Time For Some Fashion: The Inauguration Diet

By Melissa Harris-Lacewell 

As you can tell I am on a theme. With the election finally over many people have been asking me what we should do next. This week is my chance to play with some answers to that question. Sunday I suggested it was Time to Study. Monday I said it was Time for Some Action. Today it is Time for some Fashion.

Michelle Obama rocked that red dress at the White House yesterday. She was so stunning. It reminded me that as a much shorter and rounder sister I will have to work hard to keep up with the new Obama-inspired fashion trends that are clearly coming our way in the next four years.

So in that spirit I am reposting my Obama inauguration diet. I originally proposed this diet in June when I was still writing for TheRoot.com. Now we have just a brief time to be in shape for the new Obama administration. So I am recommitting to my diet.

After nearly two years of bingeing on the election, here is my plan.

Trim excess partisanship from my politics. Not all Democratic ideas are good for you and not all Republican proposals are unhealthy. This election season has suggested the possibility of new coalitions and revealed the fragility of the old ones. I am training my political palate to appreciate a more refined approach to party politics.

Replace the unhealthy breakfast of American TV political news with a healthier alternative of imported foreign correspondence. Let’s face it, the televised, political news coverage in the United States is so stuffed with pundit fillers and partisan fat that it is not a healthy way to start the day. I am substituting the fresh and trim perspective of foreign press sources. It is healthy to view the country through the eyes of the rest of the world. I am not cutting CNN and MSNBC completely; all things in moderation.

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