For first lady, Trump is he who shall remain nameless

[webfact]

For first lady, Trump is he who shall remain nameless

By THOMAS BEAUMONT

 

PHOENIX (AP) — First lady Michelle Obama has emerged as perhaps the most effective Donald Trump critic in the Democrats' lineup, and she's done it without ever uttering two key words: Donald Trump.

 

In her six campaign trail speeches for Hillary Clinton, the first lady has never said the Republican nominee's name. She's talked about "this candidate" and dedicated much of her time to a searing indictment of his words and positions. But throughout her buzzworthy takedowns, Trump remains the man who shall remain nameless.

 

Mrs. Obama didn't depart from her rhetorical dismissal of Trump in Phoenix Thursday. Her appearance in Arizona was a mission to crack open new territory in a GOP-leaning state polls show is now competitive.

 

The Clinton campaign and Mrs. Obama's staff are reluctant to discuss motives for the obvious omission. But Mrs. Obama's rhetoric shows her trying to balance her position as first lady — a figure long viewed as out of the political fray — while also holding little back in a race she clearly feels strongly about.

 

At the rally in Arizona, she referred to Trump dozens of times, but in the abstract. "When a presidential candidate threatens to ignore our voices and reject the outcome of this election, he is threatening the very idea of America itself," she told roughly 7,000 raucous supporters at the Phoenix Convention Center.

 

Trump said he would withhold judgment on accepting the outcome of the election.

 

She also spoke in deeply personal terms, suggesting that Trump's life in a Manhattan tower keeps him from seeing the humanity in people who are different from him. And that, she suggested, is why he speaks so harshly of African-American communities and insults Muslims, women, people with disabilities, Mexicans and more.

 

"Maybe that's why he calls communities like the one where I was raised, 'hell,'" she said. "Because he can't see all the decent, hardworking folks like my parents."

 

Political speakers are often coached to avoid using opponents' names or titles, to deny them any measure of extra publicity or credibility.

It's a time-worn demonstration of disdain by denial, said Mary E. Stuckey, a scholar of political oratory at Georgia State University. By marginalizing him personally, Mrs. Obama also aims to marginalize what he stands for as a candidate.

 

It may just be coincidence, but Mrs. Obama's speech Thursday was at the downtown convention center in Phoenix where Trump issued a reaffirmation of his immigration policy proposals, which Clinton sharply opposes.

 

"Naming, of course, is a form of power. It defines things and makes them real," Stuckey said. "To refuse to name is also to refuse to recognize something."

 

But others see additional possible motives in Mrs. Obama's rhetoric.

 

Where previous first ladies have typically played the role of loyal spouse and burnished their husbands' records while campaigning, Mrs. Obama has taken a different tack, said Anita McBride, who was chief of staff to first lady Laura Bush.

 

"Her speeches have been more political," McBride said. "Her speeches at the Democratic National Convention and in New Hampshire last week were sharper, more targeted and more cutting than anything I've seen in a previous first lady."

 

Mrs. Obama spoke at length at the Manchester rally about the release this month of a video from a 2005 "Access Hollywood" interview, where Trump said into a microphone, which he didn't know was live, that he used his celebrity to make sexual advances on women without their consent.

 

In the weeks that followed, nine women have accused Trump over the past 30 years of kissing and groping them against their will.

 

Mrs. Obama's response was an effort to starkly refer to Trump as "this candidate actually bragging about sexually assaulting women. I can't believe I'm saying that."

 

Trump has made a habit of retaliating against his critics. The only time he has mentioned Mrs. Obama during the campaign has been to attempt to poke holes in her support for Clinton by reminding voters of the fierce fight for the 2008 Democratic nomination Clinton fought against President Barack Obama.

 

Clinton's daughter, Chelsea, has not followed Michelle Obama's example. Speaking at Arizona State University Wednesday, she sprinkled Trump's name throughout her 30-minute speech and a question-and-answer session with more than 500 supporters on the campus in Tempe.

That leaves some former Obama administration staff and others suggesting that the first lady finds Trump so objectionable that she refuses to utter his name as a way of denying him credibility.

 

"I wonder in some ways if she finds his politics and rhetoric so distasteful she can't bring herself to say his name," said McBride. "Clearly, there's a great deal of passion in these speeches."

 

-- © Associated Press 2016-10-21

[NanLaew]

1 hour ago, webfact said:

.... Trump has made a habit of retaliating against his critics. The only time he has mentioned Mrs. Obama during the campaign has been to attempt to poke holes in her support for Clinton by reminding voters of the fierce fight for the 2008 Democratic nomination Clinton fought against President Barack Obama. ...

