Michelle Obama's Hopeless America

National Review Online: Senator's Wife Delivers A Gospel Of Bitterness In N.C. Stump Speech

(National Review Online)  This column was written by Yuval Levin.

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By her husband’s logic, Michelle Obama must be a heavily armed xenophobic religious zealot, because boy is she bitter. The speech delivered by Mrs. Obama in North Carolina last Friday is characteristic of her peculiar recent performances on the stump. It is an hour-long talk to supporters who just want something to cheer about, and who get some opportunities at the outset, but then find themselves treated to a profoundly and relentlessly negative vision of American life.

She first offers, as she often does in her appearances, a kind of victim’s history of the 2008 Democratic primary race. In Mrs. Obama’s telling, the Barack Obama campaign becomes not an extraordinary mix of strategy and skill, but a sad reflection on the unfairness of American life. The bar, we are told, is always being raised just as her husband is about to reach it. They said he couldn’t win because he didn’t have an organization. Then he built an organization, so they said he couldn’t win because he didn’t have money. He raised money, so they said he couldn’t win because he couldn’t win caucuses. He won caucuses, so they said he couldn’t win because he couldn’t win primaries.

In the tone and substance of the story is the implication that the fact that this race isn’t over is evidence of a profound injustice done to her husband. “The bar is constantly changing for this man,” she tells us. Of course, the only relevant bar in an election is whether you win a majority, and Sen. Obama has yet to win a majority of Democratic delegates. If he did, the race would be over. The bar’s not moving.

But this tale of woe is really only an introduction to a larger and more sweeping list of bars getting raised just as hard working people are reaching for them. “So the bar has been shifting and moving in this race,” she says, “but the irony is, the sad irony is, that’s exactly what is happening to most Americans in this country.”

In Michelle Obama’s America, everybody’s suffering, no one has time to make any friends, no one earns enough to eke out a living anymore, and the bar of success is always being moved just out of reach. “Folks are struggling like never before,” she says, and in a nation struggling like never before, society cannot stand the strain.

What happens in that nation is that people do become isolated, they do live in a level of division, because see when you’re that busy struggling all the time, which most people that you know and I know are, see you don’t have time to get to know your neighbors, you don’t have time to reach out and have conversations to share stories, in fact you feel very alone in your struggle because you feel somehow it must be your fault that you’re struggling that hard, everybody else must be doing ok, I must be doing something wrong, so you hide…What happens in that kind of nation is that people are afraid. Because when your world’s not right no matter how hard you work, then you become afraid of everyone and everything, because you don’t know whose fault it is, why you can’t get a handle on life, why you can’t secure a better future for your kids.

In such a state of debilitating terror, of course, we can have no hope for the next generation. “Our fear,” Mrs. Obama says, “is helping us to raise a nation of young doubters, young people who are insular and they’re timid, and they don’t try because they already heard us tell them why they can’t succeed.”

It turns out, also, that it didn’t use to be this way. In fact, a great bulk of Mrs. Obama’s speech is devoted to nostalgia for a simpler time - an odd approach for a progressive, yet an altogether common one on the left today. She describes a steady downward path from that golden age of distant memory. “We know where we’re living,” she tells the slightly confused audience, “this is where we are right now, and this has been the case for my entire lifetime: that trajectory of hope has gotten more difficult for regular folks.”

Her listeners have to wonder exactly what she has in mind by “regular folks” when Mrs. Obama says that after completing their Ivy League undergraduate and graduate educations, she and her husband “found ourselves in a position like most young couples, with our PhDs and JDs and MPHs and LMNOPs, all those wonderful degrees, all mired in debt. We had not paid off our loan debt until just a few years ago.” But whether you are highly educated multi-millionaires or not, in Michelle Obama’s America, chances are you’re afraid, isolated, and hopeless.

Her husband, of course, manages a peppier and more upbeat stump speech, but in fact the same dark view of American life permeates his rhetoric too. Both Obamas seem to think the country is deeply depressed, and in need of a spiritual, economic, and political savior.

This view of America has been a real problem for the Left in the Bush years. As the liberal labor economist Stephen Rose has put it, “What progressives generally say about the economy is unrelentingly pessimistic - stagnant wages, rising costs, overwhelming burdens of debt. It’s a message that doesn’t resonate with the middle class - not only because it’s overly negative (by itself political poison), but because it’s simply flat out wrong.”

