Michelle obama speaks of not having pride in America or Presidents of her lifetime. It is worthwhile to consider what Presidents she has known
On the 23rd of February, my newspaper, San Diego Union Tribune, carried not one but two editorials condemning Michelle Obama (Sen. Barack Obama’s wife) for her statement praising her husband, a candidate for President, and saying, "For the first time in my adult lifetime, I’m really proud of my country."
The first editorial "No Pride" read, "Michelle Obama’s comments were unfortunate, unfair, and unflattering." The editor further chastised Michelle by saying that she has ‘a lot to be proud of", citing her job, her college degree, and her $1.6 million dollar home. Actually, pride in one’s own job, college degree, and home is quite different from pride in your nation’s behavior. Mrs. Obama was actually speaking in the context of her pride in the enthusiasm that her husband, a potential American President, was able to generate in the people with his message of ‘change’ in American government from a nation ‘hated’ by the world to a government respected for a legacy of peace, compassion, truth, and honor.
Reflecting on Presidents of the Past in the forty-four year lifetime of Mrs. Obama, it should be noted that she was born in 1964 during the Administration of President Lyndon B. Johnson (1963-9), who launched America into the ill-fated Vietnam War based on President Johnson’s lie about the Tonkin Gulf incident; the Vietnam war cost America 212,000 American casualties and God only knows how many casualties among innocent Vietnamese people.
Following President Johnson, Michelle’s President was President Richard Nixon (1969-74), who resigned in disgrace for the Watergate burglary. (Nixon’s Vice President, Spiro Agnew, had resigned before him because of involvement in another criminal activity.)
The next President in Michelle’s life, Gerald Ford (1974-77), pardoned Richard Nixon, America’s highest ranked criminal, "of ANY crimes that he MIGHT have committed while in office."
President Jimmie Carter (1977-81), then became Michelle’s President, and was unsuccessful and ineffective in resolving the crisis of American Embassy personnel being taken and held hostage in Iran by Iranian terrorists.
President Ronald Reagan (1981-89) then became President and his Administration was responsible for the Iran-Contra scandal, trading arms for hostages and covering it up by lying to Congress; President Regan pleaded innocence because of ignorance, claiming that he was ‘unaware’ of what was going on in his own administration.
President George Herbert Walker Bush (1989-93) became the next President and pardoned the members of the Regan Administration being prosecuted for the Iran-Contra scandal and promptly led America into the First Persian Gulf Oil War with 766 American casualties plus thousands of innocent Iraqi civilian casualties from the bombing of Baghdad; President Bush was also responsible for the establishment of the military base in the Saudi Arabian Muslim Holy Land which was the incentive for bin Laden’s September 11, 2001, Terrorist Attack on New York and Washington D. C.
President William Jefferson Clinton (1993-2001) was elected in the wake of a grave economic recession during the Bush Administration. President Bill Clinton became only the second American President to be impeached, changed with perjury and obstruction of justice in regard to receiving oral sex from an intern in the Oval Office of the White House.
The present Administration of President George W. Bush (2001-2008) ignored warnings of the September 11, 2001 bin Laden Terrorist Attack that killed 3000 innocent Americans; he invaded and occupied Afghanistan and Iraq in violation of International Law; he detained and tortured prisoners of war in violation of Geneva Conventions; he has been responsible for search and seizure of property of American citizens without warrant in violation of the U.S. Constitution; and he has virtually destroyed the reputation and honor of the American democratic Republic, in the world community.
Michelle Obama never experienced the compassion of President Franklin Roosevelt for the downtrodden American victims of the Great Depression and his assurance that Americans had ‘nothing to fear but fear itself’; nor the down-to-earth resolution of the problems of America take on by President Harry Truman who said ‘the buck stops here’; nor the charm and charisma of President John Kennedy telling Americans to ‘ask not what your country can do for you but what you can do for your country’.
Does Michelle Obama have reason to be proud of the hatred that people of the rest of the world have for American aggressive imperialism and greed for oil? Should Michelle Obama or any Americans feel pride for America’s sadistic torture and mistreatment of prisoners of war in violation of Geneva Conventions? Should any Americans be proud of the killing and maiming of hundreds of thousands of innocent Muslim women, men, and children in the ‘carpet bombing’ of Afghanistan and the ‘shock and awe’ bombing of Iraq? Can any American be proud of the present anti-Muslim hatred spewed daily by so many Americans and American politicians that promises to give rise to potential monumental religious wars?
The answer is no!
When the government of the American democratic Republic is morally wrong, America is not deserving of patriotic pride. The American Constitution and Declaration of Independence require that the true patriot put a stop to immoral behavior of its government by election, impeachment, or revolution if necessary.
The second editorial commentary, "Differing Ways of Defining Patriotism" (by Linda Chavez in the San Diego Union Tribune February 24th) that condemns Michelle Obama’s statement, says, " . . . most Americans think their country is great no matter who occupies the White House". Chavez ignores recent polls where more than seventy percent of the voters indicated they were infuriated and embarrassed by President Bush and his wars. Then Chavez states, "Patriotism is a lot like the unconditional love of a parent for a child." That is not true. America is not an infant, it was conceived as a democratic Republic; the electorate and the President must accept responsibility for the nation’s reputation!
Michelle Obama legitimately made a comparison of her husband to the Presidents in her adult lifetime, accurately describing her own feeling and experience. She is entitled to take pride in the charismatic appeal of her husband calling for ‘change’ in the character of the government. Most Americans have shown their support of Sen. Obama’s hope and trust in America to ‘change’, by voting for him; most people share in Michelle’s dream for an American President who will show compassion for the common people of America and finding a quick end to the carnage in Afghanistan and Iraq, bringing American troops home.