Michelle Obama on Vogue in March

The fashion world is abuzz: First Lady Michelle Obama will grace the cover of the March 2009 Vogue.

“I love clothes,” she tells the magazine. “First and foremost, I wear what I love. That’s what women have to focus on: what makes them happy and what makes them feel comfortable and beautiful. If I can have any impact, I want women to feel good about themselves and have fun with fashion.”

On Wednesday's edition of CNN's The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer Vogue editor-at-large Andrew Leon Talley spoke about the magazine’s interview with First Lady Michelle Obama. The full transcript of the interview follows:

WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: And joining us now, Andre Leon Talley. He is the editor-at-large at "Vogue Magazine." On the cover – we saw it on the Web site, Andre. A great picture of Michelle Obama, the first lady of the United States, I see a broad smile. I read the article you wrote. Tell us about this photograph, tell us about the first lady.

ANDRE LEON TALLEY, "VOGUE MAGAZINE": Great, Wolf. Great to be on you show and I’m happy to talk about our first lady. The cover, Annie Leibovitz, and Annie wanted to evoke the real Michelle Obama. It’s a cover about her warmth, which comes from within, it’s not about her being a fashion icon. We’re not trying to put her on a pedestal and make her into a fashionista. It’s just the naturalness and the grace of Michelle Obama. It’s who she is.

What you see is what you get and it all comes from her smile, her naturalness. She’s beautiful, she can wear anything, but the cover expresses the hope and the optimism that comes with the Obama administration and a new error.

BLITZER: She looks fabulous and it’s a great dress. Who picked out the dress? Did the first lady pick it out …

TALLEY: Michelle. The first lady …

BLITZER: … or did you guys?

TALLEY: The first lady picked out her dress from one of her favorite designers, Jason Wu and she picked out the clothes inside from J. Crew, one of her favorite resources. I mean, in the days of first ladies like Jackie Kennedy, they couldn’t shop online at J. Crew. One of the great advantages of Michelle is she embraces being a mother, a wife and she’s got a lot of things to juggle and she can sit down and shop and get a whole outfit online for $400.

BLITZER: Annie Leibovitz, who is the photographer, a fabulous photographer as we know, she must have taken a lot pictures but I have another picture we saw on your Web site in which you see the first lady there pen in hand taking some notes on a legal pad, it looks like. People tend to forget she is a trained attorney, she went to Harvard Law School.

TALLEY: Exactly, you have to realize that she has the best education, she grew up in Chicago, that was her home, her roots and she is a lawyer, trained, a lawyer. She is a community activist. And she is a very intelligent woman.

The thing that impresses you the most when you’re in the midst of Michelle or with the president and Michelle is her quality and her focus, of her vision, of her goals, of goals for the White House, her new ideas about entertaining, opening the White House for seminars for children. She wants to use the kitchen as the classroom for young urban kids to come and see how a kitchen works.

BLITZER: What about the outfit that she’s wearing in that picture on the couch. We see a sweater and her skirt …

TALLEY: It’s all J. Crew. It’s all – one of her favorite resources is J. Crew. She dressed her daughters in J. Crew for the inaugural. Those two girls had lovely coats and matching accessories that all came from J. Crew which is one of the favorite resources for every American woman. She gets style at a price.

BLITZER: And you got to know her, you’ve known her for a while, right?

TALLEY: Yes. I’ve known her ever since I had got to meet her at Oprah Winfrey’s house in Santa Barbara.

BLITZER: When was that?

TALLEY: 2005 when she had her big Legends Ball. And the night before the ball Oprah had an impromptu dinner party. Very impromptu at her home, in the dining room and she went to sit me down, there was no place setting. I said here, you are going to sit here. And on my right was Michelle Obama, on my left was Tina Turner and I was so impressed with Michelle, it’s not because what she was wearing, I hadn’t known her, I had never heard of Michelle Obama until I sat next to her.

And of course I found out that she was the wife of Barack Obama and she was just so incredible to talk to. She can talk about so many things. So when I got up from her table, it wasn’t what she was wearing I remembered, I remembered her as a human being.

BLITZER: Tell us one thing, Andre about the first lady that most of our viewers don’t know.

