A Certain Smile, A Certain Annoyance*

First, the good stuff. This is just too sweet:

First daughters Malia and Sasha Obama got a big surprise after school Wednesday: a brand-new swing set.

They squealed with delight upon seeing it, a spokeswoman for the first lady said.

President Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle, went to work while the girls were at school, having the set installed on the south grounds of the White House within sight of the Oval Office, where their father spends plenty of time.

This is my favorite part:

"They ran right for it. They were really, really excited. All four of them," McCormick Lelyveld said.

That just makes me smile. The Obamas just seem to take so much joy in each other; the image of the four of them running to enjoy their new swingset, a childhood icon that brings up fuzzy feelin's in me anyway, just really makes me feel good. Sigh. Good stuff.

Okay, if that bit makes you feel as good as it made me feel, don't read on. Just enjoy the glow.

I found this via Digby, who wryly states at the end of the post titled "Presidential Pork":

The girls named the swing set "checkers" and gosh darn it, no matter what Michelle Malkin says, they're going to keep it.

That made me laugh, but an ugly little thought bubbled up. "I'll just bet Malkin won't be able to leave this alone." Sure enough, from Digby's comments:

Michelle Malkin has already tied this to the stimulus bill

They point to Malkin's Twitter (and I'm really beginning to fucking hate Twitter) that isn't so much "linking" as it is "total snark fail."

Question: Was the new White House swing set paid for with porkulus $? It's, you know, "infrastructure." ;) #tcot #stimulus

Literally, these people are unable to take the slightest bit of joy, hope or cheerfulness out of anything. It would be sad, if Malkin wasn't such a vile, hollow shell of a human being.

Christ, I hate that woman. Picture the kids on the swing... go back to your happy place...

*Post title taken from this lovely album, which I think I'm going to have to listen to now, after experiencing Malkin unpleasantness.