Obama's 'drag queen' ornament

last updated 8 January 2015

Andrew Breitbart's Big Government website posted photos of ornaments on a White House Christmas tree that feature images of Chairman Mao, drag queen Hedda Lettuce, and Barack Obama's face on Mount Rushmore. The office of first lady Michelle Obama said that the White House didn't know what was on the ornaments, which were made by community groups and were among 800 placed on the tree in the White House's Blue Room. Do the decorations suggest a lapse of judgment or is Breitbart just scandalmongering? (Watch a report about the controversial White House Christmas ornaments)

Obama's being disrespectful: The Mao ornament is "a slap in the face to every American," says Nancy Morgan in Newsreal, but it's "not a surprising choice — considering the eerie parallels between China’s Great Leap Forward and the path Obama has put America on today." Throwing in a drag queen, though, shows Obamas lack of respect for our Christian traditions — sort of like "a dog peeing on a Bible."

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Tune out the right-wing Christmas chorus: Conservatives are really running with Big Government's ridiculous ornament scoop, say Jeremy Holden and Jeremy Schulman in Media Matters. The ornament story "fits nicely into three of Fox News' favorite activities: red-baiting, gay-baiting, and suggesting that Obama is arrogant" — so the right-wing news network trumped up the news even though Fox host Bret Baier said the White House was unaware of what was on the ornaments made by community groups. This "gotcha story seems to be missing the gotcha."

The White House should pay closer attention: Andrew Breitbart's conservative Big Government site has struck a new blow against the Obama administration, says Colby Hall in Mediaite, but it's not yet clear whether the website will get as much mileage out of these photos as it did out of the undercover videos it posted showing ACORN activists. Still, in this politically charged atmosphere one would think the White House would pay closer "attention to the imagery used for decorations and stop giving their political opponents so much great material to work with."