TALLEY: One of the things about the first lady is when she was on the train coming from Philadelphia to Washington, the way Abraham Lincoln had done, with her family and her husband, her two daughters spent two hours in the children’s train decorating it to give their mother a surprise birthday party because she was turning 45 that day.

And the mother took the party over and she was surprised and she led all the kids in a stomp dance singing a cappella. And seeing Michelle dance on the train with her children around her, to see her daughters having so much fun, just getting to that moment of fun was so important and the first thing she said to me after the party was, "I just said to Barack, this is nice, but who is going to clean up this mess. We can’t leave Amtrak this mess." So this was really a cue for all of us to get up and volunteer to pitch in and pick up all the paper cups and all the streamers and all the party things. And we did and I think it’s wonderful.

BLITZER: She’s only the second first lady ever to be on the cover of "Vogue Magazine." She is on the new cover. Michelle Obama, the sub headline, "The first lady the world’s been waiting for." Andre Leon Talley is the editor-at-large at "Vogue Magazine."

Andre, thanks very much for coming in.

TALLEY: Thank you, Wolf, I appreciate it. Thank you very much.

~ ~ ~

plez sez: the first lady has already become a fashion icon... we're talking Jackie O territory now!

i'm real sensitive about this, so i'm just warning you, any negative comments about our First Lady or the President will be deleted!

~ ~ Citations ~ ~

Read the Vogue.com article about Michelle Obama's cover spread for the March magazine.

Read the September 2007 article in Style.com about Michelle Obama.

Read the CNN.com article about Michelle Obama being on the cover of Vogue.

Read the Reuters article about the first lady being on Vogue.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Obamas Denied Early Access to Blair House

An Obama transition spokesperson says the family initially "explored the idea" of moving into Blair House early so that daughters Sasha and Malia could start school on schedule. President-elect Barack Obama will not be moving his family across the street from the White House early, despite his request to do so. Blair House, which incoming presidents traditionally occupy 5 days before inauguration day on January 15, is apparently booked in the early part of January.

The family was told there were previously-scheduled events and guests that could not be displaced.

Sally McDonough, spokeswoman for First Lady Laura Bush, is quoted as saying, "The Blair House, the President's guest house for visiting dignitaries, is available to President-elect Obama and his family starting January 15, as is historically the case."

A State Department official said he didn’t know of any foreign dignitaries staying at Blair House in early January. A White House official said that President Bush does not have family or friends from Texas staying at Blair House during the period which the Obamas requested. But Blair House, the official said, has been booked for “receptions and gatherings” by members of the outgoing Bush administration. Those receptions, the official said, “don’t make it suitable for full-time occupancy by the Obamas yet.”

~ ~ ~

The Obama transition spokesperson emphasized the White House has been "extremely accommodating" to the Obama family, adding that the entire process has been "smooth and friendly."

~ ~ ~

plez sez: i applaud the Obamas for wanting to have their girls in school at the beginning of january AND as much as plezWorld can't wait to see Obama in the Oval office AND say goodbye and good riddance to bush; this isn't a big deal. if its tradition for the new first family to move into the guest house 5 days prior to inauguration, then the bush administration has used its prerogative and has booked the house up until that time with other engagements; i don't see a problem.

now who they have booked in blair house and why so close to the end of his term when he ain't doing a damn thing is another story... and another blog post!

~ ~ Citations ~ ~

Read the New York Times article about the booked Blair House.

Read the CNN.com blog article about how the Obamas cannot check in early at Blair House.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Michelle Obama Delivers at DNC

Our First Lady-in-Waiting delivered a rousing, yet touching speech on Monday night at the Democratic National Convention in Denver. Michelle Obama gave depth to the man who is Sen. Barack Obama as a husband (of almost 16 years) and a doting father to their two young daughters. She spoke of their journey to the White House through the lens of an All American family being afforded the opportunity to aspire to the highest position in the land.

Barack Obama is in Kansas City, Missouri, where he will campaign Tuesday. The Democratic delegates will make history this week by officially nominating Obama as the first African-American presidential nominee of a major U.S. political party.

Michelle Obama delivered a heartfelt and humble speech.

