"I want to make sure that when she's working, she's getting the same as men...I gotta' say that First Ladies right now don't get paid, even though it's a tough job." Barack Obama, June 2, 2016, Colorado, On the Campaign Trail
June 8, 2016
By: Linda Case Gibbons
No one should ever be made to do what they don't want to do.
It never works.
So when we were told how unhappy Michelle Obama is, being forced to live in the White House, a house she said was "built by slaves," we felt just awful.
If only we had known.
If she was the type of person who would refuse to give up her seat on a bus to a white man, in Montgomery, Alabama, as Rosa Parks did, perhaps we would have known.
Or if she was the type of person who willingly went to jail because of a commitment to civil rights for black Americans, as Martin Luther King, Jr. did, that would have tipped us off.
But she didn't do anything like that. So silly us, we thought she was happy.
We saw her going on trips to far-flung, exotic places, China, Italy, the UK, and thought she was happy.
When she and hubbie jetted off to Africa and Honolulu, we said to ourselves, "How happy they must be!"
We didn't mention the cost, (even though we taxpayers picked up the $16 million tab for the Africa/Honolulu junket) because that would be rude.
And we didn't mention that her mom has lived in that same house, built by slaves, for nearly eight years and seemed to want to be there.
We wouldn't mention that, because Americans don't say things that might sound rude about someone's mother, even if they are footing the bill.
So perhaps it is our fault.
Perhaps we should have known Michelle was struggling with her unhappiness as First Lady.
There were signs: The eyebrows drawn down in a perpetual frown, her angst at not being paid a salary for performing the duties of First Lady, and things she said.
She did speak about her feelings, but in an unusual place, in a peculiar way: Commencement speeches. She lectured impressionable young people on the shortcomings of their country, of the continued racism in their country, liberally sharing her adult bitterness. To kids.
Now that's rude.
But she did it every year, speaking about the problems, not pleasures, in her life, and the profound disappointment she had with America in general, and this year, unhappiness at having to dwell in the White House.
If these were cries for help, we didn't recognize them. We thought she was happy.
After all, we gave her everything, from expensive steaks to fancy dresses.
So we thought she was okay. She continued to jet around the world with her considerable entourage, continued to vacation in Colorado and Martha's Vineyard. And she continued to live in the White House.
One would think she'd stop doing all these things if she disapproved of them, things which came from people who had built a house for their presidents with the labor of slaves.
But she didn't.
People such as Rosa Parks and Dr. King would have moved from the White House sheerly on principle if they felt the way Michelle says she feels.
But Michelle didn't.
She could have refused to move into the White House at all, back in 2008, and gone back to the Obama family home.
But she didn't.
Before they became the First Couple, the Obamas didn't have much money and their house was nothing special. Now they have plenty of money. We're not sure why, and it would be rude to ask. But after her husband leaves office, they will move into a nine-bedroom D.C. mansion, with a rental price tag of $22,000 a month.
I'd be resentful, like Michelle, about that, too.
But, hey. Nobody should ever be made to do what they don't want to do.
It never works.
Look at Paul Ryan. The GOP Establishment forced him to endorse Trump and now he feels unhappy, like Michelle.
So the first opportunity he got, Ryan found a way to whine in public, like Michelle, using racism, like Michelle, saying Trump was the "textbook definition of racist," which is always a good tool to silence a guy or an idea or a country that you don't like.
But there's another definition, one Michelle Obama and Paul Ryan haven't been taught by their mothers. It's the textbook definition of "Spoiled Brat," "A child who exhibits behavioral problems from being indulged by their parents, and who may be described as 'Narcissistic.'"
No, the American people aren't at fault for Michelle or Ryan's unhappiness. We did enough, in fact, more than enough. Perhaps people like Paul Ryan and Michelle Obama are the ones who didn't do enough, in the right spirit, for their country.
Hold the line, America.