Does Michelle Obama overestimate Americans?
With Hillary out of the race, a lot of GOP attention is shifting to Michelle Obama. I won't repeat the memes, but the remains of Rove's smut-factory are trying to paint her as a cross between their depictions of Hillary and of Jeremiah Wright--in other words, an America-hating black bitch.
It's nice to see Republicans recycling, but could some of the mud stick? Their sound byte of choice is of course the "For the first time in my life, I'm proud to be an American," but they've also cobbled together some open criticisms she's made about American policy and culture, for instance (paraphrasing here) that there's a lot of meanness in our culture.
I think it's fair to say that both Obamas have been more open in their views about what needs changing in the U.S. and where we need to move forward than any serious candidate in most of our lifetimes. To me, that jibes pretty well with the message of "hope and change." I for one prefer a president who talks to me like a grown-up and calls a smear campaign for what it is, as opposed to our current one who conflates Hussein with 9/11 and expects me not to notice, requisitions aircraft carriers for photo-ops, and takes every serious issue from health care to fuel costs as an opportunity to cut a check to corporate backers, his underlings dropping misinformation through back channels and lighting fires like the Plame case to distract us the whole time.
So, can we take it? Can we deal with honest rhetoric balancing criticism with praise? Can we accept any answers other than, "We are the chosen nation of Gawd!" and random permutations of "freedom...democracy...9/11?"