Here's a link to Taylor Marsh and the text of her post on the subject http://www.taylormarsh.com/
Michelle Obama Does Not Speak for Me
“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.” - Michelle Obama (video)
The love I have for this country does not depend on a political campaign predicated on the notion of "change."
The love I have for this country does not depend on one person, certainly not some politician with a slogan that others have used, which he has re-used.
The love I have for this country does not depend on aiding the winning of someone for president, without a clue what he or she is offering in the guise of one word, "change."
The love I have for this country does not depend on ignorance of what patriotism requires to serve a personal goal.
My uncle Dick certainly didn't serve his country and get battle fatigue in WWII so people could pick and choose pride in this nation based on personal association to some politician, forgetting the greater glory we all serve through our country's ideals.
My husband, a blue collar man, doesn't support our cause 24/7 because he believes one politician is the answer, or that this moment a deliverer has presented himself through the notion of "change." This blue collar family expects politicians to offer solutions, THAT'S RIGHT, SOLUTIONS, not words or promises of "change."
The love I have for my country does not include following yet another political huckster down a path where he gets the glory he craves, while my blue collar family gets the shaft... again.
The love I have for this country knows no political party bounds.
The love I have for this country also does not require allegiance to some woman's husband, who people have declared the political Messiah in a nation that requires none, because WE THE PEOPLE will save ourselves, provided some political incompetent doesn't think unity is more important than the Democratic ideals that have proved important to us all.
The love I have for this country means that I will walk through the fires of hell to keep someone unqualified for the presidency of the United States from acquiring that position, successful or not and regardless of what it costs me personally, which doesn't matter one whit compared to this nation I hold dear. I will not swear allegiance to any person who offers platitudes in the disguise of the presidential, on the wings of some amorphous promise of "change."
The love I have for this country makes me an American first, a Democrat second. Never before in my life have I been more aware of this fact than I was after I thought long and hard about Michelle Obama's comments, not able to brush them aside, though that was my first instinct and said so, only to hear her words flash before me again and again, finally causing something to rise up deep inside me to scream NOT THIS AMERICAN.
Michelle Obama does not speak for me.
Proud to be an American, after forty plus years, because of some "change" that's promised, but not described?
I've been proud to be an American my whole life. It doesn't depend on some personal attachment to someone I'm trying to elevate to leader, through some word that he has not yet defined.
The love I have for this country has nothing to do with Michelle Obama's Me-Me-Me mantra. The narcissistic, self centered, arrogant insult delivered by Michelle Obama, representing a man who hopes to talk his way into 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, is a slap at the American spirit that runs throughout this country, regardless of political party, race, gender, creed, religion, you name it, and the word "change" alone can't alter the course on which we are disastrously careening without a plan.
I am a proud American first. A liberal second. But Michelle Obama will never speak for me. Not until I know the definition of "change" that's being offered amidst a record that doesn't come close to measuring up to all the endless talk.
UPDATE: The New York Times quotes my piece today, as do others. It's really remarkable that people can't understand why someone, even --insert shock & dismay here-- a liberal, would find Michelle Obama's comments insulting and unacceptable. That's how out of touch some people in the Democratic party have become with people like me and my husband. I've lived in New York City and Los Angeles, traveled the country too (and beyond), but I'm from Harry Truman's Missouri. From where I come from, words like Mrs. Obama's are not only objectionable, but unacceptable. I'm also someone who would know that these words would offend people without having someone to explain it to me and clarify my comment afterwards. Where I come from people don't talk like this about your country. I'm not saying that America is perfect. But I'm proud of what we've done in the world for people everywhere, amidst our mistakes. You have to be terribly out of touch not to get it, or so hopelessly elitist is doesn't register.
I have to admit that I really don't identify with Taylor Marsh's post, although as a truth-teller during this nomination fight, her work has been invaluable. I read her every day.
I admit that I had no problem whatsoever with what Michelle Obama said with regard to her feelings about her country. Having not been raised a nationalist, I don't feel the sting at the gut level that Ms. Marsh does. I've written this before but I never heard any stuff around the house growing up that "America was the greatest country on Earth," or any of that jazz. I heard stuff about what it meant to be a Jew, a New Yorker, and a Democrat. I heard stuff like "the U.S. is OK. So far, so good. We'll see what happens." Who knows? Maybe Michelle Obama heard the same kind of stuff from an African-American perspective in her house growing up. Everybody has a right to his or her feelings and maybe what she said could be construed as silly, but I surely didn't sense anything unpatriotic about it. And even if it was unpatriotic, why should I care? I don't live in the USA anymore and I've lived abroad before. I like it just fine where I am.
