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    1. The Israel of the Balkans
      Michael J. Totten
    2. Obama's War
      Peter Wehner
      April 2008
    3. Goldwater, the John Birch Society, and Me
      William F. Buckley, Jr.
      March 2008
    4. The Election, the GOP--and Iraq
      John Podhoretz
      March 2008
    5. Boot, Pollak, and Power
      Ted R. Bromund
  1. Obama's War
    Peter Wehner
    April 2008
  2. Goldwater, the John Birch Society, and Me
    William F. Buckley, Jr.
    March 2008
  3. The Israel of the Balkans
    Michael J. Totten
  4. Mysteries of the Menorah
    Meir Soloveichik
    March 2008
  5. The Election, the GOP--and Iraq
    John Podhoretz
    March 2008

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commentary's blogs: the horizon | contentions | connecting the dots
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She Said What?

John Podhoretz - 02.18.2008 - 5:27 PM

Michelle Obama today said that “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. I have been desperate to see our country moving in that direction.”

Really proud of her country for the first time? Michelle Obama is 44 years old. She has been an adult since 1982. Can it really be there has not been a moment during that time when she felt proud of her country? Forget matters like the victory in the Cold War; how about only things that have made liberals proud — all the accomplishments of inclusion? How about the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1991? Or Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s elevation to the Supreme Court? Or Carol Moseley Braun’s election to the Senate in 1998? How about the merely humanitarian, like this country’s startling generosity to the victims of the tsunami? I’m sure commenters can think of hundreds more landmarks of this sort. Didn’t she even get a twinge from, say, the Olympics?

Mrs. Obama was speaking at a campaign rally, so it is easy to assume she was merely indulging in hyperbole. Even so, it is very revealing.

It suggests, first, that the pseudo-messianic nature of the Obama candidacy is very much a part of the way the Obamas themselves are feeling about it these days. If they don’t get a hold of themselves, the family vanity is going to swell up to the size of Phileas Fogg’s hot-air balloon and send the two of them soaring to heights of self-congratulatory solipsism that we’ve never seen before.

Second, it suggests the Obama campaign really does have its roots in New Class leftism, according to which patriotism is not only the last refuge of a scoundrel, but the first refuge as well — that America is not fundamentally good but flawed, but rather fundamentally flawed and only occasionally good. There’s something for John McCain to work with here.

And third, that Michelle Obama — from the middle-class South Shore neighborhood of Chicago, Princeton 85, Harvard Law 88, associate at Sidley and Austin, and eventually a high-ranking official at the University of Chicago — may not be proud of her country, but her life, like her husband’s, gives me every reason to be even prouder of the United States.

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This entry was posted on Monday, February 18th, 2008 at 5:27 PM and is filed under Contentions. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

1034 Responses to “She Said What?”

Pages: [1] 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 … 104 »

  1. 1
    David Thomson Says:
    February 18th, 2008 at 5:35 PM

    “Michelle Obama today said that “for the first time in my adult life, I am proud of my country, because it feels like hope is making a comeback.”

    Michelle Obama is not a real person. She is a robot created by the evil Karl Rove.

  2. 2
    Grumpy Old Man Says:
    February 18th, 2008 at 5:44 PM

    If we want to save the country, Step One would be to make holders of any Ivy League diploma ineligible for public office for 10 years.

  3. 3
    Herbert Rubin, M.D. Says:
    February 18th, 2008 at 5:56 PM

    Hey, you’re going too far. I went to Columbia!

    Amazing that the MSM has the vapors over the Obama’s, hyperventilating over every comment and aspect of their lives. Some scrutiny and analysis is needed, like how, or whether affirmative action played in the success of these folks. Were they given a pass? What is the connection to Saul Alinsky, the famous Chicago Marxist and agitator, where Hillary Rodham studied as an acolyte. What is their agenda for this country?

    Smoke and mirrors gets politicians only so far in this country. We need a reality check.

  4. 4
    mksicola Says:
    February 18th, 2008 at 5:59 PM

    Not ready for prime time.

  5. 5
    njh Says:
    February 18th, 2008 at 6:08 PM

    Add this as the latest piece of an accumulating mountain of evidence–the Obamas are completely divorced from reality. The only ‘reality’ they perceive is the one they are busy constructing. There was nothing to be proud of in the many years before Obama. And looking forward– “the future is Obama.” (The Mayor of Washington DC campaigned for Obama with a T-shirt that said just that). The Obama world view accounts for nonsense like-”we are the ones we have been waiting for…” Never have I seen a couple so infatuated with themselves. That so many people are captivated by them makes it truly creepy and somewhat frightening. Are we as a country really so gullible?

  6. 6
    Disgusted American Says:
    February 18th, 2008 at 6:08 PM

    “Color” or not - it is embarrassing that a potential “first lady” admits to having her entire “adult life” - if you want to call it that - in shame of her country. A life that provided her a law degree, etc., in the most prosperous country in the world. That is shame and embarrassment, all right - on HER.

    SHAME, SHAME, AND EMBARRASSMENT. She is shamefully UNFIT to be a “first lady.”

  7. 7
    Steve Says:
    February 18th, 2008 at 6:08 PM

    This should play very well overseas, especially in Europe and the Muslim world. That sound you hear is Hillary laughing.

  8. 8
    wymck Says:
    February 18th, 2008 at 6:12 PM

    Step right up folks, and vote for the man from God-knows-where. He’s offering change! Don’t you want change?

    But what is he?

    Why, he can be anything you want him to be, because he isn’t anything now. He’s the Embryonic Stem-Cell Candidate!

    Pay attention to the missus though… *she* will be the anointed front-runner next, if trends hold.

  9. 9
    Jeanne di Leonardo Says:
    February 18th, 2008 at 6:32 PM

    Thank you Michele! Keep talking. Go Hillary!

  10. 10
    Fred Deslex Says:
    February 18th, 2008 at 6:35 PM

    Well said, because it is closer to the reality:
    Hussain Barak is only the vessel, the container, the trojan horse that contains…..the racist, extreme, unforgiving, reparations-claiming, white guilt exploiting….. black minority.

    democracy is only the train that will bring us to our goal: hope!….for black empowerment.

    whover they are, whatever there is, i fear the Danaers, even if they bear presents….like hope!

Pages: [1] 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 … 104 »

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