# People who adore Michelle Obama, what is your motivation **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 13, 2017, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-adore-michelle-obama-what-is-your-motivation/788832 "2017-06-13T03:11:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2017, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-adore-michelle-obama-what-is-your-motivation/788832/41 "2017-06-15T00:44:29Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > …I started this thread to find out what other people are seeing that I’m not seeing. Did you see anything in the posts about her that you didn’t see before? ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2017, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-adore-michelle-obama-what-is-your-motivation/788832/42 "2017-06-15T00:56:00Z")
> [@monstro](#): > > Wow. Really? I’m not allowed to dislike a public figure? ---
**Author:** ![TroutMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troutman/32/6721_2.png) [@TroutMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroutMan)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2017, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-adore-michelle-obama-what-is-your-motivation/788832/43 "2017-06-15T01:00:25Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > She strikes me as status obsessed and supercilious. She reminds me of the kinds of women who dress up for PTA meetings, then go home and make fun of the other mothers for wearing shabby clothes. I always hated those ‘which president would you rather have a beer with’ questions that people had in Bush v. Gore. I don’t care if I like my president, I care if the president is competent. But the first lady isn’t the president. She reminds me of an orange county housewife. Very obsessed with image and status, prone to objectification of self and others. Like **iiandyiiii** , I’ve never seen any evidence of what you describe. Can you offer any examples or specific behaviors that make you think she makes fun of people behind their backs, is overly concerned with status, or objectifies anyone? And if you can’t, would you be willing to consider that your feeling about her might not be based on who she actually is? ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2017, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-adore-michelle-obama-what-is-your-motivation/788832/44 "2017-06-15T01:01:53Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > Really? I’m not allowed to dislike a public figure? Dislike? Sure. Project a bunch of negative assumptions about attitude and outlook that are in no way supported by speech or behavior? Well, it’s your dime but that sort of baseless critique usually says more about the critic than the person being vilified. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![you\_with\_the\_face](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/ecccb3/32.png) [@you\_with\_the\_face](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/you_with_the_face)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2017, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-adore-michelle-obama-what-is-your-motivation/788832/45 "2017-06-15T01:06:29Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > She strikes me as status obsessed and supercilious. She reminds me of the kinds of women who dress up for PTA meetings, then go home and make fun of the other mothers for wearing shabby clothes. She made [headlines](http://www.today.com/style/michelle-obama-wears-39-99-jason-wu-target-dress-flna1C8544227) for wearing a dress from Target at her husband’s inargural ball. Target, yo. That’s about as far removed from status obsessed as you can get. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2017, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-adore-michelle-obama-what-is-your-motivation/788832/46 "2017-06-15T01:12:54Z")
She also wore [clothes from J Crew](http://time.com/4637126/michelle-obama-j-crew/) on several occasions. ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2017, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-adore-michelle-obama-what-is-your-motivation/788832/47 "2017-06-15T01:16:19Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > Really? I’m not allowed to dislike a public figure? Am I not allowed to say “Wow”? Of course, you’re entitled to your opinion, but your characterization of Michelle doesn’t jibe with objective reality. It seems to be based solely on how she looks, not on anything she’s actually said or done. Like, if she were a bougie status-obsessed Orange County housewife, I seriously doubt she would have married a broke-ass community organizer or bothered becoming a successful lawyer. So, your opinion kind of reminds me what petty women say when a more attractive, more put-together woman steps into the room. “Bitch thinks she’s cute. Probably thinks she’s better than me.” I roll my eyes when I hear that kind of shit in real life, and I say “Wow” when I read it on the internet, especially when it comes from a poster I like and respect. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2017, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-adore-michelle-obama-what-is-your-motivation/788832/48 "2017-06-15T01:18:29Z")
> **[New book claims Michelle Obama prepared divorce papers to separate from Barack...](https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2145035/Michelle-Obama-prepared-divorce-papers-separate-Barack-leaving-suicidal.html)** > > Michelle Obama prepared divorce papers to separate from Barack Obama in 2000 following his disastrous attempt to win a House seat in Chicago, according to 'The Amateur' by Edward Klein. > [@](#): > > ‘During the dark days that followed his defeat, he turned to Michelle for comfort. But she was in no mood to offer him sympathy. > > ‘After all he had refused to listen to her warnings about taking on the formidable Bobby Rush. He had put his family in a precarious financial position. And he had dashed Michelle’s hopes of creating a stable and secure future. > > ‘As a result their marriage was on the rocks, and Obama confided to friends that he and Michelle were talking about divorce. > > ‘Michelle actually had divorce papers drawn up’, one of her friends told me’. > > In desperation Mr Obama begged friends to help him open an office to stay in politics - but did not tell his wife for fear of her wrath if she found out. > **[How the East Wing Trapped Michelle Obama](https://newrepublic.com/article/117086/inside-east-wing-who-shrank-michelle-obama)** > > Inside the unhappiest White House office. > [@](#): > > For one thing, the imperative to guarantee results could be paralyzing. “That was the pressure on us,” one ex-aide told me. “‘Don’t do it if it’s not going to be perfect.’” Staff knew that every event should produce positive coverage, and that all the angles had to be exhaustively researched and gamed out (not easy with a team of less than 30). But it was never completely clear what the standard of perfection should be. “There’s no barometer: The first lady having the wrong pencil skirt on Monday is just as big of a fuck-up as someone speaking on the record when they didn’t mean to or a policy initiative that completely failed,” says another former aide. “It just made you super anxious.” Another past employee described a common feeling of “how can we be the caliber that we’re expected to be with no attention and no resources and being an afterthought? And all that can make for sparks. Friction.” If any of that is true, she considered divorcing her husband when he was at his lowest, and is a controlling, demanding perfectionist who it is extremely stressful to work for. ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2017, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-adore-michelle-obama-what-is-your-motivation/788832/49 "2017-06-15T01:19:22Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > She also wore [clothes from J Crew](http://time.com/4637126/michelle-obama-j-crew/) on several occasions. What kind of bougie princess is she?! I’m outraged that she thinks she’s too good for the discount bin at Ross. Bitch probably thinks she’s better than me. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2017, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-adore-michelle-obama-what-is-your-motivation/788832/50 "2017-06-15T01:19:47Z")
> [@monstro](#): > > Wow. > [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > Really? I’m not allowed to dislike a public figure? “Wow” is an exclamation of surprise, astonishment, and wonder, not a judgment. If you just told me you won a Nobel prize, I’d say, “Wow.” I will repeat my question, however, “Did you see anything in the posts about her that you didn’t see before?” IOW did the posts confirm your opinion of her or do you just think people who admire her “don’t get it.” I think piling on the OP or trying to change his mind is an exercise in futility. I’m more curious than anything else. I wonder if he was dumped by a pretentious PTA mom at an impressionable age. ---
**Author:** ![you\_with\_the\_face](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/ecccb3/32.png) [@you\_with\_the\_face](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/you_with_the_face)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2017, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-adore-michelle-obama-what-is-your-motivation/788832/51 "2017-06-15T01:31:53Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > If any of that is true, she considered divorcing her husband when he was at his lowest, and is a controlling, demanding perfectionist who it is extremely stressful to work for. Haven’t you decided it’s true already? I mean, you’re offering this up as justification for why you dislike her. That said, your OP didn’t ask whether we wanted to work for Michelle Obama or be married to her. I assure you that I would want to do neither, as I would be zero use to anyone who embraces politics as a lifestyle. Liking her as First Lady is different. I could care less if her being a perfectionist made her staffers sweat a little. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2017, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-adore-michelle-obama-what-is-your-motivation/788832/52 "2017-06-15T01:58:56Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > Really? I’m not allowed to dislike a public figure? Sure you can dislike all you want. But this list of perceptions is completely out of left field so far as I can tell. Are there any concrete displays of these kinds of traits you can identify? Or is it all just in your head? Sure I have reactions like this too. Like every time the “Star Trek: Enterprise” character Trip Tucker opened his mouth I hated him. I realized that my reaction was unnatural so I realized that it was at least in part because he kind of looked like and had an accent similar to George W. Bush. I realized that this was unfair stereotyping. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2017, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-adore-michelle-obama-what-is-your-motivation/788832/53 "2017-06-15T02:30:03Z")
Hey in terms their early marriage and early days stress … a husband makes a major and somewhat risky career decision despite his wife’s strong objections, she wants more stability, and it blows up with stability now looking like it is not something to soon be had. Yeah I understand a strong woman being very pissed rather than supportive … and I completely get being afraid of the wrath of the strong woman you are married to and love. Now it turned out fine but at the time? Yes that is consistent with what I like about her … I _married_ (and have stayed married to and still love these decades and four kids later) a strong woman who can get pretty pissed and is not afraid to let me have it when I deserve it … and sometimes when I don’t! Not every employee loved working for her? She held people to high standards? Yeah I’d imagine her to be one tough boss to work for and one who runs a very tight ship. She had after all been Vice President for Community and External Affairs of the University of Chicago Medical Center and balanced that with being the primary caregiver in the household. You don’t do that well without being a bit demanding of those who are of your team. It is possible to be an effective boss without any employee feeling that too much is expected of them and with every employee understanding exactly what you you wanting them to accomplish at all all times. Can’t say I’ve met many of them but I’m sure they exist. Bottom line is that this reads to me like confirmation bias incarnate. You decided you did not like her for some reason long before you ever read that she and Barak had a stressful time early on, and long before you read that she was possibly not a warm and fuzzy boss. The curiosity is what about her made that initial impression on you? It does suggest her reminding you of someone else in real life. ---
