Now that Barack Obama has pretty much wrapped up the nomination, it's time to raise a question that lots of people have been talking about privately but not publicly. Is it possible that Michelle Obama is the force behind Barack Obama's refusal to embrace traditional patriotic symbols? Could Obama's wife be largely responsible for the candidate's damaging associations with crackpot race-baiters like the Reverend Jeremiah Wright and the Reverend Michael Pfleger? In sum, could Obama's wife be a large part of his political problem?
Obama himself seems, at least on the surface, relatively free of the kind of corrosive racial resentment that is so common among African American activists of our day. This resentment is especially puzzling as it often comes from people who, far from being victims, have actually enjoyed benefits and privileges that they would probably never get if they happened to be white.
Consider the case of Michelle Obama. She was raised in a two-parent, middle-class family. She applied to one of America's top universities, Princeton, and was admitted. Of this experience, Michelle says on the stump, "All my life I have confronted people who had a certain expectation of me. Every step of the way, there has been people telling me what I couldn't do. When I applied to Princeton, they said: you can't go there, your test scores aren't high enough."
Which is all very moving, except that her test scores weren't high enough. Michelle Obama is part of the affirmative action generation of above-average but far-from-stellar performers who were granted preferential admission to America's most elite institutions.
Michelle notes that she graduated with honors in her major. Again, the problem is that her undergraduate thesis is on the web. You might expect that she wrote about Shakespeare's sonnets or the political evolution of W.E.B. Du Bois. Well, no. Essentially Michelle Obama wrote about the problems of being a black woman at an Ivy League university.
Here is a typical passage: "By actually working with the Black lower class or within their communities as a result of their ideologies, a separationist may better understand the desparation of their situation and feel more hopeless about a resolution as opposed to an integrationist who is ignorant to their plight."
Alas, the grammar is all wrong here. More than once, the tenses are garbled. People are ignorant "of" the plight of the lower class, not ignorant "to" their plight. And"desparation" should be spelled "desperation." To wreak so much havoc on the English language in one sentence, without conveying anything of substance, is perhaps deserving of a prize. Is this what her professors were thinking when they granted her honors? Whatever the Obamorons say, let's remember that that these are not mere typos; they reflect an estranged relationship to the English language. Moreover they appear not in a daily blog but in a thesis that is supposed to reflect the culmination of one's college career.
Subsequently Michelle went on to further appointments and even managed to cash in big time on her skin color and marriage to Barack Obama. She was hired by the University of Chicago hospitals to run "programs for community relations, neighborhood outrecah, volunteer recruitment, staff diversity, and minority contracting." Here her salary was $400,000 a year.
One might expect that the reaction of someone who gets so many privileges to be grateful to a society that makes them possible. But no. Michelle Obama thinks that her very success is an example of white oppression. By a bizarre twist of logic, she converts "you're not good enough, but we'll take you anyway" into a message of "they said I wasn't good enough, but I proved them wrong."
Ordinarily these psychological peculiarities may be of little interest, except perhaps to a therapist. But Michelle now stands next to a man that may be elected president of the United States. Barack Obama wants everyone to "lay off" his wife. He doesn't seem to realize that this is not a reasonable request concerning a woman who clearly influences him and who stands to have public influence in her own right. Moreover, for months the media has been laying off her precisely because she is his wife. Like Michelle, Obama seems to confuse preferential treatment with ill treatment.
Of course we've had controversial first ladies in the White House before. The Obamas, however, aren't there yet. Will Barack Obama be ultimately forced to distance himself not just from the Reverend Wright and the Reverend Pfleger but also from his own wife?
Reader Comments ( Page 1 of 55)
1. Michelle will be under the magnifying glass now, just as any candidates spouse should be.
JefFlyingV at 12:20PM on Jun 4th 2008
2. Wow, welcome to Gadfly Dinesh's Sewing Circle.
I guess this bodes well for Obama that Dinesh has finally run out of substantive criticism of him and is now forced to focus on his wife.
Ryan Anderson at 12:29PM on Jun 4th 2008
3. Judging by the passage from her thesis, she really is just this side of a functional illiterate. Of course, liberals won't recognize that, as they lack the education and reading/writing skills.
David at 12:43PM on Jun 4th 2008
4. Dinesh, is this all you have buddy? It looks like desperation mode is setting in early.
Let me break it down for you.
You can bring on all the unamerican crap. You can bring on all the "whitey" stuff.
None of it will mean a damn thing and as a matter of fact, the more you and the Republican party continue spouting this crap, the more you are further distancing yourselves with the rest of America.
This kind of politics will not work this time around. You all have to be smarter than this.
If Obama runs his General Election campaign as he did the primary campaign, then quite frankly McCain is screwed.
While you guys are trying to dig up speeches and video tapes of perceived racial division, Obama's people are digging up all the "Flip Flops" and all the "dirty" associates affiliated with McCain.
Was it just yesterday or Monday, McCain was talking about wanting the Divestment of Iran as sanctions, but then it came out that his campaign manager is involved in investments with Tehran by the way of Russia?
Obama hasn't even started on him yet. Wait until he does.
This election isn't even going to be close.
The only way he loses, is through assassination. And reading some of the crap that I see on these blogs, it wouldn't be surprising.
All Obama has to do is win 12 key states in the General. McCain can win 38 states and lose.
Botts at 12:44PM on Jun 4th 2008
5. D'Souza clearly hasn't considered McCain's wife. McCain's wife is a (former?) drug addict who stole prescription drugs, via fraud.
The republicans will, of course, use every dirty trick in the book, but this time, the democrats may have learned that taking the high road has never worked for them in presidential campaigns.
Smart republicans (an oxymoron) would leave Michelle Obama alone.
