Michelle Obama and the Right's "Hate America" Myth
One of the most consistently insulting and fatiguing myths perpetuated by the conservative chattering classes is the right's age-old fraud that liberals hate America. Which is why Michelle Obama's latest misstep is all the more frustrating. Just days after implying she'd withhold her active support should Hillary Clinton become the Democratic presidential nominee, Mrs. Obama inadvertently provided the Republican amen corner with more ammunition to keep firing its "hate America" salvoes.
Speaking to an audience in Madison, Wisconsin, Michelle Obama offered an uplifting, personal account of the inspirational impact her husband's campaign has produced (video here). But in an unfortunate case of "what-she-meant, not-what-she-said," Mrs. Obama opened the door to charges from the right of both narcissism and national self-loathing. As the Boston Globe reported:
"For the first time in my adult lifetime, I am really proud of my country," she told a Milwaukee crowd today, "and not just because Barack has done well, but because I think people are hungry for change."
As the Carpetbagger Report detailed, the conservative commentariat is predictably having a field day. John Podhoretz decried her "New Class leftism, according to which patriotism is not only the last refuge of a scoundrel, but the first refuge as well." The execrable Victor Davis Hanson sneered "a joint income of about a million dollars...might suggest that hope had made a comeback well before Barack's presidential run." Michelle Malkin, of course, regurgitated the hate America myth whole:
"...a gaffe is when a politician tells the truth. In this case, it's what happens when a Democrat politician's wife says what a significant portion of the party's base really believes."
In her defense, Steve Benen parses both the text of Michelle Obama's remarks and the seething racial biases of her right-wing interlocutors. Unfortunately, his well meaning analysis (or perhaps psychoanalysis) only contributes to the conservative caricature of the liberal mind:
"I'm not sure what Michelle Obama meant, but being a black person with privilege and access often makes you more aware of American inequality, not less, and it wouldn't surprise me if that's what Michelle was referring to. Try living in say, New Orleans or Newark for a few years and see how proud of your country it makes you."
Michelle Obama's presumably accidental misstep is neither as reprehensible or as justifiable as her critics and defenders alternately claim. But if she said what she meant, then politically speaking hers is the disdain that dare not speak its name. Coming just two weeks after her hesitation when asked if she could see herself "working to support the first woman nomination" of Hillary Clinton ("I'd have to think about that. I'd have to think about that, her policies, her approach, her tone"), Mrs. Obama didn't do her husband - or her party - any favors.
So for at least the next 24 hours, Americans will once again be treated to the conservatives' nauseating chant of "liberals hate America." It will be all the more galling given that the selective disgust for groups of Americans - blacks, immigrants, gays, and above all, Muslims - is now at the center of the GOP's Party of Hate agenda.
UPDATE: CNN notes that potential First Lady foe Cindy McCain has weighed in on Michelle Obama's remarks:
Cindy McCain told the crowd I "am proud of my country. I don't know about you, if you heard those words earlier - I am very proud of my country."
|
You sound just like the right-wing stooges you pretend to criticize.
Posted by Fiona on February 19, 2008 11:44 AMI think the statement that Michelle Obama made yesterday was in extreme poor taste. She should be ashamed of herself for having said for the first time in her adult life that she is proud of America. There appears to be an underlining message and it was in part racially motivated. This is certainly not a quality I'm looking for in the next First Lady. Like so many have said, Michelle Obama is 45 and how can she not, after all these years, be proud of her own country. I can think of many reasons to be proud of America and I didn't have to wait till I turned 38 to figure that out. The Hillary supporters wont be supporting Obama come November should he be the top runner. They will vote for McCain instead. Michelle Obama showed her true colors and that has angered many Americans. The one thing Hillary and McCain groupies have in common is their love and support of America. Hope Hillary hangs in there! I feel bad for her.
Posted by Kat on February 20, 2008 6:17 AMI'm trying very hard to give Mr. Obama and his wife the benefit of the doubt but when she and her husband act and make arrogant comments like the ones posted (and others I have seen) it becomes very difficult for me to say anything positive. I'm curious, does holding this opinion make me a right-winger now?
Posted by EvilPoet on February 20, 2008 7:05 AMI can think of many reason NOT to be proud of America, beginning with slavery and the extermination of the Native American tribes that helped the first settlers survive. And the last sixty years have seen one war-criminal President after another. So if you can find a reason to be proud go for it.
Posted by khjfk on March 11, 2008 7:11 AMVote for the right person.
Posted by chuck on April 26, 2008 1:54 PM