This gospel of bitterness arises from one analysis of what is unquestionably an anxious middle class, and one that believes the nation’s politics is on the wrong track. But anxiety is not necessarily a sign of desperation and injustice. Aspiration, too, can leave families anxious, as they strive to reach high aims with no guarantees. A political message that speaks to the aspirations of American families, rather than imagining that America is on the brink of suicide, would be a welcome and quite possibly a winning message in this election year.

It would seek to offer help to families facing uncertainties on the path of upward mobility, and would offer to fix some of the institutional failings that might create avoidable anxieties in a changing world, but would not describe the striving of America’s lower middle class as tale of failure and anguish. It would offer a reform agenda aimed at fusing American ambition with the energies of the market, rather than a cathartic transformation aimed at a return to an imaginary past.

The candidate of hope, it seems, draws much of his energy from a sense that America is hopeless; and the progressive in the race yearns for the America of his childhood. Let’s hope his opponent can do better.

[had-it]

Thank you Mr. Levin for such an "unbiased" dissertation on Michelle Obama. I am sure you have NO AGENDA in writing this. Reading this,I can see you are trying hard to be objective.... What I can''t understand is why your "opinion" on Michelle Obama even matters....
For 12 years, especially the last 7, America has been
fed the rhetoric that you spew, and many Americans allowed themselves to believe the garbage, well if everything you and others like you have spewed was so right on...why is America in such a mess now? Enough
of your rubbish...It is definitely time for a change.
With all your so-called "education" maybe you so look
into studying and getting a degree in "Common sense".

[afmca]

The trouble is since Reagan this country has been on the wrong course. Reagan made greed and lack of social responsibility acceptable and Bush/Cheney has perfected it. The gap between the richest and the poorest is real and cannot be explained by levels of competence. The most thoroughly incompetent CEO leave with millions after destroying their companies. Only the workers seem to suffer. CEOs have benefits that keep them from even paying a small medical deductable while their workers go without health care altogether. Millionaire CEOs cannot afford to pay for their own travel and country club fees; while moving manufacturing jobs overseas. There is a rising bitterness in America and the Republicans and their financial frontmen only have themselve to blame for it.

[oldtom12]

CBS does an exceptionally poor job of giving background on these guest commentaries. Yuval Levin is a former member of the Bush domestic policy staff. He is a protigi of Leon Kass, who led the stop human embryo tic stem cell research. Kass once said that homosexuality was one of the "sexual abominations of Leviticus -- incest, homosexuality, and bestiality".

Levin''s column here is a masterful blend of half-truths and far-right talking points. I saw that speech and in no way does it match the assertions in this column.

I don''t mind CBS posting opinion pieces, but at the very least, give enough background about the person so you don''t have to dig around to find the bias.

[wogerwabbit]

The writer of this article has absolutely no idea what''s going on out here. You neocons blow off Obama''s ''bitter'' remarks like they''re some left wing fantasy, but there are some bitter and pissed off people out here who remember America before you guys turned it into a corporate-fascist state. You just don''t get it do you? We''re gonna take our country back whether you like it or not... over your dead bodies if necessary. Your coup is over, now comes the inquisition.

[irliberal]

Seems to me like the writer of this article, Yuval Levin, is very, very bitter.

GO OBAMA! GO HILLARY! GO Democrats!

[horse3farm]

Very interesting. All you need to do is read Michelle Obama''s thesis on Race from college, (politico.com) and you will see that in all the years since college, Michelle Obama HAS NOT CHANGED. She is still the prophet of doom she was in college, as well as being extremely race-obsessed. After reading/listening to her speech, you would think all of America is hiding in a hole somewhere, waiting for the fallout to clear.

Give me a break. Yes times are tough. But all the people I know in personal and professional life are still happy and going through life with plans. Yes we complain, rightfully so, about the present administration, about the state of affairs in this country. But that doesn''t mean we are all just sitting shivering in our holes waiting for something to change.

Sadly, most of America complains, but most of America does nothing, or has no idea how to do something about it. That''s the sad truth. Yes times are tough, but we will get through it.

The Obamas are very dangerous people, and quite out of touch is seems.

[joyous88]

the national review does it again,

another right wing load of spin and talking points,

really;

just thinly veiled lies.

Are there any honest republicons left?

