Michelle Obama committed the first really serious blunder of her husband’s campaign today:
“For the first time in my adult life, I am proud of my country,” she told a Milwaukee crowd today, “because it feels like hope is making a comeback.”
Oh yeah, that’ll make a winning slogan in November–if your spouse is running for mayor of Berkeley. President of the United States? Not so much.
Will Collier- Archive from the VodkaPundit Era 
February 18, 2008 at 5:00 pm |
[…] See also, Will’s take at Vodkapundit. […]
February 18, 2008 at 5:09 pm |
TO: Will Collier, et al.
RE: What She Said
The OTHER ‘She’, i.e., Mama Winger over on LGF put it most aptly….
I’m looking forward to Obama getting the nomination.
It’s going to make what the Swifties did to John Kerry look like a love-in.
Regards,
Chuck(le)
February 18, 2008 at 5:18 pm |
It is all about them them THEM!
Sorry, but the increasingly messianic overtones of the Obama campaign are too much.
February 18, 2008 at 5:43 pm |
I am the cult of, I am the cult of, I am the cult of…
February 18, 2008 at 5:53 pm |
Pretty soon, she is not going to be welcomed back at her old school!!!
February 18, 2008 at 5:55 pm |
So. Not proud of her country previously, despite being the freeist, richest nation on the planet, ever (and that includes citizens of color, in case she didn’t notice). Yep. I really want Obamachelle in the White House. Not.
February 18, 2008 at 6:14 pm |
In her delicious takedown of Hillary Clinton, posted a few weeks ago in Salon, Camille Paglia made a huge gaffe by referring to Michelle Obama as “a powerhouse”. Looks like she might end up being “a detonater”.
February 18, 2008 at 6:20 pm |
Never before been proud of America? I think she has yet to begin her adult life. Not only does this tell us a great deal about her, it also tells us about the political base she is appealing to.
February 18, 2008 at 6:27 pm |
[…] http://vodkapundit.com/?p=9495 […]
February 18, 2008 at 6:44 pm |
By the time I decided to check out this Obamamania thing his wife was starting to come out with frightening promises of national redemption etc.
I’m just glad I wasn’t in the community center when they were passing out the koolaide.
February 18, 2008 at 6:59 pm |
You misquote her on this website, she said, really proud of my country. She did not say … proud of my country.
Now you can argue that the meaning is the same (in my opinion what she said is still wrong just not as wrong as how you quote her) but at least you can get the quote right.
February 18, 2008 at 7:29 pm |
Yeah, seems that somehow the ‘really’ got left off:
Michelle Obama: ‘For the First Time in My Adult Lifetime, I Am REALLY Proud of My Country’
February 18, 2008 at 7:38 pm |
So, before now, she wasn’t “really” proud of her country? She was sorta-kinda-half-“proud” of it, nothing she could honestly take pride in – but now she (really) can?
Really, Julio; that’s a really silly nit to really pick.
February 18, 2008 at 7:45 pm |
So, if I understand all this, receiving an education from Harvard Law, having a prestigious job, making good money, having your husband be the Dem convention speaker—then you’re just kinda/maybe/perhaps proud of your country. And you won’t be REALLY proud of your country unless and until your husband is a finalist for your party’s presidential nomination. Hmmm–wonder how proud you’ll be if/when he loses.
February 18, 2008 at 7:57 pm |
OK, she was really proud of her country. But not really, really proud, or really, really, really proud.
February 18, 2008 at 8:01 pm |
Dammit. Michello-O os making McCain look positively benign.
February 18, 2008 at 8:04 pm |
It may look silly to you, but I think it REALLY changes the way you can interpret the sentence.
For example, I REALLY like Ice Cream now that I have a Coldstone’s creamery next to my house. What I mean is that now I like icecream more as opposed to I never liked ice cream, but now I do.
Why omit a key word and take a sentence uttered in a possitve speech and twist it into something it may not be?
Even in your quasi-comic “Really, Julio; that’s a really silly nit to really pick.” you allude to the meaning of “really” I believe is the key point in my argument, suggesting you missed what Mrs. Obama was REALLY trying to say.
February 18, 2008 at 8:09 pm |
The hypnotist in The Manchurian Candidate was proud of his subjects, too.
February 18, 2008 at 8:10 pm |
Really? Really!
February 18, 2008 at 8:14 pm |
Pretty unconvincing spin there, Julio.
February 18, 2008 at 8:43 pm |
TO: Julio Peguero
RE: Really?
“It may look silly to you, but I think it REALLY changes the way you can interpret the sentence.” — Julio Peguero
Let’s try it…
I think you’re wrong here, Julio
I really think you’re wrong here, Julio.
