Will someone explain to me why President Obama needs to ostentatiously deploy environmentally sensitive eggs for the annual White House Easter Egg Roll? Says CNS news:
“The White House announced Monday that this year’s Easter Egg Roll will be “more environmentally friendly,” with eggs made of wood certified by an environmental activist organization and packaging that will “minimize waste and environmental impact.”
The press release issued by the White House states that the eggs will be produced in the United States from hardwood “certified” by the Forest Stewardship Council, a non-profit organization with a presence in 50 countries and a mission “to promote the responsible management of the world’s forests.”
The “greener” packaging for the eggs – available in purple, pink, green and yellow – is made from paperboard certified by the Sustainable Forestry Initiative. The paperboard “uses no wood fibers from controversial sources” and the printed carton the egg comes in can be recycled. The packaging is also decorated with vegetable oil-based inks and water-based coatings.
I hate to be a cranky old conservative, but what’s wrong with, you know, egg eggs? There are organic versions of those too, they consume nominal energy to manufacture, they don’t need any packaging, and they’re a lot cheaper for a federal government that’s a few trillion in the hole. In fact, if Wikipedia is to be believed, back in the days of our Founding Fathers, our once-sturdy yeoman citizenry brought their own damn eggs to the event, then held on the lawn of the Capitol building.
Of course, you can never totally believe Wikipedia, which tends to shade the truth a tad when liberal interests are at stake. Here’s more egg-roll lore:
In 2009, President Barack Obama formally invited same-sex couples and their children to attend the Easter Egg Roll. Gay and lesbian-led families had attended the Egg Roll in previous years.
Sort of true. I poked around a little bit and came up with this gem from Knight Ridder in 2006:
“Welcome to this happiest of traditions at the White House,” said first lady Laura Bush. “In Washington, we know that spring has arrived when the White House lawn is filled with children for the Easter egg hunt.”
With that, President Bush blew the opening whistle on a century-old tradition with a new wrinkle: Sprinkled among the supervising, photo-shooting, toddler-dragging parents this time were about 100 gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender couples and their kids.
At least Mamie Eisenhower gets credit for holding the first integrated White House Easter Egg Roll during Ike’s term.