As Liberal America reported recently, Malia Obama was photographed smoking what appeared to be marijuana at Lollapalooza, the annual rock festival held in Chicago. Like thousands of other teens doing the same thing at the same event (including, perhaps, my son and his friends, who were smitten with her), she was not arrested. Special privileges? Nope. Illinois has decriminalized possession of less than ten grams.
What Did the Obamas Do?
We know that Malia’s parents dealt with it when she got home.
How did they deal with it? All we know is what the White House tweeted to Ann Bennett:
ruh-roh pic.twitter.com/4iVxHy6yXN
— Kate Bennett (@KateBennett_DC) August 11, 2016
The Obamas have not responded to questions from the press about it.
Michelle Obama tweeted about something entirely different that was assumed by many to be a reference to the recent smoking incident.
#LetGirlsLearn is helping break down barriers for girls around the world. Here's how: https://t.co/qzQZX1XguJ https://t.co/XuawRyshuX
— First Lady- Archived (@FLOTUS44) August 9, 2016
And you know what? It’s none of our business. Just like how you dealt with the last unwise thing your teenager did (or the last time I dealt with mine) is no one else’s business.
The Girls Are All Right
Malia and Sasha have been in the public eye since they were small. When their father made his historic speech at the 2004 Democratic convention, Malia was six years old, and Sasha, three. Michelle Obama made it her priority to keep the girls’ lives as normal as possible when they moved to the White House. And it seems to have worked. Sasha has a summer job serving seafood and working the register at a restaurant on Martha’s Vineyard. Can you imagine the Trump, Bush, or Clinton children doing the same?
Malia has had two internships. She has been accepted to Harvard. She will start in 2017, after a gap year.
Smoking a little decriminalized pot is the most embarrassing thing any Obama has done during his two terms in office. The Obama girls are just fine. Their parents should be proud of them. And we should all be as good at parenting as the Obamas have been.
Featured image from The White House on Flickr listed under a Government Works license.
