It was actually something that really early on gave me respect for the Obamas, Michelle's cynicism. She was remarking on how much she really loathed politics and her hope in her husband's run for the presidency was that she would be closer to not having to. Sure it smells of arrogance, but it also rang true with me and reflected well of her honesty and of her character (not to mention, in context, her intelligence).

Get real.

If you grew up and have lived on the South Side of Chicago, hope can often be in short supply--especially hope that "government" can be a force for good.

Barack's old State Senate district and the area of Chicago that Michelle Obama did outreach to for the Univ. of Chicago Hospital included several of the poorest, most hopeless neighborhoods in the country. People who work in such neighborhoods have been hearing: "tough luck" and "you're on your own" by the federal gov't. for over 25 years now--MY entire adult life and Michelle and Barack Obama's, too.

In that context, activists, organizers, human services workers and decent gov't officials have long since given up hope that our political process will ever move beyond deadlock and actually address problems like underfunded schools, lack of access to health care, crumbling infrastructure, etc. Since the Reagan "revolution," the feds have abdicated responsibility for providing for the common good.

This is the first election since 1980 that anyone --dems included--has actually stood up and said "government has a role" --a notion that is taken for granted in any other developed nation on the planet. We have ignored it at our peril. Our health outcomes suck. Our kids' are far behind kids in the EU and much of Asia in reading, science and math. Our infrastructure is falling apart. With the exception of China and a few Middle-Eastern countries to whom we provide millions of dollars of military aid, investors are fleeing the dollar for the Euro because we have been fiscally irresponsible--buying both guns and butter for the rich, all on credit.

Think about where we were 2 years ago...4 years ago...NONE of this stuff was seriously on the table.

Remarkable things have happened in this election--John Edwards, Dennis Kucinic and Barack Obama --even Hillary Clinton --have all done their part to move the national dialog to a place where the whole country is focusing on these issues rather than re-fighting the culture wars again.

I'm Michelle and Barack Obama's age. She is right. This is the first election since I was 8 and RFK got shot down in Los Angeles that has made me feel at all hopeful that our political process can actually accomplish meaningful change.

I've been proud of America my whole life. The place where people of different races, different religious beliefs, different nationalities and differing points of view can be friends, co-workers, neighbors, mates, etc. I've always been proud of the America where people triumphantly fought for their rights to be treated equally in spite of an overwhelming force that resisted that equality. I've always been proud of an America that despite some bad eggs in government, has managed to bring food, water, medical supplies and resources to parts of the world that have been forgotten by other free nations.

We have had ups and downs. There are places we need to improve. But what is right with America is a historic foundation of individual freedom and unity that has made it possible for a historic election like this one. I'm proud I don't live in a nation that suppresses me because of my ethnicity. I'm proud of my nation that rescues people stuck in these situation.

This comment is silly. I hope that Michelle has not let the darkness in the nation overshadow the light that allows someone growing up in the South side of Chicago rise up to be a successful lawyer. She is allowed to make mistakes, but we can't let our allegiances keep us from acknowledging such mistakes.

Not arrogance, just audacity.

Proud of America in my adult life? I don't know. When I look at the history channel and see how we did the right thing (finally) in World War II -- and we did it without torturing -- I feel proud of what American stood for. But that was not in my adult life.

There are plenty of "American Ideals" that we have all been told are better than other countries; problem is, our current behavior is more of an embarassment than a point of pride and so it is hard to focus on our wonderfulness. Our hypocracy in the way we treat our allies (in bed with China/not speaking to Cuba) (on kissing terms with Saudi Arabia/threatening Syria) (pre emptively having a war-occupation against a country that was no threat to us, and had nothing to do with 911, while evoking it and other lies to justify it/letting the perpetrator of 911 go when he was cornered in Afghanistan). OK I'll stop...

I do feel generally proud that we have made a true effort (in my opinion, and during my adult life) -- although it had to be beat into us -- to make people whom we had enslaved, become equal partners in our society. The path for that has been step-wise and slow. It has been grudgingly done. The fact that Barack Obama is a viable candidate for our president is a specific and unique marker for this one particular area about which I feel pride.

His wife puts this into words and you're giving her shit?

I am kind of glad someone is challenging the Obamas and using some of the Republican talking points. Some of the Obama supporters on this blog seem to think that the Republicans are just going to hand him the keys to the White House and fall head over heels in love with him. They are going to be a lot tougher then this. I like Obama, but he is going to have to be more careful and make sure that he doesn't provide fuel for the Republican attacks that, calm down Obama people, will inevitably come.

Damn skippy the attacks will come. And hard. But I'm going to guess that anyone who can't empathize with what she's saying here isn't going to vote Dem, ever. The America love it or leave crowd, who cannot possibly understand why a black woman might have issues with the country is not exactly the target demographic here.

Michelle grew up black, spent her adult life in this racist country and has better sense than to wave a flag and retort "my country, right or wrong" like some neocon paid web trolls that infest the web and plant as many seeds of "ICK" a day as they can.

She probably felt as I do -- ashamed of my Country (or my leadership for it's arrogant ways).

Coonsey's View
www.freewebs.com/coonsey/

Now, I'm just asking so don't go off on me. Obama is running a commercial in Texas about how his mother died of cancer and spent the last years of her life worrying about how she was going to pay her medical bills. He was 34 and doing what when his mother was worrying about those bills? Is that commercial still on the air in Texas? Who is it supposed to appeal to? It just seems sort of manipulative to me.

What a bunch of vacuous nonsense. Hope is making a comback. People are hungry for change. See our country moving in that direction. Hungry to be unified around some common issues. What change? What direction? What common issues?

Hope
What hope?
Hope for change
What change?
Change we can believe in
Believe in what?
Hope

You know, I liked Jimmy Carter. He wasn't perfect, he had a lot of bad luck and he handled it well. He did the hard thing, he asked for sacrifice. CAFE standards, 55 mph speed limits, use car pools and public transportation, set your thermostat lower in winter and higher in summer, and yes, wear a damn sweater. He installed solar hot water panels on the white house, put controls on government and commercial buildings to keep the temp 65 in winter and 78 in summer, turned off hot water in some federal buildings, ect.

Well Americans became depressed and along comes Reagan with his feel good nonsense. People ate it up and all those beginning steps, necessary steps, were thrown out and we followed the path that has led us inevitably to where we are today.

"Its morning in America" he said, but it wasn't. It was twilight and now its dusk. We have not just wasted 30 years, every choice we've made has dug us deeper into the hole.

History repeats itself, first as tragedy, second as farce. Karl Marx

Along comes another charmer with more pie in the sky and I'm not buying it. I can't swallow it. I'm going with the boring policy wonk. She doesn't inspire me but I think she'll keep pushing and fighting no matter how tough the going gets.

It would help if you printed the full quote. As it stands, your post is at the level of K-Lo and Derbyshire over at NRO, who also posted the same quote out of context.

The full quote is:

“For the first time in my adult lifetime, I am really proud of my country,” she told a Milwaukee crowd today, “and not just because Barack has done well, but because I think people are hungry for change.”

Link:http://www.boston.com/news/politics/politicalintelligence/2008/02/pride_in_the_na.html

If you have to cut a quote to make a point, you don't have a point.