Dr. Judith Palfrey (photo courtesy Obamafoodorama/Eddie Gehman Kohan)

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WASHINGTON--Judith Palfrey, the executive director of First Lady Michelle Obama's signature "Let's Move" project quietly left the White House payroll at the end of December--just months after taking the job in September, the Chicago Sun-Times has learned.

Mrs. Obama marks the second anniversary of "Let's Move" --a drive to end childhood obesity in a generation--this week with an enormous publicity blitz, marked Tuesday night with a taped appearance on the Jimmy Fallon show.

On Thursday, Mrs. Obama starts a three day national tour, stopping in Iowa, Arkansas, Texas and Florida to highlight healthy eating, exercise and helping military families.

Palfrey was the second director of "Let's Move," replacing Robin Schepper; the White House announced her appointment on Sept. 2. A pediatrician, Palfrey is a Harvard graduate with a medical degree from Columbia. She is married with three children.

After her exit in December, Palfrey was given a "fellowship" at the Partnership for a Healthier America, the Washington D.C. based non-profit organization founded in conjunction with "Let's Move."

A White House official said that "Let's Move" is now being led by senior staff:

*Sam Kass, a Senior Policy Advisor for Healthy Food Initiatives, a Chicago native and White House chef.

*Jocelyn Frye, Mrs. Obama's top domestic policy advisor.

*Julie Moreno, a Public Health Advisor for Childhood Obesity, assigned to the Domestic Policy Council from the Surgeon General's Office.

*Kristina Schake, Mrs. Obama's communications chief.

Schake told the Sun-Times, "Judy is now based in Boston to be closer to her family and not commute to Washington every week.

"She is spearheading an important new initiative to mobilize health professionals and engage the research community in support of Let's Move! through a fellowship with the Partnership for a Healthier America. Although she is no longer working out of our office, from her new position she is helping to expand efforts to eliminate childhood obesity in communities across the country."

WASHINGTON--First Lady Michelle Obama and Vice President Joe Biden hit Florida this week, as this key battleground state has been and continues to be lavished with attention from the White House and the Obama re-election forces in official and political events.

The Obama team 2012 organizers set up shop early in Florida and were dug in as most attention turned to the run up to the Republican primary last week. The president, first lady and vice president have all been in Florida since December for political and government events.

At this stage, the travel schedules of the president, vice president and Mrs. Obama and other administration figures are set --to a degree-- with an eye towards the November election and battleground 2012 states.

Florida is a key battleground in 2012 as it was in 2008, when Obama beat John McCain 51.03 percent to 48.22 percent. And remember 2000, when former President Bush, with the help of hanging chads, beat Al Gore 48.85 per cent to 48.84 percent

GOP White House hopeful Mitt Romney won last Tuesday's Florida primary; his ground game overwhelmed his three rivals. Still, Romney only had five full time staffers in Florida and they have been shifted to other states for now. If Romney gets the nomination--as is likely--his Florida effort will be bolstered because the Republican convention is in Tampa next August.

According to the Obama campaign, as of last week there were 194 State of the Union Watch Parties ranging from Key West all the way to Pensacola; nearly 3,000 trainings, planning sessions, house parties, and phone banks and more than 4,500 one-on-one meetings.

The campaign also opened 11 campaign offices across the state--in key markets--including Jacksonville, Tallahassee, Orlando, St. Petersburg, Tampa, Palm Beach County, Miami-Dade and Broward counties.

The Obama team has a major asset in Democratic National Committee Chairman Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, who represents a south Florida district.

Obama unveiled his proposals to bolster tourism at Disney World outside of Orlando last month. He returns to Florida on Feb. 22 and 23 for official and three fund-raising events in Coral Gables and Orlando.

Orlando is the home of the 2012 NBA All-Stars game; basketball star Vince Carter hosts the Orlando fund-raiser the day before the game.

On Monday, Biden landed in Tallahassee for one official and two campaign events. The government event is aimed at students and their parents who foot the bill for college. Biden and Under Secretary of Education Martha Kanter discuss soaring college costs at Florida State University. In December, Biden talked about the collegiate price tag at a high school in Neptune Beach.

