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 54 of 55)
796. 790. a little empirical evidence please, GHB, to support these latest outlandish charges.
fanman at 5:22PM on Jun 9th 2008
xxx
he's right about prisons. I've seen supporting stats from several places. Turns out you're in them longer than foxholes, which do have their share of atheists.
I suspect he may be right about christian households. there are a lot of them and a lot of severely dysfunctional families turn to religion when nothing else works for them. On top of that there are lots of dysfuntional religious sects.
As we all know, they form circular firing squads and execute one another if they're not perceived to be 'true' christians.
You see how lacking they are in civil restraints on blogs, and they have beliefs based in magic, so wouldn't it be reasonable to suspect they're even less inhibited in private?
Clif Kuplen at 5:59PM on Jun 9th 2008
797. 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
SPOKEN LIKE A TRUE-TO-THE-BONE, BLACK PERSON... PERHAPS, A KINDRED SPIRIT OF MO'S... ANOTHER BENEFACTRESS OF "AFFIRMATIVE ACTION"?
It's quite obvious "why" Obama seeks to have everyone "lay off my wife...". There is a hell of a lot of outrageous crap out there... ready for the pickin'.
Incidently, I have read MO's thesis... word /word. I was astounded by the utter, lack of scholarship reflected; which one generally associates with "anyone" being presumptive enough to present such a provisional document; expecting the approval of their Professor(s). What a load of unadulterated tripe that turned out to be.
Dinesh has been exceptionally charitable toward MO... as evidenced by his choice to disregard mentioning the fact that MO - while 'authoring' that particularly dreadful document - more often than not, mis-used the word "benefit", and several of its' derivatives, no less than 358 times in the course of a 96 page... typed-double-spaced "tome".
I couldn't help but to think... "Wait a minute. You mean to tell me that "this" sort of sophomoric crap is what is 'passing' as a thesis... by a student who's been admitted to a school like "Princeton"? Then, it struck me. "AHA! Affirmative action! That's the only thing to explain it. But then, I also came to the realization that this was the "same crap" which 'opened the door for her at Harvard University'. Opened the door for her... while slammng it shut in the face of someone else; someone truly deserving of an opportunity to attend Harvard... based solely on their "merits".
Makes you wonder... just how easy it must be for "some people" to gain a 'law degree' from Harvard, doesn't it? It also makes suspect every other law degree issued by that school. I can't help but to respond, upon learning that, "so & so just graduated from Harvard Law School...", with, "BIG F*****G DEAL! Apparantly, they are handing out 'free' degrees to just about anyone who 'shows up'.
"That" entitlement led to her getting various positions, afterward, which have paid her quite handsomely. One for $273,000.00... another, for $400,000.00 per annum, etc.
Yet, it is a fact that her own mother currently resides in a Southside-Chicago ghetto... cowaring behind burglar bars on the front door and windows of her tiny, one bdrm, apt.
Why is that?
How is that... when she and her husband have a combined income of several million dollars... for the past several years?
Hey, I'm just sayin'... If something stinks to high-heaven; there must be a reason; far beyond mere ghosts in the closet... and, goblins under the bed, eh!
There's something very strange going on here, Mrs. Calahan; something we're being kept from learning.
RUFUS at 7:13PM on Jun 9th 2008
798. Oh, the prison stuff??? Here:
http://www.holysmoke.org/icr-pri.htm
It's been posted here before several times. And the other stuff about christian households with more incidents of abuse? My wife's a DCYF social worker. That's right. A kid-yanker. And she tells me that almost ALL of the perps (industry term for pederasts) are christian, many VERY christian.
Yes, it's really true. Sorry to so inform.
Oh, and just for shits and giggles, and keeping in mind that most republicans nowadays are christians, here's another site of interest.
armchairsubversive.org
Godless Heathen Brian at 7:35PM on Jun 9th 2008
799. To Rufus: Your comments are interesting, but unless you can backup the reference to MO's mother living on the south side of Chicago in the ghetto, best not to say it.
I don't want Obama in the White House, but think that items of interest need to be documented. If it is true, then shame on MO.
Elisabeth at 8:33PM on Jun 9th 2008
800. Rufus, you "misunderestimated" something here. If you want to talk about mangling the English language or receiving an education based on privilege, not merit, let's talk about W.
