Love her or hate her, one thing can be said about former First Lady Michelle Obama: She is comfortable in her own skin. The same cannot be said about the candidate she is campaigning for. That is why it is a brilliant move by the Obamas to apply their “hopium” vibe and manufactured optimism to Kamala Harris. That is exactly what Michelle Obama did in her speech on the second night of the Democratic National Convention.
Obama is a Chicago native and the partner of the last successful Democratic president. She is popular and well-liked by her people, which was reflected in the thunderous applause and cheers. Obama made gentle gestures to serene the audience.
Thank you guys. Okay. We have a massive night ahead of us. Thank you all. Thank you very much.
Hello, Chicago! Yes… all right. There’s something… something wonderfully magical in the air, isn’t there? Yes… you know, we feel it here in this arena, but it’s spreading across this country we love. A familiar feeling that’s been buried too deep for far too long. You know what I’m talking about! It’s the contagious power of “hope.” The anticipation, the energy, the exhilaration of once again being on the cusp of a better day. The chance to conquer the demons of fear, division and hatred that have consumed us, and to continue pursuing the unfulfilled promise of this great nation. The dream our parents and grandparents fought and died and sacrificed for.
America, hope returns!
No doubt Obama and Hillary Clinton compared their experiences. Like Clinton, Obama’s speech invoked the misleading aura of “change afoot” and then invoked the wisdom and weight of ancestors. In Obama’s case, she drew on the legacy of her own lineage and the lessons she had learned from her mother, a mother who had recently passed away.
But to be truthful, I realize that until recently I was still mourning the loss of that hope. And perhaps you have experienced the same feelings. That deep feeling in my stomach. A palpable sense of fear for the future. And for me, that grief also mixed with my own personal grief. The last time I was here in my hometown was to remember my mother. The woman who showed me the importance of challenging work, humility, and decency. The woman who set my moral compass high and showed me the power of my own voice.
Guys, I still feel her loss deeply. I wasn’t even sure if I was forceful enough to stand before you tonight. But my heart compelled me to be here because I feel like I have to honor her memory.
Democrats are exceptionally good at evoking all the emotions. Who can deny the memory of a beloved mother? Obama immediately built a bridge, leveraging the goodwill people already had toward her and manipulating it. Obama used the lessons of her now-deceased mother to spin misleading falsehoods not only about herself and Barack Obama, but more importantly, about Kamala Harris. This speech, and frankly the entire second night, was about reinterpreting and reinventing Kamala Harris.
This is what the Democrats are doing, and they are doing it well.
Obama continued:
And to remind us all not to waste the sacrifices our ancestors made for a better future. You see, my mother lived out this pursuit of hope in her silent, steady way every single day of her life. She believed that all children, all people, were valuable. That anyone could succeed if given the chance. She and my father did not seek to be prosperous. In fact, they were suspicious of people who took more than they needed.
Eye rolling* emoji> Anyone who has paid attention over the last 10-15 years knows that the Obamas have been the biggest demonstrative consumers. They almost overshadow the Clintons. So $11.75 million Martha’s Vineyard the house they bought in 2020, the book deals, the Netflix deal, not to mention the taxpayer-funded presidential pension. Perhaps Obama’s mother was suspicious of her own daughter and son-in-law because they are prime examples of taking more than they needed.
They understood that it wasn’t enough for their children to thrive when everyone around us was drowning. So my mother volunteered at the local school. She always looked after the other kids on the block. She was ecstatic to do the thankless, unglamorous work that for generations has strengthened the fabric of this nation. The belief that if you “do good to others,” if you “love your neighbor,” if you work and scratch and sacrifice, if not for yourself then maybe for your children or grandchildren, it will pay off.
Because of the damage done by the Obama-Biden administration years ago and the Biden-Harris administration today, work, effort, and sacrifice can no longer even buy food or rent, let alone a home or the future of your children or grandchildren. These people have made the very policies that are destroying Americans’ ability to do that, and yet they successfully wrap themselves in a cloak of kindness and goodwill, pretending that Republicans are the problem and more government is the solution.