Captain Negative at 1:07PM on Jun 4th 2008
6.
Really Dinesh?
Michelle Obama has poor grammar?
And she's a black woman?
OH MY GAWD!! say it aint so.
I wonder if your transcripts are available...no check that... I don't care.
mac at 1:13PM on Jun 4th 2008
7. Dinesh,
You should have included a link to MO's undergraduate thesis.
Will affirmative action help someone get elected President of the USA? Will white guilt?
Why is it that the only way that we are allowed to bring the country together is by rallying around liberal values, otherwise it is a full press hate campaign against all conservative, traditional values?
Rev 3:16 at 1:16PM on Jun 4th 2008
8. First of all, DD has absolutely no proof that she didn't get into Princeton on her own merits.
Second of all, who gives a shit about a thesis from 21 years ago?
DD is just pathetic.
Linda at 1:23PM on Jun 4th 2008
9. Rev 3:16; That's because your values are hateful.
And also, I wrote some garbage back in my undergraduate days. That's what undergraduates do. I still write some garbage now. Who cares???
Ryan Anderson at 1:26PM on Jun 4th 2008
10. Affirmative Action hurts those it attempts to help by casting suspicion on achievement. In education, I have always advocated standardizing the curriculum in public schools. No matter where you attend school, you would study the same courses. The federal government should fund schools through an education tax. Children in poor communities would then have the same resources as those in wealthy areas. There should be zero tolerance for violence, truancy, and disrespect for teachers. Uniforms should be required in all public schools. Schools are not responsible for parenting. If you want your child to learn about abstinence or contraception then you need to take on that responsibility. Schools have become tools for social reconstruction and this is not their purpose. All children should be required to pass a comprehensive exit exam before graduation. We should imitate other countries and provide opportunities for students that are not academically inclined, but have other useful skills. College has become a rite of passage for too many people who have no interest in or capacity for higher learning. I believe that if we focused on preparation the need for Affirmative Action would be eliminated.
I would like to add that there will always be racist people. It is a spiritual problem. You can’t force someone to view you as an equal human being. Civil Rights laws should be enforced so that legal discrimination is not a barrier. It is left up to the individual how to confront the challenge of racism. You can use it to become a stronger, more successful person or allow it to make you bitter.
janesophie1 at 1:27PM on Jun 4th 2008
11. Jane, it can also be stated that religion contributes to and continues the "spiritual problem" of racism.
JefFlyingV at 1:32PM on Jun 4th 2008
12. I cannot understand what is wrong with a black woman writing about the problems of a black woman in an Ivy league university? Should she have written about Indian Christians like yourself actually being Hindu Christians and not Christian Christians instead?
GussieD at 1:42PM on Jun 4th 2008
13. Jane, it can also be stated that religion contributes to and continues the "spiritual problem" of racism.
JefFlyingV
Unfortunately, some people have advocated racism through a deliberate misinterpretation of scripture. However, it is impossible to be a racist if you understand the role of God and the purpose of humanity. We should worship God, not each other and certainly not ourselves. We are called to love and take care of the less fortunate. I have never met a racist that was humble or willing to serve others.
janesophie1 at 1:48PM on Jun 4th 2008
14. Nice article Dinesh. I see you're catching a lot of flak....proof you're closing in on the target.
Willet at 1:50PM on Jun 4th 2008
15. DD,
Maybe he'd rather become an English teacher, but even his own public blogs are conservatively peppered with errors...
Michelle Obama's Inferiority Complex:
"But no." - And now he begins a sentence with a conjunction.
Obama's Preacher Pals:
"Pharoahs" should be spelled "Pharaohs".
The Mecca Effect:
"arond" should be spelled "around".
"effet" should be spelled "effect".
Minds Over Matter:
"activitity" should be "activity".
Can The Mind Shape The Brain?:
"embarassment" should be spelled "embarrassment".
"ephiphenomenon" should be spelled "epiphenomenon"
"But if minds can control brains, them minds are not the same as brains" - He starts with a conjunction, and "them" should read "then".
Why Secular Liberals Are So Unhappy:
"upto" should read "up to".
Einstein's God:
"rejeted" should be spelled "rejected".
"foce" should be spelled "force".
The Equal Protection Hoax:
"in a way that neither women or gays can match" - "or should read "nor".
A Transformational Election?:
"pleged" should be spelled "pledged".
"withdrawal from Iraq, an so on." - "an" should read "and.
Good Riddance to Hillary:
"embarassment" should be spelled "embarrassment".
Atheism and Child Murder:
"offpsring" should be spelled "offspring".
How Darwin Lost His Faith:
"heriditary" should be spelled "hereditary".
Atheist Bashing Week:
"embarassing" should be spelled "embarrassing".
What Muslims Really Think:
"betwen" should be spelled "between".
"homosexualty" should be spelled "homosexuality".
Ben Stein Exposes Richard Dawkins:
"labrynthine" should be spelled "labyrinthine".
"belives" should be spelled "believes".
Looking for Nietzsche's Last Man:
"narcissm" should be spelled "narcissism".
Barack Obama and the One-Drop Rule:
"authentically"black" " - Space missing.
Biology Without Ideology:
"contengencies" should be spelled "contingencies".
"Gd" should be spelled "God".
When Martin Luther King Really Died:
"Since race matters, we no alternative than to fight " - "we no" should read "we have no".
The Failure of "Intelligent Design":
"Scientific laws, as spelled out by Keppler, Newton, Einstein and others" - "Keppler", if referring to Johannes, should be spelled "Kepler". Ironic how "spelled out" appears in this sentence.
His Name:
"Dinesh D'Souza" should be spelled "Distort da Newz", or "Embarrassment".
Mokele Mbembe at 1:53PM on Jun 4th 2008