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    Michelle Obama Dismisses 'Angry Black Woman' Image

    First Lady Michelle Obama denied reports of tension between her and White House aides, saying people have tried to portray her as "some kind of angry black woman."

    In an interview with CBS News, the first lady said she has not read New York Times reporter Jodi Kantor's new book "The Obamas," which depicts her as a forceful behind-the-scenes power player in her husband's administration who often clashes with the president's top advisers.

    "I never read these books," Obama told CBS' Gayle King. "I've just gotten in the habit of not reading other people's impressions of people."

    The first lady denied accusations that she is frustrated and unhappy in the White House, saying "I love this job" and that it has "been a privilege" from day one.

    "I guess it's more interesting to imagine this conflicted situation here and a strong woman. But that's been an image that people have tried to paint of me since the day Barack announced. That I'm some angry black woman."

    Asked how she deals with that image, Mrs. Obama said "I just try to be me.

     

    "My hope is that over time people get to know me. And they get to judge me for me," she said. "That's why I don't read these books. Because, you know, it's a game in so many ways… Who can write about how I feel? Who? What third person can tell me how I feel? Or anybody for that matter."

    The first lady pushed back specifically against reports of friction with the president's former Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel and former Press Secretary Robert Gibbs.

    "Rahm and I have never had a cross word. He's a funny guy," she said. "I don't have conversations with my husband's staff. I don't go to the meetings. Our staffs work together really well. If there's communication that needs to happen, it happens between staffs… I can count the number of times I go over to the West Wing, period."

    Mrs. Obama also said she was unaware of the 2010 incident, detailed in the book, when Gibbs lost his temper and reportedly shouted profanities about the first lady. "Robert Gibbs is a trusted adviser. He's been a good friend and remains so. I'm sure that we could go day-to-day and find things people wish they didn't say to each other or said. People stumble. People make mistakes."

    Also Read
     
    • RockCity Auto  •  Raleigh, North Carolina  •  3 mths ago
      skin color does not matter. obama was a black man when he was elected. he will still be a black man when we vote him out of the whitehouse. vote conservative like newt & we can take our country back as it was under reagan. obama you know where you can put your hope & change.
    • RockCity Auto  •  Raleigh, North Carolina  •  3 mths ago
      i agree w / michael. obama's spend spend spend. they have the nerve to wonder they are not liked? my vote will be for newt & i here people say anybody but obama. i won't vote moderate mitt. the obama's live the high life while the rest of try to survive. how about the halloween party they had? all the vacations? how about the tourist tank upside down in venice italy? if you want a change vote the obams's out. don't vote romney as that is obama lite, those two are one in the same. ask george soro's, he said there is no difference in the two.
    • Michael  •  San Diego, California  •  4 mths ago
      Michelle Obama angry at being called an angry black women? Hmmm... Stop spending 10 million dollars for 40+ vacations a year you Idiotic stump. Then maybe people won't tell the cold hard truth about you and keep their opinions to themselves. Definitely not helping your husbands campaign.

      P.S. Anger is a path to the dark side.
      • Arnold 3 mths ago
        You are calling the First Lady an idiotic stump...it's no wonder that you read the Post or Murdoch's Newspapers and/or view Fox news!!!
    • Mr. Fracker  •  Atlanta, Georgia  •  4 mths ago
      VOTE PLEASE, Say what you have to say by pulling the leaver on election day, that is the best way to speak, VOTE PLEASE VOTE
      • william 4 mths ago
        Oh...believe ME - my friend...

        I'll be voting against each and every S.O.B. currently holding office - it's time to shake things up in this country and remind those "priveleged few" of the phrase - "Popular Sovereignty".
      • Bill 4 mths ago
        My wife & I voted and it was not for Obama. I am sure there are people that really did vote for him. But I am telling the truth when I say. I cannot find even ONE PERSON that admits they voted for him. NOT EVEN 1
      • N 4 mths ago
        maybe thats because where you live
    • Letica  •  Miami, Florida  •  4 mths ago
      its not the color of their skin .... but rather the character of their being that matters
      • Boomhower 4 mths ago
        tell it to the blacks they seem to harbor all the hatred
      • Roman Moronie 4 mths ago
        Right, Boomhower, it's all their fault. It has nothing to do with being oppressed by the white man for a few centuries. They should just get over it already, right? Racist idiot.
      • A Yahoo! User 4 mths ago
        I think you were going for "content of their character," paraphrasing Dr. King, Leticia.
    • charlesw  •  Charlotte, North Carolina  •  4 mths ago
      reading responses on this site makes me feel as though the American People don't like the Obama's as much as the media does.
      • John 4 mths ago
        No! Really? Come on man, where's the love? Not for the Obama's that's for sure. Come November, good bye and good riddence!
      • tammy smith 4 mths ago
        Yahoo news sucks #$%$
      • Eric 4 mths ago
        i wouldn't be speaking considering your state was a big endorser for slavery
    • Wally  •  4 mths ago
      Vote Vote Vote Vote Vote, or quit Your whinin.
      • ROD 4 mths ago
        I will, I will, I will.......and not for democrats
      • Kllrrr 4 mths ago
        I vote, I also have Freedom of Speech. See the 1st Amendment.
      • ME 4 mths ago
        I will vote.....for Republicans.
    • Anna  •  San Antonio, Texas  •  4 mths ago
      When a person defines themselves by color, they are, by all accounts, a racist.
    • scuba  •  Tahoma, California  •  4 mths ago
      Would someone get this walking carpet out of my way!?
    • A Yahoo! User  •  Springfield, Virginia  •  4 mths ago
      Michelle,
      Why don't you release your thesis from Princeton University on racism and let the American public decide whether you are an angry black woman or not?
    • Wally  •  4 mths ago
      Vote People, just Vote.
    • michaels  •  Altoona, Pennsylvania  •  4 mths ago
      I am so tired of the over used racial remarks or comments. So what if you are Black, Hispanic, Asian etc., etc.. Jjust because you are able to claim any heritage other than Anglo does not make you entitled.
    • Mike  •  Mililani Town, Hawaii  •  4 mths ago
      Let me get this right - she's angry about being called angry?
    • Gareth Morgan  •  Tampa, Florida  •  4 mths ago
      Anyone who sat in Trinity Church and listened to Jeremiah Wright for twenty years could have anger management issues.
    • ang  •  Chandler, Arizona  •  4 mths ago
      why does it always have to be a black thing?
    • Noladoc  •  4 mths ago
      Well that is how she described herself in her graduate thesis, you know the one pulled from the shelves right before the election so no one could read her views. I got to read it befrore it was pulled & if I remember correctly it appeared to be about the "angry black woman" Why doesn't the media publish it & let people decide for themselves.
    • TOMMY GUNN  •  Center Moriches, New York  •  4 mths ago
      c.moore anyone whoever told you to be yourself, could not have given you worse advice
    • Jack  •  Southfield, Michigan  •  4 mths ago
      You can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you can not fool all of the people all of the time.
      Abraham Lincoln, (attributed)
      16th president of US (1809 - 1865)
    • keepitsurreal  •  Parlin, New Jersey  •  4 mths ago
      pathetic..and how the left ripped Nancy Regan for a new set of china..i wanna know how much taxpayer's money these people have blown..coulda helped a lot of vets with that bread.
    • CRAIG  •  Knoxville, Tennessee  •  4 mths ago
      This, coming from the woman who had never been proud of her country before 2008.
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