Name an honest republicon politician,

find one that does not work directly for a lobbyist

[vote4thebest]

It is not only Michelle who paints American as a ''mean'' America. Obama does the same thing, just take his speeches, strip out the rhetoric, then you can see the base of which he said that we need to be lifted from is a very mean or hopeless america. This is one of the very strong evidence that the Obamas are strong believers in the black liberation theology for Wright''s teaching. It is a vision of America who need to be redeemed from everyone. That is not the position of strength as a world leader.

[Syndicate]

Excellent article. You can tell when people don''t think. They say things like all Republicans.

[briannorwood]

Oh, I couldn''t agree with this Genius more!

Everything is peachy keen! We are not mired in an endless, pointless war. Food and gas prices are low. Wages are increasing. Home mortgages are up. The stock market is bullish. Our respect in the world is growing day by day. We have a president whom we respect.

Yup, everything is just jinky! Thanks for pointing that out.

[auntieconnie]

If Obama gets it. Watch out we will be bombed again. If Hillary doesn''t come out with it Than everyone should vote for McCain. He isn''t good. But he us better than Obama.

[crater7]

HMMMMMM,I THOUGHT MICHELLE, FOR THE FIRST TIME, WAS FINALLY PROUD OF HER COUNTRY.

ONE CAN SEE WHERE OBAMA, GOT HIS "BITTER" SPEECH TO THE GOOD PEOPLE OF PENNSYLVANIA, CALLING THEM RELIGIOUS FANATICAL, GUN WAVING, AND RACIST. I BET, HE USED MICHELLE''S SPEECH MY MISTAKE.

THIS REFLECTS THE TRUE OBAMA''S OUT OF TOUCH WITH AMERICA AND THEIR ELITIST ATTITUDE. SOUNDS A LOT LIKE THE REV. WRIGHT''S SERMONS WERE WELL RECIEVED BY THE OBAMA''S.

WHAT WILL SHE SAY, WHEN CLINTON BEATS OBAMA? WILL SHE STILL BE PROUD OF HER COUNTRY? ONE PONDERS THE QUESTION.

GOD "BLESS" AMERICA. NOT "G D" AMERICA.

[auntieconnie]

I agree with you crater7. What we have here is wolfs in sheeps clothing.
I LOVE AMERICA AND WHAT IT STANDS FOR. I would never turn my back on it.
God help us all if Obama gets in there.
GOD BLESS AMERICA.

[hunterdon6]

Some people don''t want to work and complain that they have nothing and complain. Some people work hard and make a decent living and have good lives. The Demorcrats want to take the money from those who do work hard and give it to the underprivileged lazy people. Because they deserve it the Demorcrats say. I think they are only trying to buy the poor peoples vote. Times are tough, but there are jobs for those with ambition and they will make it through it. I worked 3 jobs while paying for a house, car and putting 2 kids thru college. If you really want something hard enough, hard work will get it. The America Spirit will prevail through these rough times.God Bless America!!!!!!!!

[judycurtis1]

What an ignorant commentary! I have listened to Michelle Obama speak many times and she always sounded upbeat, well educated and charming. Perhaps you''d like her better if she had a phony cowgirl twang, a Texas swagger, and didn''t know how to pronounce most words in the English language. Oh, well, I guess beauty is in the ear of the beholder!

[majorreed1]

Mrs. Obama has done well with her life. She has a good education and is married to a U.S. Senator. What is her problem? She has only bad things to say about America. I doubt that she has ever lived in a foreign country. If she had, she would have learned that we in this country have the best of everything.
I came from a poor family, but I had the opportunity to rise above it both educationally and financially.

I have lived for extended periods in four different foreign countries. I am so glad that I was born an American. Boy! are we fortunate.

[pugster]

She is in the Chicago board of Center of Foreign Relations and cares about ''everybodys'' issues? I would never have guessed.

[pugster]

I meant Council of Foreign Relations

[livvy500]

I realize that the National Review is a right wing rag but for anyone who wants fairness you might listen to Michelle Obama speak on YouTube (an actual speech - not sound bytes by Limbaugh-ites). I have had the pleasure to hear her and she is bright and honest and real. Only someone trying to take swipes at Obama would write this nonsense.