And these days you do have to handle your self-identification as "American" with a lot of care. "Americans" are thought of as fools and brutes. So, generally speaking, I self-identify as "Neoyorquino" or "Judio." It just makes things easier.
I think there is no shortage of legitimate knocks on Barack Obama. Michelle Obama's comment is just not one of them, at least not for me. I might feel differently some day. I doubt the election of Barack Obama will change my mind, though.
Kelso's Nuts love you
14 comments:
If Obama is nominated, he'd better hope his wife's academic papers are locked away.
I have no doubt she spent many hours creating and polishing scholarly works on the inequities of American life in its treatment of blacks. I'd love to see her law-school work.
She may have written incisive and insightful papers that accurately delineates some of those inequities. But they will give her the appearance of being anti-white. That's bad news for her husband.
Meanwhile, an article about her appeared in the Wall Street Journal a week or two ago. A classmate said she loved to argue about many issues and concluded by telling the reporter that "she has a temper."
Her spiritedness aside, it's outrageous to suggest that NOTHING has occurred in the 44 years of her life that might bring some sense of pride in America into the hearts of many blacks, especially those who have graduated from both college and graduate school.
I happen to live in the Congressional district that was created for Shirley Chisholm. This district has had only two representatives since Chisholm left. Major Owens and the current office holder, Yvette Clarke. All black. And even though Yvette lied about graduating from college, she won the latest election because black voters outnumber white voters in the district.
Michelle Obama seems oblivious to the advances of blacks over the years of her own life. There's been so much change since 1964 -- Michelle's year of birth -- that it's not possible to keep up the pace. More than likely, the groundbreaking will slow. There's really no NEW ground for blacks. Every aspect of American life already recognizes black participation.
If she wants to become first lady, she'll have to learn something about being demure rather than contentious. But, in the end, it won't matter because Obama is linked to a black supremacist preacher and has links to Louis Farrakhan. And, there is now circulating an embarrassing picture of Obama with his arm around Al Sharpton's shoulder.
The thought of Al Sharpton spending the night in the White House as a guest of the Obama's is enough to kill a presidential run.
No_slappz:
I have a very, very close friend who used to live in your congressional district and she explained to me exactly why Clarke won the election in a very competitive primary over the candidate that she ended up with, Chris Owens, I think, though Norman and the White guy also had merits. It had a whole lot to do with Carnaval, as I remember. The way my dear friend explained it to me, it was not a case of "black" versus "white" as you describe it. It was a case of "Caribbean black" versus "American black," with the primary coming on the heels of Carnaval and Clarke understanding the demographics of her district.
If you're a leftist like me, you've certainly been pleasantly surprised by Clarke's performance in the House since, as her mother was always thought of as another of those "bootstraps" types who supported Giuliani.
I'll give you credit, Slappy, for putting me in the position of defending Michelle Obama, because I loathe her husband so much, this is a great change of pace. Ms. Obama like Ms. Clinton before her doesn't strike me as any kind of radical, merely a well-educated, intellectual woman, with a confident bearing and a decent turn of phrase.
What the fuck difference does it make what kinds of papers she wrote in college? Your gal Condoleeza Rice handed in her PhD dissertation on the massive threat that was the Soviet Union on the day the Berlin Wall fell. Sheer genius, I tell you!
If you think everything's just Georgia-peachy race-wise in America today, I'd like to suggest you try being Black for a day. Not a wealthy person like Obama, but a working person. See all the issues are resolved.
Furthermore, why do you keep injecting your own ideals of femininity into the debate? Who gives a shit if Michelle Obama isn't shy and retiring? I don't even like her husband and I appreciate Ms. Obama's forthrightness.
But I think your failure to answer my "Black Hat" question on the other thread betrays something germane here. You like those quiet shave-head, ugly-wig, burlap-sack broads because they don't threaten you. And maybe Michelle Obama and Hillary Clinton threaten you a little which is why you always bring issues of attractiveness and social behavior into discussions of women in public life.
