From the US to China to Canada, the incumbent First Lady Michelle Obama speech at the Democrat National Convention is on everyone's minds. Dubbed "brilliant" and "one of the finest speeches ever delivered at a national political convention," this speech could be the turning point of the elections, according to some.
Obama talked about family values and hard work, traditional American values that address the current unrest in the country. While this is a smart move, delivered with oratorical skill, it remains unclear what exactly the speech had to do with her husband's politics.
Of course, the subtext related to ending unemployment so that men can be good fathers to their children by providing them with opportunities. This statement seems trite and rigid, falling into the same old American Dream that has been failing so many for so long.
First Lady Obama painted the Republican candidate Mitt Romney as a child of privilege, out of touch with the people. While her subtlety is perhaps to be applauded, the overall speech appealed more to emotionality than any real promise.
"We'll take care of you," she said in substance. "Like parents taking care of helpless children." Should Americans be insulted? Probably not, but like any political strategy from any political camp, this truthfully inspiring Michelle Obama speech has much more to do with evoking support through empty promises than through a concrete and realistic resolution of the current situation.
Political theater at its finest.
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Comments: 87
"The President and first Lady do not think politically they think of working each day to help all of the people realize the American Dream"
Now that I have stopped laughing, I can't believe that anyone could think ...let alone say anything so breathtakingly stupid. Captain...please answer this for us: The reason Obama lies to all of us about almost everything on a daily basis is to manipulate our thinking and perceptions for strictly political reasons...do you have some other explanation for his non stop serial mendacity? Obama doesn't do anything authentically except bow down to our enemies ...Everything he says and does is for political reasons ...how many examples would you like? As William F Buckley used to say "I won't insult your intelligence by pretending that you believe what you just said" It's very simple ..Politicians lie for political reasons and Obama is the most prolific liar to ever hold the office of President in the history of this republic...You won't be able to find anyone who thinks he is an honest man ...which is why he needs to be let go
Isnt ganging up on someone still a bully? Just askin'..
I wouldnt believe a word that comes out of Mooches mouth as she is married to the greatest pretender of all and this is putting it nicely...
...check out the lyrics.
Was her speech a pointless piece of political theater? Sure, just like Ann Romney's speech. Political conventions are infomercials- their original purpose is gone because the primary campaigns settle the candidate beforehand.
As for your other part, I agree. Most public political appearances are theater. The real decisions are made behind closed doors.
And I don't think I indicated anywhere that you suggested that. It's a matter of offering up misinformation. Robert summed it up pretty well.
...something the democrats have mastered.
...SO CALLED nanny state? Are you kidding? The democrats buy votes with that "so-called nanny state."
...that's what I heard too.
...because they "care" so much for Americans.
As if she should worry about anyone's opinion.
"It's a matter of offering up misinformation."
...something the democrats have mastered.
Ah, another substantive comment.
"...that's what I heard too."
There's a big surprise.
Said by the empty suit!
Well said.
This post, like so much of what the right wing extremists say today, creates a falsehood in order to play to the bigots of the party. Frankly, it's embarrassing that Gather pays people for this kind of garbage. We should not support them.
Said by the empty suit!
And now an insult. Shocking.
Just returning the favor!
Oh tell them rev. Wright!
I would have had to insult you for that to make sense.
That is exactly what we see here.
Me, Oh please Chris, vote Democratic much :) A copy from you from below. Couldn't resist :)
The following was a part of from Robert A posted comment above.
On the "in substance part" referred to above. That paraphrasing is clearly putting it in propaganda code that conservatives will eat up like a double chocolate chip cone.
When you read the posted comments by Yevgine, Renee and Big Mama above, I am sure that you can now see what most of those placing commnets were referring to. (code equals red meat on GN)
BTW: Welcome, nice to see a new author here on GN. New points of view will be appreciated and it will be interesting to see what other issues you author in days to come.
Very nice article, Marion. You did a very good job and you've pegged this couple perfectly: Political theater at its finest ... and always on other people's money.
You read that wrong & on a blog~news agencies are reporting Michelle had nearly 4 million more views than Ann, 26.2mil to 22.3.
So, to me the question is, when will my friends on the "right" and "left" realize it's all theater? There are no substantiative differences between these fellows, that I can detect . . and the "battle" devolves to a recent difference on abortion, and a recent difference on "gay marriage". With the candidate formerly known as the flip floppingest RINO, having recently become "pro-life", and the candidate formerly known as Nobel Peace Prize material, having very recently become (as a result of consultations with his children) pro "gay" marriage.
