GayPatriot

The Internet home for American gay conservatives.

US Swimming Team Kicks France’s Arse,
Will Michelle Cheer or Brood?

by

Gold medal winners: Cullen Jones, Jason Lezak, Michael Phelps and Garrett Weber-Gale. (AP Photo/Thomas Kienzle / August 10, 2008)

That was an awesome race last night. Special congrats go to Charlotte-based Cullen Jones!

One of my first thoughts after savoring the win over the trash-talking French team…. I wonder if Michelle Obama is proud of America today. I wonder if she was proud, like I was, after the 1980 Olympic Hockey team’s win over the Soviet Union. Or the many other stellar moments of American sports pride in MY adult lifetime.

I wonder…

-Bruce (GayPatriot)

Comments

  2. Also, just FWIW – even though Phelps is one hot number, I still think that Garrett Weber-Gale is adorable.

    (Sigh) When does the men’s diving competition start? 😉

    Regards,
    Peter H.

  6. The win by the 4×100 relay team was one of the most exciting Olympic moments, rivaling the 1980 U.S. victory over the Soviet Union in hockey (although the U.S. still had to defeat Finland for the gold). I think it was the first time I was yelling at the TV telling a swimmer to push it during the final stretch.

    It’s okay for an athlete or team to show confidence in their ability, but it becomes a big turn off when it turns to trash talking. In fact, I would have been somewhat okay with what the French team said, until they came out and said how they are going to “smash” the U.S. team. Besides it not being a nice thing to do, we saw last night why else it’s not a good thing to do. The crow you eat afterwards is rather rancid.

  7. #6 – Pat, it’s just like the French to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. But I will say this – on the podium, they acted with grace and dignity towards the USA. Too bad others can’t do the same.

    Regards,
    Peter H.

  8. I was just about to turn off the TV last night when I saw this race was about to start. So glad I stayed glued to the TV. What an awesome finish. These guys have much to be proud of – incredible performance!

  9. Come on, Bruce, why do you have to mix politics with one of the great stories out of the Beijing Olympics! I know the point you’re trying to make but it seems petty in this context and takes away from the pride you should feel for the Charlotte-based swimmer — only the second black American to ever win a swimming medal.

    Barack and Michelle Obama are Americans and were probably as excited about that relay and proud of the American win as was George W. Bush.

    My good friend, Trace Smith, has sat fairly close to Presidemt Nush at a number of Olympic events and told me over the phone that our Chief Executive gets pretty excited.

  10. Come on, Bruce, is it really necessary to mix politics with what may be the greatest story of the Beijing Olympics. I know the point you’re trying to make but it seems petty in this context. And it takes away from the awesome pride you should feel about your fellow Charlotte resident — only the second black American to wiin an Olympic swimming medal.

    Barack and Michelle Obama are Americans and were probably as excited and proud as George W. Bush.

    My good friend, Trace Smith, who occasionally posts comments here, has sat near President Bush at a number of Olympic events. He told me over the phone that our Chief Executive gets pretty excited.

  12. Don’t forget that Phelps is swimming in the 200-meter tonight live via satellite (except for Dan and the rest of the West Coast due to the horribly incompetent idiots in the network programming department at NBC).

    Regards,
    Peter H.

  13. Guess I’m the only one who didn’t watch it. I saw the women’s race either last night or the night before. The US swimmer lost the gold by one stroke, but it was still awesome to watch.

  16. The Democrat view is that America should let others win, it is arrogant for America to win and strive for GOLD. It’s not fair. The socialist nervana is if the games finished and all countries would win an equal amount of medals. Or better yet, don’t use any stopwatches, just run the races and in the end declare all contestants “winners”. Kinda like Gore and Kerry. Didn’t they “really” win?

  18. Vicious eh? THe truth hurts. We’re just having a little fun with people who don’t know how to have fun. And to laugh at themselves. hehe Some people hate to have their anti Americanism shown for what it is.
    Bush 43 is over in China with these marvelous athletes. BHO is in Hawaii….vacationing. About as far away from the American mainland as he and Michelle can get. hehe

  19. #18 – Gene, I’ve always said that if it is good for the USA, it is usually awful for libtards. Something about them being self-hating Americans.

