Tuesday, February 19, 2008

Michelle ensures Barack keeps it real, fights The Man?

++AdditionIII++Watch the video below once more, but focus this time on Michelle's traps (trapezia are the shoulder muscles that distinguish hard-hitting linebackers from hard-hitting fullbacks--Bill Goldberg and Brian Urlacher both have 'outsized' traps relative to other conspicuous strength regions, which is why they inspire more physical awe in guys who carried in their football days than in those who never did, relative to other body-builder types). The underbite only adds to the virile virago effect.

She apparently shares an affinity for regular exercise that the current President does, and boy does it show! If the couple got into a physical brawl, my money would be on Michelle--her scrawny, thin-necked, cigarette-smoking spouse doesn't match up!

++AdditionII++Randall Parker notices the same, but raises the possibility that her frustration may not come from her status as a 'black woman in a white world' but from her general leftism or from an enthusiasm for multiculturalism.

++Addition++It appears Michelle's undergrad thesis says pretty much what you'd expect it to say. See Steve Sailer's commentary on it as well.


I wonder if Barack is "experienced" enough to realize that muzzling his wife might be a good thing for his candidacy. At the least, she should read from prepared remarks instead of allowing herself to be caught up in a genuine emotional riff. Here she is speaking in Madison just before the Wisconsin primary:
So a Princeton-educated woman (who got into the Ivy via affirmative action ahead of some unknown who was more qualified) living in a multi-million dollar home, named one of the 25 most inspiring women in the world by Essence magazine, married to a Senator who may become one of the youngest Presidents in American history--says she's been ashamed of her country for more than four decades. That isn't something likely to go far in 'unifying the red states and the blue states'. Realizing she'd overstepped, Michelle then covered herself by insinuating that the shame was shared by the farmer in Iowa, too.

But as things continue to come out about her, she looks more and more like a self-aware black woman who strongly resents the white power structure. IMDb reports that the first movie she went to see with Barack was Spike Lee's Do the Right Thing, a film that climaxes when white police officers suffocate a black man who is upset over an Italian-American's refusal to honor black athletes in his restaurant. The two met while employed as the only two black lawyers at the law firm of Sidley and Austin in Chicago.

Newsweek reports (in an article that, perhaps fittingly, begins its caption with "She's the one who keeps him real...") that her undergraduate thesis entitled "Princeton-Educated Blacks and the Black Community" is sealed from public record (Steve Sailer has more on it here). Her racial discomfort regarding her Princeton educational experience is not insignificant to her, either--she has made mention of it to other major media outlets as well.

In the run-up to the Iowa caucuses, when Barack was trailing nationally among blacks, Michelle responded to an inquiry as to why he was behind:

First of all, I think that that's not going to hold. I'm completely confident: black America will wake up, and get it. But what we're dealing with in the black community is just the natural fear of possibility.

When I look at my life, the stuff that we're seeing in these polls has played out my whole life, always been told by somebody that I'm not ready, that I can't do something, my scores weren't high enough.

There's always that doubt in the back of the minds of people of color. People who've been oppressed and haven't been given real opportunities [like herself, presumably?!]. That you never really believe. That you believe that somehow, someone is better than you. You know, deep down inside, you doubt whether you can do it, because that's all you've been told, is "no, wait."

Indeed, black America did "get it". She could've easily offered a more politically palatable answer that wouldn't insinuate Barack should be the de jure choice for American blacks.

Personally, her candidness is appreciated. I'm hardly a fan of politically correct conformity. But this woman could be the next First Lady. That she seems to harbor such a deep grudge against white America on behalf of the black community is a little unsettling in light of the fact that she may be living in the White House in a year.

Ron Guhname, in a post on black attractiveness in which he noted Michelle was the most African-looking among several black female celebrities, remarks:
Evidently, Barry wanted to prove he was black enough when he chose Michelle.
Ron may have only been half-serious, but I do wonder if Barack's obsession as a halfrican over his blackness factored into his choice of a marriage partner. He may have put that internal struggle to rest, but there's much that indicates Michelle has not.


Anonymous said...

This kind of thing is why Fox has been so velvet-gloved on Obama, they would love to run against him because there are some skeletons in the closet and they know it.

Her college thesis, under lock and key, is potentially quite embarrassing racially. It might unnderve some of his supporters and rile up paleo-cons to fight the gag reflex and vote for McCain.

Al Fin said...

Michelle is not really different from most affirmative action black college graduates and professionals I know. She may have let her guard down a bit, unconsciously, in the excitement of the moment. She spoke her true feelings in public, for a change.

Too many blacks have been raised to feel this general resentment toward their own country, as if they are being held hostage by a hostile power. Think John McCain in North Vietnam, Michelle Obama in the US--exactly the same, right?

Dennis Mangan said...

My God this woman is a disaster. Let's hope that the electorate figures that out before November. Fortunately, although reasonably attractive, she doesn't come off as charming in the least.

Audacious Epigone said...


I agree. Polling suggests Obama is a better matchup against McCain than Hillary is. There is reason to doubt that conventional wisdom.

Al Fin,

If Obama gets the nomination, it'll be interesting to see if the McCain campaign takes advantage of the racialism of the Obama team that is hiding right there in the open. That contrast--McCain's pride and Michelle's shame, given their respective situation, would lend itself well to such an effort.


She comes off as forceful but spiteful. Being 5'11 doesn't soften the image much, either!

savage said...

One must assume very few Iowa farmers profess the same lack of pride in the United States that this quota filler proclaims, unless it is the cultural shift being spoken of, for which quite a few might, but for vastly different reasons.

Audacious Epigone said...


And in that case, the struggles would definitely not be the same!

Anonymous said...

Traps. Reminds me that I have to start doing shrugs again.

I live in a screwed-up Third World country (Costa Rica) where not even one gym has a power rack! They prefer those junky Smith Machines. I find this emblematic of a culture of underachievement.

Audacious Epigone said...


I don't have an excuse for lack of availability, but as I've gotten older I've sort of went against the normal progression and find myself liking cardio more and more relative to anaerobics.

I used to do lateral raises daily. I need to start doing so again.

Rob said...

I wonder if Michelle Obama isn't angry because of high androgen levels. Sort of a natural 'roid rage.

Even for an AA woman, she's really manly