Hmmmm….
….doesn’t seem to be much difference to me. At least nothing significantly different.
Regards,
Chuck(le)
[The territory behind rhetoric is too often mined with equivocation.]
February 18, 2008 at 8:51 pm |
I totally understand her point of view. After all, she’s just a poor, black, pregnant teenager living in the ghetto, who’s never had any opportunities in life.
February 18, 2008 at 10:22 pm |
“You misquote her on this website, she said, really proud of my country. She did not say … proud of my country.”
No. No she doesn’t. Look at the video. There’s no “really” there. Breitbart miscaptioned it.
February 19, 2008 at 12:57 am |
Is this the same woman who said Americans will try to kill her husband because he’s black?
Is this woman’s husband the same guy who declared to the world that he thinks not wearing an American flag pin is patriotic?
February 19, 2008 at 4:17 am |
TO: Sean
RE: HEY!!!!
“No. No she doesn’t. Look at the video. There’s no “really” there. Breitbart miscaptioned it.” — Sean
You’re right!
There is no “really” in there.
However, there IS a “bbpp” where “really” could have been. But it doesn’t look/sound/feel like someone has edited the video to remove it.
Interesting…..
Regards,
Chuck(le)
P.S. Is there a conspiracy theorist in the house?
February 19, 2008 at 4:42 am |
Sean, I’m not a professional lip reader but she did say (for what it’s worth) really. Look at the video clearly and you will notice it. 🙂
February 19, 2008 at 4:46 am |
Assuming she reached adulthood at age 18, when was she (really?) proud of her country between 1964 and 1982? Was the vote to turnover the Panama Canal a moment of really proudness? The public has a right to know!
February 19, 2008 at 5:08 am |
TO: All
RE: Ask and Ye Shall Receive
“Sean, I’m not a professional lip reader but she did say (for what it’s worth) really. Look at the video clearly and you will notice it.” — Julio Peguero
Aaahhhhhh!
Looks like we’ve found our resident conspiracy theorist.
TO: Julio
RE: Lip Reading
I did not see her lips move during that “bbpp” I mentioned.
Instead, it does appear that her lips DID make the “bbpp” sound. I do not SEE her lips as forming the word “really”.
Regards,
Chuck(le)
[Hope springs eternal….in the mind of the ‘True Believer’.]
February 19, 2008 at 6:13 am |
Jeez Julio that’s complete and utter BS! But remember Mrs. Clinton said practically the same thing a couple of years ago when asked if she loved her country she said she loved what it could be.
February 19, 2008 at 6:14 am |
I just heard the quote (including the previous clause)this morning on the radio. I did NOT hear “really” I expected to hear it after reading these comments.
So — what’s the deal.
William Bennett is being gracious as usual, and is taking it in the context of her husband running for US president. He was not particularly miffed in that context, though he did point out there are many things we do and are as America that are pretty great.
February 19, 2008 at 7:33 am |
I have been burned by a reporter using my words out of context, so I understand how casual words can be used against you. That being said, I wonder how many of these things are freudian slips a la John Kerry’s ‘joke’ about doing poorly in school and ending up in Iraq?
February 19, 2008 at 7:51 am |
Just saw the video again a couple of times and I can say I do not hear “really” in it, I can see her lips begin to form the R and I believe she did say it , the mic just didn’t pick it up or something happened to that word. But that’s just a belief no proof to back that up so I apologize for my calls to “get the quote right”.
February 19, 2008 at 8:09 am |
TO: Julio Peguero
RE: Yeah….Right….
“….I can see her lips begin to form the R and I believe she did say it , the mic just didn’t pick it up or something happened to that word.” — Julio Peguero
…or rather, wrong.
Forming the word ‘really’—you can try it in the safety of your own home—requires a LOT more than pressing your lips together. There is no visual indication she said ‘really’. I mean REALLY…you’re grabbing a straws here.
RE: Apology
“I apologize for my calls to “get the quote right”.” — Julio Peguero
Accepted.
Regards,
Chuck(le)
[The only Guy I know who was perfect, got nailed to a tree for it. I mean REALLY!]
February 19, 2008 at 10:26 am |
OK, I just heard Michelle Obama’s clip again and the “really” was “really” clear. So. A question and a comment:
1) Is it possible one of the mics did not pick up the “really?” and there is more than one record of her speech out there (Or 1a) Is there an edited version out there?)
2) The “really” didn’t “really” change what she said for me that much. She “really” said she hasn’t been proud of her country.
And she “really” wants to be First Lady of this lousy place?
