In our current hyper-polarized, hyper-divisive political culture, one where we are conditioned to believe anyone that doesn't belong to our particular tribe is the spawn of Satan, I admit that one thing I enjoy watching are the videos that show the playful, warm relationship between former President George W. Bush and former First Lady Michelle Obama.
Michelle and her husband Barack had plenty of biting, derogatory things to say about Bush and his leadership back in 2008. But policy differences aside, it's clear the two families have since found a common bond in their shared humanity and experiences. That's been a point of both encouragement and conviction for me given my continued misgivings about Mrs. Obama.
To be honest, I struggle to take her seriously and always have. I have no knowledge of her personal relationships, her heart, her example in the home, or any submission she may or may not render to Christ. That means I can only make judgments based on the fruits that evince themselves in her public character – fruits like her vocal lamentation over the Supreme Court's decision to allow the people to decide abortion law for themselves.
Expressing her "heartbreak" that some states might forbid the practice of dismembering infants whose parents deem them inconvenient, Michelle fretted how the Court's ruling that ended judicially mandated abortion rights was a "horrifying decision" that would lead to "devastating consequences." The hundreds of thousands of infants that will be given a chance at life might dispute that characterization.
And now, peddling her newest book, Michelle is hitting the circuit to offer a less important, but equally bizarre take: how the racist American public wasn't ready for her hair when she was First Lady.
I'm sorry, what? Who honestly cared enough then or now to generate any kind of opinion about Michelle Obama's hair? In my entire adult lifetime, I have only encountered public critique of one politician's hair – Donald J. Trump's. And that had nothing to do with any racial context, but rather because his hair is an enigma – one of the great mysteries of our modern times.
Obama went on in her interview to say she remembered thinking she needed to keep her hair straight so that her husband could "get health care passed." Oh, for heaven's sake.
There's a large part of me that wishes someone close to the former First Lady would gently encourage her to get over herself. A country that comfortably elected her husband in two landslides wasn't struggling to overcome some pervasive unease with black people in the White House, and for her to self-servingly intimate as much is rudely condescending.
Frankly, if Democrat lawmakers were willing to look past the blatant unconstitutionality of Obamacare enough to impose it on Americans, Michelle wearing braids to a social event wouldn't have stopped them either.
I get that portraying the country as one hopelessly splintered over black people in positions of power pays dividends for the public persona she fosters for profit. But it's remarkably unbecoming. People liked both her and her husband immensely, and still do, despite the laundry list of scandals that occurred during their administration.
- They spied on the media, but the media adores them.
- The Fast and Furious and Benghazi debacles cost American lives, but public opinion polls have always shown them both riding high.
- Michelle's first book was artificially inflated on Amazon's promotional listings and did very well in sales.
- Barack was heralded by GQ as a "cool-a** dude" and "stuff of legend" when he took time off work to "slow jam the news" on late night television.
These, and so many other examples, prove that it simply defies all degrees of logic to suggest that the Obama administrative agenda was imperiled if Michelle got a new do.
That the former First Lady has a low view of her fellow countrymen is no secret. One of the first introductions the country had to Michelle, after all, was when she grossly declared in the lead-up to the 2008 presidential election that, "for the first time in my adult lifetime, I'm really proud of my country." Winning the Cold War and bringing down the Berlin Wall didn't do it for her, but Barack winning a few Democrat primaries did? By their fruits they will be known.
Still, what our country desperately needs right now is the emergence and promotion of voices that see the best in one another. Are there racists among us? Of course. Just like there are perverts, molesters, murderers, and thieves. Why should we define the character of the masses by the evil of the few?
So Michelle, please start looking at us the way you now look at George W. Bush. Seek to unite the country rather than elevate yourself at the expense of what you consider the unwashed, racist peasantry.
"When they go low, we go high," remember?
