer, talking to my parents and re-reading my words online, I can see more clearly how hurtful my words were. Please know that these judgmental feelings truly have no place in my heart. Furthermore, I'd like to apologize to all of those who I have hurt and offended with my words, and pledge to learn and grow (and I assure you I have) from this experience.Actually, this is one of the better political apologies that I've read. None of those "I'm sorry if you took my words the wrong way..." non-apologies.
Regardless, Lauten continued to receive negative input about her posts, so she removed both of them from Facebook and changed her account to a private setting.