About Michelle Obama's "comment"

[question everything]

Yes, I know and you know that it was nothing.

But for the Obamas this is the new reality, where everything said and done will be magnified and dissected at lenght. Welcome to the world of politics.

Even the "mix up" of Obama/Osama. This will happen again, on Fox, and the network will say "oops" with a wink and a nod.

So you'd better get used to it.

[Captain Hilts]

1. Reaction aside. It wasn't a cool thing to say...twice. And I'm a big fan of hers. nt

[stillrockin]

4. I see nothing wrong with what she said if that's how she feels.

[Mojambo]

6. The quote was taken out of context, and in many audio clips, edited to remove a qualifying word.

There was absolutely nothing wrong with what she actually said.

[MonkeyFunk]

8. She said it twice

in two speeches in two different cities. Once she said "really proud", once she didn't.

She could've avoided the entire debacle by simply saying "I've never been more proud of my country...."

[scheming daemons]

2. It only impacts voters that would never vote for a Democrat anyway

...so no big deal.


Anybody who votes for McCain because of silly issues like Obama's name, was already WELL into the Freeper camp and wouldn't have voted for ANY Democrat.

[DemGa]

3. No, Repugs and independents are very important to Barack Obama

Remember Obama's argument that Hillary is "divisive" because of the attacks she suffered. This is a perilous path to walk, lest one become "polarizing" themselves -- unfairly or not.

[scheming daemons]

5. The Obama/Osama stuff doesnt work with independents....

....and it doesn't work with moderate repukes.


That kind of thing only works with far-right Freepers..... and those AREN'T the Republicans that Obama is bringing in.

[woolldog]

19. I don't agree with that.

She needs to be more careful. He needs independents, conservative democrats, and moderate republicans to win and stuff like this is going to turn them off if it continues.

That said, what she said expresses how many many black americans feel.

[bellasgrams]

7. What do you think people from other countries think when they

read this sort of thing. It doesn't look good for us if a possible future leader's spouse has no pride in our country. Sure shrug it off. If Hillary said something stupid like that you would be all over her.

[scheming daemons]

10. People in other countries are smarter than you.... they know what she meant.....

... like the rest of us do.


People in other countries aren't mindless limbots.

[MonkeyFunk]

9. no

not by itself, but as one little piece of a Big Lie, it has an effect.

[napi21]

11. Yep! Both Obama's must understand that every word they say

has the potential of being parsed, stripped out of context, and misinterpreted IF POSSIBLE! I hete it too, but that's politics in the 2000's. You wonder why politicians all sound scripted, and always speak in " politically correct speak"! Now you know why!

Ya know, I can say this because I'm not running for anything. I've not only not been proud of my Country in recent years, I've been utterly ahsamed! Ashamed because our President can't complete a solid sentence. Because he has trouble speaking our native language of English! Because he took our Country to an unnecessary war! Because he manhandles women Like he did with Merkel and the unwanted backrub! OH DAMN! I don't need to go on with the reasons why I haven't been proud of my Country in at least 8 years!

[question everything]

13. I am ashamed that so many people cannot have access to health care

I am ashamed that such a rich country cannot take care of the crumbling infrastructure, and I am ashamed that people do not take earned vacation days because they are afraid that when they will come back their jobs will be gone.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x2895527

[napi21]

14. I agree with you, but a Candidate or his/her surrogate can't say that!

Too many people will view that as a very negative statement against America, and that doesn't help ANYBODY!

[comradebillyboy]

12. the Obama teflon is starting to wear a bit thin.

now that he's the front runner he and his wife are going to get the a little bit of the nasty treatment that used to be reserved only for the Clinton's.

[Political Heretic]

15. It happened early, and it was handled correctly by the campaign.

Yes, it will be referenced again - but it will not gather public concern. That's what I mean when I say its a non-story. The saving graces are that it happened during the primary and that it was quickly address by both Michelle and the campaign in exactly the right way.

Leaves no fire. FOX noise will certainly bring it up - but they won't get any serious traction beyond their own echo chamber.

[Political Heretic]

16. PS - not only have I never been proud of my country in my adult life

I also think that being "proud" of a nation-state is a ridiculous joke. The world is my country. I love the ideals on which America was founded - not ideals that those founders created or owned, rather ideals that they chose to embrace.

(of course, those rights extended only to white, male, property owners and came at the expense of murdered native Americans and imported African slaves.... but... I don't want to be a downer.)

I am deeply ashamed of how far we have strayed from those ideas, specially during my lifetime. Our country has spiraled so far from the principles that are noble and worth cherishing that its nothing short of heartbreaking.

And in these last eight years? There have been very few days I haven't awoken to feeling ashamed of what we do or what we fail to do in the name of "America."

.......but I'm not running for office.

[calmblueocean]

17. This thing is still snowballing. They don't get it yet.

Look, I know it's just another in a long line of manufactured outrages from the right wing, but this one has legs.

Michelle needed to come out with a bigger "mea culpa" than she did today. The Obamas are downplaying it, trying to pretend it's no big deal, that they've already addressed it, that it's over. That's what John Kerry tried to do with the SVT. He didn't get how they were redefining him until it was too late, and that's what's happening here.

Here's what she's said about it:

"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.

This is not how you fix a problem like this. You don't get defensive and say, "clearly I was talking about something else". Because then you just add insult to injury. And then she waited for someone to ask her if she's always been proud of her country, and she responded with a terse "Absolutely."

People -- the people this sort of thing matters to, anyway -- don't want excuses, and they don't want to be talked down to. They want an acknowledgment that she actually made a mistake, and they want her to express her pride in America in a convincing way.

What I would've suggested was something like: "Barack makes it look easy, but I've never campaigned like this before. It's tougher than it looks. I've never been as appropriately embarrassed as I was yesterday when I began to hear that some people think I was saying that I've never been proud of my country. Nothing could be farther from the truth. We live in the greatest country in the world. I feel amazingly blessed to live here. All I meant to say was that what I've seen on the campaign trail has made me *especially* proud..."

If she'd said that, the controversy would be over. People would move on. But she hasn't, and now this thing is starting to stick. If they don't fix it soon, they'll have to fix it later, and it's going to hurt a lot more.

[uncertainty1999]

18. M. Obama on patriotism, 2008 = H. Clinton on baking cookies/tammy wynette, 1992

That's how it all started in 1992-or-so, and 2 yrs later we had the Contract on America.
The republican mantra of 'clintons are so polarizing' -- so readily adopted by obama -- is about to morph into 'michelle is so polarizing.'
Oh, the irony!