    Regards,
    Peter H.

  20. Hey, it was the First Queen-in-Waiting Michelle who has roundly denounced this country and said she was only proud of it during her adult lifetime this year.

    I’m just offering a question to determine what kind of First Lady we will have. One who loves and cheers for this nation? Or one who derides it and sees everything bad in it first.

    We know the answer if posed to many of our usual Lefty commenters now, don’t we.

  21. I noticed that the victorious Americans went back to high fives as opposed to the more trendy “Obama fist bumpes”. Is there a message there? Is the Obama mania over all ready? We were just getting warmed up. I’ve heard the athletes really appreciate the President being there to cheer them on. And are dissappointed that the Messiah and Princess have chosen to snub them.

  22. I’m just offering a question to determine what kind of First Lady we will have. One who loves and cheers for this nation? Or one who derides it and sees everything bad in it first.

    Bruce, it will probably be the former. I don’t agree with your premise that Michelle Obama “roundly denounced this country…” It was her way of saying that Bush was an inept president and that his policies, in her opinion, have hurt the country. Granted, it was stupid for her to say it. But let’s take her at her word on this one occasion (and ignore everything else she has said) and assume that she really doesn’t like America. Then the answer to your question is the latter privately, but publicly, it will be the former.

    I noticed that the victorious Americans went back to high fives as opposed to the more trendy “Obama fist bumpes”.

    Gene, I’m not sure if there’s any message there. I’ve seen fist bumps a couple of years before Obama even entered the presidential sweepstakes.

  23. Yeah! Go USA!! It’s real great when we are triumphant in the Olympics.

    Men in speedos (whoo, hoo!). I’m glad to see the good ol’ banana hammocks are being worn by some swimmers.

  24. We know the answer if posed to many of our usual Lefty commenters now, don’t we.

    As I understand the philosophy of the Obama-left, winning only makes other countries hate us more. In fact, I would think a proper leftist would object to the U.S. presence in the Olympic Games, given our nation’s brutal history of oppression.

    If Olympics were socialist, wouldn’t every athlete be required to finish at the same time? Would every athlete be given a cheap tin metal regardless of how he performed, or even if he didn’t show up? That’s kind of the Obamunist ideal.

  26. Bruce, GP, since your post “NBC: Nothing But Communisim” is a little old and only one comment was added today, I’d like to comment on it here.

    As another commentator wrote, I must be watching the Olympics on a different network. I don’t pay much attention to Matt Lauer so I can’t really comment on him. But I sure haven’t seen any “communist” bias in NBC’s coverage.

    Bob Costas opened Sunday’s coverage (at least his part) from Tiannamen Square. He did not gloss over what happened years ago when the government put down student dissenters. Throughout the coverage the NBC crew has been frank that China is far from being a democracy. During the prelude to the Opening Ceremonies, Tom Brokaw talked about progress China has made but also cited the lack of political freedoms in China.

    If some on the air people were perceived to be a little too “pro” China I think it was simply a case that people who have never been in China before or not for years are sometimes in awe of how far China has come. I was there less than one year after President Nixon’s 1972 historic visit and was there again last year and I thought I was in another country. American capital and culture have greatly reformed much of urban China.

    While China must take many more steps before it qualifies as a democracy, the fact is that the Chinese, especially the growing middle class in the larger cities, enjoy freedoms never imagined as possible just a generation ago.

    (My good friend, Trace Smith, who is at the Olympics with his family, met a Chinese family at the Opening Ceremonies and on Sunday joined them for worship services at a Methodist church in suburban Beijing. The family lives in a suburb that looks very much like any upper middle class suburbs of Kansas City, Chicago, Philadelphia, etc. They didn’t need any government bureaucrat’s permission to move from one from area to another and bought a lot and hired an architect and builder just like we would. Except for TVs and similar electronics, almost everything in the home came from the United States. They drive two Buicks, the most popular car in China, where 25,000 new cars are purchased every day. While Trace is in China several times a year, he had never visited a Wal-Mart. He and his wife dropped by one in the Beijing suburbs and found it full of American-made products and wall to wall shoppers buying them.)

