December 18, 2016

"Now we’re feeling what not having hope feels like."

Said Michelle Obama to Oprah.

Trump's response:



Transcript:
“Michelle Obama said yesterday that there’s no hope. But I assume she was talking about the past, not the future, because I'm telling you, we have tremendous hope and we have tremendous promise and we have tremendous potential. We are going to be so successful as a country again. We are going to be amazing. And I actually think she made that statement not meaning it the way it came out, because I met with President Obama and Michelle Obama in the White House. My wife was there. She could not have been nicer. So I honestly believe she meant that statement in a different way than it came out, because I believe there is tremendous hope and, beyond hope, we have such potential. This country has such potential. You watch. It's going to be so special. Things are going to happen like you haven't seen happen in many decades."
Things are going to happen like you haven't seen happen in many decades.... I think I know what the Trump-is-Hitler contingent will say about that. But everyone will load whatever meaning they want into high abstractions like "tremendous promise," "tremendous potential," and "tremendous hope." I get that it will be big, but big what? You watch. Just wait and see. It's going to be so special. Special, eh? Special. Do I want something special? I might want something normal. I'm a little worried about special.

Of course, Obama's "hope" was always an abstraction that absorbed whatever meaning people saw in it. He's leaving now, having fulfilled some hopes and not others. One hope he has not fulfilled is the perpetuation of his party's power. He's as responsible as anyone for laying the foundation for Trump's campaign. He didn't mean to do that — I don't think! — but he never had the ability to control what was in the minds of the people who responded to his idea of hope, and now there will be a new President, bringing a different version of hope, and the old President's wife chooses to say that "we" are feeling the absence of hope.

Who's that "we"? The Democrats or the woeful people of America who — despite 8 years of Obama — still had to hope. Let's take a closer look at what Michelle Obama said to Oprah:
“So your husband’s administration, every -- everything, the election, was all about hope,” Winfrey said in a clip that aired Friday on “CBS This Morning.” “Do you think that this administration achieved that?”

The first lady responded in the affirmative. “Yes, I do,” she said, “because we feel the difference now.”
All right. That addresses my first question. Obama should already have fulfilled the hope he inspired.
“See, now we’re feeling what not having hope feels like. You know? Hope is necessary. It’s a necessary concept,” Obama continued. 
Now, she's disengaged from Oprah's question. Instead of talking about what President Obama achieved, she's talking about the ongoing feeling that people ought to have. But hope is future-looking and based on continuing need. If Obama had achieved what some of those he inspired were hoping for, would hope still be the important concept? Wouldn't we transition to preserving what we have?
“And Barack didn’t just talk about hope because he thought it was just a nice slogan to get votes. I mean, he and I and so many believe that if you -- what else do you have if you don’t have hope?”
You have all those things you've achieved! Health, happiness, security, understanding!
“What do you give your kids if you can’t give them hope?” said the first lady. 
You give them a safe, secure, loving home, a good education, solid character. What you give them, they have received. They have it. I wonder if I'm arriving at what Trump was groping toward when he said "I assume she was talking about the past, not the future."

Michelle Obama seems to confuse the past and the future in a strange way that relates to a criticism of Democrats one often hears: Their political strategy relies on maintaining economic dependency and feelings of victimhood. To say you must have hope is — think about it — a euphemistic way to say you must continue to feel needy.
"You know, our children respond to crises the way they see us respond. You know, it’s like the toddler that bumps his head on the table...they look up at you to  figure out whether it hurts. And if you’re like, oh, my God, they’re crying. But if you’re like, you know what, babe, it’s okay.... I feel that Barack has been that for the nation in ways that people will come to appreciate,” she said. 
We, the people, are children.
“Having a grown-up in the White House who can say to you in times of crisis and turmoil, hey, it’s gonna be okay."
So Obama has been the good father, calm in a crisis. That says nothing about whether Trump will be an equally good father figure or whether the father/children metaphor is ideal. I think Michelle is drifting back into a comfortable meditation on her husband's much-admired temperament. She doesn't leap into saying that Trump's demeanor is distinctly different from Obama's or that Trump's approach to fatherhood would be bad. There's no reason to think Trump would be an "oh, my God" type of parent, the one model Michelle seems to believe would not work.
"Let’s remember the good things that we have. Let’s look at the future. Let’s look at all the things that we’re building. All of this is important for our kids to stay focused and to feel like their work isn’t in vain. That their lives aren’t in vain. What do we do if we don’t have hope, Oprah?”
None of that is Trump-specific. It's thoroughly abstract. But the main thing I see in her words is a wife's anxiety to protect her husband's reputation. The press has cherry-picked words that seem to denounce Trump as the end of all hope. That's not really what she was saying. I suspect she's upset that all of her husband's achievements will be undone and that he will be blamed for failing to preserve them, for allowing the election to be lost. But that's only an inference, not even a stated abstraction.