Michelle Obama's speech at DNC


Transcript of Michelle Obama's Speech:
"American Dream"

I can't tell you how much it means to have Craig and my mom here tonight. Like Craig, I can feel my dad looking down on us, just as I've felt his presence in every grace-filled moment of my life.

At 6-foot-6, I've often felt like Craig was looking down on me too...literally. But the truth is, both when we were kids and today, he wasn't looking down on me -- he was watching over me.

And he's been there for me every step of the way since that clear February day 19 months ago, when -- with little more than our faith in each other and a hunger for change -- we joined my husband, Barack Obama, on the improbable journey that has led us to this moment.

But each of us also comes here tonight by way of our own improbable journey.

I come here tonight as a sister, blessed with a brother who is my mentor, my protector and my lifelong friend.

And I come here as a wife who loves my husband and believes he will be an extraordinary president.

And I come here as a Mom whose girls are the heart of my heart and the center of my world -- they're the first thing I think about when I wake up in the morning, and the last thing I think about when I go to bed at night. Their future -- and all our children's future -- is my stake in this election.

And I come here as a daughter -- raised on the South Side of Chicago by a father who was a blue collar city worker, and a mother who stayed at home with my brother and me. My mother's love has always been a sustaining force for our family, and one of my greatest joys is seeing her integrity, her compassion, and her intelligence reflected in my own daughters.

My Dad was our rock. Although he was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in his early thirties, he was our provider, our champion, our hero. But as he got sicker, it got harder for him to walk, it took him longer to get dressed in the morning. But if he was in pain, he never let on. He never stopped smiling and laughing -- even while struggling to button his shirt, even while using two canes to get himself across the room to give my Mom a kiss. He just woke up a little earlier, and worked a little harder.

He and my mom poured everything they had into me and Craig. It was the greatest gift a child could receive: never doubting for a single minute that you're loved, and cherished, and have a place in this world. And thanks to their faith and their hard work, we both were able to go on to college. So I know firsthand from their lives -- and mine -- that the American Dream endures.

And you know, what struck me when I first met Barack was that even though he had this funny name, even though he'd grown up all the way across the continent in Hawaii, his family was so much like mine. He was raised by grandparents who were working class folks just like my parents, and by a single mother who struggled to pay the bills just like we did. Like my family, they scrimped and saved so that he could have opportunities that they never had for themselves. And Barack and I were raised with so many of the same values: that you work hard for what you want in life; that your word is your bond and you do what you say you're going to do; that you treat people with dignity and respect, even if you don't know them, and even if you don't agree with them.

And Barack and I set out to build lives guided by these values, and to pass them on to the next generation. Because we want our children -- and all children in this nation -- to know that the only limit to the height of your achievements is the reach of your dreams and your willingness to work for them.

And as our friendship grew, and I learned more about Barack, he introduced me to the work he'd done when he first moved to Chicago after college. You see instead of going to Wall Street, Barack had gone to work in neighborhoods devastated when steel plants shut down, and jobs dried up. And he'd been invited back to speak to people from those neighborhoods about how to rebuild their community.

The people gathered together that day were ordinary folks doing the best they could to build a good life. See they were parents trying to get by paycheck to paycheck; grandparents trying to get by on a fixed income; men frustrated that they couldn't support their families after their jobs disappeared. Those folks weren't asking for a handout or a shortcut. See they were ready to work -- they wanted to contribute. They believed -- like you and I believe -- that America should be a place where you can make it if you try.

And Barack stood up that day, and spoke words that have stayed with me ever since. He talked about "The world as it is" and "The world as it should be." And he said that all too often, we accept the distance between the two, and we settle for the world as it is -- even when it doesn't reflect our values and aspirations. But he reminded us that we also know what our world should look like. He said we know what fairness and justice and opportunity look like. And he urged us to believe in ourselves -- to find the strength within ourselves to strive for the world as it should be. And isn't that the great American story?

It's the story of men and women gathered in churches and union halls and high school gyms -- people who stood up and marched and risked everything they had -- refusing to settle, determined to mold our future into the shape of our ideals.

It is because of their will and determination that this week, we celebrate two anniversaries: the 88th anniversary of women winning the right to vote, and the 45th anniversary of that hot summer day when Dr. King lifted our sights and our hearts with his dream for our nation.