Look, I like tall thin women with an attitude and long hair wearning mini-faldas and stylish duds and nice perfume. You like the shave-heads. Todo a su vaina. Whatever floats your boat.
Listen, buddy, I'm never going to censor you here, but everybody has his or her own tastes and own styles of doing things. I happen to prefer the Michelle Obama style to the "Dossie" Lieberman style.
Al Sharpton or Jeff "Gannon" Guckert? You pick your poison, I guess. Your down with Guckert. The idea of Sharpton doesn't bother me in the slightest. I think he's got a good sense of humor and has had many fine moments in what's been a fairly checkered career.
Uh-hh, huh, huh...uhh, hey Beavis, this guy likes uhh Jeff Gannon Guckert and shave-head broads! Uh-huh, huh!
kelso, I'll get back to you on the "black hat" issue. I haven't forgotten.
Meanwhile, Yvette won her race precause she ran against Chris Owen, who shares some traits with Obama, and David Yassky, a competent well respected Princeton grad who tried hard to connect with black voters, but failed because he is white and Jewish.
The issue of the Caribbean Day parade, which is what your friend referred to, is to me, a red herring. Yvette won largely because her mother had held the office and was able to hand it down to her by way of widespread name recognition among the largest segment of the district.
As for Michelle Obama being retiring or reserved, it matters to voters. I'm only telling you what's cooking here. She is the proverbial "loose cannon" and her latest comment is proof. It's now got a life of its own.
Her position may resonate with black voters and a handful of whites. But when the nation comes out to vote, the majority will vote for McCain because her comment says she'd like to remake the entire nation. Not just repair or upgrade some aspects of life, but toss out everything and start over. That's not politic. That's revolutionary. As emtionally satisfying as revolution may sound to some, talk like that does not win elections. It loses them.
Hence, she needs to decide which she wants more: A national platform to vent her own frustrations about the US and its issues, or to help her husband to win the election.
Since I'll be voting for McCain in NY, my vote is meaningless. But I've got a good idea of which way 60 million other voters will go.
As for Sharpton, the US isn't looking for a court jester or seemingly clever race comic who is nevertheless, a buffoon. It is not possible for him to get past the Tawana Brawley episode, and, as I pointed out, the Freddy's Fashion Mart debacle was far worse. People died and he was responsible.
No_slappz:
Somehow, I don't think Michelle Obama is some kind of evil genius set on turning the USA communist! If anything, there's some evidence in support of the hypothesis that Laura Bush was an evil genius who helped W sell the USA to the "red" Chinese!
Major Owens had the seat and Una Clarke had held the contiguous one. They may well have been redistricted into one CD. I just don't remember.
I still hold out some hopes that Clinton will win the primary, but I agree that for the very reasons I happen to like Michelle Obama, she doesn't play well with Middle America. Nevertheless, even if he could put Michelle in mothballs for the whole campaign, Obama's going to have a lot of problems with McCain. He may be leading in the polls now, but I'd certainly take 3/2 or better with McCain heads-up.
As I've written before, Al Sharpton is a mixed bag. I can't defend him for the Tawana Brawley episode or whatever his role in the Freddy's stampede was. Nor can I defend him for being a soplon for the FBI and an aide to D'Amato. I would think that those to entries on his resume would tend to mitigate some of his flaws in your eyes. I'm assuming you're a big fan of both the FBI and D'Amato.
What role would Sharpton play anyway in an Obama administration? I sure can't think of any. My impression is that he's sort of a Dean pawn now.
Passin took republican pres even money against eugah the other night. Who has the best of it do you think?
d-cap, why don't you explain to me why you have suffered embarrassment while living in the US during the two Bush administrations?
Then tell me how you will feel if John McCain wins in November.
To be embarrassed you must first be concerned with the opinions of others. Whose good wishes, good will and favor do you seek?
Meanwhile, you seem to have zero concept of what it takes to win an election. On a personal level, you might find Michelle Obama more fun than any other woman on Earth. You might think of her as a breath of fresh air among political wives.
But millions of voters see it differently. Hence, she can either read the playbook and help her husband, or she can rebuke the country for every slight she believes has come her way and cost him his big chance.
