Michelle Obama To Appear On 'Sesame Street'

Obama will show the Muppets and children of Sesame Street the proper way to plant tomato and cucumber seeds. "All these seeds need to grow are sun, soil and water," she says in the segment. "If you eat these healthy foods, you're going to grow up to be big and strong, like me."

Michelle Obama joins Hillary Clinton, Laura Bush and Barbara Bush in the First Lady "Sesame Street" club. Barbara was the first to do the show in 1990, promoting reading with Big Bird, followed by Hillary, promoting health, in 1993, and Laura, promoting reading again, in 2003.

Gardening? Reading? Health? Reading? I appreciate that the First Ladies are trying to educate kids, but could they have picked more boring pet issues to promote? I'm not saying they need to be overtly political, but there's no reason they can't tackle issues with a little more heft. Other political figures have.

United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan got it exactly right in his 2001 appearance when he mediated a dispute between several furry monsters. Elmo and his pals were arguing over who got to sing "The Alphabet Song," so Annan stepped in and persuaded them all to join in. Perhaps a young person watching that will one day figure out a way to patch up the differences between warring factions in the Middle East.

And in 1988, Ralph Nader expressed concern about the safety of the wheels on a child's wagon, then sang a song called "A Consumer Advocate Is Someone In Your Neighborhood." Kind of makes Obama's gardening tips seem like kid’s stuff.