I stand here today at the crosscurrents of that history -- knowing that my piece of the American Dream is a blessing hard won by those who came before me. All of them driven by the same conviction that drove my dad to get up an hour early each day to painstakingly dress himself for work. The same conviction that drives the men and women I've met all across this country:

People who work the day shift, kiss their kids goodnight, and head out for the night shift -- without disappointment, without regret -- see that goodnight kiss a reminder of everything they're working for.

The military families who say grace each night with an empty seat at the table. The servicemen and women who love this country so much, they leave those they love most to defend it.

The young people across America serving our communities -- teaching children, cleaning up neighborhoods, caring for the least among us each and every day.

People like Hillary Clinton, who put those 18 million cracks in the glass ceiling, so that our daughters -- and our sons -- can dream a little bigger and aim a little higher.

People like Joe Biden, who's never forgotten where he came from, and never stopped fighting for folks who work long hours and face long odds and need someone on their side again.

All of us driven by a simple belief that the world as it is just won't do -- that we have an obligation to fight for the world as it should be.

And that is the thread that connects our hearts. That is the thread that runs through my journey and Barack's journey and so many other improbable journeys that have brought us here tonight, where the current of history meets this new tide of hope.

That is why I love this country.

And in my own life, in my own small way, I've tried to give back to this country that has given me so much. That's why I left a job at a law firm for a career in public service, working to empower young people to volunteer in their communities. Because I believe that each of us -- no matter what our age or background or walk of life -- each of us has something to contribute to the life of this nation.

It's a belief Barack shares -- a belief at the heart of his life's work.

See it's what he did all those years ago, on the streets of Chicago, setting up job training to get people back to work and afterschool programs to keep kids safe -- working block by block to help people lift up their families.

It's what he did in the Illinois Senate, moving people from welfare to jobs, passing tax cuts for hard-working families, and making sure women get equal pay for equal work.

It's what he's done in the United States Senate, fighting to ensure that the men and women who serve this country are welcomed home not just with medals and parades, but with good jobs and benefits and health care -- including mental health care.

See that's why he's running -- to end the war in Iraq responsibly, to build an economy that lifts every family, to make sure health care is available for every American, and to make sure every child in this nation has a world class education all the way from preschool to college. That's what Barack Obama will do as president of the United States of America.

He'll achieve these goals the same way he always has -- by bringing us together and reminding us how much we share and how alike we really are. You see, Barack doesn't care where you're from, or what your background is, or what party -- if any -- you belong to. That's not how he sees the world. He knows that thread that connects us -- our belief in America's promise, our commitment to our children's future. He knows that that thread is strong enough to hold us together as one nation even when we disagree.

It was strong enough to bring hope to those neighborhoods in Chicago.

It was strong enough to bring hope to the mother he met worried about her child in Iraq; hope to the man who's unemployed, but can't afford gas to find a job; hope to the student working nights to pay for her sister's health care, sleeping just a few hours a day.

And it was strong enough to bring hope to people who came out on a cold Iowa night and became the first voices in this chorus for change that has been echoed by millions of Americans from every corner of this nation.

Millions of Americans who know that Barack understands their dreams; Millions of Americans who know that Barack will fight for people like them; and that Barack will finally bring the change we need.

And in the end, And in the end after all that's happened these past 19 months, the Barack Obama I know today is the same man I fell in love with 19 years ago. He's the same man who drove me and our new baby daughter home from the hospital ten years ago this summer, inching along at a snail's pace, peering anxiously at us in the rearview mirror, feeling the whole weight of her future in his hands, determined to give her everything he'd struggled so hard for himself, determined to give her something he never had: the affirming embrace of a father's love.

And as I tuck that little girl in and her little sister into bed at night, You see I think about how one day, they'll have families of their own. And one day, they -- and your sons and daughters -- will tell their own children about what we did together in this election. They'll tell them how this time, we listened to our hopes, instead of our fears. How this time, how this time, we decided to stop doubting and to start dreaming. How this time, in this great country -- where a girl from the South Side of Chicago can go to college and law school, and the son of a single mother from Hawaii can go all the way to the White House -- that we committed ourselves, we committed ourselves to building the world as it should be.

