America—the land of the free and the home of the brave. We’re a country dedicated to political equality, and we have a long history of political interest and participation. However, it seems that our political priorities have shifted.
On Jan. 21, we witnessed a moment that will one day be printed in the history books; Barack Obama was sworn back into office as our nation’s president. Yet, this year’s inauguration proved to be different. Traditionally, the greatest attention is given to the president and his inaugural address; however, this year the president seemed to have been eclipsed by someone else—his wife.
The First Lady stole the spotlight. Not only did she wear a dress designed by Jason Wu, she revealed a new hairstyle. Forget about the issues that President Obama wants to address in his next term, Michelle got bangs! Even the president himself joked that Michelle’s new bangs were the most significant piece of news of the night.
Now, I’m not saying that it’s bad that people commented on Michelle Obama’s appearance (she is the first lady after all), but I do think the fact that people remember Michelle’s bangs more than our president’s future plans is a problem. It could be a sign that there’s been a shift in the public’s priorities.
This isn’t the first instance that brings light on the American public’s questionable interests. After the infamously botched Seahawks and Green Bay Packers game during the NFL referee lockout in Sept. 2012, people took to Twitter calling on President Obama to resolve the problem. Rather than focusing on the upcoming presidential election that would determine the course of the country and economy for the next four years, the public was concerned about the ruling of an early season football game.
America is changing and so are its priorities. Instead of getting caught up on the little things, however, we as a country need to start looking at the bigger picture so that next time, we can know more about the direction our president wants to take us and less about the first lady’s dress.