Since you have posted your support for her independent voice, I gather you think indulging her outspokenness is more important for her than helping her husband win.
Her comments are fair game for the opposition. She better realize every word out of her mouth will be examined and used against her and her husband whenever possible.
In order:
Gary'sBoner: I guess if you live long enough you'll see it all. Eugah absolutely UNDRESSED Passin on this bet. The prevailing price in the market is DEMOCRAT-$2.00/+$1.80 REPUBLICAN!
Eugah can scalp it if he wants by taking any amount of the +180 or just ride it out knowing that he laid even on a proposition that was a market 9/5-on.
I don't think Passin took a "bad" price, necessarily. I'd make McCain maybe -110 over Obama and +110 against Clinton.
But Eugah's got himself in a nice position. If it were me as him, I'd hedge it so that I'm indifferent to the result, and lock up my 14% arbitrage.
D-CAPny: No_slappz has his points of view and he expresses them well which is why I like his commentary. Except on finance and economics, they are completely opposite to mine, which is another reason why I like them.
I think if you want to call him a right-winger or a traditionalist of sorts, even if you wanted to call him a sexist, you'd have justification. One thing you can't accuse him of is "idiocy." He's very bright, actually, and is well-informed. He merely views the world -- including Chimpy, Michelle Obama, and everything else in the news -- differently than you and I do.
I also don't mind that some of his stuff is inflammatory because it makes for lively debate.
No_slappz: You are intelligent enough to see it D-CAPny's way, I assume. Unlike me, he actually has a little pride in his country and hates the total fuckup that has been the Bush presidency. He hates the wars, the economy, the possible loss of "reserve" status of the dollar, and the contempt and ridicule with which his country is viewed by the rest of the world.
By the same token, he should try to look at it your way. If you had written a fantasy script of how you would like the USA to pursue foreign, domestic and economic policy, you've gotten it and more. Of course, you like it and want more of same. It is very rare in a democratic republic that a voter gets EVERYTHING he wants in a president. You've gotten it. Enjoy. It's a once-in-a-century experience.
You could be right about how American voters perceive Michelle Obama, though you don't have to be right. I don't think it matters, really and I think you're overstating her views. And I really don't get how you shoe-horned Al Sharpton into this.
kelso --- you are right, his isnt an idiot, === but while he is articulate and expresses himself coherently --- his logic is often bizarre and no matter what you say, he argues. he just like to argue. and i also feel he is a racist (check out some other blog comments, especially at Divine Dem about guns and crime). for those reasons alone i will not engage him. no matter what i say, even if i agreed, (which i wouldnt) -- he would argue. so what's the point?
re Michelle Obama I'm definitely more on the Taylor Marsh mindset than the Kelso. I'm a little old fashioned in that way I guess.
And, as someone who would have died and gone to heaven to have had the encouragement as a young person to even apply, and then to have the opportunity to attend Harvard and Harvard Law School, and then walk out those doors with the degrees, the connections and wealth, sheer wealth of opportunities available to graduates of that and other elite institutions and then to imply that they are (or were) not proud to be an American, to say they've never felt "proud" of their country ... I am personally offended.
Some people just have too much handed to them and they lose their perspective.
Yeah, of course, there is plenty, plenty to be disgusted about, both historically and in the present day. I do feel that America IS the land of opportunity in so many respects. And Barack and Michelle Obama are fine examples of that. As are Bill and Hillary Clinton. And hundrds and hundreds of other people who have been able to climb their way up the ladder and make a real mark on the world ... despite their backgrounds.
I'm being simplistic perhaps. Perhaps not. But that's how I feel.
D-CAPny: To be perfectly accurate, while I don't think that No_slappz is a racist, I think he IS a bigot and has a reflexive prejudice against AFRICAN-AMERICANS. I doubt very much he has a problem, for example, with the "President" of Nigeria who is one of "our" friends.
That he likes to argue is fine by me. I like argument here and I've yet to encounter a single reader of Kelso's Nuts who couldn't handle herself or himself in an argument!
I understand your not wnating to engage him, but as proprietor of the blog, I'd obviously prefer to see you have a point-counterpoint with him. I agree with you 99% of the time but it would still make for excellent blog commenting.
That's the thing about politics. Nobody WINS the argument. But with enough discussion people do evolve in their thinking. At least that's the way it's supposed to work.