[caliguy55]

I am white, but I completely disagree with the author of this article. Having been born in south central Louisiana, I''ve come face-to-face with racism, prejudice and intolerance practiced by my former white friends and neighbors. It''s abhorrent to hear these people argue that there is no such thing as racism in America in the same breath they use to spread their ignorance and hatred. Believe me, I''ve got firsthand knowledge of what a majority of the white people in the south think about black people and it isn''t pretty. Then, these hypocrites turn around and pretend to be the most fervent Christians on the face of the Earth. Well, I know that Jesus Christ would be appalled at the thinking of these people. And, I''m just happy I won''t be in their shoes when they face their Maker. That also will not be pretty. But, until then, all that white people like me can do is try to make a difference by changing the thoughts and attitudes of the racist (black and white) in this country. By the way, I''ll be voting for Barack Obama in the fall, if he''s the Democratic nominee. If not, Hilary Clinton will get my vote. As far as I''m concerned, the GOP is about the worst racist organization in existence.

[stevador39]

The Iraq war is draining this country of resources. Corporations are profiteering: gas food and prarmaceuticals cost more than ever before. Price gauging is the order of the day. The tax payers ignore the fact that we can call a halt to this greed spree. Oil can be nationalized. Price caps can be put on corporate profit. We are putting Americans on the street as they lose their homes. But we bring in foreign refugees every day to support them for years. Americans are loosing rights and the charities and government hands out privileges to foreigners. If you are not bitter, you are a Bushie.

[talkingham]

I''m not even for Obama but Levin should roll this "fractured fairytale" up and stick it up his nose, the one he sits on.

Essentially everything Mrs. Obama said is true, does Levin challenge any of that? No. He chastizes her because she has enough guts and stength to describe the campaign as she has seen it, not as some republican zealot who probably spends his time is east coast resorts and shopping malls and has never faced a day of social adversity in his life.

As usual shame on the NRO for another twisted, no issue "article."

[irliberal]

Michelle''s a classy lady. NRO hates that. If they''re also democrats, that is. The attack dogs are out in full force, but Michelle & Barack can handle them!

[Razzl]

So we''re saying what, that Abraham Lincoln shouldn''t have been president because Mary Todd Lincoln was a depressive woman given to the blues? There''s nothing human about the NRO crowd except their transparent viciousness in pursuit of propaganda points, so we won''t expect an answer...

[acoloradoguy]

In this commentary, the author is obviously talking about the middle class that consists of white collar professionals, doctors, lawyers, business owners, etc. Ask the middle-class steel workers how things have been going. Ask the telecom workers, the railroad workers, the bus drivers, the teachers, the secretaries- the working man middle class. They''re the ones who aren''t represented and who are getting squeezed from all sides. They''re the ones Michelle is talking to. Anyone that thinks things are just fine in the middle class is out of touch...

[sandysguy]

Hey majorreed
The problem is she is not talking about herself idiot

She''s talking about all the low to middleclass that are getting screwed as always

you ought to go back to school and learn how to read and while your there "GET A LIFE"

[hk94]

....undemocratic distribution of monetary rewards.
--Davewrite

Spoken like true Marxist.

[hk94]

stevador39,
Ask the people of Venezuela how nationalizing the oil companies is working for them. Ask about the effect of taking away those profits. Their production is down, their equipment not maintained, no investment in new technology. They are bankrupting their industry.

[hk94]

stevador39,
Ask the people of Venezuela how nationalizing the oil companies is working for them. Ask about the effect of taking away those profits. Their production is down, their equipment not maintained, no investment in new technology. They are bankrupting their industry.

[stopkidding]

I see NRO continues its tradition of news-and-commentary-as-making-things-up. Of course, the advantage here is it saves the time and expense of listening to the speech.

[jn122736]

Yuval Levin???

That name sounds Jewish, is that just a coincidence?

[observantx]

Mr. Levin:

You don''t seem to get it. The average family is hanging on to their homes and jobs by sheer brute will and their fingernails and going without health care and other necessities while you pontificate that you (sniff) don''t like Michelle Obama''s tone.

I''ve got news for you sir. There are a huge number of bitter people out there who have every right to feel so. They feel it every time they look at their paychecks and then read about a fat cat who runs his company into the dirt floats away on a golden parachute. They feel it every time they have to fill their tank. They feel bitter and angry every time they listen to the news and see another picture of a brave son or daughter blown to smithers in a misguided and unjust war.

Well I''ve got more news for you. Soon it will be your turn to feel bitter. You and all the other FOGS (friends of George). Your gravy train has run out of fuel and the party will soon be over. I suggest you fill a napkin as full of canapes as you can and maybe cop a bottle of bubbly when you jump off. And be smart. Lay low. Keep you mouth shut.

[haidessalami]

Standard neocon tactic: Afraid of what somebody is saying? Attack his wife!