He attended the most exclusive prep school in the U.S. He attended Yale. He attended these places based on the legacy and money of granddaddy and daddy -- senator and president. He did not merit these most exclusive opportunities; he was handed them on a silver platter. Someone more deserving couldn't go to Yale because Prescott Bush's grandson needed that spot.
In spite of having every opportunity a person could conceivably have in these United States, W still can't speak English. He's not 22, and he's not writing a thesis. He's the president. He is supposed to communicate to the world, and he can't. His "Bushisms" are a source of international embarrassment.
If correct use of the English language and earning your place in life are of such critical importance to you, as your writing suggests, then why don't you take on the prez? Why spend so much time attacking Michelle Obama?
You may actually have read her thesis. You said so. I wouldn't read nearly that many pages if the writing's as bad as you say it is. But the point is, you don't know her grades, her test scores, or anything else about her. Who are you to judge?
And the more important point -- why do you care? She is not running for president! Get that! She's not the candidate! Why are you discussing this?
At least go after the candidate. Any candidate Stop attacking women (or men, if they are the spouses) for no reason.
InLoveWithParis at 8:51PM on Jun 9th 2008
801. How a 'gay rights' leader became straight
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Posted: July 03, 2007
1:00 am Eastern
By Michael Glatze
© 2008
Editor's note: See the news story about Michael Glatze in today's WND, titled "'Gay'-rights leader quits homosexuality."
Homosexuality came easy to me, because I was already weak.
My mom died when I was 19. My father had died when I was 13. At an early age, I was already confused about who I was and how I felt about others.
My confusion about "desire" and the fact that I noticed I was "attracted" to guys made me put myself into the "gay" category at age 14. At age 20, I came out as gay to everybody else around me.
At age 22, I became an editor of the first magazine aimed at a young, gay male audience. It bordered on pornography in its photographic content, but I figured I could use it as a platform to bigger and better things.
Sure enough, Young Gay America came around. It was meant to fill the void that the other magazine I'd worked for had created – namely, anything not-so-pornographic, aimed at the population of young, gay Americans. Young Gay America took off.
Gay people responded happily to Young Gay America. It received awards, recognition, respectability and great honors, including the National Role Model Award from major gay organization Equality Forum – which was given to Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chr?tien a year later – and a whole host of appearances in the media, from PBS to the Seattle Times, from MSNBC to the cover story in Time magazine.
I produced, with the help of PBS-affiliates and Equality Forum, the first major documentary film to tackle gay teen suicide, "Jim In Bold," which toured the world and received numerous "best in festival" awards.
Young Gay America created a photo exhibit, full of photographs and stories of gay youth all across the North American continent, which toured Europe, Canada and parts of the United States.
Young Gay America launched YGA Magazine in 2004, to pretend to provide a "virtuous counterpart" to the other newsstand media aimed at gay youth. I say "pretend" because the truth was, YGA was as damaging as anything else out there, just not overtly pornographic, so it was more "respected."
It took me almost 16 years to discover that homosexuality itself is not exactly "virtuous." It was difficult for me to clarify my feelings on the issue, given that my life was so caught up in it.
Homosexuality, delivered to young minds, is by its very nature pornographic. It destroys impressionable minds and confuses their developing sexuality; I did not realize this, however, until I was 30 years old.
YGA Magazine sold out of its first issue in several North American cities. There was extreme support, by all sides, for YGA Magazine; schools, parent groups, libraries, governmental associations, everyone seemed to want it. It tapped right into the zeitgeist of "accepting and promoting" homosexuality, and I was considered a leader. I was asked to speak on the prestigious JFK Jr. Forum at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government in 2005.
It was, after viewing my words on a videotape of that "performance," that I began to seriously doubt what I was doing with my life and influence.
Knowing no one who I could approach with my questions and my doubts, I turned to God; I'd developed a growing relationship with God, thanks to a debilitating bout with intestinal cramps caused by the upset stomach-inducing behaviors I'd been engaged in.
Soon, I began to understand things I'd never known could possibly be real, such as the fact that I was leading a movement of sin and corruption – which is not to sound as though my discovery was based on dogma, because decidedly it was not.
