One of the apolitical problems the First Couple has is a collective ego that has ballooned so inappropriately monstrous in comparison with the facts on the ground that it is now being picked up by NORAD. The vox populi must put up with a certain amount of egomania and shamelessness from national politicians, but for people who are asking Americans to sacrifice and serve, they certainly have a strange way of practicing what they preach, namely by, um, er … not practicing what they preach. To call it liberal hypocrisy would be an insult to liberal hypocrisy; rather, they are reaching into that rarefied air best exemplified by Kate Winslet’s screen mom in Titanic when she fretted whether or not carriage passengers would be allowed on her lifeboat as the mighty vessel slowly sank into infamy.

The Chicago ’16 Olympic Bid is the latest bit of silliness tying into this theme of shamelessness (for the actual corruption, go to Michelle Malkin’s latest). After nine months of encouraging Americans to serve more and use less (and Americans are certainly doing more of the latter than we ever wanted or imagined possible), the American people are most definitely feeling that we’ve certainly been served; The Dear Couple are taking not one but two jets to Denmark, and added to the fun is a world class dose of Oprah, and we all know how light she travels. After TDL said he would not be going to Copenhagen to make a plea/pitch to get the Second City Olympiad, he changed his mind, because what’s taking a transatlantic flight for a four-hour stop to play the role generally reserved for mayors, governors and other such dignitaries. Carbon footprints are for the little people, and hell, he’s got a Games to pitch!

Still: what is the carbon footprint of this madness? And, for that matter, is TDL still that popular in Denmark now that his FoPo has begun wreaking global havoc while his beloved Muslims do the same in the once secular oasis? After apologizing for the country that he thinks deserves to host yet another Games, will he go about excoriating Danish cartoonists for having the gall to hold up a mirror to Islamic perpetual proto-outrage?

As for Lady Obama, she is already in Denmark and has completed the kind of speech that so endeared her to the people of the nation that she’s finally proud of. From Byron York at The Washington Examiner: 

In her speech in Copenhagen today, First Lady Michelle Obama said her trip to Denmark, along with the travel of her "dear friend" and "chit-chat buddy" Oprah Winfrey, as well as tomorrow's visit by President Obama, is a "sacrifice" on behalf of the children of Chicago and the United States. "As much of a sacrifice as people say this is for me or Oprah or the president to come for these few days," the first lady told a crowd of people involved in the Chicago project, "so many of you in this room have been working for years to bring this bid home."

"As first lady, as many of you know, I’ve made it a priority to bridge the gap between the White House and communities across D.C. and across the country," Mrs. Obama continued. "I’ve spent much of my first nine months trying to open the doors to the White House to kids who might not otherwise see themselves having access to these institutions, because that’s where I came from – communities like that where kids never dreamed that they could set foot in the White House, let alone live there…And Barack and I made a point of doing the same thing when we lived in Chicago – making the concerns of kids in all sorts of communities our own." 

When any official or unofficial representative of The White House, especially the President’s wife, sees taking a private Boeing 757 to Denmark in order to make a pitch for the Olympic Games as a sacrifice, I’d say they’ve officially dislodged from reality and begin to venture into the far-off world of Michael Jackson’s Neverland Ranch. While TDL’s half-brother lives off $5 a year in a waterless shack in Kenya, The Dear Couple is mopping up at taxpayer expense for business that is anything but State-worthy, all of this perpetually coming out of dirty water housed in a Cartier crystal mop bucket.

I know The Dear Family has had to sacrifice, what with Lady Obama shutting down several blocks of traffic so she could be driven the long block to the farmer’s market while TDL has to stick to one measly round of golf a week, but in the annals of sacrifice, I’d say transatlantic travel by private jet isn’t necessarily preparing Lady Obama for canonization just yet.

Something tells me that Lady Obama has not yet begun to sacrifice.