228 comments:

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Anonymous said...

"After watching Trump's "thank-me" rally in Mobile yesterday in its entirety, I expect his presidency to go down in history of one of the worst. Nothing about policy (other than we are gonna build the wall), nothing substantive about healing the country, nothing inspiring or even intended to inspire. Instead, he talked about whether Time's Person of the Year should be called the Man of the Year and other such drivel.

Most of all it was boring. It seemed to go on forever, and you had no idea when it might end because it was just one trivial comment after another with no theme or direction (other than "I'm great," of course)."

So right. I suspect the kids will have him doing these "Thank me" rallies for quite sometime, so they can get down to the business of running the country without dear old dad underfoot.

Michael K said...

Blogger GWash said...
achilles you are a psychotic ahole... nobody likes YOU


Projection much ?

climate change is real, man made and settled science.. since our last dialogue i dug deeper in the literature and found this is still true...

Sigh. 20 years and cooling is not enough to end delusions when there is so much money to be made.

Anonymous said...

"achilles you are a psychotic ahole... nobody likes YOU (expect those here who will run to your defense) and you should have your medication checked.."

Well said!

Michael K said...

nothing substantive about healing the country, nothing inspiring or even intended to inspire.

Nothing for the left, that is for sure.

His appointments are outstanding so far. "Healing the country" has been pretty much killed off by Obama and nuts like you.

Anonymous said...

Same goes for Michael K. Only his problems stem from senility. Man of "science"..... LOL.

gadfly said...

Our learned president-elect demonstrates his intellect by "stepping-in-it" yet again:
“Michelle Obama said yesterday that there’s no hope. But I assume she was talking about the past, not the future ..."

Had he said something like "I assume she meant there was no hope of returning to past policies or principles," but "hope" as a concept represents a positive outlook toward future events. Hope cannot ever have anything to do with time and events already behind us.
I know, you want to ignore Trump's careless speech habits, but at some point in time, he needs to find a way to express adult concepts using at least the complicated sentence structures attributable to a high-school graduate.

But deliberately responding to the First Lady who during the 2008 Presidential Campaign told us who she was: ““For the first time in my adult lifetime, I’m really proud of my country … not just because Barack has done well, but because I think people are hungry for change,” she said. “I have been desperate to see our country moving in that direction and just not feeling so alone in my frustration and disappointment.”

Why would Trump find it necessary to focus attention on a loser like Michelle? The proper reaction to her gobbledygook would have been no reaction at all.

SukieTawdry said...

@Humperdink: Blogger Bob Ellison said...
"Can we at some point admit that the person married to the person elected is not important?"

Yes, yes and yes. Can we all agree the First Lady doesn't need to pick up a cause?


One positive aspect of a Howard Dean administration would have been that his wife intended to remain where she was and continue with her medical practice.

buwaya said...

The Trump strategy is to play up embarassing things his opponents do or say - which may not appear that way inside their bubble. Trumps tweets get covered, opponents original thing gets much more coverage.

The nature of modern media is that it is difficult to address tailored messages to a limited audience anymore, if the media finds out and chooses to broadcast it, such as Romneys 47% thing. But the mass media in the US is under unified, rigid partisan editorial control, and so far has managed to keep such outbreaks on their partisan side quiet (Clintons fundraising speeches say, for the last few years), while playing up whatever their opponents give them.