So tonight, in honor of my father's memory and my daughters' future -- out of gratitude for those whose triumphs we mark this week, and those whose everyday sacrifices have brought us to this moment -- let us devote ourselves to finishing their work; let us work together to fulfill their hopes; and let us stand together to elect Barack Obama president of the United States of America.

Thank you, God bless you, and God bless America.

And also an impassioned speech from
Sen. Ted Kennedy who has inoperable brain cancer:
"The Dream Lives On"

Read the CNN.com articles about the happenings at the DNC on opening night here and here and here.

plez sez: i watched Michelle Obama's speech with plezWife. we watched as history unfolded before our eyes: a 44-year old Black woman speaking at the Democratic National Convention as the wife of her 47-year old Black husband who is poised to become the next President of the United States.

we were moved to tears. tears of joy. we were both so proud of Michelle. tears of hope. we are hopeful that the promises of America continue to shine on us and our family. this was an awesome occasion... i can't wait until the Obamas move into the white house in january!

tonight we witnessed the epitome of the American Dream!

Essence Cover Art - The Obama Family

September 2008 Essence Magazine




September 2008 Ebony Magazine

plez sez: more delightful and less controversial than last month's New Yorker cover... plezWorld is pleased to feature cover art of the Barack and Michelle Obama with their lovely family. both magazines are september 2008 editions and are more than likely already on the newstands.

even though, it is doubtful that i'll read the accompanying articles, i'll take the Essence and Ebony cover art over the New Yorker anyday!

Corsi's Lies in "The Obama Nation"

Jerome Corsi, the author of The Obama Nation, states that the purpose of the book is to defeat Barack Obama. Corsi also co-authored the book, Unfit for Command, a linchpin of the Swift Boat attacks on John Kerry during the 2004 presidential campaign which was also full of misinformation and malicious innuendo. Corsi does not dispute the fact that his books may not be factually correct, but says that any "misinformation" contained in his book is unverifiable.

Not wanting to fall victim to the inaction as characterized by the Kerry campaign 4 years ago, the Obama campaign has released a 41-page pdf file that was developed to rebut accusations made in Jerome Corsi's book. This document destroys the rampant lies and distortions in the book.

Download and read Unfit for Publication: An Investigative Report on the Lies in Jerome Corsi's "Obama Nation".

Jerome Corsi and Media Matters' Paul Waldman discuss the blatant lies and misinformation in Corsi's book, The Obama Nation on Larry King Live:

Here are excerpts from a New York Times review of the book:

In the summer of 2004 the conservative gadfly Jerome R. Corsi shot to the top of the best-seller lists as co-author of “Unfit for Command,” the book attacking Senator John Kerry’s record on a Vietnam War Swift boat that began the larger damaging campaign against Mr. Kerry’s war credentials as he sought the presidency.

Almost exactly four years after that campaign began, Mr. Corsi has released a new attack book painting Senator Barack Obama, the Democrats’ presumed presidential nominee, as a stealth radical liberal who has tried to cover up “extensive connections to Islam” — Mr. Obama is Christian — and questioning whether his admitted experimentation with drugs in high school and college ever ceased.

Significant parts of the book, whose subtitle is “Leftist Politics and the Cult of Personality,” have already been challenged as misleading or false in the days since its debut on Aug. 1. Nonetheless, it is to make its first appearance on The New York Times best-seller list for nonfiction hardcovers this Sunday — at No. 1.

The book is being pushed along by a large volume of bulk sales, intense voter interest in Mr. Obama and a broad marketing campaign that has already included 100 author interviews with talk radio hosts across the country, like Sean Hannity and G. Gordon Liddy, Mr. Corsi said on Tuesday.

The publisher is Threshold Editions, a division of Simon & Schuster whose chief editor is Mary Matalin, the former Republican operative turned publisher-pundit. And it is a significant, early success for Ms. Matalin’s three-year-old imprint, which is also planning to publish the memoirs of Karl Rove, President Bush’s longtime political guru. Threshold says it has undertaken an extensive printing effort for anticipated demand, with 475,000 copies of “The Obama Nation” produced so far.

