We Are Over The Media's Faux-Outrage At Malia Obama's Proximity To A Bong

By Stephen Gossett in News on Sep 8, 2016 5:20PM

Some truly unkind buds of Malia Obama snapped an image of the elder First Daughter next to a huge bong—and now that the image has leaked, the gossip outlets and conservative tsk-tsk’ers are duly scandalized.

The photo was reportedly taken at a UPenn frat house on Sunday, the same weekend Malia hit the Made in America Festival. She’s rocking the same bespoke “Smoking Kills” T-shirt and Harvard hat she donned at the fest—a perfect middle-finger salute to the pearl-clutchers who chastised her after photos emerged of Malia allegedly smoking pot at Lollapalooza earlier this summer.

Radar Online was quick on the case with a "photo expert"—and a rather low rebuke against an 18-year-old, incoming college student acting exactly like an 18-year-old incoming college student: “...although it almost defies belief that Malia would allow herself to be caught in a similar situation again so soon, Alan Barry, celebrity photographer and photoshop expert, told Radar that he thinks the photo is not a fake.”

"I have examined the image in detail," Barry told Radar. "While what has been provided me is a very low resolution image, it is nevertheless clear to me that the image of Malia has not in any way been manipulated using photoshop or any similar software."

Glad we can close the books on that mystery.

Elsewhere the folks at Inquisitr called it a continuation of Malia’s “partying spree” and Perez Hilton oh-so-cleverly added a “Malia Obonga” caption to the shot. Our favorite headline? Opposing Views’ Dragnet-esque “Malia Obama Pictured Near A Marijuana Bong.” No word yet on how many giggle nuggets were placed in the marijuana bong.

If we were to sympathize with any of the shock, it would only extend to the size of the bong. Seriously, we would not last a week in college in 2016. In fact, we probably shouldn't even get too moralistic and judge-y with whoever took the photo, ill-advised as it is. These are young adults coming of age in a country where 25 states, plus the District of Columbia, allows for some form of marijuana use. There's no arguing that pot is becoming normalized, and they're really just a step ahead of the slow but steady march of decriminalization and, eventually, legalization.

And the idea that these photos somehow negatively reflect on Malia or the president doesn't hold nearly as much water as that smoking device, anyway.