Celebrity blogger Perez Hilton has rarely let facts get in the way of gossip. Still, his latest and apparently baseless speculation about Michelle Obama has generated international baby buzz.
On Wednesday, an item appeared on PerezHilton.com (filed under Baby Blabber – Conspiracy Corner) with the headline: “White House Baby???”
“We’re hearing talk in D.C. that Michelle Obama is pregnant,” the post read.
Despite Hilton’s blunt disclaimer (“this is completely unconfirmed”), the rumor has picked up steam. A Google search for the words “Michelle Obama” and “pregnant” churns out 826,000 results. Meanwhile, Gawker has begun scrutinizing recent photos of the First Lady for signs of pregnancy.
The speculation has also spread overseas. News outlets from England to Australia pounced on the news.
So did the gambling world. In the wake of the rumor, Ireland’s biggest bookmaker Paddy Power slashed the odds on Michelle Obama giving birth this year from 10-1 to 2-1. You can also wager on the sex of the baby and even if the birth will produce multiple babies (it’s 20-1 that Michelle Obama will have twins and 10,000-1 that she will have octuplets).
Paddy Power’s Ken Robertson tells CBSNews.com that at this very moment, there are 166 bets on “Yes, there will be a new first baby” (for a total stake of 2412 Euros) and 222 bets on “No, there will not be a new first baby” (for a total stake of €3996).
Of course, the baby bets also include what the Obamas would name their third child, after Sasha and Malia. Barack Jr. is the favorite at 3-1; Michelle is 10-1; and the 250-1 long shots include Paris, Perez and Jesus.
Roberston says so far the most widely backed name for the new baby is Barack Jr., which has 98 bets for a total stake of €784.
If the dubious rumor does prove to be true, the baby would be only the second born in the White House. That sole distinction now belongs to the daughter of President Grover Cleveland, who was born in 1893. Her name? Esther.
Michelle
There's a New Sheriff in Town and He's Not Wearing a Cowboy Hat
Barack Obama, Bonuses, Federal Reserve, Jobs, Michelle Obama, Treasury, Unemployment, Wall Street
You know you can whine all day about the idea that no matter what President Obama does in the next couple of years- we’re all in for some rough times- and you’d be right.
But there’s just no accounting for the feeling an American citizen gets after a day like today- miserable, pissed off and yet hopeful that at last, someone is Finally in charge.
The very first bill that President Barack Obama signed into law protects American workers on a day that unemployment benefits climbed to a record number of claims. Lilly Ledbetter worked alongside her male Goodyear plant supervisors for twenty years making less money because she was a female. She stood behind the President as he signed the legislation.
Mrs. Obama, who made her first public comments since becoming First Lady said: “She knew unfairness when she saw it, and was willing to do something about it because it was the right thing to do — plain and simple,”
The President explained that he wanted his daughters to be treated equally and valued for their talents in the workplace.
Later in the day he met with Vice President Biden amd Treasury Secretary Geithner and then addressed the press about the report that Wall Street bonuses are the same as 2004.
Barack Obama leaned forward in his gold and blue striped antique chair and ripped in to Wall Street:
“Shameless”
“There will be times for them to make profits and there will be time for them to get bonuses — now is not that time,” Obama said. “The American people understand that we’ve got a big hole that we’ve got to dig ourselves out of, but they don’t like the idea that people are digging a bigger hole even as they’re asked to fill it up.”
It’s nice to have a living, working brain back in the Oval Office.
JT
The New York Herald Sun 