UPDATE: Changed title
At least that seems to be what some now believe after the now famous line from Michelle Obama that this is, to paraphrase, the first time in her adult life that she felt "really proud" to be an American.
Right off the bat, what I find most odd about the reaction from both Repubs and Democrats is that I have not really heard anyone say that they truly believe that Michelle is not proud to be an American --- thus, they are merely attacking her on semantics and not what they know to be true.
Now that we're talking semantics, let's parse her statement further. Michelle clearly applied the adverb 'really,' which can mean truly, but also can signify intensity. What Michelle said can then be read that this is the first time in her adult life that she is intensely proud to be an American. If I were a black woman, seeing for the first time a black person and woman vying for the Democratic nomination, in which one will arguably be the next president, would surely make me intensely proud to be an American --- I can't fault her for this feeling.
All that can be claimed now was that there were no other times in Michelle's adult life to be intensely proud, and not just proud or rather proud, but intensely proud. I can say for one that in my short 28 years that I have never been as proud of my country than I am right now, and can clearly understand this sentiment. When in the last 20 odd years have you been intensely proud of being American? Maybe its just me --- I am a proud American, but the intensity of my pride as of late sure has increased.
Could Michelle have better phrased her comment? Of course: we know that if it warrants it or not that the Repubs will use the comment against her, even though nobody in their right mind would actually argue that she is not truly a proud American (after all, would she have done all she has in her lifetime if she were not proud of her country?).
However, we need to defend Michelle from these attacks and not add to them! I was aghast this morning when Bill Press on Air America demanded an apology from Michelle and went on about how much pride he feels in being an American and how he was incredulous that Michelle could only have felt this way once in her adult life. Being an older white male, I don't know if Bill can truly relate to the experience of a black woman seeing both a black man and a woman vie for the presidency and be taken seriously. Notwithstanding, he and others have conveniently skipped over the meaning of the word 'really.' I find this to be atrocious from a supposed progressive commentator and feel that this simply buys in to the Republican frame.
If Michelle were to apologize, I would hope that it would only be on the semantics of her statement and only to moderate the inevitable Repub attacks. As a progressive Democrat, however, I do not feel the personal need for an apology nor would I ever demand one from Michelle.