Live from New York -- It's Michelle Obama

NEW YORK -- The news, such as it was, revolved around Michelle Obama's excited admission Tuesday afternoon in the midst of her first visit to New York as first lady. "I never thought I'd be on Sesame Street with Elmo and Big Bird and I was thrilled," she gushed. "I'm still thrilled. I'm on a high. I think it's probably the best thing I've done so far at the White House."

With controversial comments like that, it is easy to imagine the front-page banner headlines in the nation's remaining newspapers: "MICHELLE: SESAME STREET BETTER THAN INAUGURATION" and "FIRST LADY PREFERS STUFFED TV ANIMALS TO EUROPEAN LEADERS." Dressed in a black-and-green print dress designed by Tracy Feith, Mrs. Obama delivered her incendiary remarks during a 10-minute talk to the staff of the American mission to the United Nations, which was her tenth stop on a round-robin tour of all major federal agencies.

In truth, it is difficult (but not impossible, since we are, after all, trained reporters) to be cynical about Michelle Obama this early in the administration. The career employees at the UN mission endured John Bolton as George W. Bush's ambassador, a fire-breathing conservative who once joked about the benefits of lopping the top 10 floors off the Secretariat building. Small wonder that the staff of the mission appeared genuinely delighted by, rather than diplomatically resigned to, the first lady's talk and the group photographs that followed.

It is easy to forget that morale matters as much in the federal government as it does in the executive suites at General Motors and in the trading rooms at A.I.G. In a political culture in which federal workers have been reviled since the days of Ronald Reagan (and populist resentment of cookie-pushing diplomats dates back at least to the McCarthy era), it is refreshing that the Obamas are occasionally taking time to say thank you. As the first lady put it, occasionally looking down at her notes, "As the world becomes even smaller and our future even more inter-connected and the stakes ever higher, your work has never been more important. Your work links the world to America and American ideals that are becomes of hope for millions of people."

That was a quote that did not even make the FLOTUS pool report. But maybe that sentiment was the real news of the afternoon, despite the irresistible allure of Elmo and Big Bird.