Yeah... 'cos he doesn't pick fights with guys bigger than him.

[iReason]

He should be, and forever remain nameless.

At best a sorry, embarrassing putrid footnote in the annals of time.

 

Best forgotten.

[Silurian]

2 hours ago, webfact said:

"I wonder in some ways if she finds his politics and rhetoric so distasteful she can't bring herself to say his name," said McBride. "Clearly, there's a great deal of passion in these speeches."

 

I can understand the feeling. If I never have to utter his name, see his face nor ever hear from him again that day would not come soon enough. Yet, time and time again I am forced to utter his name due to his disgraceful and disgusting comments in an effort to try to discredit this farce of a candidate. I shudder each time I have to type his name in fear that all it does is remind people that he even exists. I await on a time when he is shoved to the background noise where he can exist along the likes of McCain's VP pick of 2008. (whew, I thought I might have to say her name and invoke her ghost as well.)

[Opl]

Being who she is - in her position - not naming him, she denounces facts and words , attitudes ,  many of D. Trump supporters do not consider reprehensible.

To me she addresses directly to Trump's supporters, and it's tough.

Would she name him, he would counter-punch the way we know and it would devaluate her impact.

    

 

[MZurf]

19 minutes ago, Opl said:

Being who she is - in her position - not naming him, she denounces facts and words , attitudes ,  many of D. Trump supporters do not consider reprehensible.

To me she addresses directly to Trump's supporters, and it's tough.

Would she name him, he would counter-punch the way we know and it would devaluate her impact.

    

 

The man-child's counter punches have never devalued anything - quite the opposite.

[elgordo38]

Hmm possibly a future president in the making. Obama can be first husband. If she picks Elizabeth Warren for VP she will be a sho in. She is an expert on the high road for sure. Dynasties are forming. Good ole "Just Call Me Jeb" also wants another shot. I will bet he is in training now to shed that "ah shucks" demeanor and go for the jugular. Daddy Bush wants to hang on for the memorial threesome moment the crowning. 

[fvw53]

6 hours ago, iReason said:

He should be, and forever remain nameless.

At best a sorry, embarrassing putrid footnote in the annals of time.

 

Best forgotten.

 

...even if Trump has gone there will be still many people thinking like him...

[Jonmarleesco]

1 hour ago, elgordo38 said:

Hmm possibly a future president in the making. Obama can be first husband. If she picks Elizabeth Warren for VP she will be a sho in. She is an expert on the high road for sure. Dynasties are forming. Good ole "Just Call Me Jeb" also wants another shot. I will bet he is in training now to shed that "ah shucks" demeanor and go for the jugular. Daddy Bush wants to hang on for the memorial threesome moment the crowning. 

I'm sure momma would love the opportunity to babysit her granddaughters again.

[Basil B]

Big brains behind the campaigns...

 

Well at least the Democrats... 

 

Much midnight oil burnt, working out how to belittle the opponent, unfortunately this campaign has turned low and negative with both candidates focusing on the faults of the other than what they intend to do as president.

[Prbkk]

Trump was the only viable candidate, the others would have lost by a greater margin. 

[jollyhangmon]

1 hour ago, fvw53 said:

 

...even if Trump has gone there will be still many people thinking like him...

 

Yes, it has been said already but general right to vote can be a b...each.

 

And yes, i will also remember him as the funny man with the funkin' HAMSTER on his head ... 

[Morch]

1 hour ago, Prbkk said:

Trump was the only viable candidate, the others would have lost by a greater margin. 

 

I'm not sure that's entirely correct. Perhaps more so with regard to those who participated in the primary elections.

That said, another candidate might have lost by a greater margin, but may have avoided the obvious mess the Republicans are in now.

[boomerangutang]

I have a farang neighbor who uses the word 'ass hose' for the toilet nozzle.

Every time I hear him say it, it bothers me.  Probably similar for the lovely Michelle, in relation to the The Divider whom she won't mention by name.

[JulesMad]

3 hours ago, fvw53 said:

 

...even if Trump has gone there will be still many people thinking like him...

Frightfully right..... 

But as long as they are only thinking like him, and these people keep their mouths shut, the rest of the world can bear it....  They don't have to listen to his utter nonsense and bullshit any longer

[Pinot]

Cheeto jesus works. 

