Reader Posts
« previous | TPM CAFÉ READER POSTS HOME | next »
If Words Matter, Michelle Obamas: Deserve Scrutiny
Let's play some Clinton Rules for the Obamas. In Wisconsin, Michelle Obama said (video clip here http://www.breitbart.tv/html/49244.html):
"What we have learned over this year is that hope is making a comeback. It is making a comeback. And let me tell you something -- for the first time in my adult lifetime, I am really proud of my country. And not just because Barack has done well, but because I think people are hungry for change. And I have been desperate to see our country moving in that direction and just not feeling so alone in my frustration and disappointment. I've seen people who are hungry to be unified around some basic common issues, and it's made me proud."
Nice to know that Michelle Obama is not longer ashamed of America. Nice to know that she no longer feels so alone in wanting change. Nice to know that she thinks all my efforts, campaign contributions and votes over the years in support of a liberal/progressive agenda mean absolutely nothing to her and, in fact, have been totally meaningless and a waste of my life.
Thanks for that, Mrs. "Just Words?".
Comments (3)
It is a shame that you took that comment so personal. In reading what she said - she never mentioned being ashamed of America. Although I can see plenty of reasons why she might be - I know I am a bit ashamed. Of course what shames me is not your work/contributions/efforts - rather those of the body-politic.
And I am guessing that the two of you have not met where you could share what you have done to help with he sense of loss/aloneness. Kinda the common day proscription for Americans - isolated and seemingly ineffective.
Nice to know that she thinks all my efforts, campaign contributions and votes over the years in support of a liberal/progressive agenda mean absolutely nothing to her and, in fact, have been totally meaningless and a waste of my life.
Sounds more like an ax to grind rather than a real complaint. No where did I hear her say that the work that is being done is meaningless or a waste of time. Personally - I think it is great many more people are involved than ever before - which is not a denigration of your current effort.
Is that it?
February 19, 2008 2:16 PM | Reply | Permalink
What an overreaction, wow. Give me a break, has it come down to this?
And honestly, what does she have to be proud about? For my entire life we've had one Republican administration after another, with the semi-exception of Bill Clinton, who was Democratic in title, but nonetheless continued the majority of Reagan's most harmful policies. I've known nothing but a country that doesn't take care of its own, a country that is the laughing stock of the "developed" world, a country which is hated by large parts of the world for its neoimperialist, corporate-inspired foreign policy, we've led the world in waste, pollution and consumerism...am I missing what we are supposed to be so proud about? Of course there are progressives and liberals in government that have fought against these things, and nothing in my comments or in Michelle's comments in any way demean those achievements, but on a whole, there hasn't been anything in decades to be truly proud of, unless you are proud of conservative policies.
In that way it is kind of the opposite of what Obama got attacked over with his observations on Reagan. He got attacked because people wanted to make it sound like he was praising the Republicans (even though he wasn't), and now people are trying to attack Michelle for not being proud of a country that has been more or less run by Republicans for the last couple decades. Gotta love the double standards. I wish people could thing contextually about these instead of running off on the attack without even evaluating the claims or what they mean.
February 19, 2008 3:41 PM | Reply | Permalink
"Gotta love the double standards. I wish people could thing contextually about these instead of running off on the attack without even evaluating the claims or what they mean."
Exactly. Let's talk context first. The way the post was formatted on the page, I suppose it was easy to miss the first sentence: "Let's play some Clinton Rules for the Obamas." All I was doing was applying the same standard to this statement as is applied to Bill Clinton's statements during this campaign and during Hillary Clinton's throughout Bill's campaigns and presidency. And it was a lot less of an "overreaction" than much of what I've been reading in comment areas about the Clintons.
Yes, there is a double standard (at least). Yes, people tend not to think contextually. That's the point. Apply the same standard to and think contextually about what is said by the Clintons and the Obamas, as well as the McCains and (dare I say it?) the Bushes, and the nature of our discourse changes radically for the better.
February 19, 2008 5:12 PM | Reply | Permalink
Post a Comment