One of the nice thing about having a glamorous First Family is that it can provide cheap escapist entertainment amid a bleak economy and partisan political rancor.

Rumors of Michelle Obama's pregnancy have surely helped lubricate many a cocktail-party conversation in recent days around Washington, DC, where the social scene is rebooting as a new Congress convenes and as Barack Obama's historic inauguration fades into the past.

Now the gossip can likewise fuel small talk the rest of the country. WowOWow.com, passing along a rumor from Perez Hilton, notes it thought Michelle Obama was showing a bump back on election night two and a half months ago (the site's artwork is pictured above). Hilton inscribed one of his trademark drawings onto a more recent First Lady pic (next photo below), tastefully omitting his usual ejaculate-sketch overlay.

The rest of us are now left to study inaugural pictures in hopes of finding shots of Michelle drinking, enough of which could prove the pregnancy rumor false. In the last photo below, unfortunately, you can't really tell what's in her glass. (It was taken Jan. 20 at a lunch in the U.S. Capitol building.)

Or we could just let the secondhand gossip pass us by. But then what would we do, balance out checkbooks? Ick.

(Photos: WowOWow, Perez Hilton, Getty)