If Trump's tweets are any indication, Michelle Obama's keynote address at the Virtual Democratic Convention (VDC) really hit the mark. Michelle spared no punches, going after the SCROTUS in a way suburban moms could easily identify with. She singled out the lack of empathy in this nation, coming from the top. While not saying so directly, she blamed Trump for the growing disdain and cruelty we see reflected in Americans across the country. A wave of Trumpism that has led children to question the moral guidance of parents, and be attracted to the open avarice reflected in Trump's policies. Of course, the conservative media jumped all over her comments as well. How dare she attack our president, they cried, as if they were all as quiet as church mice when her husband was president.
You could see that Michelle had been saving up this speech for a long time. It was delivered not with malice but with great concern. The type of concern all mothers have for the well-being of their families. She kept herself under control, as she always does. She continued to encourage her audience to "go high," as stooping to the same gutter tactics of Trump supporters only brings us down to their level. We become part of the "ugly noise that is drowning out everything else." So true.
I watched clips of Anderson Cooper "taking down" the "MyPillow" guy on CNN. That interview was all over my facebook timeline this morning. What good did it do? All I see is that his flower pill Oleandrin is now on everyone's lips. Trump is already actively promoting it, having gotten the approval of the Good Doctor Ben Carson. This is part of the ugly noise Michelle is talking about. We have to tune this noise out, not keep giving it a platform, as the mainstream media does.
We also see the mainstream media now picking up stories where Obama derided Biden in the past, and others in his administration described Joe as a loose cannon. No doubt, they had their differences of opinion on policy issues, especially foreign policy which Biden considered his strength, but it is highly doubtful that Obama ever questioned Biden's character or judgement. Obama thought so highly of Joe Biden that he gave him the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
It wasn't that Obama didn't support Biden in 2016, as the Democrats had implicitly cleared the way for Hillary Clinton, thinking she was the best shot they had in electing a woman president. Joe had also recently lost his son, Beau, and was still mourning him. Michelle noted that Hillary won the general election by nearly 3 million votes, making it clear this is what the American public also wanted, but because of a literal handful of votes in key states like Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Michigan, Trump was able to win the electoral college and hence the presidency. She urged voters not to make that same mistake again.
I've always liked Michelle because of her ability to rise above the noise. Her speech was not only well received by her audience but was praised by some of the talking heads at Fox News. Trump had to rely on his good buddy Tucker Carlson to bail him out, the former CNN reporter who has since become the poster boy of the Alt-Right movement in this country.
She rightly noted that we have lost our moral compass, trading empathy for avarice, as this is what our current president openly encourages. He rejects the advice of his proven medical advisers on coronavirus and promotes a flower pill from the MyPillow guy on television, the same way Jim Bakker and Alex Jones hawk phony drugs on their shows. We have seen the Alt-Right fringe become mainstream during his tenure, something most of us could have never imagined.
Her speech should set the tone for Biden's deferred presidential bid: a return of commonly shared respect and decency, sorely lacking in the present administration.
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