Michelle Obama’s speech

I definitely agree. She did seem nervous. Her voice didn’t reach a crescendo at applause points. At times, she didn’t really seem to know what to do with her hands. But all that made her appear more human, more endearing. I was very moved when she talked about her father and his struggle with multiple sclerosis. And the best part was at the end, because the girls are adorable. Just watching them interact with their father on the video hookup was great. They seemed like a nice, loving, caring family, people you’d want as your neighbors or friends.In a country where too many white people don’t know or work with African-Americans, that may be the most important thing Michelle Obama accomplished.

`o fishYou are a naive person. Even someone of your “class” will have to admit, Michelle speech was well written and well said. The children was just the icing on the cake finalizing a sweet and passionate evening along with Ted Kennedy. As an Independent, I felt that Michelle spoke to Americans across this nation into our living rooms. About ONE America and “the American dream”. Through hard work obtaining Prosperity , Peace, and happiness!! for ourselves and our CHILDREN.

Brian/o-Fish:You must be referring to George Bush, the Compassionate Conservative, on whose watch more Americans have died in war and entered poverty than any administration’s since Nixon’s. You also must have missed that little bit about Mr. Crawford, Texas, buying a big house in Dallas. So much for “retiring to the ranch.” Talk about scripted. You’ll — we’ll — be paying for your last vote the rest of our lives. Heck, more than 6,000 Americans have paid for your vote with their lives.

Damn straight, Brian. That’s why we’re at war with Saudi Arabia and Egypt. Oh, wait …

Brian Flaherty (thanks for providing your full name so we know who you are) may very well be the most ignorant person in America. Can I take a minute to get this straight? Iraq attacked us? When? Did I miss something?

It is hard to believe that you are adults. Many of you come across sounding like petty children. Her bra strap was showing, she didn’t know what to do with her hands and her voice…SO WHAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!! How many times has your bra strap or some other part of you shown? We are always so quick to be negative and critical of people and we wonder why so many children do the things that they do. THEY ARE LISTENING TO YOU!Any of us would have been equally as nervous as she had to be. Speaking to a large mass of people, many of whom are waiting for you to make the slightest slip so that they can further convince themselves why they don’t like you and shouldn’t vote for your husband/wife. She, nor he has professed to be perfect, it’s people like you who try and hold them to that standard. Could you meet that standard if you were in that position?Ah, and the ole Cosby Show comparison, I knew that would come up. Are those they only accomplished African Americans that you are familiar with? If the answer is yes, then that is very, very sad and you need to get out more. I know that many of you are very fearful of an African American man becoming our President and that’s where much of the negativity and criticism comes from.Michelle is and always will be an intelligent Princeton and Harvard-educated African American wife and mother whether they make it to the White House or not. What will you be? What I have found is, the more unhappy a person is in their life or with themselves, the more critical and negative they are towards others.It’s scary to think that many of you call yourselves “Christian” and make sure that you are at church every Sunday; what are you learning? We are all entitled to our opinions, but many comments go beyond that and turn into personal attacks. What if were you and your family in the same position? Think for a moment….It is so unfortunate for us all, that our society constantly focuses on so much negativity that it seems that we have forgotten how to say and talk about positive things. While I realize the “job” of the President and first Lady is serious, at the end of the day they are still two human beings much like us who have careers and are working hard to raise our families.Remember that ole saying “if you can’t say anything good don’t say anything at all”? That’s a good one to remember. Are you teaching your children those types of things?

DK – Lucky for me, Comcast removed MSNBC from our lineup of channels on Cape, so I genuinely had not seen that. Interesting that we both reached that conclusion.Mr. Live – We were all critiquing a speech – that’s why parts were critical. I in no way slammed Mrs. Obama – and it seems you are doing a great deal of hysterical assuming about conservatives, Christians, parents and politics. You do not serve your cause with such a rant.

If anyone equates true love of country to a damn flag pin one more time, I’m going to put one in your eye!! By that logic I suppose anyone not wearing one of those yellow bracelets is pro cancer? Ridiculous.Use your heads, people!! The choices have never been more polarized and clear:Would you rather have a president who lifts up the cacauphony of blind, ignorant anger saying “We will defeat them over there because they are evil!”Or a president with the wisdom to know that we shouldn’t be so quick to point fingers; that we are all imperfect beings. Better that we raise ourselves up as a beacon rather than tear others down in the self righteous name of good.You can choose to keep a party in administration which has repeatedly used it’s position to purge the government of those who disagreed with them, and then boldly lied to Congress, or insultingly played dumb; who has used their power in totallity to serve their own corporate fundraising intrests, above all else.Or you can choose a man who is beholden to no corporation, but to the individual people that have driven his campaign; a man who sees value in opposing opinions and knows that the true path to moving forward lies somewhere in between.Do you want to be led by a man who focuses on attacking with the negative: making unfounded and absurd allusions to Barack based on his divergent experiences, mocking his ability to invigorate countless throngs as celebrity, or something as laughable as a coincedence in middle name?Or would you prefer to follow a man who cultivates the positive by appealing to the very best of our nature? In voting for Barack Obama, you’re not only gaining a superior leader, but the added advantage of millions of Americans striving to be better than they are.To borrow from Caroline Kennedy: Once or twice in a lifetime you have the opportunity to see a leader commited to justice, fainess, service, and sacrifice. This is one of those oh so rare times. Those ‘corny speeches’ have roused countless millions from their narcoleptic despair over what their government has become. They serve to inspire ‘those easily influenced’ to fight for unity and equality; because in unity we are stronger. The last time a man inspired us to dream like this, we reached for the moon! Just think what we could acheive this time around!! How can you not crave living in that world?But I digress (…and gress, and gress, and gress…..LOL)My thanks to Michelle for waking me from my political fatigue. Her speech was humanizing, heartfelt, and electrifying. I can’t wait to have a leader I can be proud of. I can’t wait to see what we can accomplish.