    We shouldn’t dwell entirely on how far China has to go; to be fair we have to recognize how far they’ve come.

    Back to sports: some of those who’ve posted comments seem to think it’s wrong and “commie” for NBC’s on-the-air crews to say much nice about Chinese athletes.

    NBC is doing what it’s always done — and what ABC did when Jim McKay was in Bob Costa’s seat. The network may give most of its prime time coverage to events with American competitors but it always focuses on greatness. It wasn’t the case this year, as a USA men’s gymnastics team medaled when no one expected them to, but if China (or once the Soviets) has a gymnast who by past performances is clearly the world’s best, NBC isn’t going to pretend some kid from Podunk, Iowa, is in the same league.

    It was most obvious in swimming, especially in women’s competition. Swimmers from Australia, Japan, South Korea, etc., gave great performances and NBC didn’t ignore them. But they remembered they were Americans. Not since ABC’s Al Michaels and company became cheerleaders in their coverage of Team USA’s hockey victory over Russia have I witnessed a broadcast crew as excited as the NBC crew was during that final lap in the swimming relay discussed in this post.

    Let’s put politics aside until the Olympics are over and simply enjoy the spectacle of the world’s best competing against each other in a variety of sports. We should take a lesson from the Chinese in the venues. Except for the men’s gymnastic competition, the Chinese have not been real wild about a home team. And in China, gymnastic golds are a big deal. Trace, who calls me and talks for an hour every day, said one of the things that has surprised him has been the Chinese crowds. They have reserved their loudest applause for the best performances, regardless of which country the athletes were from.

  28. Michael Phelps is now the all-time Olympian for 11 gold medals. Four more and he breaks Mark Spitz’s record for most medals at one Olympiad.

    What a guy.

    Regards,
    Peter H.

  29. “Hey, it was the First Queen-in-Waiting Michelle who has roundly denounced this country and said she was only proud of it during her adult lifetime this year.”

    Typical pseudocon ignorant thing to say. If your little mind could work beyond an either/or view you would have understood what Michelle Obama meant by what she said. But to you only those who think exactly like you are patriots. Nancy Reagan was the only First Lady who thought she was the Queen and hopefully we’ll never have another. You can’t watch the Olympics and simply enjoy it, or comment on it without partisan puke, that is pitiful.

    And Gene, if you can’t “just have fun” without spouting putrid lies about others then there is something seriously wrong.

  30. Sorry we didn’t understand what Michelle “meant” for us to “understand” when she said when BHO ran for Prez it was the first time in her life she was proud of her country. What exactly is it we are not understanding about that statement. That it was an ignorant thing to say? That she isn’t ready for prime time? That she is too stupid to know that it was an ignorant thing to say about her country that has made her and her husband millionaires? And by the way Nancy Reagan had class. She dressed nice and supported her husband. She served proudly and as displayed during Ronald Reagans funeral, her country came out by the millions to show their respect. Her husband didn’t disgrace the office of the President as Clinton subsequently did. By abusing interns in the once sacred oval office. Or is that a lie too? I’m use to leftists re writing history.

  31. If your little mind could work beyond an either/or view you would have understood what Michelle Obama meant by what she said.

    What she said was very simple: “for the first time in my adult life I am proud of my country”.

    What you’re telling us is that Obama and his leftist wife don’t really mean what they actually say — which means they lie to us.

    Why she would be such a buffoon as to make this statement, I have no idea. But I think it’s the fact that she knows, as a black woman, she can express complete contempt and hatred for this country, and still have white liberals like Dave falling all over themselves to worship her toes.

  32. as a black woman, she can express complete contempt and hatred for this country, and still have white liberals like Dave falling all over themselves to worship her toes.

    That’s not a phenomenon unique to black women. Anyone who expresses contempt and hatred for America becomes a liberal hero for “speaking truth to power.”

    When a liberal claims to love America, I always get the impression they’re talking about a landscape, not an ideal. How else to explain liberals working day and night to tear down the very freedoms and economic opportunities that made America a great nation.

    Look at what the Los Angeles City Council is doing and tell that it isn’t full-bore Marxism, and abrogation of property rights?

