128 Barack H. Obama: The Unauthorized BiographyIs Michelle being criticized unfairly? ‘Some observers have detected in Obama an air of
entitlement. Her defenders attribute these charges of arrogance to racist fears about uppity black
women. While it’s a stretch to call the suggestion that Obama projects an air of self-satisfaction
bigoted, it may at least reflect a culture gap: last April, after Maureen Dowd wrote a column
criticizing Obama for undermining her husband’s mystique, a blog riposte, circulated widely on the
Internet, was titled “The White Lady Just Doesn’t Get It.” The sentiment—that America was in a
mess, and Mrs. Obama was not happy about it—was not a new one, but her unfortunate formulation
instantly drew charges that she was unpatriotic. Bill O’Reilly spawned his own scandalette,
remarking, “I don’t want to go on a lynching party against Michelle Obama unless there’s evidence,
hard facts, that say this is how the woman really feels.” Victor Maltsev, of Rego Park, wrote to the
Post, “Obama wants to be our next first lady? Watch out, America!” Cindy McCain seized the
opportunity to draw a sniffy contrast between the Obamas and her and her war-hero husband, telling
a cheering crowd, “I don’t know about you—if you heard those words earlier—I’m very proud of
my country.”’ (New Yorker, March 11, 2008)
Michelle embodies the condescending, patronizing attitude of the entire Obama operation: it is a
mission to the benighted denizens of Middle America, viewed as ethnographic material. Michelle
has to ask for votes, and she finds that this is beneath her new-found opulence and social prestige:
‘Perhaps Obama’s high-handedness is preëmptive, her way of “claiming a seat at the table”—as she
is fond of calling enfranchisement in the power-brokering structure—rather than waiting to be
offered one. It’s as though she figures she might as well say that she and her husband are all that
before someone can say that they aren’t. And there’s a sort of strategic genius to her presentation of
campaigning as grinding work that takes her away from her family, rather than a glorious tour of the
world’s greatest country that she would be thrilled to be undertaking even if she didn’t have to. She
frequently tells her audiences, “I don’t care where I am, the first question is ‘How are you managing
it all? How are you holding up?’ “The effect, of course, is to set up an expectation of tribute, like
those hairdressers who display all their gifts in the days leading up to Christmas. By loudly voicing
her distaste for retail politicking, Obama makes people feel as though, by showing up, she were
doing them a favor.” (New Yorker, March 11, 2008)
Michelle may well be more devoted to Jeremiah Wright than Barry is. At a recent campaign
stop, her exordium went as follows: “You all got up bright and early just for me?” she asked the
mostly elderly, almost all-black crowd. “Yes!” they roared. Obama continued, “On behalf of my
church home and my pastor, Reverend Wright, I bring greetings.” After warming up the crowd,
Obama launched into her stump speech, a forty-five-minute monologue that she composed herself
and delivers without notes. (New Yorker, March 11, 2008)
The New Yorker, a bastion of pro-Obama devotion, provides some clues to the ultimate sources
of Michelle’s rage, hatred, and hauteur. She is tormented by feelings of inferiority, low self-worth
and self-esteem, and the sense of impending doom. One is reminded of Napoleon’s mother, who
kept repeating “longo mai,” meaning, in her Corsican dialect: Let’s hope all this lasts. People like
this generally try to sock away a stash of money in case it doesn’t last, and Michelle will likely be
no exception.
When the New Yorker began asking about this obvious internal stress, Michelle replied:
“What minority communities go through still represents the challenges, the legacies, of
oppression and racism. You know, when you have cultures who feel like second-class citizens
at some level... there’s this natural feeling within the community that we’re not good enough... we can’t be as smart as or as prepared—and it’s that internal struggle that is always the