# Should Michelle Obama be silenced?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-michelle-obama-be-silenced/464439>\
**Category:** Great Debates\
**Created:** [September 20, 2008, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-michelle-obama-be-silenced/464439 "2008-09-20T15:39:57Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 4

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![DianaG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7ab992/32.png) [@DianaG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DianaG)\
**Post date:** [September 23, 2008, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-michelle-obama-be-silenced/464439/61 "2008-09-23T17:03:31Z")

</div>

> [@DJ\_Motorbike](#):
>
> There was a soundbite from Michelle Obama’s convention speech that I heard played fairly heavily. It was the part where she said “you treat people with respect even if you don’t know them - even it you disagree with them.” Or something like that - I’m going off memory.
> 
> Isn’t a certain level of respect taken for granted? My grade school teachers gave lectures about how you should respect others even if you don’t like them. I managed to pick this up. If I was able to pick it up - no points for Obama doing the same.

So, um… you new here? And by “here”, I mean “earth”.

> [@DJ Motorbike](#):
>
> Since I feel that a sense of respect should be implicit - the fact that she said something like that seemed insulting. What I heard her say was, "Even though My husband and I are in a higher social caste we still manage to respect those who I feel are beneath us, even though we don’t necessarily have to. " Doubtless, it wasn’t what the speech writer intended, but its what I took away.

That is an impressively tortured interpretation.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Oy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bc8723/32.png) [@Oy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oy)\
**Post date:** [September 23, 2008, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-michelle-obama-be-silenced/464439/62 "2008-09-23T19:18:13Z")

</div>

I see Michelle Obama, and there she is, beautiful, brilliant, tall and strong enough to hurt me if she wanted to, a worthy partner to Barack Obama - superior to me in every way, and I think - she has every reason in the world to hate me, because I’m white and even though we were fairly poor, my family was moderately well educated and college was assumed throughout my childhood. Then she smiles, and I realize, no, for whatever reason, she doesn’t hate me! She’s managed to get past that! I end up being so grateful just seeing her on TV and wanting to say “Thank you for not hating me.” That’s the message she conveys to me.

How warped is that? 😃

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\
**Post date:** [September 23, 2008, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-michelle-obama-be-silenced/464439/63 "2008-09-23T19:48:11Z")

</div>

All in favor of settling the election by a caged mud-wrestling match between Michelle Obama and Cindy McCain, raise your something! 😃

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Oy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bc8723/32.png) [@Oy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oy)\
**Post date:** [September 23, 2008, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-michelle-obama-be-silenced/464439/64 "2008-09-23T19:54:36Z")

</div>

> [@BrainGlutton](#):
>
> All in favor of settling the election by a caged mud-wrestling match between Michelle Obama and Cindy McCain, raise your something! 😃

Considering Michelle would take Cindy in about 30 seconds, I have no problem with that at all!

[Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-michelle-obama-be-silenced/464439.md?page=3)