I'm OFFENDED by the reaction to Michelle's speech, let me tell you why

[wndycty]

I was moved, I was touched, I teared up, it was one of the best speeches given at a convention.

Why am I offended? Because a significant number of people who are blown away by Michelle's speech are blown away because she didn't live down to there very low opinion of her.

People who truly follow Michelle and have not bought into the media's negative frame of her knew what she was made of and we have always loved her.

Maybe people wouldn't be so blown away if they hadn't bought into the the hype that she was some type of anti-American, angry Black woman in the 1st place.

[Frances]

1. I had read several very complimentary articles

about her speeches in Florida. But those were to small audiences and were more informal.

Michelle's speech last night was one of the best speeches I have ever heard in any venue. She was up there with JFK and Obama.

So, even though I knew she was good, I did not know she was that good.

[wndycty]

2. Don't worry my offense is not aimed at you

Its aimed at the folks who had a negative opinion of her and now are feeling like she is human.

[redstate_democrat]

4. I was offended by the repeated references to how she had to "humanize" herself

and her family, as if she and Barack are from Mars or something. As if her very presence doesn't demonstrate that she is indeed human.
It's almost like they are demanding that she PROVE she is human. Does anyone else have that task in the political theater? Even GWB was given that benefit of the doubt.

[cali]

12. get over it. it's a great strength of her's that she could

overcome the negative shit that's been thrown at her. I love that she can do that.

[Name removed]

3. Deleted sub-thread

Sub-thread removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Hutzpa]

5. The problem black people are faced with

is that you have to work 4 times as hard as the white folks,
people that know Michelle probably knew this was a cake walk
for her and she did not disappoint those folks.

The question people should be asking is this, would there have
been a demand for the Obamas to show that they LOVE America if the
party's nominee where white??? would there have been this great
demand for them to humanize themselves if they had been white??

This is the American double standard that black people have to
live with.

Race is behind her making that speech last nite.

[qwlauren35]

8. And the answer is NO!!!

I completely applaud the Obama campaign strategy of canonizing Obama and splashing his picture and speeches all over the place, as an "articulate", smiling, warm, fuzzy person, as far removed from black thug imagery as possible, but instead, a loving husband and father, who has the presence to lead the nation.

Think about how often his picture is splashed here in DU, and we cheer. Have we ever cheered on a candidate just by LOOKING AT HIM??? I don't think so.

It's a strategy, and it's working. He's photogenic (his entire family is), "well spoken" and every day, people get more comfortable with HIM, and are starting to forget that he's (shush!) black. Or at least they are redefining him as one of those "exceptional" black people that they are allowed to support and idolize. Like Martin Luther King... 20 years after his death. Or Michael Jordan.

And the McCain camp can't really do a damned thing about it!!!

No white candidate would need to have his face plastered all over the world in order to have a shot at the White House, because people needed 1-1/2 years to learn to look past his color.

But I applaud the strategy, because it's working.

[Hutzpa]

11. I don't expect you to understand or get it

if you have not been through the pressure they've been put
through then you have every right connote your theory as
Obama's campaign plastering his face all over.

Our views are vastly different from mine....

and by the way, your views about Obama comparing him
with Michael Jordan tells me everything.

Thanks for playing...

[question everything]

16. Um... women have to work 4 times as hard as white men

and as Michelle was describing how she was supposed to train the new recruit, Barack, at the law firm, I could not help wondering whether at some point Obama would have been promoted over her. Because this is the history of women in the work place.

(But, as you comment, below, I doubt you could understand this).

The so-called demand on Obama to show his patriotism has nothing to do with race and you really should know it. It is about his being different from regular folks. Having an African father, being born in Hawaii and grow up in Indonesia. You will have to admit that unless you are an army brat, this is not a history of most voters.

And Michelle "first time I am truly proud of my country." Which, of course, is why yesterday she had to repeat how much she loves American.

[Hutzpa]

18. There you fucking go with that

RW misconception about Michelle Obamas' quote "the first time I am truly proud of my country"
you have just defeated yourself from having a debate with me on the Obamas.

It would be a waste of time on my part to continue this with you.... no point.

[question everything]

19. If it were a misconception, then why did she have to go at length

to claim her love for America?

And it does not matter that her remarks were misunderstood. She said them and created a reaction.

But, hey, go ahead with those tunnel blinds. You are going to be very disappointed in life as you grow older.

[NatBurner]

6. agreed

they've bought into the limbaugh and hannity talking points, and then they're shocked and amazed that they've been lied to

i get pissed about the whole "she's softening her image" meme too- her image is just fine as-is

[redqueen]

7. And how do you know it's a "significant" number?

[Catherine Vincent]

9. You're right. They bought into the hype.

Some woman on cspan last night was saying how Michelle was a phony because she changed her demeanor for the convention. :wtf:

[Blue_Roses]

10. I knew it would be a good speech...

I saw her give a speech back during the primaries (watched it on C-SPAN) and she was awesome. I tried to link it to DU but it never got any traction. Goes to show, some of us really have been paying attention and others just like to spew shit.

Michelle's speech was awesome and she looked beautiful:)

[question everything]

13. She gave a good speech, however

she is on record for trashing the Bill Clinton administration. .

"So if you want to pretend like there was some point over the last couple of decades when your lives were easy, I want to meet you!”

http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2008/03/10/080310fa_fact_collins?currentPage=all

And I responded on these pages that she could come and meet me.

But, then, this is not what she was called to say. She was called to talk about Obama that she knows and loves, about their families and she did a great job.

And, Obama himself is finally giving credit to the economy under Clinton.

[washingdem]

14. Agree. Annoyed me when the MSNBC people were talking about her needing to "soften" her image..

She just needed to be herself, which she was. They were treating the caricature of her created by Fox News as the real deal.

[JerseygirlCT]

15. I confess I had a high opinion of her to start with. But I was moved

and very impressed by her performance last night. It was deftly written, and gracefully given. It showed her warmth, intelligence and class. It was a home run.

But I rather expected that of her. Then again, I LIKE strong, smart women. And strong smart men, for that matter.

Which is probably why I'm a Democrat!

[FKA MNChimpH8R]

17. Geez, Louise, if that speech proved anything

it is that Michelle Obama is about as "All American Girl" as anyone can possibly be. She was wonderful, warm, a marvelous advocate for her husband and a splendid spokeswoman for herself and her life. She hit a walk-off home run.

[Left Is Write]

20. I never bought into any "angry black woman" rhetoric - and I was blown away anyway.

I'm always blown away by her. She is everything I wish I were.

[sakura]

21. I expected Michelle's speech to be good. I hoped it would be great.

I didn't expect it to be as moving as it was-- she made me cry. She exceeded my expectations, but not because I have a low opinion of her. On the contrary, I think she's amazing.

So why the relatively low expectations? Too many speeches by former (and current) first ladies (excluding politicians, anyway) have caused me to doze off, or suddenly remember other things I should be doing instead.

When Michelle took the stage, I wasn't expecting a master orator-- being an attorney does not guarantee a gift in that area. But I don't think Michelle is a master orator, at least not in the "slick, over-polished speaker" sense of the term. Her words rang true-- you could see the emotion just under the surface and I think that was what made this a spectacular speech. It was clear that both she and the speech she presented are the real thing. And because of this, I think she connected firmly with her audience (pundit and spin-meisters excluded).

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