Biden has two fund-raisers in Tallahassee on Monday afternoon, a high-end event at the home of attorney Don Hinkle and the other in the Challenger Center, where tickets run from $44 to $1,000.

Mrs. Obama, in two Florida swings in a month, is touching all the major demographic groups: Hispanics, evangelicals, and women.

On Jan. 26, Mrs. Obama was in Tampa for a Latino event connected with her signature "Let's Move" healthy eating drive and in Sarasota and Palm Beach for fund-raisers.

This week, Mrs. Obama is marking the second anniversary of "Let's Move" in a four state swing, touching down in Iowa, Arkansas, Texas, and Florida, where she will be on Friday and Saturday.

In southern Florida, Mrs. Obama is holding a townhall in Homestead and then head to Orlando to have dinner with a family. She travels north of Orlando to a mega-church in Longwood the next day for a big faith based event connected with "Let's Move." She caps the day at Disney World for an event with athletes.

Last Tuesday--Jan. 31--Romney celebrated his victory at the convention center in Tampa. Last Friday, Feb. 3, about a dozen Hispanics in the Obama administration came to Tampa for a White House hosted Hispanic Community Action Summit at The University of Tampa.

WASHINGTON--President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle will host a dinner Feb. 29 at the White House to honor representatives of troops who served in Iraq and their families.

The First Couple dinner comes as New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg said the Pentagon told it was still too risky to throw a parade for soldiers as long as some military remain.

The White House said the dinner is "an expression of the nation's gratitude for the achievements and enormous sacrifices of the brave Americans who served in the Iraq War and of the families who supported them --- will include men and women in uniform from all ranks, services, states and backgrounds, representative of the many thousands of Americans who served in Iraq. The White House has been working with military and civilian leaders from the Department of Defense on this tribute, and will release more details regarding the dinner when they are available."

(White House photo by Pete Souza)

WASHINGTON--President Barack Obama met with former President George H.W. Bush and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush in the Oval Office on Friday--a visit not put on his public schedule later described as "personal" by the White House.

Jeb Bush--the son and brother of presidents--is often mentioned as a presidential contender--but did not jump in the 2012 race. With the Florida primary on Tuesday, Jeb Bush is neutral--denying Newt Gingrich or Mitt Romney coveted endorsements.
Former President George W. Bush, who preceded Obama, is also staying neutral. Their father has endorsed Romney.

The Bush father and son Jeb are in town for the annual Alfalfa Club Dinner on Saturday night, according to the Associated Press. Obama will attend with First Lady Michelle and deliver remarks. The AP reported that the senior Bush, 87, used a wheelchair in the White House. The meeting took place around 5 p.m. The Alfalfa Club exists mainly for an annual banquet and its members are current or past Washington powerbrokers or celebrities.

WASHINGTON--First Lady Michelle Obama headlines two elite donor fund-raisers in Florida on Thursday, piggybacking political events on top of her "Let's Move" official business announcement in Tampa with Goya Foods.

Mrs. Obama is in Florida in advance of the Jan. 31 GOP presidential primary and on the day GOP rivals debate Thursday evening in Jacksonville. Not quite a split screen, but with Democratic National Committee on the ground and with Mrs. Obama--the Republicans may not get all the free media attention.

About 250 guests are expected at a home in Sarasota with Florida supporters. Tickets begin at $500 and run up to $15,000. The $15,000 donor gets a VIP host committee reception, a photo and tickets for two for the general reception.

About 140 are expected in Palm Beach.Tickets begin at $500 and go up to $25,000.

WASHINGTON--First Lady Michelle Obama hits California next week for campaign fund-raising and guest shots on the Jay Leno and the Ellen DeGeneres shows.

Mrs. Obama's California swing starts Tuesday when she appears on Leno from his Burbank studio to tout the upcoming two-year anniversary next month of her signature "Let's Move" anti-childhoo obesity drive.

From there she heads to a reception in Los Angeles to benefit the re-election campaign.

After a "Let's Move" event in Ingelwood on Wednesday, she guests with Ellen DeGeneres to promote "Let's Move," with the interview broadcast on Feb. 2. Later she headlines another fund-raiser in Los Angeles.