  34. I would like Dave to explain that; obviously he believes that he’s too stupid and ignorant to stop himself from eating too much fast food, and needs Michelle Obama and her leftist friends to make his decisions for him by banning all fast food restaurants.

  35. Perhaps Dave, since he is ever so much smarter than us poor, dumb, pseudocons, can explain how Michelle Obama’s comment “for the first time in my adult life I am proud of my country” means something other than she had never previously, in her adult life, been proud of her country.

  40. #37 Kind of like Barack. They give up pretty easily. Not much fight in em. What once was , “I’ll debate him anywhere anytime” has turned into “well umm ahh, you see, we, um I will debate Sen McCain 3 times as proscribed by the um ah eh commission, ah elections commission when they ah umm…..” geez out of time pal, the buzzer went…..ANYONE GOT A TELEPROMPTER?????

  41. Same with Michelle O. As soon as people started calling her a militant, she changed right away and became a cookie baking mom. Stand up girl for what you believe in. Defend your Rev Wright. Trash your country, if that’s what you believe. Don’t let some media hacks talk you out of your true beliefs.

  43. It’s not a matter of giving up, only certain posts make it through. Perhaps there’s a limit on truth here? Bringing up Michelle Obama in a post about the Olympics is ignorant. Slamming her because you don’t have the capability to understand the English language enough is ridiculous. Mindless attacks on liberals simply show the lowlife mindset. Somehow jumping to fast food – where the hell does that fit in? Cries of socialism – connected to to Olympics somehow? And then NDLabarbera of course can’t miss a chance to attribute a belief to me that I have never stated, implied or given the tiniest hint that I actually thought.

    Come to think of it, y’all don’t want the nanny turned off because the only way you can look intelligent is if there are no responses. It makes it easy for you to just throw out insane assumptions about people just because they disagree with you on some issues. Grow up!

  44. Dave, once again, please explain how Michelle Obama’s comment “for the first time in my adult life I am proud of my country” means something other than she had never previously, in her adult life, been proud of her country.

  45. South LA is not only requiring big box stores to profive shelters for illegal day workers ( link above) but also is banning new fast food restaurants. All so their residents will eat more healthy. The socialist government there believes that if they limit the choices of their people, they will eat healthier and be much happier. Kind of like in Cuba and Vietnam. All “happy, healthy people”. Leftists believe that govt should limit choices to small unsafe autos, only healthy expensive food, small tenament housing etc. Refer to old pictures of the Soviet Union. Where there were lines of stunned people waiting for govt loaves of bread.

  47. And then NDLabarbera of course can’t miss a chance to attribute a belief to me that I have never stated, implied or given the tiniest hint that I actually thought.

    That would be a legitimate gripe if you had ever demonstrated independent thought, Dave; however, what you have demonstrated is that, regardless of how inane something happens to be, if Democrats support it, you support it.

    But, there can always be a first time. After you answer V the K’s question, go ahead and demonstrate to us that you are capable of such by stating that the Democrats and Obama supporters on the LA City Council that are banning fast-food restaurants and demanding that private businesses create sanctuaries for illegal immigrants are wrong.

  48. Oh, let me try. When Michelle Obama said “for this time in my adult life, I feel proud of my country,” she really meant that despite being handed an ivy league education and a $300K do-nothing job and a million dollar house in a tony part of Chicago thanks to her husband’s political dealings, she is still bitter and obsessed with racial grievances.

    Comment filter seems to be working fine.

  49. Since I have attempted 4 times now to answer your question V I would say the comment field is not “working fine”. I will try again, perhaps it will get through.

    NDT, you are deranged.

  50. Special treatment of illegal immigrants is wrong, the fact that they broke our laws cannot be over looked. The city council where I live just vote to make our city a “sanctuary”. I have not yet read the exact wording yet so I’m not sure exactly what they mean by it. I know for sure that what I heard about it reported by Lunatic Dobbs is complete fabrication, the council is out of line but they are not complete idiots.