What a show. What a sham.
We, formerly known as people with unalienable rights, are being conned by a two faced mass media that is owned and operated by hyper wealthy/powerful elites, I believe most sincerely. We are being taken down so to speak, as a Constitutional Republic, from within, with a cooperative and complicit mass media system that is nothing more than a propaganda machine, putting on theater, to keep us from realizing as a whole that we are being taken down. That Big Brother is not our friend.
I don't know what Ann Romney said, but I'm sure it was just as
theatrical and silly.
I am by no means a conservative, but, neither do I take what any speaker, Conservative or Liberal, says while addressing a convention of Delegates, to be "Silly." Both Mrs. Obama and Mrs. Romney were serious in presenting their individual points of view and I find it insulting that anyone, much less a GN author would refer to either of their speeches as being theatrically silly.
Yes, conventions are staged events and in some instances, the speakers use a form of theatrics in their individual presentations, as did Clint Eastwood in his. Conventions are political science at work for the good of the party's supporters. It's serious work and deserves serious reflection by commentators, pundits and reporters in particular.
IMO, anyone viewing those directly involved in our political system as being silly, needs to reflect on the reason why we, as a soverign nation, have the best politcal system in the world.
But just to clarify: I didn't mean silly in the sense that it wasn't serious. It was serious, but devoid of true honesty and transparency, in my opinion, like a lot of politics.
What I am trying to convey is that virtually all of that, and the whole of the public presentation of what we call politics, including the "commentators, pundits and reporters", is just a show, with scripted talking points and prearranged points of contention, and a very narrow range of topics and issues that will be discussed. Literally a fake "world", like a movie or TV show.
I'm saying that there are people "above" our politicians, so to speak, who decide the big stuff, and tell our public "leaders", including the corporate media folks, what to tell us, what to sell to us as important, necessary, inevitable, dangerous, beneficial, real . . . And that these truly powerful people are not loyal to countries, not thinking in terms of nation states, but in terms of global control and management of the populations of the world.
Like an unofficial, unannounced world "government" that decided long ago to strip us of our rights, our freedoms, and our relative wealth, because it sets a "bad example" for the rest of the worlds "human resources". These are people at the top of international financing/banking, at the top of global corporations and industries.
And that they long ago bought up our mass media, and tuned it into a propaganda system, that echoes only what those folks on high want echoed, and will not speak of what those folks on high want us to be ignorant of. They decide what sort of candidates we will be presented with, and all the political theater is just an audition process, for con-men, salesmen essentially, to keep us under control. To keep us pacified, and disorganized, and convinced that we are "fighting" each other, in the big groupings we call the major Parties.
It's not hard to see this, if one looks for it, if one leaves the mass media generated bubble reality, but one cannot see it from within that artificially generated theatrical realm, until one has come to recognize that the theater is just that. Everything beyond is simply labeled "conspiracy theory", and that's enough to keep most people from investigating outside the bubble reality.
If one does investigate (soon, because the high ups are not at all pleased about the many people poking around now, and figuring out that they exist, and are running the show) I believe one will rather quickly come to realize we are being conned, on a vast scale. Break the bubble, spend significant time investigating beyond the mass media approved content and perspectives, and you will see for yourselves, I am quite sure.
Time is running out though . . and you'll need to look away from the official political theater . . need to stop identifying with one or the other crowds of contrived opposition . .
For at least the last 100 years ...when we handed over control of our currency to a cabal of private banking interests we have been under siege. If you were to follow the money it generally flows like this: This cabal of private banking interests (The Banksters) print money out of paper and ink...they then loan us back our own money that they require us to pay back with interest ... along the way they create one crisis after another that causes us to go deeper and deeper into debt ... one way they are able to do this on a large scale is to bury our too big to fail banks with debt generated by very poor decisions and then create a panic requiring the government to rush into bail them out ... what everyone sees is the banking system being saved by our vigilant elected officials but what has really happened is that private debt has just been converted to public debt ...our debt!...gotta fly more later
We know it's all about politics!
Kudos to Fren for posting this illuminating video!
The Democrat National Convention in 2-minutes & 18-seconds
Obama's speeches in 2012 are no different than his speeches in 2008 but the economy is so much worse off than we were so many more are unemployed!
We can't trust this man with 4 more years !