Thursday, March 30, 2017

FLOTUS vs POTUS (Progressives of the United States)

So I've been giving it some serious thought... Please hear me out...

In an environment that is increasingly negative (and rightly so) against anything connected to the Trump brand, I find myself reluctant to attack the FLOTUS. And here is why; the vast majority of the attacks on her are...

1. Her accent. So what? It pisses me off to see my fellow liberals say "learn to speak English!" That is pure redneck bullshit and we should be better than that! Don't attack Thumper for being xenophobic by being xenophobic with his wife.

2. Calling her a gold digger is about the most sexist asinine attack we could possibly make. Also, calling her a "trophy wife" is a non starter. Seriously guys, we are betraying the very ideals we claim to support.  We are taking a call right out of the right wingers playbook by demeaning her and reducing her to property dependant on a man to do our be anything. Furthermore, It is not my place to decide whether somebody's love is real, their relationship is valid or whether she married him for his money. Stop saying you support people loving whomever they want if you are going to judge this woman in a sexist diatribe about her being a gold digger.

3. Stop attacking her for not having a voice as a FLOTUS and then mock her when she does. If you've never been somewhere where you didn't speak the language well and when you tried people made fun of you, you should try it sometime... You wouldn't say much either.

4. Her choice of a husband is on her. I agree. But if you've ever been divorced... Shut the hell up, look back at YOUR ex... And be quiet. If you never have... Then just be thankful you have no idea what I'm talking about.

5. Hating her because of her husband makes us no better than the right wing nut jobs that hatred Michelle Obama because they hated Barak Obama or even those that hated Hillary... At least until she earned her own right to be hated based on her own merits.

Now, that being said, I do have two problems with the FLOTUS and, frankly, if I'm honest they are not entirely her fault.

First, I have a problem with her staying in New York. If this had been Michelle Obama in Chicago there would be legislation in place to force her to move to DC, kids be damned. And you are an ignorant blind party hack if you argue otherwise. Thumper may not be taking a salary but he and his family are costing us more than the Obama family ever dreamed between her staying in NYC in her ivory tower (or her gilded cage, if you will) and his weekly trips to play golf in Florida.

Second, her disappearing act is detrimental to the office of the First Lady. The office of the First Lady has become a force for good over the years. And her disappearing only weakens that influence. I get, however, that being mocked for your accent by every late night comedian makes it difficult to come out and face the world.

Unlike Thumper, whom I despise to the depths of my being, I do not think Melania is a bad person. I believe she can be a powerful force of goodwill but she needs to have the courage to do so. And us liberals need to take a good long hard look at our ideologies and determine if we really are against racism, xenophobia and sexism or if those are merely smoke screens we use to attack Trump and everything connected to him.
 

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