  51. Attempt #6, I think I figured out why it was happening. This is the original comment

    Dang, just deleted my response to you Gene. In a nutshell, you cannot make statements like “leftists believe” because we are all individuals who have many beliefs some which even agree with yours at times. “the left” is not some giant blob that is driven by a uniform set of defined opinions, rules etc. and the same with “the right”. I hate the degree of interference in our daily lives by gov’t entities that is happening right now. What we eat, drink, smoke or drive is our choice. But, how far does that go – how do you then justify drinking age limits, drug laws and other controls that are imposed by the gov’t on our lives? If y’all could express your opinions in away that shows what you believe not by attacking all liberals for what you THINK they believe it would make a lot more sense, and have a greater impact on the reader if that is what you want.

    V the K, in my opinion what MO said in the afternoon speech is what she meant in the morning “really proud”, not just “proud”. The response to her statement from “the right” is totally based on the lie that “liberals hate America”. To be critical is not hate, it’s actually more patriotic than yeah rah rah. Also, there is much in the USA that YOU are not proud of so why is it you can express that and work for what you consider better but “the left” can’t. No doubt there are some at both extremes of the political spectrum who “hate America” but the Obamas are not among them and the majority of liberals/Democrats/leftists are no among them. Oh, and your statement about how MO can say whatever she wants because she is a black woman it one of the stupidest things I have read on here. My standards of whose words to accept or not is certainly not based on the color of their skin or their reproductive parts. Sorry that I can’t affirm your ignorance.

    To those who claim liberals give up, I can only speak for myself but I work 10-12 hour days and I have neither the time or desire to sit and respond on message boards during those hours. And on many days I log in and start working as soon as I get home so again, it’s not a priority to check every comment here. Lots of times days have gone by and any post that I had commented on is no longer getting comments so I don’t bother.

    So why not take the opportunity provided by the Olympics to concentrate on something other than smearing those you imagine to be your enemy.

  53. V the K, in my opinion what MO said in the afternoon speech is what she meant in the morning “really proud”, not just “proud”. The response to her statement from “the right” is totally based on the lie that “liberals hate America”. To be critical is not hate, it’s actually more patriotic than yeah rah rah. Also, there is much in the USA that YOU are not proud of so why is it you can express that and work for what you consider better but “the left” can’t. No doubt there are some at both extremes of the political spectrum who “hate America” but the Obamas are not among them and the majority of liberals/Democrats/leftists are no among them.
    Oh, and the statement about how MO can say whatever she wants because she is a black woman it one of the stupidest things I have read on here. My standards of whose words to accept or not is certainly not based on the color of their skin or their reproductive parts. And I don’t worship any politician or their spouse. I find the whines from the right calling Obama “the One”, Obamessiah etc. quite hypocrical considering that just a whisper of Reagan’s name sets your hearts aflame and your frilly panties to get damp.

  54. Special treatment of illegal immigrants is wrong, the fact that they broke our laws cannot be over looked.

    Ah, but it is overlooked; indeed, Barack Obama even calls it racist and hateful to enforce immigration laws and argues that they should be given special treatment.

    Now, Dave, instead of sidestepping, state that the Democrats and Obama supporters on the LA City Council that are banning fast-food restaurants and demanding that private businesses create sanctuaries for illegal immigrants are wrong. Indeed, since Obama himself supports such policies, state that HE is wrong.

  56. I like these arguments and discussions with leftists. But they do seem to give up fairly quickly no?

    I gave my answer re: Michelle Obama’s quote, but no one responded to it. I was also away for the weekend. Anyway, here’s my response again.

    Bruce, it will probably be the former. I don’t agree with your premise that Michelle Obama “roundly denounced this country…” It was her way of saying that Bush was an inept president and that his policies, in her opinion, have hurt the country. Granted, it was stupid for her to say it. But let’s take her at her word on this one occasion (and ignore everything else she has said) and assume that she really doesn’t like America. Then the answer to your question is the latter privately, but publicly, it will be the former.

    I’ll add the following. If Michelle Obama didn’t mean what she said in that quote, then perhaps she is lying. I usually have a problem more with people when they intend to deceive, whether it’s a flat out lie, or a statement that’s technically true. Clinton was a master of that. For example, when he said, “I have not had sexual relations with that woman , Monica Lewinsky,” that could have been the truth, because “that woman” could have referred to some other woman, and I’m sure there’s at least one woman that Clinton did not have sex with. But whether that statement was technically true or not, he clearly intended to deceive people into thinking that he did not have sex with Ms. Lewinski.