What struck me as I watched the speech is how Michelle Obama now stands confidently on the ground that Hillary Clinton fought for, inch by inch.Women of Obama’s generation can present themselves as they are: strong, intelligent, decisive and competent, qualities that, when seen in Hillary Clinton, too often have added up to the word ‘bitch.’ That Clinton’s success as a public figure should most benefit Michelle Obama is a sad irony.Doug Shugarts

Fish – I absolutely disagree. No woman alive would consent to such a stunt, and agree or disagre with her philosophy, Mrs. Obama is a lady.

I certainly appreciate that someone has pointed out that if there is any calculated catering to the collective emotions of those still undecided it is a product of our spoon-fed, 8-second sound bite popularity contest political process. That we can’t be bothered to take a few hours to pour over actual public voting records and any other factual information that would give valid if debatable preponderance to our decisions is probably as old as democracy itself. But it has never before seemed such an act of national indiscretion, even peril. And lest anyone think I am on a high-horse, I count myself among those easily swayed by a few well-placed trinkets. But to hear how we have become the judge, jury and executioner (or should I say the Randy, Paula, and Simon) of Michelle Obama’s speech makes me ashamed and aghast at how we regard the political moments that may very well change the course of our country’s future. If anyone wants to accuse me of being mawkish or stumping for Obama notice I wrote “MAY very well change”. I have great hope for CHANGE not necessarily Obama.And just a final note: O-Fish-L, does Michelle’s strategically mislaid bra strap go in your conspiracy theory scrapbook right up there with the Kennedy Assassination and 9/11 or is more along the lines of Roswell and Men In Black? Now, it you can just convince Julia Roberts, we’ve got ourselves a movie, Mel.

I think it is sweet that Oafish L has remembered something from a sophomore humanities elective and applied it point for point to our topic. And Aristotle, no less. Way to come on with the big guns! Kudos to you, Mr. L. And the tried and true swampland gag really closes the deal. Priceless!By your argument Michelle Obama had no business coming out in anything more than a gray frock, eyes cast downward and in so many words pleading for a seat at the table. Everybody knows its a dog and pony show and a national pep-rally all rolled into one. Hell, even someone as impressionable as David Berkowitz probably knew that. Or maybe his dog clued him in on it.But thanks for the Cliff-notes version of how we are being blindly led to “feel-good” slaughter.Paranoia and stick-in-the-mud over-analysis are what make me feel safe at night. Score!Thanks again, L. You’re aces!

At 6:29 PM, timmycee said: “Everybody knows its [sic] a dog and pony show and a national pep-rally all rolled into one.”—I’ll take “dog and pony show” as your begrudging admission that the entire convention, right down to the exposed bra strap, is contrived. Thanks.As for your resorting to name calling [Oafish L], who are you calling a sophomore?

oh lighten up. i’m just yankin yer chain, man. don’t take your opinions so seriously? god knows i certainly don’t take mine. you really think anything we say to each other on this little cyber-forum is gonna make much of a difference. but just fer fun i made some gramatical errors for you to correct.[sic][sic][sic]kisses,timmyceep.s. you didn’t think the berkowitz joke was funny? aw’ man.

I would just like to say that this has been one of the most interesting threads I’ve read in a long time, and on any blog. This past year a certain controversy raging in my region, and then my State, forced me, by principle, to become more involved than I would ever be in government, politics and activism.After a year and a half of battle – of – discovering for myself what goes into policy and politics and politicians, I admit to having become extremely jaded – more so than I thought possible – as to the National election.That being said, Matt’s post also roused me from my own ‘narcoleptic despair’. I do creative work. And so, I think that Candidates choose the people who ‘stage’ them for a sound byte addicted nation. And they approve or disapprove their decisions. Then they take those decisions to their audience. They pick their speechwriters and their speeches.Yesterday, I became officially middle aged – so I’ve seen a lot of elections. And I’ve seen what happens after them. And I know what has inspired me in the past, and what has come of it. And I know what has not inspired me and what has come of it. So, if “Those ‘corny speeches’ have roused countless millions from their narcoleptic despair over what their government has become. They serve to inspire ‘those easily influenced’ to fight for unity and equality; because in unity we are stronger.” – then that is the best message, of any message, I have heard in a LONG time.Because I had been trying to find ANY real message, from any candidate for a very long time. Therefore, not only I, but in my opinion, Randy, Paula and Simon would approve.

dws_ct: Do your homework:http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-divorce11-2008jul11,0,6546861.story?page=1McCain is just another in a long line of GOp unfaithfuls, which includes none other than Bedtime for Bonzo himself.