I'm an editor. Therefore, I give June Brockwell's post a red star. It's worthy.

Regarding those red starts, they tend to be awarded to something who offers a supporting anecdote to an author's thesis. Not too many of those supporting anecdotes in this thread.

...Thrace's account.

Hey! I like Michelle Obama and liked her immediately. When I consider that Cindy Lou Hensley McCain -- who had an affair with John when he was still married to Carol -- might have become First Lady, I shudder. Had I lived next door to Cindy in any of her homes, I would have looked carefully before opening my door to run errands just to avoid eye contact with her. Had I lived next door to Michelle, I would have hoped to be her friend, despite being almost a generation older than she is.

So, although Ms. Kaplan tried to sound tongue-in-cheek, it was a silly article.

And that brings me to my concern.

I am an intelligent, educated and experienced white OLDER woman who can not find a job. I have a degree from Harvard to boot but that and four dollars will buy you a latte. I know of Harvard grads who made their living reading Tarot cards when they were between jobs.

As a former journalist with a master's degree in English and a long recognized talent for writing, I would love to be employed as a writer.

Hey! I would love to be employed in a job that pays for roof, insurance, utilities (it's 48 degrees in my house as I type this) and gas. At 61, I have a part-time job in a liquor store earning $8.50/hour. I take home less than $200 every week.

Erin Audrey Kaplan has a job that I would love to have and she writes silliness about Michelle Obama's body.

I once emailed Salon about working for them and was ignored.

Shall I add a current colloquialism?

Go figure.

I recently saw footage of her giving the white house tour and her affected, girly voice gave me the willies. It sounded like she had spent years perfecting it so she could sound demure and lady like to the opposite sex. Even creepier was how much the voice reminded me of Marilyn warbling "Happy Birthday Mr. President."

As far as Michelle goes, love her. Smart, no-nonsense, funny and opinionated. Just what you want in a good girlfriend, regardless of her race. If the writer experiences empowerment through her butt cheeks, I say enjoy. I would warn her off the pencil skirts and leggings, however. There's a reason Michelle doesn't wear either. I would recommend Michelle also shun the wide belts, which emphasize her short waist and yes, her caboose.

This article HIGHLY annoyed and offended me. So much so I doubt if I can articulate my anger without using choice words so I'll say nothing further.

Ditto!!!!

it is human interest that makes it readable. Of course there is more to Michelle Obama than her physicality.

Where were you complainers (about this being on the first page) when the MSM were falling all over their slobber about Sarah Palin's "physicality"? Have you no faith that we who are good with Kaplan's article also knew there was not a thing more to Palin? At least nothing that might scare the good ole's at the top...Think about it.

I skipped through your empty article just to chide you for attempting to infect us with puffed wheet and BS.

Any knack you may have attained with the written word is

at risk of being removed by the Muse for misuse and abuse

of your audience. Substance is required in these times instead of banality.

A woman that LOOKS like a woman! She's got back AND hips! She was anhiliated by the fashionisdas for the dress she wore on election night which I thought was gorgeous. I think she is a true beauty with a beautiful and shapely figure. She is strong and successive but obviously supportive and focused. I am so looking forward to having them represent us to the world.

get rid of Thrace96's comment? Actually, I am seriously considering cancelling my own premium membership after reading this:

I have loved Erin Aubry Kaplan's writing since before I joined Salon, and I'm proud of this piece. If having a black president and first lady is going to narrow what we talk about, wow, that would be sad. But I promise it won't -- at least not on Salon.-- Joan Walsh

Um...isn't the degrading focus on her backside narrow enough?

Ms. Kaplan,

Odd, but as a black woman, Mrs. Obama's behind wasn't the first nor the last thing I thought of when I saw Michelle Obama. Her body is a result of her genetics...she didn't/doesn't have much to do with her height nor her body shape...So I am more interested in how she shaped her brain and her world view...but I am thrilled you have been made happy by this turn of events...it seems high on your priority list.

Is this a joke?! The amount of "ebonic" writing that has been splattered in the last week or two since Obama was elected is pathetic. As an African American woman who is proud of her heritage I am ashamed and annoyed at this trash disguised as journalism because it is written by a black woman. America was civil enough to elect a man who was the most qualified for the highest office in the land. His wife deserves the same respect as well! Power to the people defined by their accomplishments --to higher learning, the arts, and culture.

Forgive me for being an old fuddyduddy, but I think this column was disrespectful, tasteless, self-serving and shallow.

Of what possible purpose or good is this topic? Is there no limit to the intense scrutiny and obsessive focus that the family of a newly elected president is subjected to? Do you plan to write on her choice of shoes, latest hairdo, (with a disquisition on hair-straighteners from a socio-political point of view), how her style of food shopping affects the economies of several US trading partners, etc etc???

Leave Michelle alone. Quit talking about her body. It's HER body, not yours. The "first family" are Barack Obama's family, they are not now YOUR possessions to bandy about.

Your sort of article would have been expected in a gossip mag on a supermarket checkout stand, not in Salon.