"Oh, the hand-wringing about the Obama girls' growing fame!" said Kirsten Powers in the New York Post. Beanie Baby maker Ty Inc. has even released "Sweet Sasha" and "Marvelous Malia" dolls. Yes, Malia Obama is only 10, and Sasha just 7, but relax—this is good for America. "Who would you rather have your daughters looking up to—Lindsay Lohan or Malia Obama?"
That won't wash with the girls' mommy, said the Chicago Tribune in an editorial. First lady Michelle Obama doesn't want her kids being traded like Beanie Babies, and she's right. Cashing in on adult public figures is bad enough, but "it's creepy and invasive to appropriate the images of grade-school girls for profit."
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