You see, these values ​​were passed down on farms and in factory towns. In tree-lined streets and crowded tenements. In prayer groups, in National Guard units and in social studies classes. These were the values ​​my mother instilled in me until her last breath.
Here’s the Democrats’ sleight of hand. Obama combined the values ​​her mother taught her with the values ​​Kamala Harris’ mother taught her. Look! Kamala is just like us!
It was dazzlingly brilliant and yet disgusting at the same time.
Kamala Harris and I built our lives on the same core values. Even though our mothers grew up an ocean apart, they shared the same belief in the promise of this country.
This is the same woman who said in 2008, “For the first time in my adult life, I’m really proud of my country — not just because Barack did a good job, but because I think people are hungry for change.” And whatever America she had envisioned suddenly became a reality after her husband was elected twice. The money to live a life of luxury was there, anyway. Our chance to live that same life of luxury? Well, tough luck for you.
That’s why her mother moved here from India when she was 19. That’s why she taught Kamala about justice. About the duty to support others. About our responsibility to give more than we take. She often told her daughter, “Don’t sit around and complain about things. Do something.”
So with that voice in her head, Kamala went out and worked challenging in school, graduated from an HBCU, and got her law degree from a state school.
Howard University is considered an elite HBCU, and the University of California’s Hastings School of Law is one of the Ivy League schools in the West. So these choices are very elite, with no trace of meritocracy anywhere. Hastings School of Law is also one of those schools where people develop neither a love of law nor an ability for it; what they learn is legal activism. Obama conveniently ignores this, as well as the fact that Berkeley and Montreal, Canada, the places where Kamala Harris grew up, are hotbeds of communism.
And then she stood up for the people, fought to hold lawbreakers accountable and strengthen the rule of law. She fought for people to get better wages, cheaper prescription drugs, a good education, decent health care, child care and elder care. Kamala came from a middle class home and worked her way up to become Vice President of the United States of America!
Willie Brown would like to say a word about that. So much has been left out, which is well documented in these pages. Unfortunately, the DNC audience is already sold on the fiction Obama has spun, so they continue to believe it to the core.
My friend Kamala Harris is more than ready for this moment. She is one of the most qualified people to ever seek the office of president. And she is one of the most dignified. A tribute to your mother, to my mother, and to your mother too. The embodiment of the stories we tell ourselves about this country. Her story is your story. It is my story. It is the story of the huge majority of Americans who are trying to live a better life.
“The stories we tell ourselves about this country…” – an intriguing turn of phrase. Not the stories about the founding of our country and the people of all races, colors and creeds who made it possible, but a fiction that we spin until we can make it true. Just like there are 57 genders, men can get pregnant and a three-year-old can choose his own gender.
Kamala knows just as we do that we all deserve the chance to build a decent life, no matter where we come from, what we look like, who we love, what we pray, or how much is in our bank account. All of our contributions deserve to be accepted and valued. Because no one has a monopoly on what it means to be an American. No one.
Ahh, that’s where the problem lies, and this is where the BS counter was set to 11. After Obama said:
Kamala has shown her commitment to this country not by spewing anger and bitterness, but by living a life of service to others, and by always opening the doors of opportunity for others.
Now Jamal Trulove, Caramad Conley and Cheree Peoples would like to speak to those present and remember the years they lost due to their wrongful imprisonment under Kamala Harris.
The Obamas have no choice here. Ultimately, it all becomes class warfare and hatred of others, wrapped up in a nice package of concern for the marginalized and caring for the community. It’s affordable, insincere and manipulative.
And unfortunately, so many will continue to fall for it. Obama ended her speech with a return to the “Halcyon Hopium” days of Barack and Michelle.
Our destiny is in our hands. In 77 days, we have the power to free our country from the fear, division, and pettiness of the past. We have the power to match our hope with our actions. We have the power to pass on the love, sweat, and sacrifice of our mothers and fathers and all those who came before us. We did it before all of you, and we can surely do it again. Let us work like our lives depend on it. And let us keep moving our country forward and higher—yes, higher and higher than ever before, as we elect the next President and Vice President of the United States, Kamala Harris and Tim Walz!
To put the icing on the hopium cake, Michelle Obama introduced her husband Barack Obama.
