Last week at the Democratic Convention we saw Michelle Obama in quite a new light. The Michelle Obama who took to the podium was so heartfelt, talking about her husband Barack Obama. She spoke with passion about his wanting to change America. She talked of how he was raised by his grandparents, taught that you must work for what you have, not born with a silver spoon in his mouth.  She went on to tell the audience that they share the same values as the American people.  It was a beautiful speech, a lovely tribute to her husband in his race for the White House.



However, it was ever so contrary to speeches given in the past.  One in particular, not that long ago in which the tone, the message and the delivery were so far from what we saw Monday night.
Is there more than one Michelle Obama?

We have all heard by now parts of the speech Michelle gave in North Carolina just last year, where she stated that “this is the first time in my adult life that I am really proud of my country.” This statement has been in the news for some time now; it has been hashed out thoroughly. However, it was said in the context of being very bitter about things that directly affected her life. She speaks of her bitterness over her student loans, how they have scarred her. She speaks about the unfairness of SAT scores.

In parts of her speech it is hard to not equate it to other speeches where a black person is trying to convey that they were treated differently and their success or lack of, is the result of this country and its perception of black people. I am not here to talk about race at all. I am here to say that we are, what we make of ourselves. If we are worried about student loans scarring us, we can pick a cheaper college or university; we don’t have to attend Harvard to be a success. It is not America’s fault if we don't test well on our SAT’s. Many don’t.  Michelle talks about having the bar raised just high enough so it can’t be reached. We know that to not be true, so many have reached it. So many have worked so hard and have achieved. Her quote here: “We’re still living in a time and in a nation where the bar is set, right? You start working hard and sacrificing and you think you’re getting close to that bar, you’re working and you’re struggling, and what happens? They raise the bar to keep it just out of reach.”



In Charlotte her America was a dark and ugly place, where people who work hard are knocked down by sinister forces-a place where even young children burst into tears when they realize the deck is stacked against them. So getting past the statement about her being proud of her country for the first time, I have to wonder about the bitterness she truly harbors within herself. Does she have that “we are owed” attitude because of the past where we have heard a black person, exclaim so many times “we are owed, our grandparents were slaves.” Even though one could easily counter such a statement and say that over 600,000 died in the Civil War and follow up with them you owe us!

This just can’t be about race; there is no room in the White House for the race card to be played. We need change, yes we sure do, but we do not need it in the form of the cultivation of past beliefs that one part of society has not been treated as it should have been. We are “One Nation under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all”. If you don’t truly believe that then you should not be living in the United States of America.

I took the liberty of taking some parts of the speech Michelle Obama gave in North Carolina that day and dissecting them, if you will. I would like to say psssssssst Michelle? I would like to let you in on a secret. Liberal/socialist taxation and programs is what raises the bar. The harder you work the more the liberals want to tax you. They want to take more of your hard earned money. They want to give that hard earned money to the non workers. You know them, those people who think they are “owed” and don’t have to go out and work like the rest of us. Michelle, when you were speaking about your student loans and how they scarred you, I was thinking about your husband’s tax plan and how it would affect you and your student loans. You will have less money to pay them back if he puts his plan into action, this will do nothing to heal those scars. It is a good thing you were able to secure your beautiful home because it is going to be very hard to save money in the years to come, homeownership will have had the “bar raised” high and out of reach.

In Denver Michelle, you said, “America is a place of hope, a place where people find success during the course of improbable journeys.” That is so contrary to your speech just a little over one year ago. Assure me and tell me why I should think that the feelings you harbored back in North Carolina giving that speech are so totally different from the speech you gave before the American people as your husband was about to accept the Democratic nomination for President? In speaking for myself, I would have to know that you are no longer affected by the hate spewed by the Rev. Jeremiah Wright that you were subject to while listening to him in the past. I would have to know that you no longer think that America “owes you”. I would need to be convinced that you love your country as I do, as I have my whole life not just recently.  I would have to be convinced that you are not associated, nor have you ever been with Bill Ayers, who has been called a terrorist, Tony Rezco, who is a felon and anyone else of such poor character. I think the American people  deserve full disclosure.

Finally, Michelle, I would have to be convinced that you believe that America is what it is and always has been which is the great “melting pot”, the most generous country in the world! Only then could I even consider your husband for President.

Speak Now America! we want to hear from you!