**Author:** ![Nawth\_Chucka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c57346/32.png) [@Nawth\_Chucka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nawth_Chucka)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2017, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-adore-michelle-obama-what-is-your-motivation/788832/54 "2017-06-15T04:10:08Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > Really? I’m not allowed to dislike a public figure? As far as I see, you explained yourself well in your subsequent post. There’s likely nothing you could be shown that would change your opinion. I hope you don’t mind if those of us who admire Mrs. Obama continue to explain why, now that we’ve started I appreciate the responses of other posters. ---
**Author:** ![Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hilarity_n.suze/32/6223_2.png) [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hilarity_N.Suze)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2017, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-adore-michelle-obama-what-is-your-motivation/788832/55 "2017-06-15T04:14:44Z")
My son hates Michelle Obama. He used to like her, but… (1) Apparently, she caused his school to serve something really awful. Brownies, made with black beans. Bean-beans, not chocolate beans. (I know, this is pretty heinous.) (2) She personally visited his school. He had mixed feelings before the visit, because of the aforementioned menu item, but thought maybe he’d get over it. But then it turned out she only got to meet the top black students, and some of the international students of whatever color, and everybody else was banned from going certain places on campus for the duration of her “visit,” which lasted about 45 minutes. I feel like #2 was more the school’s fault, but I don’t know. Anyway, he doesn’t like her any more. But he does wish she was still the First Lady. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2017, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-adore-michelle-obama-what-is-your-motivation/788832/56 "2017-06-15T04:36:25Z")
> [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](#): > > My son hates Michelle Obama. He used to like her, but… > > (1) Apparently, she caused his school to serve something really awful. Brownies, made with black beans. Bean-beans, not chocolate beans. (I know, this is pretty heinous.) > > (2) She personally visited his school. He had mixed feelings before the visit, because of the aforementioned menu item, but thought maybe he’d get over it. But then it turned out she only got to meet the top black students, and some of the international students of whatever color, and **everybody else was banned from going certain places on campus** for the duration of her “visit,” which lasted about 45 minutes. > > I feel like #2 was more the school’s fault, but I don’t know. Anyway, he doesn’t like her any more. But he does wish she was still the First Lady. Guessing that was likely the Secret Service. Do you know what those places were? ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2017, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-adore-michelle-obama-what-is-your-motivation/788832/57 "2017-06-15T04:38:15Z")
_pfft_ I spent 45 minutes trapped on a freeway with all of the exits blocked by police, a full mile away from the freeway Dick Cheney was taking back to the airport. Yup, middle of the day the fucker had the main artery of our city closed for that long, plus every road that connected to it, so he could drive to the airport safely. Secret Service protection can be a little nuts at times. ---
**Author:** ![Nawth\_Chucka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c57346/32.png) [@Nawth\_Chucka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nawth_Chucka)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2017, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-adore-michelle-obama-what-is-your-motivation/788832/58 "2017-06-15T05:27:13Z")
> [@Chimera](#): > > _pfft_ > > I spent 45 minutes trapped on a freeway with all of the exits blocked by police, a full mile away from the freeway Dick Cheney was taking back to the airport. > > Yup, middle of the day the fucker had the main artery of our city closed for that long, plus every road that connected to it, so he could drive to the airport safely. > > Secret Service protection can be a little nuts at times. SS also has to ensure vehicle routes to a Level 1 trauma center are open any time the POTUS or VPOTUS, etc are in the area just in case an airlift isn’t feasible. Obama’s crew had me sat on the expressway that goes around SLC for nearly an hour late one night. I want to add a note here about the Secret Service - they also protect the non-SS teams who come in w/ them prior to events in order to sweep and clear venues. All those nutters who want to hurt a protectee are also endangering the members of the federal or local bomb squads on-site; bullets don’t know who they’re supposed to hit. To my thinking, an over-large area of safety for all those hard-working people is well worth my inconvenience. ---
**Author:** ![Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hilarity_n.suze/32/6223_2.png) [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hilarity_N.Suze)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2017, 8:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-adore-michelle-obama-what-is-your-motivation/788832/59 "2017-06-15T08:55:44Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > Guessing that was likely the Secret Service. Do you know what those places were? I don’t know. I’m guessing, among other places, the bell tower. I think they probably couldn’t get hall passes, either. (In fact, my suspicion is he took the opportunity to skip. He took that opportunity lot of times.) ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2017, 9:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-adore-michelle-obama-what-is-your-motivation/788832/60 "2017-06-15T09:47:05Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > If any of that is true, she considered divorcing her husband when he was at his lowest, and is a controlling, demanding perfectionist who it is extremely stressful to work for. That’s a pretty significant “If” there, given that the source for your Daily Mail cite is Ed Klein, who also suggested that Hillary Clinton was a closeted lesbian and that Chelsea was conceived as the result of a rape. He eventually got dropped from HarperCollins when his books couldn’t get past the in-house lawyers, and was then picked up by Regnery, a right-wing publisher that also publishes such fearless truthtellers as Ann Coulter and Newt Gingrich. Were I you, I’d want some corroboration on his claims. Otherwise you might as well say you hate the Clintons for murdering Vince Foster and Seth Rich. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-adore-michelle-obama-what-is-your-motivation/788832.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-adore-michelle-obama-what-is-your-motivation/788832.md?page=4)