On Thursday, Mrs. Obama heads to battleground Florida as the GOP presidential candidates are camped there in advance of the Jan. 31 primary. There is a CNN GOP debate in Jacksonville on Thursday night and Mrs. Obama may grab some of the free media attention. Mrs. Obama visits GOP strongholds: Tampa for a Latino event connected with her healthy eating drive and then Sarasota and Palm Beach for fund-raisers.

WASHINGTON--First Lady Michelle Obama's guest list for the State of the Union tonight is heavy on guests from battleground states, underscoring the merging government and political agendas as the Obama team prepares for the November election.

Mrs. Obama will host in her House box astronaut Mark Kelly, the retired Navy captain who is the husband of Rep. Gabby Giffords (D-Az.) who is stepping down from Congress this week, a little more than a year after she was shot in the head. Senior White House advisor and close friend Valerie Jarrett will also be in Mrs. Obama's box.

Most of the 20 other guests--mainly female-- come from states that could determine the outcome of the 2012 contest: two from North Carolina; two from Michigan; two from Colorado; one from Pennsylvania; two from Virginia; one from Ohio and one from Florida. California, a deep source of fund-raising dollars--Mrs. Obama will be in California next week for fund-raising--has four guests.

One of the guests is Debbie Bosanek of Nebraska, who has been Warren Buffett's secretary for almost two decades--and who has been used by Buffett as an example of the inequities in the tax system. Buffett pays a lesser tax rate than Bosanek.

On Thursday, Mrs. Obama heads to battleground Florida as the GOP presidential candidates are camped there in advance of the Jan. 31 primary. There is a CNN GOP debate in Jacksonville on Thursday night and Mrs. Obama may grab some of the free media attention. Mrs. Obama visits GOP strongholds: Tampa for a Latino event connected with her healthy eating drive and then Sarasota and Palm Beach for fund-raisers.

Click below for Mrs. Obama's SOTU guest list...

Movie director Spike Lee hosted a fund-raiser at his New York home Thursday for President Obama and Obama told Lee and the guests that his first date with wife Michelle was to see Lee's Do the Right Thing.

Lee's retort to Obama, "I said, good thing you didn't choose Driving Miss Daisy."

Click below for transcript...

WASHINGTON--First Lady Michelle Obama marked her 48th birthday on Tuesday with a dinner at BLT Steak, with President Obama and a few close friends.

Mrs. Obama has dined there before. The First Couple dinner party included Senior Advisor Valerie Jarrett and Attorney General Eric Holder and his wife Dr. Sharon Malone. Click over to Obamafoodorama, the site of record when it comes to food, entertainment and food policy in the Obama administration for the menu and other juicy details.

Seven things the Obama re-election team is doing right now to win in November:

*Organizing around President Barack Obama's Jan. 24 State of the Union speech before a joint session of Congress. The campaign is organizing watch parties, even putting together a host guide to go step-by-step on how to put together an event. Obama's State of the Union speech is being leveraged by the campaign in order to keep people engaged and to create more data for the digital analysts at the Chicago headquarters to study to see what makes people respond to different web-based requests for actions.

*Organizing around First Lady Michelle Obama's Tuesday 48th birthday, asking folks to sign an on-line card. Again, the point is to create engagement points while letting the campaign reap data from the respondents.

*No matter the flap over Jodi Kantor's new book, "The Obamas," reporting on East Wing/West Wing tensions, Mrs. Obama is one of the campaign's strongest assets. She launched her Twitter account @michelleobama on Jan. 12 and as of Monday, she had 337,884 followers.

*Fund-raising with new designer products. The campaign is already previewing "Runway to Win," which features higher end "Obama inspired" apparel, tote bags and the like, by 23 U.S. leading designers. The "official" launch is Feb. 7 in New York.

While the Obama campaign already has a full line of products--and a print and online catalogue--the designer pitch in part is that their stuff is "limited edition."