    I sometimes say things like, “I thought the rain would never end” when we have several days of rain. That’s a lie, because I honestly thought the rain would end at some point. But that statement was not intended to deceive, but to make the point that it was raining for an extended period of time. That’s kind of the way I took Michelle Obama’s quote. I think it was her way of saying that she was not happy with Bush’s policies and his governing effectiveness. Now, unlike my statement, it’s not as clear if that is what she meant. For that reason, and others, it was a poor choice, and a statement she should have never made.

    Her actions and other statements may help clear up what she meant. If she really hates America, maybe a blogger will find a video of her waving an Iranian flag and rooting for them and against American athletes, or something. If that happens, we’ll clearly know what she meant.

  57. Dang. I’ve also responded to the statement that Dave is replying to, but it’s in moderation, or lost forever. I’ll try again later.

    In the meantime,

    Ah, but it is overlooked; indeed, Barack Obama even calls it racist and hateful to enforce immigration laws and argues that they should be given special treatment.

    NDT, what does Bush call nonenforcement of immigration? Patriotic and American?

    I’ll state that Bush and Obama are wrong on illegal immigration. Now it’s your turn. 🙂

  58. Okay, here’s my second attempt.

    I like these arguments and discussions with leftists. But they do seem to give up fairly quickly no?

    I gave my answer re: Michelle Obama’s quote, but no one responded to it. I was also away for the weekend. Anyway, here’s my response again.

    Bruce, it will probably be the former. I don’t agree with your premise that Michelle Obama “roundly denounced this country…” It was her way of saying that Bush was an inept president and that his policies, in her opinion, have hurt the country. Granted, it was stupid for her to say it. But let’s take her at her word on this one occasion (and ignore everything else she has said) and assume that she really doesn’t like America. Then the answer to your question is the latter privately, but publicly, it will be the former.

    I’ll add the following. If Michelle Obama didn’t mean what she said in that quote, then perhaps she is lying. I usually have a problem more with people when they intend to deceive, whether it’s a flat out lie, or a statement that’s technically true. Clinton was a master of that. For example, when he said, “I have not had sexual relations with that woman , Monica Lewinsky,” that could have been the truth, because “that woman” could have referred to some other woman, and I’m sure there’s at least one woman that Clinton did not have sex with. But whether that statement was technically true or not, he clearly intended to deceive people into thinking that he did not have sex with Ms. Lewinski.

    I sometimes say things like, “I thought the rain would never end” when we have several days of rain. That’s a lie, because I honestly thought the rain would end at some point. But that statement was not intended to deceive, but to make the point that it was raining for an extended period of time. That’s kind of the way I took Michelle Obama’s quote. I think it was her way of saying that she was not happy with Bush’s policies and his governing effectiveness. Now, unlike my statement, it’s not as clear if that is what she meant. For that reason, and others, it was a poor choice, and a statement she should have never made.

    Her actions and other statements may help clear up what she meant. If she really hates America, maybe a blogger will find a video of her waving an Iranian flag and rooting for them and against American athletes, or something. If that happens, we’ll clearly know what she meant.

  59. Third try at it.

    I like these arguments and discussions with leftists. But they do seem to give up fairly quickly no?

    I gave my answer re: Michelle Obama’s quote, but no one responded to it. I was also away for the weekend. Anyway, here’s my response again.

    Bruce, it will probably be the former. I don’t agree with your premise that Michelle Obama “roundly denounced this country…” It was her way of saying that Bush was an inept president and that his policies, in her opinion, have hurt the country. Granted, it was stupid for her to say it. But let’s take her at her word on this one occasion (and ignore everything else she has said) and assume that she really doesn’t like America. Then the answer to your question is the latter privately, but publicly, it will be the former.

    I’ll add the following. If Michelle Obama didn’t mean what she said in that quote, then perhaps she is lying. I usually have a problem more with people when they intend to deceive, whether it’s a flat out lie, or a statement that’s technically true. Clinton was a master of that. For example, when he said, “I have not had sexual relations with that woman , Monica Lewinsky,” that could have been the truth, because “that woman” could have referred to some other woman, and I’m sure there’s at least one woman that Clinton did not have sex with. But whether that statement was technically true or not, he clearly intended to deceive people into thinking that he did not have sex with Ms. Lewinski.