In a telephone interview, Mr. Corsi said, “The goal is to defeat Obama. I don’t want Obama to be in office.”

He said he was planning to aid several conservative groups that intend to run advertisements against Mr. Obama this fall, though he would not name them.

Media Matters brings Corsi to task for his interview with Sean Hannity on Fox News Network:

During the August 12 edition of Fox News' Hannity & Colmes, Jerome Corsi, author of The Obama Nation: Leftist Politics and the Cult of Personality (Threshold Editions, August 2008), claimed that the "whole point of the book" is that the assertion by Sen. Barack Obama that he stopped using illegal drugs when he went to college is "not reliable." But in his book, Corsi does not make that point; rather, Corsi made the false assertion that Obama "has yet to answer questions" concerning whether "he stopped using marijuana and cocaine completely in college, or whether his drug use extended into law school days or beyond." As Media Matters for America has noted, Obama wrote in his autobiography, Dreams from My Father, that he "stopped getting high" shortly after moving to New York City to attend Columbia University as an undergraduate -- a statement contradicting Corsi's claim in the book that Obama had not said whether he stopped using drugs.

On Hannity & Colmes, Corsi said: "[M]y objection to what Obama says is Obama says well, you know, in college he -- it were -- he quit drugs. My whole point of the book is self-reporting from people they admit they use drugs is not reliable as to when they quit." But that point was never made in any of the book's passages about Obama's past drug use.

Read the entire New York Times article about Jerome Corsi and "The Obama Nation" here.

Read the Media Matters.org articles about that liar and yellow journalist Jerome Corsi here and here.

Download and read pdf file of Unfit for Publication: An Investigative Report on the Lies in Jerome Corsi's "Obama Nation" here.

[Hat Tip: Jonathan Martin's Blog]

plez sez: relying on crackpot references and innuendo, jerome corsi weaves an incredible tall tale of distortion about Barack and Michelle Obama; books like this panders to right wing-nuts.

Barack & Michelle Obama on "The New Yorker"

"The Politics of Fear” by Barry Blitt, July 21, 2008 edition of The New Yorker

plez sez: The blogosphere has certainly been buzzing since The New Yorker released the cover artwork for next week's magazine. The reactions have ranged from an acknowledgement that this is satire, to utter dismay, to cries of racism, to accusations of sexism (for real!), combined with lots of gnashing of teeth (plezWife is pissed!), especially from a number of Black bloggers: Afro-Netizen, Acting White, Booker Rising, Afronerd, Electronic Village, AverageBro.com, the field negro, thestateof.com, Homeland Colors, Jack & Jill Politics, and African American Political Pundit.

Obama campaign spokesman Bill Burton called it "tasteless and offensive" and, according to Jake Tapper at ABC, another high-profile Obama supporter called it "as offensive a caricature as any magazine could publish."

Talk about piling it on thick, you'd think it was another cover with Barack Obama in the crosshairs of a rifle!

It appears that plezWorld is going to side with the minority view of this knee jerk reaction to a The New Yorker magazine cover. A few years ago, for their Easter edition, the magazine portrayed the Easter Bunny nailed to the cross - I imagine a slew of those fervent Christian bloggers went on a rant about that one, too.

The satire that one finds on the cover (and inside this magazine, for those of us who actually read it) can be quite provocative at times. But then again, isn't that the purpose of satire? It is supposed to poke the sleeping dog, it is supposed to to show the absurdity of a situation, it is supposed to shock you... or else, it isn't satire!

Some have suggested that The New Yorker is now duty bound to dredge up a similarly offensive cover for John McCain. Why would they? It wouldn't be funny, because he isn't going to be the next President of the United States! So it wouldn't be very provocative nor insightful... besides, which rumors about John McCain are false?!?

This cartoon basically laughs at those who succumb to "the politics of fear" as spouted by those dreaded Republicans. If nothing else, the ones who came up with the fodder for this cartoon should be lambasted, not the artist who satirized them!