*Running an "Obama fellows" -three, 12-week programs-- in cooperation with the Democratic National Committee's Organizing for America. "Organizing Fellows who complete the program will leave with a full understanding of the most effective tools and methods that organizers use to make change in their communities. This program is often a first step in preparing for employment as some Organizing Fellows will go on to full-time jobs with the campaign."

*Vice President Joe Biden is fund-raising this week in Los Angeles and Sacramento.

*Obama is fund-raising Tuesday in New York, with the New York press reporting that Obama returns to the Apollo Theater in Harlem for a concert with stars as well as a $35,800-a-person dinner hosted by Spike Lee.

First Lady Michelle Obama turns 48 on Tuesday, and the Obama re-election campaign is using her birthday to help organize the troops for the November elections.

In 2011, Mrs. Obama celebrated her 47th birthday when President Barack Obama took her to a fancy dinner at The Source, a Wolfgang Puck restaurant in the Newseum in Washington.

In 2010 , Mrs. Obama was also taken out by her husband for a 46th birthday dinner, to Restaurant Nora, one of the nicest special-occasion places in Washington.

In 2009, Mrs. Obama was busy getting ready for the inauguration -- the Obama administration is three years old in January--and celebrated her 45th birthday on the inauguration train traveling from Philadelphia to Washington.

The Obama 2012 campaign--a data driven enterprise-- posted a birthday card for Mrs. Obama and asking people to sign it; a technique used to develop supporter or potential supporter engagement, gather updated contact information, find out which app was the most effective, and what parts of the country responded to the appeal.

As Obama notes in a message, "this fall, Michelle and I will have been married 20 years. The next 10 months will be harder than any we've experienced together, and I couldn't do it without her. I know she'd love to hear from you today."

WASHINGTON -- First lady Michelle Obama knows when the stuff about her being an angry black woman got started, and over time she hopes it will go away.

"That's been an image that people have tried to paint of me since, you know, the day Barack announced, that I'm some angry black woman," she told CBS News in an interview broadcast Wednesday.

To deal with it, "I just try to be me. And my hope is that, over time, people get to know me, and they get to judge me for me."

Mrs. Obama's comments came when she discussed for the first time The Obamas, a new book about the first couple by New York Times reporter Jodi Kantor. She told CBS News' Gayle King that she had not read the book -- but had been told about some parts of it and was critical of its intimate tone about her views and attitudes that she never discussed with the author.

"Who can write about how I feel? Who? What third person can tell me how I feel, or anybody, for that matter," Mrs. Obama said.

Kantor had access to present and former administration officials and Obama friends, some speaking on the record and others on background. Kantor had a 40-minute interview with the first couple in 2009 about their personal relationship.

The White House pushed back starting Saturday when it turned out that the book had big doses of palace intrigue and was written in a manner that suggested an intimacy that the White House said just did not exist.

Mrs. Obama, who aggressively works to be non-controversial, kept her interview date with King, scheduled before the book was out. Mrs. Obama agreed to the interview with King (Oprah Winfrey's best friend) to help her launch her new CBS morning show.

One episode reported in the book -- which covers the beginning of the Obama presidency to last summer -- is a blowup by then Press Secretary Robert Gibbs after senior adviser Valerie Jarrett signaled that the first lady was not pleased with how a story about her and French first lady Carla Sarkozy was handled.

Kantor also wrote about strained relations between Mrs. Obama and Mayor Rahm Emanuel when he was Obama's chief of staff and, in the first years, a West Wing that treated the East Wing as a junior partner.

Of Mrs. Obama and Emanuel, Kantor wrote "Their relationship was distant and awkward from the beginning. She had been skeptical of him when he was selected and now he returned the favor."

Mrs. Obama told King, "Rahm is -- and Amy, his wife -- are some of our dearest friends. Rahm and I have never had a cross word. He's a funny guy."

"You've never had a cross word with Rahm Emanuel?" asked King , perhaps because Emanuel is so combative.

"We have never had a cross word. I mean, I don't have conversations with my husband's staff. I don't go to the meetings. I don't have -- our staffs work together really well."

