Michelle Obama Watch

by Rhonda It's been confirmed the Sen. Barack Obama will appear as himself on the Saturday Night Live's 34th season premiere. Rumor has it that Tina Fey is in talks to portray Alaska governor/Republican VP pick/Fey doppleganger, Sarah Palin. And to play Michelle Obama? Lorne Michaels is reportedly looking to bring back Maya Rudolph. Here's to hoping they get Maya, or *gasp* that they discover and add a funny young Black female comedian to the line-up.  Because while Fred Armisen  (who is Latino and Asian) might ... Read More

by Rhonda Asked to compare Michelle Obama to Sarah Palin, Congressman Lynn Westmoreland (R-GA) stated: "Just from what little I’ve seen of her and Mr. Obama, Sen. Obama, they're a member of an elitist-class individual that thinks that they're uppity," Westmoreland said. Asked to clarify that he used the word “uppity,” Westmoreland said, “Uppity, yeah.” Nothing vague, coded, or nuanced about that--just a dose of that good old Southern racism charm. Read More

Posted by Rhonda A few days ago, the PUMAs posted a series of videos--a movie version of the non-existent "Whitey" tapes that features an abundance of racist, anti-Islamic and anti-African stereotypes, complete with "actors" in ...*drum roll* BLACKFACE! At the center of their attack is Michelle Obama and a caricature of her based on completely unsubstantiated (and long refuted) rumors about both her and her husband. At this point, do these folks still not understand why they aren't allowed to "critique" the Obamas without being ... Read More

by Rhonda Much has been made of Swift Boat leader and uber-conservative writer Jerome Corsi's new book, The Obama Nation: Leftist Politics and the Cult of Personality. Just like his 2004 Kerry-bashing book, Unfit for Command, Corsi's book is filled with unsubstantiated claims and false attacks against Barack Obama, and he doesn't fail to take a few swipes at Michelle while he's at it. According to Huffington Post, he's retreading the same old, tired smears certain folks have been spreading around the blogosphere ... Read More

by Rhonda After laying low for a couple of weeks, Good Morning America is airing an interview with Michelle Obama tomorrow at 7 AM for you early birds. [GMA co-anchor Robin] Roberts spent the day with Michelle Obama in Virginia for a behind-the-scenes look at life as a presidential candidate's spouse. Obama talked about her role as a working mother, her thoughts on becoming the possible first lady and life on the campaign trail. (h/t HuffPo) UPDATE: Video is now available for you non-early birds. In ... Read More

Today, the UK's Telegraph published an in-depth profile about Michelle Obama called, "Michelle Obama interview: I'm nothing special." Including insights from her mother and brother, the article highlights Michelle's working-class roots, her work ethic, as well as the challenges she's faced balancing her professional commitments with her marriage and family life. Speaking about her own achievements, Michelle states: 'I say this not to be modest, but there are so many young people who could be me. There's nothing magical about my background. I am ... Read More

As you've probably already seen, the Obama family is featured on the cover of the most recent issue of People Magazine, released on Tuesday. The interview was mostly about how Barack and Michelle raise their daughters, Malia and Sasha. Not exactly a groundbreaking interview, but it does provide a bit of a response to the charges that the Obamas are elitists. At the very least it doesn't seem like Barack and Michelle spend a significant portion of their time imparting "elitist" values ... Read More

From washingtonpost.com: Sophia A. Nelson, president of iask, Inc., an organization for African American professional women, will be online Thursday, July 24 at 10 a.m. to discuss her Outlook article ["Black. Female. Accomplished. Attacked"] on the daily experiences of white-collar black women, and how they mirror Michelle Obama's treatment on the campaign trail. If you're getting this early, you can send in any questions ahead of time by clicking here. At 10 AM, you'll find the chat here. And a transcript will be available ... Read More

Right Matters, a conservative discussion forum hosted by washingtonpost.com took a swipe at Michelle Obama on Monday. In a post entitled, "Michelle Obama, Again," moderator and conservative pundit Ramesh Ponnuru responds to the two pieces that ran in Sunday's post about Michelle Obama, as well as to Senator Obama's comments about the treatment of his wife. In the short post meant to spark discussion among his readers, Ponnuru successfully mischaracterizes no less than four of Mrs. Obama's quotes (helpfully linking to biased ... Read More

By Rhonda On Thursday, Faye Wattleton, President at the Center for the Advancement of Women, contributed a blog to Anderson Cooper 360's website called, "Michelle Obama: Armed and Dangerous." (This essay is also posted on her own blog on the Center's website). Using examples such as a joke told by Chris Rock in a recent performance at the Essence Jazz Festival and the recent New Yorker cover debacle, Wattleton points to the pervasiveness of common, historical racial stereotypes that burden Black American women regardless ... Read More