Michelle Obama: Proud of her country
By now you are probably aware of the brewhaha: for the first time in her adult life Michelle Obama is really proud of her country.
Many conservatives are going crazy. Here is Brit Hume explaining that Michelle feels this way because she is "liberal":
Given that Michelle Obama's adult life has consisted entirely of Reagan, Bush, Clinton, Bush administrations, this doesn't seem such an odd statement for her to make in this campaign season. To me it seems a bit innocuous: "Yeah, things were okay, but now I can really be proud".
What seems strange and perhaps a little sad is everyone's apparent 'bafflement' not at "why the hell would she say something so dumb, but just in general that someone could actually say they don't feel proud of their country. It would seem that for many African Americans- and I cannot speak for Michelle Obama- there is little instinct to feel 'really proud' of the United States. The scars of race relations in the United States leave little to be proud of, even if some particular aspects of it are inspiring and uplifting. Michelle Obama may not have been making this point, but for many Americans, having a minority, and particularly a black, President revolutionizes people's concept of what kind of nation they live in. Was Michelle doing strategic minority outreach? Probably not. But it is worth remembering that there are circles in the United States, circles I have no doubt Michelle Obama is familiar with, where it is unusual to express absolute pride in the United States. These are not "liberals circles", just ones where people feel that given the history of the country, the American dream is not available to all. Now, for the first time, they honestly can see that their children could be President too.
barack obama, michelle obama, proud of america
An excellent point at the end there. No matter what else, an Obama presidency would inspire all minority Americans that the country in general is getting over racism, at least in abstract. I mean there are folks who will vote for him to occupy the White House, who might not want him living next door. He is an ongoing bigot test- anti-Obama videos are flourishing, especially with this "plagiarism" dust-up...and many bear unconcealed racial slurs. Same folks, not surprisingly, generally have trouble with logic, grammar, and spelling. Could a "fear of the black man" sickness give McCain the edge? Please not.