 

People find out I'm American the first thing they want to talk about is numbnuts. I'm so sick of that asshat. This election can't end too soon. Let's just get to the party, I've had it. 

 

It use to be fun but he's just an embarrassment at this point. 

[Johpa]

5 hours ago, Prbkk said:

Trump was the only viable candidate, the others would have lost by a greater margin. 

 

In my less's than humble opinion, Kasich would have won against HRC but not against Sanders.  A Sanders-Warren ticket would have romped and given us all the modicum of change we so desperately need here in the US.  But I suspect that Warren has sold out to Clinton and the shadow government as well.

[alex8912]

3 hours ago, Pinot said:

Cheeto jesus works. 

 

People find out I'm American the first thing they want to talk about is numbnuts. I'm so sick of that asshat. This election can't end too soon. Let's just get to the party, I've had it. 

 

It use to be fun but he's just an embarrassment at this point. 

I wish they would both go away and just be grandparents. 

[NanLaew]

10 hours ago, boomerangutang said:

I have a farang neighbor who uses the word 'ass hose' for the toilet nozzle.

Every time I hear him say it, it bothers me.  Probably similar for the lovely Michelle, in relation to the The Divider whom she won't mention by name.

Then there's the TV member that uses the words 'toilet nozzle' for bum gun.

Edited October 22, 2016 by NanLaew

[Boon Mee]

11 hours ago, boomerangutang said:

I have a farang neighbor who uses the word 'ass hose' for the toilet nozzle.

Every time I hear him say it, it bothers me.  Probably similar for the lovely Michelle, in relation to the The Divider whom she won't mention by name.

She really is a brilliant mind though:

Michelle Obama Forgets Name of Arizona’s Democratic Senate Candidate She’s Campaigning For…

 

[boomerangutang]

11 hours ago, JulesMad said:

Frightfully right..... 

But as long as they are only thinking like him, and these people keep their mouths shut, the rest of the world can bear it....  They don't have to listen to his utter nonsense and bullshit any longer

 

Unfortunately, people following current events WILL have to hear his continuing BS and whining.  Trump has essentially launched his Trump Media Empire with the faux news commentary - just after the 3rd debate.  Trump's fan base are also gun-huggers, so they could be another ugly residual effect of Trumpism - as he's been egging his 2nd Amenders on for months.  If one of them shoots HRC, I can picture Trump personally paying for their defense - similar to how he said he would personally pay for any of his redneck fans' defense costs if they had to face legal charges for assault.

[iReason]

Just now, Boon Mee said:

She really is a brilliant mind though:

Michelle Obama Forgets Name of Arizona’s Democratic Senate Candidate She’s Campaigning For…

 

Jeez...

You are really embarrassing yourself.

More than usual. And it's become cringeworthy.

You backed two major losers.

 

And now randomly flailing away at your perceived foes.

Give it up.

Ya got nothin'.

 

Except, apparently too much time on your hands.

 

Do you really crave the small semblance of attention you get?

[newnative]

Speaking as an American, it's really quite sad that these are our two main choices for President.  Both are totally incapable of telling the truth and both are corrupt to the core.  They also both seem to have very unpleasant personalities--I wouldn't want to spend any time with either one of them.   Sad--and disgusting.

[vogie]

1 minute ago, newnative said:

Speaking as an American, it's really quite sad that these are our two main choices for President.  Both are totally incapable of telling the truth and both are corrupt to the core.  They also both seem to have very unpleasant personalities--I wouldn't want to spend any time with either one of them.   Sad--and disgusting.

 

Look on the bright side though, if Hilary gets into the White House, it will be the first time that two American presidents have slept together.

[ilostmypassword]

19 minutes ago, newnative said:

Speaking as an American, it's really quite sad that these are our two main choices for President.  Both are totally incapable of telling the truth and both are corrupt to the core.  They also both seem to have very unpleasant personalities--I wouldn't want to spend any time with either one of them.   Sad--and disgusting.

You should take a look at Richard Branson's blog entry about meeting with Trump and meeting with Clinton.

https://www.virgin.com/richard-branson/meeting-donald-trump

[newnative]

They both seem to be a nasty pair with vindictive personalities but I suppose Hillary might be the lesser of 2 evils--but what crap choices for the Presidency.

[Skywalker69]

17 hours ago, Boon Mee said:

She really is a brilliant mind though:

Michelle Obama Forgets Name of Arizona’s Democratic Senate Candidate She’s Campaigning For…

 

Bla..bla...bla...troll!!! Her "ass" is more intelligent than Trump "the whining bitch"