I came to the conclusions on my own.
It became clear to me, as I really thought about it – and really prayed about it – that homosexuality prevents us from finding our true self within. We cannot see the truth when we're blinded by homosexuality.
We believe, under the influence of homosexuality, that lust is not just acceptable, but a virtue. But there is no homosexual "desire" that is apart from lust.
In denial of this fact, I'd fought to erase such truth at all costs, and participated in the various popular ways of taking responsibility out of human hands for challenging the temptations of lust and other behaviors. I was sure – thanks to culture and world leaders – that I was doing the right thing.
Driven to look for truth, because nothing felt right, I looked within. Jesus Christ repeatedly advises us not to trust anybody other than Him. I did what He said, knowing that the Kingdom of God does reside in the heart and mind of every man.
What I discovered – what I learned – about homosexuality was amazing. How I'd first "discovered" homosexual desires back in high school was by noticing that I looked at other guys. How I healed, when it became decidedly clear that I should – or risk hurting more people – is that I paid attention to myself.
Every time I was tempted to lust, I noticed it, caught it, dealt with it. I called it what it was, and then just let it disappear on its own. A huge and vital difference exists between superficial admiration – of yourself, or others – and integral admiration. In loving ourselves fully, we no longer need anything from the "outside" world of lustful desire, recognition from others, or physical satisfaction. Our drives become intrinsic to our very essence, unbridled by neurotic distractions.
Homosexuality allows us to avoid digging deeper, through superficiality and lust-inspired attractions – at least, as long as it remains "accepted" by law. As a result, countless miss out on their truest self, their God-given Christ-self.
Homosexuality, for me, began at age 13 and ended – once I "cut myself off" from outside influences and intensely focused on inner truth – when I discovered the depths of my God-given self at age 30.
God is regarded as an enemy by many in the grip of homosexuality or other lustful behavior, because He reminds them of who and what they truly are meant to be. People caught in the act would rather stay "blissfully ignorant" by silencing truth and those who speak it, through antagonism, condemnation and calling them words like "racist," "insensitive," "evil" and "discriminatory."
Healing from the wounds caused by homosexuality is not easy – there's little obvious support. What support remains is shamed, ridiculed, silenced by rhetoric or made illegal by twisting of laws. I had to sift through my own embarrassment and the disapproving "voices" of all I'd ever known to find it. Part of the homosexual agenda is getting people to stop considering that conversion is even a viable question to be asked, let alone whether or not it works.
In my experience, "coming out" from under the influence of the homosexual mindset was the most liberating, beautiful and astonishing thing I've ever experienced in my entire life.
Lust takes us out of our bodies, "attaching" our psyche onto someone else's physical form. That's why homosexual sex – and all other lust-based sex – is never satisfactory: It's a neurotic process rather than a natural, normal one. Normal is normal – and has been called normal for a reason.
Abnormal means "that which hurts us, hurts normal." Homosexuality takes us out of our normal state, of being perfectly united in all things, and divides us, causing us to forever pine for an outside physical object that we can never possess. Homosexual people – like all people – yearn for the mythical true love, which does actually exist. The problem with homosexuality is that true love only comes when we have nothing preventing us from letting it shine forth from within. We cannot fully be ourselves when our minds are trapped in a cycle and group-mentality of sanctioned, protected and celebrated lust.
God came to me when I was confused and lost, alone, afraid and upset. He told me – through prayer – that I had nothing at all to be afraid of, and that I was home; I just needed to do a little house cleaning in my mind.
I believe that all people, intrinsically, know the truth. I believe that is why Christianity scares people so much. It reminds them of their conscience, which we all possess.
Conscience tells us right from wrong and is a guide by which we can grow and become stronger and freer human beings. Healing from sin and ignorance is always possible, but the first thing anyone must do is get out of the mentalities that divide and conquer humanity.
Sexual truth can be found, provided we're all willing and driven to accept that our culture sanctions behaviors that harm life. Guilt should be no reason to avoid the difficult questions.
Homosexuality took almost 16 years of my life and compromised them with one lie or another, perpetuated through national media targeted at children. In European countries, homosexuality is considered so normal that grade-school children are being provided "gay" children's books as required reading in public schools.
