Melania doesn't get Ivana's "first lady" joke and refers to her as "attention-seeking"

Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2017/10/09/melania-doesnt-get-ivanas.html

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“I don’t get the title, none of those women were even married to a President.”

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Despite conservativism/neo-liberalism, I tend to feel a bit sorry for most first wives. They always seem to be stepladders for ambitious men.

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These dangerous dopes.

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I would blame the communications director on this one – unless she made an effort to explain and dissuade Melania.

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Or it may just be that this is really the communications policy of the WH…

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News story at 11…thin-skinned man child leaves second wife to marry young eastern European model who turns out is ALSO thin skinned.

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Her hair is almost as crazy as DJT’s. I didn’t think it was possible.

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That part is probably reasonably accurate.

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I don’t think Obama treated Michelle that way at all, and I seriously doubt Michelle would put up with being treated that way. My impression - and admittedly it’s based on their public lives, but who is more public than the first family - is that theirs was an honest partnership.

But most of the men who’ve held that office, yeah, I agree. And it’s not just down to the times either. By all accounts, including their lifetime of well-preserved daily letters to each other, John and Abigail Adams had a similar partnership despite the times they lived in. It’s kind of depressing that both the second and 44th presidents of the United States had a more progressive relationship with his wife than the 45th.

ETA: Melz has pointed out my reading comprehension fail. Sorry for that. Leaving this comment up though for general interest.

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20171009_221204

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He said first wives, not First Ladies; Michelle O doesn’t count because she’s ‘the only.’

Please excuse my pedantry.

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Miss Ivana, excuse my stare - but you have got the biggest hair!

(Paraphrased from Pee Wee’s Playhouse)

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You are correct. I totally missed that.

Nothing to excuse. I appreciate my error being brought to my attention.

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To be fair, they might be a language barrier here. My Polish MiL didn’t get some rather simple (to us) puns with out explanation. Remember language isn’t just understanding the words coming out of your mouth, but deciphering the context and meaning.

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That was my thinking as well. Despite being multilingual, there are still distinctions I struggle with in French and Spanish. Heck, English is hard enough for those of us who learn it as their first language. I have a lot of criticisms of Melania Trump, who I generally think is a pretty terrible person on her own demerits (though not even in the same league as her husband), but I doubt this necessarily shows a lack of sense of humor.

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How unpleasant.

I don’t know anything about Ivana, but she doesn’t seem so bad all things considered.

My friend/coworker/shooting buddy is Filipino and it can be funny when he asks why we say things we do. Sometimes I can clearly explain why, and sometimes it’s more “just because”.

Like he didn’t understand “fair enough”. “Either something is fair or it isn’t. What is ‘fair enough’.”

I said, “Basically its when you don’t entirely agree with someone, but you accept most of it, or their point is valid even if you don’t totally agree.”

“I dunno, I guess that make sense, but I still don’t see you would say ‘fair enough’.”

“Fair enough.”

laughter

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English is chock full of just because.

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And puns, double-meanings, downright lies and nonsensical gibberish masquerading as truth.
English is fantastic fun :grin:

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