    I sometimes say things like, “I thought the rain would never end” when we have several days of rain. That’s a lie, because I honestly thought the rain would end at some point. But that statement was not intended to deceive, but to make the point that it was raining for an extended period of time. That’s kind of the way I took Michelle Obama’s quote. I think it was her way of saying that she was not happy with Bush’s policies and his governing effectiveness. Now, unlike my statement, it’s not as clear if that is what she meant. For that reason, and others, it was a poor choice, and a statement she should have never made.

    Her actions and other statements may help clear up what she meant. If she really hates America, maybe a blogger will find a video of her waving an Iranian flag and rooting for them and against American athletes, or something. If that happens, we’ll clearly know what she meant.

  60. A fourth try. I’ll try to rearrange things so it doesn’t look like I’m resubmitting a multiple post. Here goes

    This is in response to Gene in PA and V the K about defending Michelle Obama’s comments. First I responded to Bruce about it referring to his post in #20

    Bruce, it will probably be the former. I don’t agree with your premise that Michelle Obama “roundly denounced this country…” It was her way of saying that Bush was an inept president and that his policies, in her opinion, have hurt the country. Granted, it was stupid for her to say it. But let’s take her at her word on this one occasion (and ignore everything else she has said) and assume that she really doesn’t like America. Then the answer to your question is the latter privately, but publicly, it will be the former.

    I’ll add the following. If Michelle Obama didn’t mean what she said in that quote, then perhaps she is lying. I usually have a problem more with people when they intend to deceive, whether it’s a flat out lie, or a statement that’s technically true. Clinton was a master of that. For example, when he said, “I have not had sexual relations with that woman , Monica Lewinsky,” that could have been the truth, because “that woman” could have referred to some other woman, and I’m sure there’s at least one woman that Clinton did not have sex with. But whether that statement was technically true or not, he clearly intended to deceive people into thinking that he did not have sex with Ms. Lewinski.

    I sometimes say things like, “I thought the rain would never end” when we have several days of rain. That’s a lie, because I honestly thought the rain would end at some point. But that statement was not intended to deceive, but to make the point that it was raining for an extended period of time. That’s kind of the way I took Michelle Obama’s quote. I think it was her way of saying that she was not happy with Bush’s policies and his governing effectiveness. Now, unlike my statement, it’s not as clear if that is what she meant. For that reason, and others, it was a poor choice, and a statement she should have never made.

    Her actions and other statements may help clear up what she meant. If she really hates America, maybe a blogger will find a video of her waving an Iranian flag and rooting for them and against American athletes, or something. If that happens, we’ll clearly know what she meant.

  61. Okay. I’ve tried three more times to get the response that I referred to in the above post, and it’s not posting. Bruce, Dan, is there anyway to get it in? Thanks.

  63. “Barack Obama even calls it racist and hateful to enforce immigration laws”

    Granted, I don’t read every word that comes out of the man’s mouth so this is just speculation. Is he really talking about enforcing the laws, or how the laws are being enforced. For the vast majority of these people, the only law they have broken is to enter country illegally so the strongarm tactics that are often used are totally unacceptable. A civilized country should be able to enforce it’s immigration laws without violence, in most cases. Sure, there are some who are hardcore criminals but that is not the norm, despite what some try to get us to believe.

    NDT, what we eat, drink, smoke, drive is no business of the gov’t, but where do you draw the line – drugs are controlled, marriage is controlled, at what age a person can drink, drive a car, have sex is controlled. All these things are personal decisions yet up to a certain level people have no problem with gov’t controls. If every person in the country had common sense, was concerned with not only their own comfort, health or safety but also for that of those around them then there would be no need for any of these laws, but we both know that is not the case. Obviously it can go to far, and probably will but it’s ridiculous to blame only the Democrats. Who is it that is trying to limit what we can watch on television, not just the public networks but cable too? Who is it that that sets in motion their army of drones who push a button to send an email whenever a “bad” word is said? Both sides want to control us, Dems are just more open about it.