Poland, a country all-too familiar with the destruction of its people by outside influences, is bravely attempting to stop the European Union from indoctrinating its children with homosexual propaganda. In response, the European Union has called the prime minister of Poland "repulsive."
I was repulsive for quite some time; I am still dealing with all of my guilt.
As a leader in the "gay rights" movement, I was given the opportunity to address the public many times. If I could take back some of the things I said, I would. Now I know that homosexuality is lust and pornography wrapped into one. I'll never let anybody try to convince me otherwise, no matter how slick their tongues or how sad their story. I have seen it. I know the truth.
God gave us truth for a reason. It exists so we could be ourselves. It exists so we could share that perfect self with the world, to make the perfect world. These are not fanciful schemes or strange ideals – these are the Truth.
Healing from the sins of the world will not happen in an instant; but, it will happen – if we don't pridefully block it. God wins in the end, in case you didn't know.
Related story:
'Gay rights' leader quits homosexuality
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Related special offer:
"Male and Female He Made Them"
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Michael Glatze is the former editor in chief of YGA Magazine and founder of Young Gay America.
Michael Glatze at 9:11PM on Jun 9th 2008
Michael Glatze at 9:15PM on Jun 9th 2008
802. Michael Glatze at 9:11PM on Jun 9th 2008
xxx
I don't waste time reading crap like that, but are you a changed person? Were you a homosexual?
If not, you'd be more convincing about choice if you could make a sacrifice for Jesus and go live the life of a gay man for a few years. If jesus was a god and he had to be human, that would certainly be less disgusting, and there's no scriptural proscription I could think of - it would be like self-flagellation. Hell, it would almost be SPELLED the same, huh.
You oughta give changing your orientation and sticking with it for a while a shot. It would give you more street creds. If you've already changed, change back.
then tell us why you're not bisexual.
Clif Kuplen at 9:25PM on Jun 9th 2008
803. Godless Heathen Brian
I have never said that you were going to hell. Your soul is your responsibility, not mine. You can believe in God or reject him. I share my faith like you share your disbelief. I choose to believe in God. I choose to follow the teachings of my church. It does not matter to me if it appears irrational to the world. The contradictions don't matter to me. I don’t need proof. I trust because I have faith. Faith
janesophie1 at 9:27AM on Jun 10th 2008
804. To David-----so basically you are stereotyping liberals...how can you make a statement saying that ALL LIBERALS are uneducated...why do we live in a world today so surrounded and engulfed by hate that because people are different parties they are automatically stupid.....and to the writer of the article how dare you criticise Michelle Obama just because she feels a certain way to white oppressors. Look at the people who comment to your blog apparently everybody is prejudice and has something to say about something...why is she any different...oh yeah because everybody wants to find some way to make Obama look like a bad candidate. And the passage from the thesis....everyone who agrees like really.. i understand that a thesis is supposed to be top notch and everything, but does anybody even question the fact that he only showed this one passage. Everything else in her thesis could be A+ material...way to dig deep!!!
TaNisha at 10:03AM on Jun 10th 2008
805. Dinesh Souza you sound like you have a major axe to grind with Michelle Obama. I hope you will temper this with reports of Mrs McCain's shortfalls such as her drug addiction to pain killers, stealing drugs from a charity that she ran, how she got out of that trouble, exactly when she met John McCain, when he was divorced from Carol, his first wife and how long after that divorce did he and Cindy marry. You have a lot of reporting to do now I would say. Get going Mr Souza, we look forward to fair and balanced reporting.
