Just words? Michelle Obama Proud [MERGED]

[Sausy]

I just think it came out not the way she intended...certainly in her adult lifetime there wasn't this real idealism and optimism and coming together in this country of so many different groups,so many backgrounds until now....especially the real excitement of taking a full stake in the political process by younger voters.Being part of a political campaign of incredible hope and optimism that we can make America live up to its promise,that is something to be very proud of.She didn't dismiss this country for everything beforehand,but was really moved by what is happening and just expanding incredibly in our political process.The last time such a movement occured was during JFK's time,and he didn't have the technology of the internet and mass media to work with.

 

[Spensed]

I don't especially like Michelle Obama. But cut her some slack.

If I say, "I have the best parent ever," what I'm communicating is my happiness about my parents and not actually that "I have the best parents ever."

Her comment about feeling proud is clearly a positive and broad brush statement about how she feels. Maybe it was overreaching in its expression. But it's pretty obviously so.

Only an idiot or someone ill-motivated would think (pick any one from the three) that her words are intended as a put down to absolutely everything about the States that's gone on in her lifetime or that she would actually think that or that, thinking that, she would want to broadcast that as her message.

 

[NickCole]

It's not about her comment being intended as positive or negative; of course she intended it as a positive.

The point is what it reveals about her thinking, about how she (and, as his primary surrogate, how Barack) sees America, how she sees the efforts and achievements of others, how she sees who we've been, where we've been, where we're going.

It hits a nerve not only in people who have felt good about being proud of their nation, but maybe even more poignantly it hits a nerve in people who have strived to make America a nation to be proud of.

It's her truth and in my opinion there's nothing wrong with her speaking it, but truth doesn't play well. Not in America today.

Chance1 is right, she is a liability to Barack Obama's campaign. That gives me no pleasure to say because even though I've flinched at some things she's said I have respect for her that I don't have for him. I think she's authentic. But authenticity is not what Barack Obama is selling.

 

[miatajeff]

On one hand I say-damn that was a dumb thing to say, on the other hand-do I care.

No, I don't care except that if obama is the nominee then she will be speaking as a surrogate for the Democrats and I would like her to think before she speaks.

 

[NickCole]

On one hand I say-damn that was a dumb thing to say, on the other hand-do I care.

No, I don't care except that if obama is the nominee then she will be speaking as a surrogate for the Democrats and I would like her to think before she speaks.

In this day of YouTube, saying things like this can be easily used against the Obama campaign in a general election.

Maybe I'm wrong and Republicans are drinking Obama Kool Aid as well but I think a more rational bet is Republicans are storing up these goodies.

 

[miatajeff]

I tend to think you're correct NickCole, but I think I have said that before.

 

[sixthson]

In this day of YouTube, saying things like this can be easily used against the Obama campaign in a general election.

Maybe I'm wrong and Republicans are drinking Obama Kool Aid as well but I think a more rational bet is Republicans are storing up these goodies.

Ageist, sexist, cultist, Obama Kool Aid....lots of smearing type words you use for someone always complaining about the Obama smear tactics, dontchathink?

 

[Spensed]

The point is what it reveals about her thinking, about how she (and, as his primary surrogate, how Barack) sees America, how she sees the efforts and achievements of others, how she sees who we've been, where we've been, where we're going.

You're trying to spin a my-boy-is-the-best-boy-ever type of "puff" remark into something it clearly was never intended to mean. It's a partisan reading that defies common sense.

Unfortunately, it also typifies the negative carping that has all but lost Hillary her campaign. I just don't see Obama's supporters trying to box Bill into an absurd position he'd have little motive in holding simply in order to attack him for holding that position.

I voted for Hillary in the California primary, but Obama, despite his inexperience, is clearly doing a better job at running a more postively focused campaign.

 

[NickCole]

Ageist, sexist, cultist, Obama Kool Aid....lots of smearing type words you use for someone always complaining about the Obama smear tactics, dontchathink?

No I don't.

"Smear" or supportable criticism may be in the eye of the beholder. But I wrote "Obama Kool Aid" after having posted several links to assessments and examples of Obama supporters behaving in a manner consistent with cult followers.


"This is not a campaign for president of the United States, this is a movement to change the world," Congressman Elijah Cummings said as he introduced Obama last week in Baltimore. "You do not get 13,000 people in this auditorium with a campaign."

 

[NickCole]

You're trying to spin a my-boy-is-the-best-boy-ever type of "puff" remark into something it clearly was never intended to mean. It's a partisan reading that defies common sense.

No, you're rewriting Mrs. Obama's remark.

She didn't say her boy is the best boy ever.

She said this is the first time in her adult life she's been proud of her country.

Your version is her speaking about her husband.

Her words were about pride she feels in the United States of America.

Or was this "Just words"?

And if so, how do we distinquish between Obama words that are substantive and will change the world, and Obama words that are just "puff" remarks?

