ABC's Muir: Will 'Deeply Felt Criticism in Africa Melt Under the Glow Cast By Mrs. Obama and Her Girls?'

June 26th, 2011 3:22 PM

As the First Lady and her daughters toured Africa last week, Americans were treated to puff piece after piece from their adoring fans in the press.

One such aired on ABC's "This Week" Sunday with David Muir actually saying, "Will some of that deeply felt criticism in Africa melt under the glow cast by Mrs. Obama and her girls?" (video follows with transcript and commentary):

DAVID MUIR, ABC NEWS: There are many who wonder if Mrs. Obama’s visit will help soothe criticism that her husband has not done enough to reach out to Africa. Critics point out just one visit while in office. Some argue the HIV/AIDS effort was stronger under the Bush administration. But the Obama White House argues it has laid out a plan for Africa combating hunger and widening public health outreach beyond HIV.

The question now: will some of that deeply felt criticism in Africa melt under the glow cast by Mrs. Obama and her girls who came here to spread their own message that there is still work to be done.

Yes, that's all ailing and starving Africans need to make their troubles go away: a little of Michelle's glow.

After all, the Obamas are a magic elixir that wash all of the world's problems away - except, of course, rising unemployment, ballooning gas prices, spiraling food costs, and plummeting home prices.

But other than that...