Ei at 5:31PM on Jun 11th 2008
806. DD, in this piece "outrecah" s/b "outREACH." You, DD, of ALL people, to criticize spelling and grammar as deficits of character (so you like to imply) and intelligence (you state: "these are not mere typos...but reflect an estrangement with the English language"). You, dear boy, are not one who should be so blithely underscoring another's syntactical deficiencies. How you ever graduated from Dartmouth and inducted into the Hoover Institute will always be, for me, a mystery. Nontheless, I digress. Back to the raw materiel for this current blog. I have not read Michelle's thesis. I can't attest to it being representative of her "inferiority complex." Perhaps her entry to Harvard Law School had more to do with AA than vaunted intellect. Can't claim I know. What I hear , however, is the unabated flashpoint of racism, male chauvinism, muckracking, innuendo and character assassination. All of this because she said she was "proud of being an American" for the "1st time" in her life. So what? The benifit of being born American is to be able to say what you feel without fear of reprisal. Being born American doesn't mean one has an official duty to be proud of his/her native land. Though, ignorantly, you presume to argue to the contrary. Michelle, according to the jingoists,will never be acceptable. She has been discussed flat out in terms denigrating her as unamerican, a woman, a black, an unamerican black woman; detractors enjoy undermining her ivy league education as nothing more than her good luck as a recepient of AA. The level of destructive criticism has been aimed at Barack. What was all the vitriol about the absence of that lapel flag pin, his failure to salute the flag hand-over-heart, his irresponsible attendance at a church dominated by a "racist" "unamerican" pastor? Hitting both Obamas with whatever you can has become a deplorable yet accepted ploy by the press and other mongers to catapault a nonissue into the stratosphere of "NONISSUES THAT REALLY ARE ISSUES!" The resulting deleterious effects these are hoped to have on the Obamas is secondary when compared to our desired intent to obfuscate every issue. The Obama's,for all their human, political and personality shortcomings, are not the culprits deserving our despise. It is, rather, the other way around: the culprits are those defamers who claim to be patriotic, concerned Americans, champions of what is right with our country. How bogus! The defamers believe using disinformation, deliberately creating and promoting fiction-as-truth, to masque a rampant, unquenchable overt racism that continues to poison this prejudiced land of ours. This is America's most cloying fetish: voting for the personality rather than the politics. No wonder we continue our downward moral spiral. What,I wonder, do we want our republic to stand for?!
boredwell at 11:25PM on Jun 11th 2008
807. Wow!!!!!! How about respect for both Michelle and
Cindy. Who are you to throw out negative barbs about anyone? AFFIRMATIVE ACTION HELPED MANY WOMEN(INCLUDING WHITE WOMEN) AND MINORITIES. Instead of finger pointing, how about trying to understand each other.
CASSANDRA at 6:08PM on Jun 16th 2008
808. Hey Dineshi: When I was in college most of my professors were not very good at spelling. In fact many of them that taught classes and needed to write terms on the board abbreviated the words.You should see how badly business majors spell,it's a good thing that they have secretaries to correct and rewrite their daily mail.
God bless Obama at 5:19AM on Jun 21st 2008
809. Dinesh D'Souza, you have every right to express your opinion. You should be grateful to be able to live in this country that was built on the backs of my black ancestors. Look at your black self in a mirror. You will see the image of your Black Dravidian ancestors the indigenous people of Pakiston and India. Many like yourself try to be what you will never be. You will always be ashamed of who you are. That is your dilemma.
lk at 11:20AM on Jun 22nd 2008
810. D'Souza, you and the rest of the die hard conservatives, along with FOX News Channel are truly pathetic. I can see you and your minions haven't learned yet that this is just the kind of dirt that's going to backfire right in both of your faces. First off Obama understands that the regular majority of Americans are "REAL" people and real people do have a "grey" area. No real person is conservative on everything or liberal on everything. Only a bunch of evil, demented, hypocrites like the republicans would be all the way right, and the confused duds that be liberals all the way left. A real person is going to be both, some things they're conservative on and some things they're liberal on. This is what Obama represents and that's why he's so in touch with "THE PEOPLE". Look at where we are, just look!! Only a stupid buffoon would even fathom voting for McCain, well unless you're already a part of the billionaire boys club. Here is a quote from John McCain on how to solve the housing and foreclosure crisis "More people are going to have to get second jobs, and cancel vacations". Hmmm? Easy to say when you own over 8 multi million dollar plus homes, mostly off the sweat of the American people. So are we who for the most part work from sun up to sun down, just to make someone else like him wealthy, and our families less deserving of a taste of "the good life"? Is his wife and children and the families of his cohort more deserving because they've perfected the art of bullsh!@# people by the masses? Go ahead D'Souza, you and your minions, continue to nit pick, like little school yard children looking for a fight. You will find that the Obamas as well as the sensible registered voters of America are just too adult and mature to oblige your foolishness.
Pee Bee at 10:55PM on Jun 24th 2008