Politics –
Michelle Obama ‘Drops The Mic’ At DNC

The 2016 Democratic National Convention kicked off Monday in Philadelphia with scandal, protests and the resignation of DNC chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz.  It was a mess.  However, when First Lady Michelle Obama stepped to the mic and delivered her remarks, she essentially shut the house down.

Politics
The early story out of Philly was the story we expected but never really got from the Republicans in Cleveland:  chaos and dissension.  Interestingly, it was the Democrats who convened to battle.  The Bernie Sanders wing + the Hillary Clinton wing + the Debbie Wasserman Schultz email scandal + 100-degree temperatures = some heavily disgruntled Democrats. By Monday night, speaker after speaker — from New Jersey’s Sen. Corey Booker to Massachusetts’ Sen. Elizabeth Warren — whipped the crowd into a frenzy but did not succeed in creating harmony among the crowd. Delegates continued to shout and scream and take sides throughout the night, frequently interrupting the person speaking.

And then, Michelle Obama arrived.

By her sheer dignity, elegance, and grace, Michelle Obama did what no one before her could do:  she silenced the crowd. No one dared to interrupt the First Lady.  No one dared to miss a syllable of what she was saying.

Here are a few highlights of Mrs. Obama’s remarks:

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ON MOVING TO THE WHITE HOUSE:

I will never forget that winter morning as I watched our girls, just 7 and 10 years old, pile into those black SUVs with all those big men with guns. And I saw their little faces pressed up against the window, and the only thing I could think was, “What have we done?” See, because at that moment, I realized that our time in the White House would form the foundation for who they would become, and how well we managed this experience could truly make or break them.

That is what Barack and I think about every day as we try to guide and protect our girls through the challenges of this unusual life in the spotlight — how we urge them to ignore those who question their father’s citizenship or faith. How we insist that the hateful language they hear from public figures on TV does not represent the true spirit of this country. How we explain that when someone is cruel or acts like a bully, you don’t stoop to their level -– no, our motto is, when they go low, we go high.

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ON BEING A ROLE MODEL:

With every word we utter, with every action we take, we know our kids are watching us. We as parents are their most important role models. And let me tell you, Barack and I take that same approach to our jobs as President and First Lady, because we know that our words and actions matter not just to our girls, but to children across this country –- kids who tell us, “I saw you on TV, I wrote a report on you for school.” Kids like the little black boy who looked up at my husband, his eyes wide with hope, and he wondered, “Is my hair like yours?”

And make no mistake about it, this November, when we go to the polls, that is what we’re deciding -– not Democrat or Republican, not left or right. No, this election, and every election, is about who will have the power to shape our children for the next four or eight years of their lives. And I am here tonight because in this election, there is only one person who I trust with that responsibility, only one person who I believe is truly qualified to be President of the United States, and that is our friend, Hillary Clinton.

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A MESSAGE TO BERNIE OR BUST:

And when she didn’t win the nomination 8 years ago, she didn’t get angry or disillusioned. Hillary did not pack up and go home. Because as a true public servant, Hillary knows that this is so much bigger than her own desires and disappointments. So she proudly stepped up to serve our country once again as Secretary of State, traveling the globe to keep our kids safe.

And look, there were plenty of moments when Hillary could have decided that this work was too hard, that the price of public service was too high, that she was tired of being picked apart for how she looks or how she talks or even how she laughs. But here’s the thing — what I admire most about Hillary is that she never buckles under pressure. She never takes the easy way out. And Hillary Clinton has never quit on anything in her life.

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ON DONALD TRUMP:

And when I think about the kind of President that I want for my girls and all our children, that’s what I want. I want someone with the proven strength to persevere. Someone who knows this job and takes it seriously. Someone who understands that the issues a President faces are not black and white and cannot be boiled down to 140 characters. Because when you have the nuclear codes at your fingertips and the military in your command, you can’t make snap decisions. You can’t have a thin skin or a tendency to lash out. You need to be steady, and measured, and well-informed.

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ON THIS MOMENT IN HISTORY:

You see, Hillary understands that the President is about one thing and one thing only -– it’s about leaving something better for our kids. That’s how we’ve always moved this country forward –- by all of us coming together on behalf of our children — folks who volunteer to coach that team, to teach that Sunday school class because they know it takes a village. Heroes of every color and creed who wear the uniform and risk their lives to keep passing down those blessings of liberty.

Police officers and protesters in Dallas who all desperately want to keep our children safe. People who lined up in Orlando to donate blood because it could have been their son, their daughter in that club. Leaders like Tim Kaine — who show our kids what decency and devotion look like. Leaders like Hillary Clinton, who has the guts and the grace to keep coming back and putting those cracks in that highest and hardest glass ceiling until she finally breaks through, lifting all of us along with her.

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ON BEING A BLACK FAMILY IN THE WHITE HOUSE:

That is the story of this country, the story that has brought me to this stage tonight, the story of generations of people who felt the lash of bondage, the shame of servitude, the sting of segregation, but who kept on striving and hoping and doing what needed to be done so that today, I wake up every morning in a house that was built by slaves — and I watch my daughters –- two beautiful, intelligent, black young women –- playing with their dogs on the White House lawn. And because of Hillary Clinton, my daughters –- and all our sons and daughters -– now take for granted that a woman can be President of the United States.

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Needless to say, Michelle Obama left mouths gaping with her words.  There wasn’t a dry eye in the house.  By the time Bernie Sanders took to the stage and gave a full-throated endorsement of Hillary Clinton, his supporters seemed resigned to reality and suddenly, all was well again in the Democratic Party!

OK WASSUP! discusses politics.  Today’s article:
First Lady Michelle Obama delivers one of the
best convention speeches in political history.