There are those who are afraid that some American voters will see the magazine and (heaven forbid) they will believe everything on the cover of a magazine that they don't have the intelligence to read is true... and then they won't vote for Barry! It's time to buy a clue, ya'll... those slack jawed yahoos who are going to base their vote on the cover of The New Yorker never had any intention of voting for Obama in the first place: no matter how much AMBI® Fade Cream Michelle Obama slathers on her face, and no matter if Barack Obama decided to die his hair blonde, grow it out and wear it in a mullet!

This isn't some slick campaign mailer sent out by the McCain campaign that uses subliminal messages with rumors about the Obamas that we've never heard before. If you are blind, deaf, and dumb, you've seen or heard reference to everything on the cover artwork during the last nine months by some instrument of the right wing wacko squad:

Obama in "Muslim" garb - If you recall, Hillary Clinton (who happens to be a member of the left wing wacko squad) said, "I don't know if he's not a Muslim," during the campaign

Portrait of Osama bin Laden above the fireplace - "Obama sounds an awful lot like Osama if you ask me" has to have been uttered once or twice over the past year on Fox News Network

American flag in the fireplace - "Why doesn't he wear a flag lapel pin? He must not be patriotic!"

Michelle Obama sporting the Angela Davis afro, wearing camo pants, and sporting a Black Panther sub-machine gun for extra measure - Cindy McCain during one of her more sober moments said, "I don't know about her, but I've always been proud of my country."

The Obama Fist Bump - "...a terrorist fist bump?" as heard on Fox News Network soon after the Obamas' gesture at his victory speech on June 3rd

And if you look real hard at the picture, all of this is taking place in the Oval Office on January 20, 2009!

Come on folks, it is what it is, Barack Obama is going to be scrutinized, he is going to be poked and prodded, he is going to be lied about, and some pretty ugly stuff is going to be said about him. But he's also going to be the next President of the United States... you people are going to have to get used to this, and you may as well start now!

Personally, I think this cover would be an excellent treatment for a skit on an episode of Saturday Night Live after the general election in November!

NOTE: plezWorld has been a subscriber to The New Yorker magazine for over ten years. For those who are so inclined, this issue of the magazine has a very insightful article on Barack Obama's early years as a politician in Chicago.

Race Relations in plezWorld

Over the past six months, race relations and attitudes towards race in the US has been front and center with the candidacy of the presumptive Democratic Party nominee Sen. Barack H. Obama, the first Black American to head a major party's ticket in the country's 232 year history. From comfortable wins in states like Iowa, North Dakota, and Montana that have few Black voters; to close losses in states like Indiana, Pennsylvania, and California that have sizable Black numbers; to big wins in states that have large numbers of Blacks; to apparent race-based losses in states like Kentucky and West Virginia, this country has run the gamut in support (and lack in support) of Sen. Obama.

The Washington Post released the results of a new Washington Post-ABC News poll (published June 18, 2008) that shows the attitudes towards on race in the United States. The poll shows that 3 in 10 of all Americans admit to at least some racial bias. Overall, 51 percent call the current state of race relations "excellent" or "good." More than six in 10 African Americans now rate race relations as "not so good" or "poor," while 53 percent of whites hold more positive views. Opinions are also divided along racial lines, though less so, on whether blacks face discrimination. There is more similarity on feelings of personal racial prejudice: 30 percent of whites and 34 percent of blacks admit such sentiments.

At the same time, there is an overwhelming public openness to the idea of electing an African American to the presidency. In a Washington Post-ABC News poll last month, nearly nine in 10 whites said they would be comfortable with a black president. While fewer whites, about two-thirds, said they would be "entirely comfortable" with it, that was more than double the percentage of all adults who said they would be so at ease with someone entering office for the first time at age 72, which McCain (R-Ariz.) would do should he prevail in November.