Me, I LOVE an argument even though I know I'm not going to WIN.
AXN:
We really aren't on the opposite sides of this argument, not given your take on it, anyway. WE AGREE!
I was objecting to all of the ersatz patriotism.
Your points get to the heart of something I've been on about for awhile with regard to Barack Obama. It's ironic that it's gained some currency here with regard to Michelle Obama. My issue, of course, has been SOCIAL CLASS. And viewed through that lens, I would ask the same question every "patriot" would ask of Michelle Obama "WAS WERE YOU SO ASHAMED OF THE AMERICA WHICH GAVE YOU AN IVY-LEAGUE EDUCATION? IF SO, GIVE IT THE FUCK BACK!"
By the way, my mother just made the IDENTICAL point you made in your comment, though she phrased it slightly differently and posted the rhetorical question of Ms Obama of whether or not she was proud of her country for enacting civil rights legislation.
But getting back to the CLASS issue, ironically, with the Obamas, here's a situation where I TOO was born into a lower social class than they were! My folks and I seized what opportunities we could. Whether those opportunities would have been more lucrative elsewhere is anyone's guess.
But I find it odd that Black America is so willing to go down to the felt with this aristocrat who's socially in terms of lineage and money far above most of the wealthiest white people they know. Don't you?
d-cap,
My comments on the Divine Dem blog cite FBI crime statistics.
Since the original post was about gun violence, it was obvious a few facts about crime were relevant.
In fact, there are comprehensive websites detailing Campus Crime. Bottom line is that there is virtually no major crime problem ON campuses.
But there is some risk for those who go to schools that are in bad neighborhoods. Students at those schools are frequently targets of crime as they leave the campus area and travel on foot through high-crime neighborhoods, which are always black and hispanic neighborhoods.
Having been attacked by knife-wielding thugs, shot at, and victimized by burglars while in college in a tough town, I've got some perspecitive on this situation.
It's all about skin color, Kelso. Black Americans want to see someone who looks like them, in charge, for a change. But I do "find it odd" to see all the buddying up with Obama, when skin color (and remember...he's HALF-WHITE) and hair texture is all he has in common with most American blacks. Obama's FATHER is an African. American blacks have to go back 7 to 20 *generations* to find an ancestor born and raised in Africa. Obama is wealthy, well-educated and articulate, which, sadly, is not the case with the majority of Americans, black and white. He also has excellent diction. The most annoyed I ever felt with Obama was when I listened to him address a crowd of mostly "African-Americans," and he affected a slight A-A accent. I found that disgusting, that he would pander to them in that way.
As for Michelle Obama, my impression of her is that she is not a skilled extemporaneous speaker. I don't think she knew what her infamous remark would sound like, when plucked out of context and repeated and rehashed ad nauseum. I read an interview with her in this week's Newsweek today. Her statements did not sound to me like someone who had graduated from Princeton and Harvard Law School. I would expect her to be more polished. But then, she sounded a hell of a lot more articulate than another Princeton graduate whom we all know and despise...the current despoiler of the White House.
Z:
One correction. W went to Yale undergrad, not Princeton.
I can't really fault Obama for doing that, at least as against Clinton. She'll often speak "Southern" in A-A settings and speak New Yorkese in NYC settings. This is one of the reasons I loved Kucinich. He always let his flat Cleveland-Slavic accent fly, freak-flag style!
I take your point about "skin-color," but I've also argued the opposite. If it were about "skin-color" (and I'm being intetionally ironic here) what's wrong with Representative Raul Grijalva (D-AZ)? His skin is about the same color as Obama's is and his politics are far more favorable to the African-American community than Obama's are. How about Tubbs-Jones, Jackson-Lee, Lewis, Barbara Lee...? You get the point.
And as I've written before, the president of Panama, Martin Torrijos, has DARKER skin than Obama has, as do both of the main contenders to follow Torrijos, Herrera and Perez-Balladares. And these three are "left" of Kucinich! (Albeit with more pro-business policies which are an effect of the budget surplus not of ideology).
Yet, I know I can expect some problems down here from an Obama administration. To be fair, I can expect a world of hurt from a McCain administration.
Finally, Michelle Obama's lack of public polish combined with her education and intelligence is why I LIKE her!
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