FOOTNOTE: Kantor writes about the Obamas on a Martha's Vineyard vacation, where they invited Chicago pals Allison and Susan Davis to join them on a beach set aside for their use. (Davis and Obama worked in the same law firm in Chicago back in the day.) Writes Kantor, Davis started to help pack up to leave "folding towels and such," only to be told by Obama he did not have to do that. Kantor reports Obama told Davis, "When I leave office there are only two things I want. . . . I want a plane and I want a valet."

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NASHUA, NH.--Former White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs apologized Monday for insulting First Lady Michelle Obama during an explosive staff meeting where he also laid into Senior Advisor Valerie Jarrett. The scene is recounted in a new book, "The Obamas," by New York Times reporter Jodi Kantor. Jarrett said the two have "worked through disagreements."
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My post on episode in Kantor's book on how when Mrs. Obama worked in Mayor Daley's City Hall in the early 1990s, she was "distressed" by how a small group of "white Irish Catholic" families -- the Daleys, the Hynes and the Madigans -- "locked up" power in Illinois is HERE.
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"In any high-pressure work environment there are occasional arguments and disagreements and that is certainly true of the White House. I regret speaking in anger and regret that this disagreement became so public. But those moments pale in comparison to the important issues facing our country and will not overshadow the vital work Valerie and I will do together as part of a team in 2012," Gibbs said in a statement.

Said Jarrett in a statement, "Since 2004, Robert Gibbs and I have worked together on campaigns and in the government, and he has been a valued advisor and Press Secretary to this President and a key member of the Obama team. Like any colleagues, we've shared some laughs and we've shared some words over the years. But we have always worked through any disagreements out of mutual respect and in our shared commitment now and in the future to President Obama."

The blow-up, Kantor wrote, came during a staff meeting on Sept. 16, 2010, after Gibbs just tamped down a report that Mrs. Obama had told French First Lady Carla Bruni-Sarkozy that she "can't stand" life in the White House, that it was "hell."

Jarrett said Mrs. Obama was "dissatisfied" with how the situation was handled and Gibbs exploded at Jarrett for getting involved in the matter. He threw the "F" word around, aiming one time at Mrs. Obama.

NASHUA, NH--First Lady Michelle Obama, continuing her two-day-a-week public schedule, hits Democratic strongholds in battleground Virginia this week to fund-raise for President Obama's re-election and to handle some official duties. Mixing political and government business on trips always earns criticism because it means taxpayers shoulder some of the costs. Meanwhile, the Obama Team waits word if and when Mrs. Obama is going to pick up the pace.

On Wednesday, Mrs. Obama will be in Richmond to headline a Democratic National Committee lunch.

After that, according to the White House, Mrs. Obama will appear at Virginia Commonwealth University to deliver a speech where she will announce "a major commitment by the country's top medical colleges and universities to create a new generation of doctors, medical schools, and research facilities to ensure that veterans, service men and women receive the medical care that they deserve.

Later, she will hit Charlottesville to keynote another fund-raising reception.

On Friday, Mrs. Obama travels across the Potomac River to suburban Alexandra to promote her appearence on Nickelodeon's iCarly. Not only did she already tape a segment, she joins the cast at a screening of her episode.

To see Mrs. Obama random dance on iCarly click HERE.

In her "iMeet The First Lady," "Mrs. Obama talks with Carly about her service to America as a member of a military family and thanks her friends for supporting her during her father's deployment. The episode airs on Nickelodeon on Monday, January 16th."

Stars Miranda Cosgrove and the iCarly cast will be joined by Mrs. Obama at Hayfield Secondary School, according to the White House, "a school with a large number of military children. They will screen the episode, participate in iCarly's "Random Dancing" and answer questions from the students."

Mrs. Obama is a very good dancer who enjoys her moves. Last May, she appeared at the Alice Deal Middle School in Tenleytown, a northwest Washington neighborhood, to dance to a Beyonce song as part of her "Let's Move" campaign. Mrs. Obama often associates with stars to plug her agenda.

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WASHINGTON-- When Michelle Obama worked in Mayor Daley's City Hall in the early 1990s, she was "distressed" by how a small group of "white Irish Catholic" families -- the Daleys, the Hynes and the Madigans -- "locked up" power in Illinois.