Read the entire Washington Post article about race here.


plez sez: in this past, i recently wrote about what i saw as the unintended consequences of an Obama presidency in terms of its affect on affirmative action in america. another unintended consequence may be the eventual post-racialism in this country. John McWhorter writes eloquently of how little racism affects america on a day-to-day basis, could it be that a President Obama will finally throw that last shovels full of dirt on the casket of racism?

there will always be those who see black and brown skin as inferior - hell, there are those in the Black community who view darker skin as inferior - but this election may give america its first opportunity to see past race. the poll results show that 30 percent of all americans have some racial bias, but more than 50 percent are comfortable with a Black president. when this country doesn't slide into a moral abyss after Obama's inauguration and when he begins to actually accomplish something during his presidency, we may see these numbers improve dramatically. racism is a sickness of ignorance (demographically, Obama does better with better educated white folk). maybe even a sizable portion of whites who only know Black people from what they see on the evening news will come to see the folly of their racial bias.

on the flip side, i'm in Michelle Obama's camp on this one: this election cycle has for the first time in my adult life given me reason to be truly proud of this country! Barack Obama's candidacy has completely re-written my thoughts on race relations in this country. plezWorld has an Obama '08 bumper sticker on the SUV, i received it from two white Obama campaigners who were eating in a restaurant in my neighborhood; they were returning to Atlanta from the South Carolina primaries that weekend. when i went canvassing on Super Tuesday, my riding partner was an older white lady, Dreaming Bear, from the north georgia mountains who had made the two hour drive to South DeKalb to canvass for Obama!

Don't Back Down Michelle Obama - Guest Blog

I received permission to reproduce the following essay from Alturo Rhymes - my frat brother and television producer over at Kapitol Hill blog.

Don't Back Down Michelle Obama
February 19, 2008

Greetings, I guess because it is a slow news day, Michelle Obama is getting criticized for saying: "For the first time in my adult life, I am really proud of my country."

Some are suggesting she was unpatriotic in her statement, Mrs. McCain saying she has always been proud of this country. While this argument and issue is one of the stupidest things to make an issue out of, it begs the question, since both of them are at least 45 years old...

Let's go back to 1963

Was Mrs. McCain proud of this country when Blacks were living under Jim Crow?

Was Mrs. McCain proud of this country when Blacks were being lynched?

Was Mrs. McCain proud of this country when it stripped Ali of his title?

Was Mrs. McCain proud of this country when 4 little girls were killed in Birmingham?

Was Mrs. McCain proud of this country during the Tuskeegee Experiment?

Was Mrs. McCain proud when male astronaunts were sent to the moon and the female astronaunts who trained along side them were shuttled into absurity?

Let's move to the 70's

Was Mrs. McCain proud of this country that women were stereotyped into stay at home moms, with no sight of getting into the Boardroom?

Was Mrs. McCain proud of this country when women were forced into shady clinics for pregnancy choices?

Was Mrs. McCain proud of this country when Vietnam Vets came home to homelessness because of no acknowledgment of PTSD?

And the 80's

Was Mrs. McCain proud of this country when it supported the Apartheid government of South Africa?

Was Mrs. McCain proud of the Iran-Contra scandal?

Was Mrs McCain proud of the S&L scanddal?

The 90's

Was Mrs. McCain proud of the lack of intervention in Rwanda?

Was Mrs. McCain proud of the racists immigration policy toward Haiti?

C'mon.. outside of the fact that one is reaching for straws to even criticize such a statement, as an African-American Woman I am sure there are more days when one felt ashamed of the government action of this country than proud... I guess that is the difference between Mrs. McCain and Mrs. Obama.

And Barack Obama hasn't backed down either, yesterday he trounced Hillary Clinton in Wisconsin 58 percent to 41 percent. He has now won the last NINE primaries and caucuses since Super Tuesday.

plez sez: i agree with her sentiment, that America seems to be living up to its creed and judging Barack Obama on his merits and ignoring his race... something that was inconceivable only 3 to 6 MONTHS ago! like Michelle Obama, i never thought that Barack would get a serious look because at some point in this contest, he'd finally be cast as the Black presidential candidate.

so yes, in my entire adult life (because i'm the same age as Michelle), plezWorld can say that this is the FIRST TIME in memory that a Black politician did not win (or lose) an election because he was Black... and that is something that ALL Americans should be proud of...

...with that said, i can see where some quarters may find issue with the way she expressed this sentiment - it does come off that she does not appreciate the blessings that she has received as a direct result of being an American (access to quality Ivy League degrees, a loving husband & family, a good chunk of change in the bank account, etc.).

to my way of thinking, an apology and clarification about the statement should be sufficient.