American Pride

(CNN) — Tuesday morning seemed to bring the debut of yet another McCain-Obama flap – this time, Cindy McCain and Michelle Obama.

As she introduced her husband John McCain, the likely Republican nominee, at a campaign event, Cindy McCain told the crowd I “am proud of my country. I don’t know about you, if you heard those words earlier — I am very proud of my country.”

The comment seemed to be a response to a remark from Michelle Obama the day before. On Monday, the wife of Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama told a Wisconsin audience that “For the first time in my adult life, I am really proud of my country, because it feels like hope is making a comeback… not just because Barack has done well, but because I think people are hungry for change."

After Tuesday’s event, the McCains were asked if the Arizona senator’s wife had been responding to that comment. Cindy McCain did not directly answer the question, responding: “I just wanted to make the statement that I have and always will be proud of my country.”

On Monday, Obama spokesman Bill Burton released a statement in response to the controversy: “Of course Michelle is proud of her country, which is why she and Barack talk constantly about how their story wouldn't be possible in any other nation on Earth.

“What she meant is that she's really proud at this moment because for the first time in a long time, thousands of Americans who've never participated in politics before are coming out in record numbers to build a grassroots movement for change.”

OK...let's look at the two ladies in question:

Cindy Lou Hensley grew up in affluent circumstances[4] in Phoenix, Arizona,[1] the daughter and only child[5] of James and Marguerite Hensley,[6] who founded Hensley & Company in 1955.[3] She attended Madison Meadows Elementary and was a rodeo queen in 1968.[7] She went to Central High School[5] in Phoenix. She graduated from the latter in 1972,[8] having been a cheerleader there.[9]

Hensley received her undergraduate degree in education[10] and a masters in special education from the University of Southern California.[11]She was a member of the Kappa Alpha Theta sorority.[12] There she participated in a movement therapy pilot program that laid the way for a standard treatment for severely disabled children;[10] she published the work Movement Therapy: A Possible Approach in 1978.[13] Declining a role in the family business,[14] she then began a special education teaching career working with disabled children at Agua Fria High School in Avondale, Arizona.[10]

Hensley met John McCain in 1979 at a military reception in Hawaii.[9] He was the U.S. Navy liaison officer to the United States Senate, eighteen years her senior,[1] and in a somewhat troubled marriage to his first wife, Carol.[15] McCain and Hensley quickly began a relationship;[1] he divorced Carol in April 1980, and he and Cindy were married on May 17, 1980 in Phoenix. Her father's business and political contacts helped gain her husband a foothold into Arizona politics;[15] she campaigned with her husband door-to-door during his successful first bid for U.S. Congress in 1982,[7] with her wealth from an expired trust from her parents providing significant loans to the campaign.[9][16][17]

MICHELLE ROBINSON OBAMA
Born on January 17, 1964, Michelle Robinson was raised in a one-bedroom apartment on Chicago's South Shore.

Of note is that she shared a "bedroom" with her brother, but it wasn't much of a bedroom. It was actually the living room with a divider down the middle. Michelle's father died in 1990 two years before she married Barack, but her mother is still alive and living in the same one-bedroom apartment, protected by a burglar-proof wrought-iron door and secured windows.

After high school Michelle Robinson majored in sociology at Princeton University, graduating with cum laude honors in 1985. From there she attended Harvard where she earned her law degree in 1988, one year ahead of her husband-to-be, Barack, whom she hadn't met yet but attended the same law school.

After graduating from Harvard, Michelle accepted a position at a downtown Chicago law firm. In 1989 she was asked to mentor a summer associate from Harvard name Barack Obama. According to reports, Barack didn't have much interest in corporate law, but did have a lot of interest in Michelle.

Apparently Michelle Robinson initially brushed off advances from Barack because they were working at same firm...and he was an intern and she higher up the law firm's foodchain as an associate. But love prevailed and they were married on October 18, 1992.

Interestingly Barack and Michelle waited almost seven years before having children. Their first daughter name Malia Ann Obama was born in 1999 with Natasha (often called "sasha") following two years later in 2001.

When asked about what made her fall in love with him she replied "for the same reason many other people respect him; his connection with people."

I don't see an important reason to editorialize this much.  Considering the incredible differences these women knew growing up, their respective "pride" in America would be different.  Michelle Obama brings to the table a woman that rose from poverty to possibly becoming the First Lady.  I'm sure that her recent "increase of pride" comes from the confirmation that a impoverished African American woman can reach such a level (considering that historically, it's never happened).  Cindy McCain's pride is obvious.  She is proud to be a part of a country where you can be born into wealth and remain wealthy.

I am, however interested in this part of Cindy's bio - "Hensley met John McCain in 1979 at a military reception in Hawaii.[9] He was the U.S. Navy liaison officer to the United States Senate, eighteen years her senior,[1] and in a somewhat troubled marriage to his first wife, Carol.[15] McCain and Hensley quickly began a relationship;[1] he divorced Carol in April 1980, and he and Cindy were married on May 17, 1980 in Phoenix"

Am I getting the idea that John and Cindy McCain were an item prior to his divorce?  There were only about 30 days between the divorce and marriage.

I'm sure more will come out and time goes along.

Comments

Point

Before we get too far into this, I'll be the first to admit that I'm "maritally experienced" - if you catch my drift.  Mrs. Larry and I had only dated for about three months when we married - the best thing that could have happened to her (insert laugh track).

I posted this as an example of how far you can go to make someone look bad if you want to.  It appears that Mr and Mrs McCain are blissfully wed and happy, but if someone wants, they could sure stir a lot of crap with that information.

Michelle Obama meant no harm with her statement, it was retrospective. 

