This is a Republican you're talking about. Empathy is a four-letter word to these people.

Michelle Obama's unfavorable ratings are surprising at 42% it means that many have made up their minds with only a small percent undecided. Her positive/negative ratio is close to Hillary's but fortunately Michelle is not the candidate.

Wow, so after going on and on and on about sexism in the media in relation to Clinton, Joan busts out CATFIGHT three times - a patronizing cliches with tons of sexist baggage. And no, it doesn't make it okay just because a woman uses it.

Plus the whole "Do they?" is a none too subtle way of saying "Yes, we do!" Instead of writing to defuse, Joan is writing to incite.

She wraps it up with patronizing advice to Obama's campaign concluding wby introducing new anti-Michelle talking points under the facade of concern: "something defective about Michelle Obama, and risks turning her into New Coke."

Joan Walsh: Frenemy, underminer, concern troll. Stop helping.

It's clear that the patriotism meme is the biggie for Republicans this election--which, upon reflection is absolutely Orwellian, given their trashing of America on every front these last 8 years--and obviously that Michelle Obama line is major fuel. They probably recognize it as a problem for anyone else BUT Cindy to exploit it, so there it is. Because John McCain really can't himself start picking on Michelle, can he? And Barack himself didn't make that unfortunately easy-to-target statement. So that leaves Cindy to pick on Michelle.

Not that it's right.

chatter about subtle makeover is coming not from the Obama Camp but from press .. who seem to need to parse minutia to death and ignore http://www.truthout.org/article/us-general-accuses-bush-administration-war-crimes Why is this not front page everywhere?

Ps

Nice job on CNN tonight ms Walsh

Sorry, couldn't resist. Tee hee.

Cindy McCain can shoot and fly a plane. For some reason, when I think about her, the song "Lawyers, Guns and Money" comes to mind.

The 2008 Presidential campaign, which has been going on…..forever, has just begun its face to face, man to man, main feature. With 24/7 need to fill programming, and only a small, finite amount of new, daily, “news” to fill it, EVERYTHING will be fair game. Might as well get used to it. Before its over, EVERYONE will be in on the act; Brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles, neighbors, aquaintenances, extraterrestrials, farm animals, presently and formerly dead folks, and every innate and dormant being imaginable.

As to whether the spouses are fair game? Depends. Sometimes yes, other times, no.

So this is just the beginning; As the late Carl Sagan would have said, “Billions and Billions” of words will be spewed, 99.9% worthless gibberish, so again, get used to it.

But the only thing I’m sure of, JOAN WELSH IS NOT THE ISSUE! For everything that is good, decent, and merciful in life, please….piss on Hillary, dump on Cindy, spit on Carly, draw a moustache on Mergatroid, but as that genius from You tube said about Britney, “LEAVE JOAN ALONE!!!!!!!”

O.k……I feel better now.

fellas, these women can defend themselves.

... that the best thing Michelle Obama, her husband and his campaign can do is say nothing, just let the trust-funded WASP keep buzzing and stinging. The more the spotlight is on Cindy McCain's "pride" in her country, the more focus is on her privileged upbringing and her personal fortune, a subject her husband is a tad sensitive about, and the role her family's money and political connections played in McCain's career. I just found out yesterday that old man Hensley hired his then-new son-in-law in some kind of PR job for the beer store, so he could drive around Arizona and meet donors and supporters while getting paid for it.

Cindy McCain is the First Lady I'd most like to sneak up on the roof of the White House and do shots with. Michelle Obama is the First Lady whose husband I'd most like to be President.

Because being on The View is so above it all and Presidential and shit.

This little nonentity of a story really tells us what the term "patriotism" currently means to our country:

-Wave the Flag.

-Don't criticize.

-Brainlessly echo the opinions of the ruling elite.

-Be happy.

It's awfully strange, too. Americans love to tout our country as being Home of Free Speech, where Democracy flourishes. And if this were true then it wouldn't much matter WHAT the wives of our presidential hopefuls say. She didn't make a snafu, like suggesting that it would be kosher to occupy Iraq for 100 years.

OK. I will call you naive, Joan. Not about the cat fight, but about Michelle Obama's approval rating. 48% positive to 42% negative shouldn't seem "bizarrely high" to you. Unfortunately, many Americans -- male and female -- still have problems with educated, confident, and powerful women. As Pelonious said, "Tis true, 'tis pity; and tis pity, tis true."

What troubles me the most about the Michelle Obama debate is the way Republicans tend to look at her "proud" remarks. Many conservative loudmouths (I saw another one tonight on MSNBC) have literally said that Ms. Obama's remarks imply that she "hates" America.

What is missing from this debate is the incredibly obvious: It is possible to love and hate something at the same time. I grew up, and have lived almost all of my life, in the South. I could write a book about love/hate relationships with my native culture. I love many aspects of the South, and never want to live anywhere else, but I am under no illusion about slavery, civil rights, lynching, and all the other things that go along with Southern heritage.

I love my land, and would die for it if necessary, but I would only die with a clear-eyed knowledge of its shortcomings. Only a fool would believe that America has never done anything wrong, and has never merited sharp disapproval.

Obviously Michelle Obama is trying to express this love/hate feeling all honest Americans feel sometimes. It is simplistic to say that she hates America. Like many African-Americans who know their history, she does not look upon America as blameless in all things, and especially not in its racial history. Who can blame her for that?

And how stupid is it to think it is impossible to love a country with all your heart, and still have misgivings about it.

If Michelle Obama ever declared that America is wonderful and completely without fault, I would think her either a liar or completely crazy. As someone who has carried the Southern heritage with me all my life, I feel justified in saying that unless we acknowledge that it is possible to be completely patriotic and intensely critical of our own country at the same time, there is no chance that we will ever leave the corpse of racism behind us.