Elizabeth Lauten, a staffer for GOP Congressman Stephen Fincher of Tennessee, is out of a job today following a backlash over her criticism of President Obama’s daughters. At issue is that Lauten used the occasion of the annual Thanksgiving turkey pardon to criticize the Obama girls for their dress and behavior at the event.
Granted, the girls were hardly dressed in anything semi-formal, but neither were they were dressed inappropriately. Neither of the girls were that enthusiastic over the event, but it was their sixth turkey pardon. That would be enough to test the attention span of any teenager.
Still, Lauten criticized the girls for having a lack of respect and attributed that to the president’s disregard for the Constitution. It is one thing to take the president to task over his extra-constitutional activity, but dragging his children into the fray crossed the line. People on both sides of the political aisle were quick to denounce Lauten’s Twitter remarks.
Supporters of President Obama went beyond expressing criticism to invoking an ad hominem argument and make references to embarrassing behavior from the Bush girls. The past actions of the daughters of George W. Bush have no relevance on the Lauten controversy. In the end, Lauten issued an apology for lack of tact, but it was not enough. The public backlash led to her resigning from her position on the congressman’s staff. Hopefully, the incident will remain in the minds of the political Left who tended to be quite mum over attacks on the Bush girls.