And as she prepared to become first lady, Mrs. Obama naively wanted to delay a move into the White House for six months, so her daughters could finish the school year. Her initial thought was to "commute" to the White House from her South Side home.

And Marty Nesbitt, one of President Obama's best friends, had been recruited to run for Chicago mayor by African-American leaders -- but never ended up challenging Rahm Emanuel, who was Obama's chief of staff who went on to win City Hall.

Details about Mrs. Obama's initial reluctance to embrace her new life, her time in City Hall, the influence she has in the White House, tensions between Senior Adviser Valerie Jarrett, Emanuel and former White House press secretary Robert Gibbs -- are in a new book about the first couple by New York Times reporter Jodi Kantor.

The Chicago Sun-Times has obtained a copy of The Obamas, to be published Tuesday. Kantor hits Chicago for an East Lake Shore Drive book party on Jan. 16; the next day, Jan. 17, she headlines a 6 p.m. event at the Harold Washington Library, 400 S. State.

Mrs. Obama worked in the Daley administration between Sept. 16, 1991, and April 30, 1993, according to City of Chicago personnel records. She was hired by Jarrett, then Daley's deputy chief of staff.

Kantor writes Mrs. Obama "disapproved of how closely Daley held power, surrounding himself with three or four people who seemed to let few outsiders in -- a concern she would echo years later with her own husband.

"...She particularly resented the way power in Illinois was locked up generation after generation by a small group of families, all white Irish Catholic -- the Daleys in Chicago, the Hynes and Madigans statewide."

When Jarrett was forced out of City Hall in 1995 -- even though she was close to Daley -- "the Obamas were horrified, their worst suspicions about the world confirmed."

Jarrett, Gibbs, Obama's top strategist David Axelrod, Mrs. Obama's former chief of staff Susan Sher and Chicago pals Eric Whitaker and Marty Nesbitt "gave me many hours of interview time each," Kantor wrote in her acknowledgements. In all, Kantor got the cooperation of 33 current and former members of the Obama administration and close friends.

Still, with reports about issues in the administration -- and an Emanuel who did not welcome Mrs. Obama's influence -- the Obama White House gave the book a frosty reception.

"The book, an overdramatization of old news, is about a relationship between two people whom the author has not spoken to in years," White House spokesman Eric Schultz said. "The author last interviewed the Obamas in 2009 for a magazine piece, and did not interview them for this book. The emotions, thoughts and private moments described in the book, though often seemingly ascribed to the president and first lady, reflect little more than the author's own thoughts. These secondhand accounts are staples of every administration in modern political history and often exaggerated."

Camille Johnston, Mrs. Obama's former communications chief, told the Sun-Times, "We had some disagreements over how certain things would be handled, but in the end we all got back to the place Mrs. Obama had set at the onset: nothing on my agenda is more important than what's on his."

Chicago mayor Rahm Emanuel clashed with First Lady Michelle Obama and offered to resign in February, 2010--when he was White House chief of staff--after a series of self-serving stories, according to a Huffington Post report about a new book, "The Obamas." Mrs. Obama was not enthused about his chief-of-staff appointment.
The book, by the New York Times Jodi Kantor, will be published Jan. 10.

Kantor, according to HuffPost, reports that "Michelle Obama had "doubts" about the choice of Emanuel as chief of staff. Emanuel, in turn, had been opposed to bringing Valerie Jarrett, the Obamas' longtime mentor, into the White House as a senior adviser."
(Emanuel's reservations about Jarrett had been previously known.)

HuffPost on Kantor book: "Emanuel rejected Michelle Obama's efforts to be part of his 7:30 a.m. staff meeting. The administration did not outfit her with a speechwriter for some time. And the first lady's office grew so isolated from the rest of the presidential orbit that aides there began, as Kantor writes, "referring to the East Wing as 'Guam' -- pleasant but powerless."

HUFFINGTON POST CORRECTION: "An earlier version wrongly stated that Michelle Obama wanted to attend the top-staff 7:30 a.m. White House meeting. Author Jodi Kantor reports that the first lady's chief of staff, Jackie Norris, wanted to attend that meeting and was rebuffed by Rahm Emanuel."