The Anonymous ThurstonBlogger

Pride...but not a comprehensive list

I am proud,

  • Proud of the improvements in civil liberties we've made in my lifetime
  • Proud of the professional men and women who choose to serve in our armed forces
  • Proud of our colleges and universities (arguably the best in the world)
  • Proud of our respect for privacy and freedom of speech
  • Proud of ability to share our good fortune
  • Proud of our constitution and bill of rights
  • Proud of our tradition of public service
  • Proud of our pioneering immigrant heritage
  • ...

I'm not proud,

  • Not proud of waterboarding or ignoring habeous corpus
  • Not proud of our invasion and occupation of Iraq
  • Not proud of our growing zenophobia
  • Not proud of our loss of prestige in the international communty
  • Not proud of our lack of leadship regarding global environmental issues
  • Not proud of the debt we are passing on to our children
  • Not proud of the growing economic divide
  • Not proud of our death penalty and incarceration rates
  • ...
Practical men, who believe themselves to be quite exempt from any intellectual influence, are usually the slaves of some defunct economist.! --John Maynard Keynes

Isn't pride a sin?

Christians should be more christian.

image

It used to be...but then it became inconvenient



Practical men, who believe themselves to be quite exempt from any intellectual influence, are usually the slaves of some defunct economist.! --John Maynard Keynes

What's that they say about

Pride goeth before a fall?

Practical men, who believe themselves to be quite exempt from any intellectual influence, are usually the slaves of some defunct economist.! --John Maynard Keynes

I See Dori Monson

dedicated the last hour of his show today to discuss Michelle Obama's comment with Congressman Adam Smith (D).

You can download the mp3 of it by clicking on the link for the 2-3 PM hour.

I haven't downloaded it so I don't know how the discussion went!  I just saw it when I clicked on a link from the comments section on the TESC story!

 

"A point of view is only a view from a point..." ~ Unknown

Monson is a sensationalist

Starting in 2004, with the Swiftboat Veterans, Monson has launched on to pandering to the right wing extremists because Ed Schultz on KPTK has gutted his mid-day ratings.

I used to listen to Monson regularily, as he was funny, entertaining and usually went for off the wall topics.  He rarely went political before the 2004 election run.

I think just the point that he is the spokesperson for "Stupid Prices" says a mouthful about who he is.  No, his screener didn't like that joke and wouldn't let me on the air.

The Anonymous ThurstonBlogger

LOL!

I can't imagine why his screener wouldn't let you on air! 

 

"A point of view is only a view from a point..." ~ Unknown

More gossip about Mrs. McCain

Although she was addicted to painkillers, even going so far as to steal drugs from a non-profit organization she ran (see this article for more information), she did no jail time! What a great country -- for pretty rich blondes, that is!

As for the divorce/remarriage, apparently even McCain himself admits it was "messy." Carol McCain raised their three children by herself while McCain was a prisoner of war. She was in a disfiguring, severe automobile accident while he was imprisoned, however, and wasn't quite the same when he returned -- not much competition for a younger sorority type with rich parents. Check out this Salon article for the dirty details. It seems pretty clear that McCain traded in the loyal (she waited for him for five years while he was a POW) mother of his children for a trophy wife. It's the American way, and why shouldn't we all be proud of that?

Latest on John McCain

McCain denies affair with female lobbyist

WASHINGTON (AFP) — John McCain denied Thursday having an affair with a female lobbyist after The New York Times insinuated ethical lapses by the senator all but certain to be the Republican White House nominee.

Conservative commentators long suspicious of the maverick Arizona senator rallied to his side, as did his wife Cindy, in excoriating the country's liberal newspaper of record.

Hillary Clinton's flagging presidential campaign meanwhile faced a crucial test in a televised debate with her Democratic rival Barack Obama, who is riding high after winning 11 nominating battles in a row.

"Obviously I'm very disappointed in the article. It's not true," McCain, 71, said at a hastily arranged press conference in Toledo, Ohio. With Cindy beside him, he rebutted the suggestion of an affair eight years ago.

Asked if he had had an extramarital relationship with the 40-year-old lobbyist, Vicki Iseman, McCain said tersely, "no." He said they had been just "friends" who last met at political events "several months ago."

"Something like this is always distracting and very disappointing and I hope we can, by doing what we're doing here, put to rest the whole situation," he said.

"I'm confident that we will move forward... and I'm confident we will get the nomination."

McCain also denied that he had ever extended improper favors to companies represented by Iseman as chairman of the Senate commerce committee, after the Times ran a lengthy article about ethics over the course of his career.

"At no time have I ever done anything that would betray the public trust," said the senator, who is close to knocking former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee out of the Republican race for November's presidential election.

The newspaper said Iseman had also denied a romantic entanglement, but that McCain's aides tried to block her access to the politician, fearing that his image as an ethics crusader might be sullied during his 2000 presidential bid.

The Washington Post, without suggesting an affair, said McCain's former top aide John Weaver had confronted Iseman in late 1999 to urge her to "get lost."

Interesting set of circumstances, considering the story of his marriage to Cindy.

The Anonymous ThurstonBlogger

It will be interesting...

... to see if all the people who revile Clinton for his marital indiscretions pounce all over this one with the same bloodthirsty zeal. Something tells me they won't mind so much, although that 31 year age difference is pretty impressive. What was the age difference between Monica Lewinsky and President Clinton?

In a way, it's a shame they seem to be focusing on the sexual

"scandal." I am considerably more interested in the possibility favors were granted.

Practical men, who believe themselves to be quite exempt from any intellectual influence, are usually the slaves of some defunct economist.! --John Maynard Keynes