Hillary Lite: Michelle Taste Great, Less Filling, Part 2

Oh-oh. Now First Lady Michelle Obama is getting involved in the Health Care debate. And flexing her political muscle inside the White House, including such gems as telling David Axelrod that he needs to answer her calls "right away." Told you so. Here and here.

The bottom line here is that the First Lady is not an elected official, and has no business getting involved in policy crafting. Unfortunately, Bill Clinton made a huge bungle in allowing Hillary to get involved too early and too deeply in his Presidency and it undermined him, his administration, her own political career, and derailed health care reform for a decade. The days of Eleanor Roosevelt are long gone, and even Eleanor had the sense to make it appear that everything she did originated from the will of the president. She did get involved in the civil rights movement in a very heavy handed and political way, but at that time, in the society of the day, it was considered appropriate for affluent women to give their time to charities. And civil rights were solidly grouped with charity then. And still, Eleanor Roosevelt drew a good deal of animosity on herself and on FDR from southern politicians who deplored her for supporting African-American equality. I don't hate Michelle Obama, and I don't think she has any nefarious agenda or ambitions, I just think she is more of a liability than a help, solely because of who she is, and who has come before her.

They'll never learn.