[gkc99]

So now that Jews can get into country clubs, this clown thinks racism is ended in America?

[ranger1948]

Someone needs to puitthat *** back in her cage and not let her out, at least until the elections are over. On the other hand she could be another albatross to obama like wright was. Guess she will be the bnxt to get thrown under the bus.

[joyous88]

conservatives are UN American, republicons are close behind;

did you see the criminal spy and propaganda operation

run out of the pentagon this week?

anyone is better than mcbush

[ranger1948]

caliguy55
Could it be they developed their racism due to the crime rate by the blacks in the states. I know i lived and working in Lousiana as a bounty hunter. Unemployment was 12% but i always had plenty of work, thanks to the criminals.

[completebs1]

Mr. Levin:
Michelle''s speech was actually an inspiring and truthful speech about the reality of this country''s current position and about her hope for its future! You obviously were looking for a negative slant. I cannot believe CBS reprinted your so-called story. I will never watch CBS again! Anyone who reads these comments, please see the speech for yourself. She spoke in Durham and it was broadcast on C-span. Mr. Levin has an agenda which does not involve the truth!

[zorlacskates]

at least michelle obama isn''t a freakin'' deaf mute like our current first lady. conservatives are scared to death of opinionated women -- that''s why a boring blow-up doll like laura bush is their ideal woman.

[barbaraf4]

If Michelle Obama is so bitter about America and American society, then I would be interested in what she is doing to help fix it. Granted, it does seem overwhelming, but you have to start somewhere. For example, I deliver Meals on Wheels.

I sould like to suggest that she stop channelling Rev. Wright. After 20 years of his tirades, I''d be depressed too.

[facts6]

Mrs Obama is annoying. How bad is a country that gave 2 black deserving students a free ride to Ivy League schools?

She was whining at Princeton for God''s sake.

[ozus]

I many of you who were complaining about the US lived overseas or at least spent some time there other than as a tourist you would notice higher gas prices, higher interest rates, higher unemployment, longer waiting lists for medical care, governments that intrude into your daily lives and in many cases genocidal racial conflicts. Change is needed, but you should be careful about how much change and to what.

[juwboy]

jn122736 said:

"Yuval Levin???

That name sounds Jewish, is that just a coincidence?"

jn122736???

That sounds like the serial number of a square-headed, senile, Nazi, former concentration camp torturer, is that just a coincidence?

[ranger1948]

zorlacslates
Perhaps you have misunderstood Laura Bush. She has remained silent for a reason. Wouldn''t you keep your mouth shut in shame if you were married to George ?

[nonayabiness]

Levin,

You are Republican, eh? I see this is an opinion column, and you are certainly entitled to publish your opinion.

Do you really support the premise and cost of the ongoing losing battle in Iraq. We don''t even know who we are fighting. Supposedly we took Saddams'' regime down years ago.

When the economy affects you because of the debt this nation is in, I suspect you might change your opinion. Whether the nominee be Hillary or Obama, I have a distinct feeling that Republicans will lose, if for no other reason than they are republicans.

[juwboy]

zorlacskates:

You should peruse the video of Nixon''s Checkers speech sometime -- Tricky *** giving a brilliant speech that saved his Vice-Presidency, accompanied by an adoring, motionless, blow-up doll, that closely resembled his wife, Pat.

[juwboy]

D-i-c-k D-ick Di-ck Dic-k D-ic-k D-i-ck Di-c-k

[mcvet]

I have never seen anything scare these fascist like Obama does. It''s one "Report" after another. A constant search for some sort of Wedge, any hate will do, for this nazi publication and those who follow. You can FEEL the fear and they grow more desperate by the minute. Sieg Heil Bush

[pearose]

I don''t see your version, Mr. Levin. Perhaps it''s your perspective that is a bit skewed into the darkness - as in no light on the subject.

People are struggling - been keeping up with the news? The housing crisis is about to get worse, according to today''s headlines. The gap between the rich and the poor continues to widen which flies in the face of the ''trickle down theory.'' It failed to trickle.

[cattlekate]

Yuval Levin once again takes a nothing, makes up a divisive nothing, uses his Elite, pampered, wealthy position to get that divisive non-sensical nothing published in NRO.

All in an attempt to strike fear in the hearts of those who can''t see his real agenda - pushing his extreme Leo Straussian Heritage Foundation radicalism.

The Straussians fear Obama.