February 19, 2008 at 10:43 am |
‘Change’…
Michelle Obama: “For the first time in my adult lifetime, I am really proud of my country.” (via Will Collier)
The only thing more tiresome than a Ivy League-educated demagogue is an Ivy League-educated Chicago Democrat who is a demagogue…
…
February 19, 2008 at 10:53 am |
JAL,
I heard it too on Rush’s show.
February 19, 2008 at 11:26 am |
Of course, what she really meant was “the hope of
turning the US into another socialist hellhole is making a comeback.”
February 19, 2008 at 12:44 pm |
TO: JAL
RE: So….
“OK, I just heard Michelle Obama’s clip again and the “really” was “really” clear.” — JAL
What’s the URL you listened to?
Or what where you drinking before you listened?
Regards,
Chuck(le)
February 19, 2008 at 12:48 pm |
TO: rbj
RE: Interesting Report, That
“I heard it [really] too on Rush’s show.” — rbj
One would think you could see such a thing up on Rush’s web-site.
But it ain’t so….yet.
Why do you think that is?
Regards,
Chuck(le)
February 19, 2008 at 1:46 pm |
Chuck, I have no idea why it isn’t on Rush’s website. But I did hear it.
And quite frankly, worrying about whether or not Mrs. Obama said “proud” or “really proud” is pretty inane. What’s worrisome is what Barack would do as president.
February 19, 2008 at 1:59 pm |
TO: rbj
RE: Well…
“Chuck, I have no idea why it isn’t on Rush’s website. But I did hear it.” — rbj
….until there’s more evidence supporting your report, I’ll just have to say I think you’re ‘hearing things’. I mean…REALLY….
Regards,
Chuck(le)
[Hearers should test what teachers say by reading the text themselves.]
P.S. Actually….I’ve done that, at the original site. And I heard no use of the word “really” with regards to Michelle’s ‘feeling proud’.
You come along and say otherwise. Yet you have no proof.
Whom, REALLY, should I believe?
February 19, 2008 at 2:05 pm |
Sorry Chuck, but I was listening closely for her exact words, and “really” was there.
February 19, 2008 at 2:12 pm |
TO: rbj
RE: You’re…
…not answering my question….
….until you come with something a bit more substantial than your ‘text’ against my ‘hearing’?
Regards,
Chuck(le)
February 19, 2008 at 2:50 pm |
Okay — me again.
I have been listening to the podcast of Bennett in the Mornings (excellent sane show) and they played the Michelle Obama clip twice.
There IS NO “REALLY” in Mrs. Obama’s sound bite (which included sentences before and after).
But the clip I heard on Rush later in the day (which included sentences before and after)CLEARLY had “…REALLY proud ….”
And no, unless luke warm coffee has developed ODF (Obama Distortion Factor) I have not been drinking anything that would have audio hallucination effects.
While the “really” may really not make a difference, now I am totally intrigued.
HOW can there be two different tapes of the same speech clip? Someone out there capable of finding out why?
February 19, 2008 at 3:01 pm |
Are you intrigued or are you really intrigued?
February 19, 2008 at 3:03 pm |
TO: All
RE: I Say Again…
“HOW can there be two different tapes of the same speech clip?” — JAL
…IS THERE A CONSPIRACY THEORIST IN THE HOUSE!!!!
Regards,
Chuck(le)
February 19, 2008 at 3:48 pm |
http://michellemalkin.com/2008/02/19/what-michelle-obama-said/
Well FWIW, it sounds and looks like there is an edit or a glitch in the tape. On can hear and see her start to say something that starts with an R on this video clip off MM’s site.
Both Breitbart and the UK telegraph quote: Speaking at a rally in Milwaukee, she said: “…time in my adult life I am really proud of my country. Not just because ….”
Hey — I have watched the CSPAN Campaign 2008 video on another site and the original appears to have been edited. Here’s the original:
http://www.redlasso.com/ClipPlayer.aspx?id=e867ad16-66c2-4319-af1c-3dcfeadf6159
Not a conspiracy theorist. Just wondering what the point is of changing it is. And who? Or is it just — a glitch (as in the infamous cigar 😉 )
February 19, 2008 at 6:23 pm |
First there was the refusal to wear the American flag pin, then his refusal to stand and put his hand on his heart during the anthem, now this gaffe from his wife. Any one incident by itself could be excused, but three in a row like that makes us really wonder why people who show such contempt for America and Patriotism should want to be President and first lady and why we as patriotic Americans should draw “hope” from the fact that they might actually win.
February 19, 2008 at 6:31 pm |
Actually, if you listen closely, she is saying “reely”, a sly reference to the fact that she is “reeling” in the “fish” otherwise known as “voters”. It is a common usage.
Look it up.
February 20, 2008 at 3:23 am |
TO: JAL
RE: Okay….