One of Trumps successful tactics is exactly what he did here.

buwaya said...

"a loser like Michelle"

But Michelle is not a loser, she was deliberately promoted as an aspirational icon by the Democrat message machine. Though she is not a political player as such, she is still a political symbol. One of the few such symbols the Democrats have who is still fairly popular.

Francisco D said...

GWash,

Please allow me to condescend. You are an idiot.

Are you related to Inga, the retired Psych Nurse who is truly an idiot?

SukieTawdry said...

@HT: She's worried that Trump is about to undo everything Obama did.

I agree. And it's perfect illustration of how one person's worry can be another person's hope.

Jim at said...

I already have a father, thank you.

And the last thing I'd be looking for is another one. Especially one who's nothing more than an arrogant, two-bit community organizer who spent the last eight years lecturing me.

mockturtle said...

@HT: She's worried that Trump is about to undo everything Obama did.

I agree. And it's perfect illustration of how one person's worry can be another person's hope.


Amen, Sukie! I know I'm optimistic.

Rick67 said...

Michelle Obama said that in 2008 right?

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

Trump's supporters are really something. All the guy has to say is "special", "tremendous", "terrific", "big", "success", and they start clapping and believing. Talk about projection. I've never seen so much marketing around a complete absence of any policy. He should say that he's going to do nothing, or nothing good. But that it will be a tremendously terrific nothing.

This guy is an epic failure already. A pre-inauguration failure. On a terrific scale.

His nickname already writes itself: The Big Nothing President.

Tremendously Big Nothing.

Narcissists are empty people. That's just how they are.

Sam L. said...

There's nothing Michelle can do to save or protect Barack's legacy, for it's already down the tubes (if you like your tubes, you can keep your tubes, Barack).

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

Amen, Sukie! I know I'm optimistic.

I've got a tremendous bargain on a hugely successful bridge in Brooklyn to sell you.

What are you optimistic about? That he can return the unemployment rate back to above the 10% that Bush got it to? What is he doing differently than Bush? Looking into Putin's eyes differently and seeing his soul?

I just can't believe how gullible some people are.

chickelit said...

What are you optimistic about?

For starters, we have a media back which isn't cowed into submission. The media has had a nice 8-year hiatus from reality and real reporting. No more Robin Givan puff pieces about Michelle Obama as the 2nd Jackie Onassis.

Lewis Wetzel said...

2. the 'left' DID NOT bring us slavery.
The Democrat party was founded by Jackson to oppose the abolitionist tendencies of the federal government.

Lewis Wetzel said...

R&B wrote:
This guy is an epic failure already. A pre-inauguration failure. On a terrific scale.
Trump can't be a bigger pre-inauguration failure than Hillary or Sanders. I mean, at least Trump will be inaugurated.

Seeing Red said...

I have hope. Hope that a lot of Obama's crap is undone and his legacy is tarnished.

Seeing Red said...

And I have a dad. I didn't need another one. The office of the president is not supposed to be a parent.

Mountain Maven said...

Mrs Obama got a pass for almost a decade. Few people have been handed so much. She should be grateful but it's not in her character.

Michael K said...

The lefties seem to come out after dark. Is there a pattern here ?

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

The lefties seem to come out after dark. Is there a pattern here ?

Apparently what you call a "pattern" other people just call "having a life."

But yes... spooky. Conspiratorial. Hmmmm. Call in Inspector Clouseau.

Rusty said...

Michael K said...
The lefties seem to come out after dark. Is there a pattern here ?

happy hour? Or the fact that most drug dealers don't do business before noon.
One of those.

JamesB.BKK said...

One need only look at Trump's children to see that he is clearly a father that instilled insecurity and inability. Of course, the POTUS is not our father or a father (or mother when Kellyanne Fitzpatrick wins it) figure and that analog should be ridiculed.

JamesB.BKK said...

Did anyone see this Joan Rivers commentary about the POTUS and FLOTUS shortly before her passing? I just learned of it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Et38_Ufv-Jw

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