The first worthwhile thing America's ever done in her lifetime is ... voting for her husband? The only thing in America worth being proud of is ... her family?

I realize that all successful politicians have to have an inflated sense of self-regard, but still, this seems a bit over the top.

Tom, don't get your panties in a wad. All words should be taken in context. Besides, Michelle Obama is not running for president.

OK, so what's the context that makes her remark something other then "I'm full of myself"?

Well, go out and find the transcript. Here's a link to a video. It's not 100% complete but two things stand out. <link>

One, she is talking about hope in this country and she says that for the first time in her ADULT life she is really proud of her country. Proud that there is hope for the future. Whether that hope is based on the election of her husband or whatever is beside the point.

She's younger than I am, I believe, and I can attest that the last 16 years have been hopeless for many. During the Clinton years I heard conservatives call him the Anti-Christ. That is surely hopeless. I heard liberals say the Bush administration wanted permanent war to enrich their fortunes. That certainly bespeaks hopelessness. So I think we can understand her point. She sees young people coming out in droves to vote and that has not been seen in many, many years. She sees people engaged and enthusiastic at Obama rallies. I think she sees a level of hope and pride in this country that hasn't been seen, certainly in liberal circles for a long, long, long time.

The second issue is if you watch the video you will note she says "for the first time in my adult life I am proud of my country." But watch her lips. What she says is "...I am REALLY proud of my country." Someone has deleted the word really. She says it. Pay attention. Apparently that one word is important enough to edit out of the audio because that one word changes the context of what she is saying.

Finally, if she's full of herself so what. Cindy McCain looks full of herself to me. Over made up and over coiffed. Too much money and too little to do. But so what? Neither of them are running for president. If you don't like what M. Obama said, don't vote for her.

I read her comments with chagrin: a woman who got into Yale/Harvard thanks to affirmative action (she apparently does not deny this) but feels no gratitude/pride toward a country that so embraced, cozzened her? I come from a part of the country where the vast majority of poor and disenfranchised are white--though quite possibly many of them are the intellectual equals of Mrs. Obama, crappy public school educations notwithstanding. They expect nothing from anyone, which is exactly what they'll get. Nothing. From anyone. From whence Mrs. Obama's sense of entitlement? That the tiny per centage of white Americans now living who have slave-holding ancestors from 150 years ago owe her? Why can't we all just get along? And play--at least some of us--on a level field?

Ugh! Talk about words taken out of context. May I suggest you look for the whole quote before reacting to the sound bite?

She gave two speeches that day. In the first she said, "for the first time in my adult life I am proud to be an American." In the second she said "really proud."

Personally I don't see what the difference is. In both she is saying there is nothing to be proud about in America except for Barack, which is just ridiculous.

Her words were not taken out of context.

Her comment was not that she has never been proud, only that she is now really proud---not of her husband, but of the more hopeful outlook of the country. One of the great things about this country is free speech. It is okay to say that our country has not always been right, that there is need for improvement, that there have been times when one did not agree with the stance that our country took. This does not mean that one does not love one's country.

In order to be the best at anything, one must be cognizant of all weak points, so those weak points can be made stronger. A rose colored glasses view that our country is perfect and needs no adjustment will find us in the same position as some former super powers---on the outside looking in and wondering how the we lost our grip.

Patriotism does not mean blind loyalty.

jvarkias:

She gave two speeches that day. In the first she said, "for the first time in my adult life I am proud to be an American." In the second she said "really proud."

Personally I don't see what the difference is. In both she is saying there is nothing to be proud about in America except for Barack, which is just ridiculous.

Her words were not taken out of context.

Please provide some proof she gave two speeches. I have not read that anywhere. I provided a link to a video of her speech in a post earlier in this thread. The word "really" was either edited out or there was some other problem, but you can see her say it.

Please read my earlier post to note how out of context her words have been taken.

First of all, I couldn't find a definition for the word 'cozzen'. <link>. The word 'cozen' means 'to cheat, deceive or trick' (<link>), which doesn't fit the context in which the word is used in your sentence so I don't quite know what you were trying to say.

At any rate, I could find no article or interview in which Michelle Obama was even asked to 'apparently' confirm or deny the role of affirmative action in her admission to the undergraduate and law schools she attended. However, given the fact that she graduated cum laude from PRINCETON it is 'apparent' that she was MORE than qualified to have been admitted. Moreover, It was reported on this site (<link>) that Sen. Barack Obama, you know, the guy who's running, has indicated his willingness to abandon affirmative action in favor of a CLASS BASED preference system. That would seem to make him the candidate of choice for poor, disenfranchised whites with 'crappy public school educations', wouldn't it?

One last fallacy I wish to refute: the sanctioned and legalized enslavement of blacks created white entitlement or privilege, which has been and continues to be 'sensed' if not exercised by ALL whites, not just by the descendants of those who owned slaves.