 

[Spensed]

....how do we distinquish between Obama words that are substantive and will change the world, and Obama words that are just "puff" remarks?

Well you could try common sense and not being predisposed against Obama.

And, if that fails, you could factor in what else she has to say:

"What I was clearly talking about was that I'm proud in how Americans are engaging in the political process," she said.

"For the first time in my lifetime, I'm seeing people rolling up their sleeves in a way that I haven't seen and really trying to figure this out — and that's the source of pride that I was talking about," she added.

When asked if she had always been proud of her country, she replied "absolutely" and said she and her husband would not be where they are now if not for the opportunities of America.

Obama himself gave a similar explanation during an interview Tuesday with WOAI radio in San Antonio, Texas. Expressing frustration that his wife's remarks had been taken out of context and turned into political fodder, the Illinois senator said, "What she meant was, this is the first time that she's been proud of the politics of America, because she's pretty cynical about the political process, and with good reason, and she's not alone. But she has seen large numbers of people get involved in the process, and she's encouraged."

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gF6i4iEHstfMbiVDziPEgI7m6pFAD8UUAQJG1

I like Hillary and I voted for her. But, if her supporters think this kind of carping advances her cause, as the recent results suggest, they've lost the plot. They should be focusing positively on Hillary's message, which, for some reason, they haven't been doing. IMHO.

Isn't Alter from Newsweek already commenting on the fact that Hillary's run one of the worst campaigns ever? And, for God's sake, Bill should just shut up. So disappointing.

 

[MystikWizard]

Michelle Obama: "For the first time in my adult lifetime, I am really proud of my country."





Since the mid-1980s when she became an adult, to now, nothing has made Mrs. Obama, potential First Lady of the United States, proud of our nation?

Hey, Nick.

What do you think is going to happen? You think everyone who was planning to vote for Obama will see this video ... stop ... and decide to change their minds and vote for your girl, Hillary Clinton? All because of words taken out of context from Michelle Obama?

Is that what you expect to happen by posting this?

It's over for the Clinton Camp. Their reign over Washington Politics is coming to an end. Next time the Feminists want a woman so bad in the White House, maybe they should back someone who has a little more character and integrity.

 

[NickCole]

Hey, Nick.

What do you think is going to happen? You think everyone who was planning to vote for Obama will see this video ... stop ... and decide to change their minds and vote for your girl, Hillary Clinton? All because of words taken out of context from Michelle Obama?

Is that what you expect to happen by posting this?

I don't expect to have the slightest impact over Obama supporters any more than I did over Dubya supporters. Until the curtain gets pulled back, everybody who needs to, believes in the Wizard of Oz.

As I've written elsewhere about this Michelle Obama line, I don't have a major problem with what she said. It made me flinch a little before I stopped to think but ultimately I realized she and I are standing on different parts of the landscape and her experience is different from mine. Again as I've already posted here, I respect her for speaking her truth authentically. It's more than her husband does with his recycled bullshit. And I have no respect for those who pretend she didn't mean what she clearly did mean.

Bottom line, if he's in the general election, these kinds of YouTube clips will be useful against him. And the truth is, if Republicans use them it's not disingenuous. Although I appreciate her feelings for what they are, I suspect Mrs. Obama's feeling of pride in the US starting only when a black man culled a fanatical following in his bid for the White House is not shared by most Americans -- and may unsettle some when they consider her in the role of First Lady.

We have a major race problem in this country that people like to pretend doesn't exist. And I'm not at all comfortable that Barack Obama is the man to help in this. My family came here in the 17th century looking for adventure and a new world, and found great success; I don't know Michelle Obama's family history but I bet it's very different from mine. Our sense of pride in our country is, then, understandably different. Family histories and subsequent family experiences create a divide between Americans, and no more notably than between black and white, that we have to work to bridge. Hope won't bridge it, it takes work and honesty and authenticity. For that reason I'd vote for Michelle Obama way before I'd vote for Barack Obama.

 

[chance1]

and interesting that many newspapers/news outlets are ignoring this story

hmmmmmmmmm

 

[grantt]

and interesting that many newspapers/news outlets are ignoring this story

hmmmmmmmmm

So very true!

It will be a story that will not go away even if much of the media ignores it.

 

[Spensed]

and interesting that many newspapers/news outlets are ignoring this story

hmmmmmmmmm

Is that the noise of a Swift-Boat going by?

 

[chance1]

Is that the noise of a Swift-Boat going by?

dude

swift boat vets stood up - and told their story

it was not "unsubstantiated sources"

big diff

gotta tell u spencer - ur really showing ur true colors the past few days

u think its ok for the nyt to print a story w/o substantiation

u misquote bill oreilly on michelle obama

u really gotta get ur facts together

if u wanna have cred

yeah

 

[Spensed]

^ The NYT maintains that the story is substantiated. How is it that you know different?

If by misquoting, you mean giving you a link to the O'Reilly's non-lynching clip....

It hardly seems that it's my cred that's at issue. Lighten up. LOL.