Looking at the second link you provided, I’m convinced. She DID say “really”.
Now the question becomes who’s the blackguard who did it?
Three guesses as to who is behind it; ‘qui bono’, anyone?
RE: How Important, Is It? REALLY?
As I stated in an earlier post, it doesn’t do much to mitigate the total statement.
I’ve been an adult longer than she has and I’ve been REALLY proud of my country on a number of occasions since she became an adult.
[1] The collapse of the Soviet Union without a major war between US and them.
[2] Liberating Kuwait.
[3] The Reagan Revival.
[4] Our assistance to people suffering from regional catastrophes.
[5] Apple Computers
[6] The M1A1 Abrams Main Battle Tank.
[7] Our response to 9/11.
[8] Our Space Program.
[9] Pax Americana.
I could go on and on and on and on….
Why the only thing that makes HER ‘really proud to be an American’ seems to be something that is all about her and her hubbie. It is ‘indicative’ of something very deep and very mental.
I’m not confident that they’ll do well for US if they get into the position of ultimate executive authority in our government.
Regards,
Chuck(le)
[When our friends get into power, they are no longer our friends.]
February 20, 2008 at 11:04 am |
Perhaps Mrs. Obama should start borrowing talking points from Ronald Reagan.
February 20, 2008 at 3:32 pm |
The mystery was solved then! Nice!
February 20, 2008 at 4:10 pm |
TO: Julio Peguero
RE: Hmmmmm…..
“The mystery was solved then! Nice!” — Julio Peguero
…you have a problem with English as a tertiary langauge?
Regards,
Chuck(le)
February 20, 2008 at 4:11 pm |
[For additional information, re-read ALL of the messages (above).]
February 20, 2008 at 5:41 pm |
After 9/11 how many Arabs and/or Muslims were dragged from their homes and beaten to death? If the situation was reversed, how do you think things would have panned out in some other parts of the world?
After two wars against Iraq and the attacks 9/11 a candidate for president named Barack Hussein Obama is the front runner for president in the Democratic party. What are the chances of the next president of Syria, Iran, Saudi Arabia or even Turkey having a name like Petraeus Blair Walker or Blair Schwarzkopf Bush?
Relative to the rest of the world and all of history, we are extremely tolerant and accepting. Isn’t that something to be proud of?
February 20, 2008 at 5:58 pm |
Much more telling, and much more scary, is what she said to VRW conspiracy supporter “Katie”.
Mike
http://www.commentarymagazine.com/blogs/index.php/greenwald/2522
One shouldn’t make too much of politicians’ spouses (unless said spouses are also politicians), but if Barack Obama can find any points of agreement with his wife Michelle on the issue of terrorism, then there’s cause for alarm. Here’s Michelle Obama speaking with Katie Couric about the nature of an Obama foreign policy:
“…instead of protecting ourselves against terrorists, that we’re building diplomatic relationships and we’re investing in education abroad so that we’re making sure that kids are learning how to read as opposed to …fight us.”
Your average Islamist has memorized all 77,701 words of the Koran. If there’s one thing worth admiring in the madrassa curriculum it’s the emphasis on literacy.
And if there’s one thing that should never be uttered by anyone involved with a presidential candidate it’s describing what will be done “instead of protecting ourselves from terrorists.”
February 21, 2008 at 9:13 am |
Hi,
I usually never blog, but as a military wife, this offends me deeply. I am pretty much an independent, and have not voted in Texas yet. This reveling freudian slip made me curious what else is hiding behind the Obamas.
And GUESS WHAT, I found that Mrs. Obama’s thesis at Princeston Univeristy titled: “Princeton Educated Blacks and the Black Community”
is blocked till Nov. 5, 2008….(after the election)
source:
http://libweb5.princeton.edu/theses/thesesid.asp?ID=9867
tax records are one thing, but as an American voter I have a right to KNOW what the presidential candidate’s wife thinks!
I used to admire Sen. Obama, but no more, I will not be voting for Sen. Obama on March 4th!!!
Thank you.
February 21, 2008 at 3:05 pm |
TO: military_wife
RE: Pri[n]c[e]ton
I’ve confirmed your report about Princeton hiding Michelle’s paper until after the election.
This is the sort of disgusting political-machinations that we’ve come to recognize of so-called ‘institutions’ of higher propaganda.
Thanks for pointing it out.
We need to do something ‘constructive’ about it. I’ve done something by sending them my thoughts on their blackguard nature.
Others can as well. Their e-mail address is….
mudd@princeton.edu
I think it highly appropriate that their name is ‘Mudd’. It certainly is to me.
Regards,
Chuck(le)
[I am an escapee of a political correction facility.]
August 5, 2008 at 8:38 am |
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