And more on the Kantor book via HuffPost:
"Michelle and Rahm Emanuel had almost no bond; their relationship was distant and awkward from the beginning. She had been skeptical of him when he was selected, and now he returned the favor; he was uneasy about first ladies in general, several aides close to him said, based on clashes with Hillary Clinton in the 1990s that became so severe that she had tried to fire him from her husband's administration," writes Kantor.

And more:
"Kantor reports that then-White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs was often deployed to push back against the first lady, informing her that she couldn't take a private vacation on a state visit, spend large amounts on White House redecoration, or buy expensive clothes.

And more: Michelle Obama, who came to politics skeptically but saw her husband as someone capable of lofty achievements, lashed out against her isolation. She sent emails to Jarrett when she had complaints about news coverage, which Jarrett would forward to others after removing the first lady's name from them. When she couldn't wedge herself into her husband's schedule, she would send her missives to Alyssa Mastromonaco, the president's director of scheduling. The emails, Kantor writes, "were so stern that Mastromonaco showed them around to colleagues, unsure of how to respond to her boss's wife's displeasure."

From the White House:

First Lady Michelle Obama reacts while talking on the phone to children across the country as part of the annual NORAD Tracks Santa program. Mrs. Obama answered the phone calls from Kailua, Hawaii, Saturday, Dec. 24, 2011. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

WASHINGTON--Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner (R-Wisc.) apologized to First Lady Michelle Obama on Thursday for saying she has a "large posterior." "I regret my inappropriate comment and I have sent a personal note to the First Lady apologizing," Sensenbrenner said in a statement.

Mrs. Obama is vacationing in Hawaii keeping a private schedule. I asked one of her press spokesmen, who is in Hawaii with her, to confirm Mrs. Obama got and or knew of the apology note and will update if there is a response.

Sensenbrenner, Media Bistro reported, was overheard telling a woman the First Lady--who advocates healthy eating-- "she lectures us on eating right while she has a large posterior herself."

Newsradio 620 WTMJ reported earlier Sensenbrenner's spokesman said he will apologize for the comment.

Spokesman Amanda Infield told WTMJ:

Mr. Sensenbrenner was referring to the First Lady's healthy food initiative. He doesn't think the government should be telling Americans what to eat. While he may not agree with all of her initiatives, he plans to contact the First Lady's office to apologize for his comments.

WASHINGTON--Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner (R-Wisc.) will apologize to First Lady Michelle Obama, Milwaukee radio station WTMJ is reporting on Thursday. Sensenbrenner, Media Bistro reported,was overheard telling a woman the First Lady--who advocates health eating-- "she lectures us on eating right while she has a large posterior herself."

Newsradio 620 WTMJ is reporting Sensenbrenner's spokesman said he will apologize for the comment.

Spokesman Amanda Infield told WTMJ:

Mr. Sensenbrenner was referring to the First Lady's healthy food initiative. He doesn't think the government should be telling Americans what to eat. While he may not agree with all of her initiatives, he plans to contact the First Lady's office to apologize for his comments.

WASHINGTON--President Barack Obama does not like being compared to Star Trek's cool and emotionally detached Mr. Spock. First Lady Michelle does not feel confined or trapped in her role. "Couldn't be further from the truth," Mrs. Obama told ABC News Barbara Walters. Walters interviewed the First Couple on Dec. 15 for a show to be broadcast at 10 p.m. Friday on "20/20."

Excerpt, from ABC News....

What's the biggest misconception about you?

PRESIDENT OBAMA: Me being detached, or Spock-like, or very analytical. People who know me know that I am a softie. I mean, stuff can choke me up very easily. The challenge for me is that in this job I think a lot of times the press or how you come off on TV people want you to be very demonstrative in your emotions. And if you're not sort of showing it in a very theatrical way, then somehow it doesn't translate over the screen.

MICHELLE OBAMA: Someone said that there's a perception out there that I feel confined or trapped in some way. To the extent that people have that perception, that couldn't be further from the truth. I feel very blessed in this role.