Michelle Obama

[Bazile]

I thought twice about posting this ( given the usual responses by some on AB) , when it comes to topics , involving 'people of colour '

Lets see if this can be any different , and we can have a civilised discussion .

The spotlight has always been on first ladies , however i think it's true to say that in Michelle Obama's case , it has shone more intensely than previous incumbants , for obvious reasons .

All credit to her she has tried to be different, from what is normally expected by the establishment - and good on her for that .

What's your opinion of her stay in the WH - should she just have towed the traditional line and kept quiet in the background ?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-35719997

[youngmafbog]

// it has shone more intensely than previous incumbants , for obvious reasons .
//

You mean she's quite a looker?

[anneasquith]

I like her, she has been a great partner for the president. Not sure what "" colour"" has to do with your question though.

[Bazile]

ymb

//You mean she's quite a looker?//

Well i won't deny that she is pleasing on the eye , now you mention it

[Canary42]

I think you'll find at least two previous incumbents got as much if not more spotlight (Nancy, Jackie).

It's a thin line between their public personal behaviour and their political influence, IMO the former is quite acceptable, even desirable, the latter totally wrong - after all, it's not they who are elected. The difficulty is drawing the line.

[Gromit]

Most first ladies are instantly forgettable and rarely do anything of note themselves.

Those that do are usually greatly admired which I suspect is the reason Michele Obama is such an activist.

Betty Ford and Eleanor Roosevelt were previous admired first ladies. I wish Michele luck in joining the list, but I cannot think of much she has acieved (similar to her husband).

[Gromit]

Nancy and Jackie were high profile but not activists in the Michele Obama mold. They enjoyed their status rather than used it to change anything.

[Cloverjo]

I think she's great. She's done much for charity, helped her husband and kept her daughters safe from all the stuff that must go with being children of the president of USA - and also has a brain the size of a planet. She must at times have thought, where's my career and life?

[Cloverjo]

I meant to mention also, does anyone still say "people of colour"? It sounds like something from the dark ages.

[Bazile]

Cloverjo

I may well be guilty of not using the correct terminology - afterall what does a star ship captain know about these things

[youngmafbog]

//I meant to mention also, does anyone still say "people of colour"? It sounds like something from the dark ages.//

I really dont know why people feel the need to say things like this. It really is not a problem and showed exactly what Bazile wanted to say. Just because he didnt use the latest right-on term.

[Cloverjo]

Ok. I don't know what the right term is either. I just say black people. I thought the term had come from a newspaper article, not something anyone had posted here themselves.

[Gromit]

I did not mean to call Michele Obama 'mold' :-/

[sp1814]

I think she is the most high profile First Lady since Nancy Reagan, in that there is something that she is 'known for' (the get fit campaign).

I associate Nancy Reagan with the anti-drugs campaign, but for the life of me, I can't think of anything that Barbara Bush did (apart from rip off the Queen Mother's style).

Hilary Clinton just seemed to spend eight years looking annoyed.

As for George W. Bush. I literally have no idea about his wife. I'm drawing a blank.

Was he even married???

[sp1814]

Cloverjo

Actually, just to confuse things, in the US, the term 'People of colour' is perfectly acceptable. It's just a new term to out ears. Has been common currency in the US for decades!

[ToraToraTora]

I think she's done ok.

[jourdain2]

I think she's done very well.

[jno]

I think people of colour is the correct term, Bazile.

She's done okay but the job specs are pretty nebulous. Hillary Clinton has probably been the one with the biggest political role, even if she doesn't become president. Pat Nixon was the ideal 1950s housewife, Jackie Kennedy the ideal 1960s style leader. Nancy Reagan never did much, it seemed to me.

[Cloverjo]

Ok, sp. Thanks for clarifying.

[Peter Pedant]

what happened to the awful Amy Carter
who played her violin for all the long suffering dignitaries ?

[jno]

Living a low-profile but apparently nora