I couldn’t help but notice Michelle Obama stammering her way through her speech at the DNC last night.  About every second or third sentence began with a stutter (for example, check out the first 30 seconds of this clip).   And these stumbles were not the least bit accidental.  The words “I – I – I’ve seen it in – in people . . . ” may have appeared on the teleprompter to remind her.

You see Michelle, and her husband Barack, have been coached to stutter when speaking to the wretched masses.  President Obama started using the fake stutter tactic a few months ago – more recently, his favorite is “uh”.  It is intended to make them seem more common, less imperial.  The theory is that if they sound a little less polished, you might forget Michelle’s extravagant lifestyle and her husband’s considerable wealth. You might think they are just like you.

I’m not saying the Obamas should be ashamed of their wealth, mind you.  But I am annoyed that Michelle, in her speech, sought pity for their humble roots when, in fact,  both were pampered rich kids who never knew a day of financial stress.  Barack’s mother was a well-paid federal employee; his adoptive father, Lolo Soetoro, had a management job with Union Oil, and his grandmother was a well-connected bank vice-president who left him an inheritance of perhaps a half-million bucks in stocks.  Michelle’s father enjoyed a fat government paycheck thanks to his Daley connections in Chicago – $50k plus in the early 1970’s, the equivalent of $250k today.

Both attended tony private high schools and exclusive colleges, including Barack’s years at two expensive Ivy League universities with no visible means of support.  Even if they were financed with loans and scholarships, it’s hard to shed any tears.  Their careers reek of patronage as well.

It really doesn’t matter.  I rather doubt Mitt Romney regularly irons his own “Costco” shirts, either.

There is only one thing that matters to me in the upcoming elections, at every level and in every locale:  do you understand simple mathematics and economics?  Will you make the hard decisions it will take to save our nation from financial ruin?  If so, I support you.  If not, then you are just like pretty much every other political leader currently in office, and God help us all if you are elected.

Tom Balek – Rockin’ On the Right Side

The ballad of Barack and Michelle –

Together we can make it baby –
From the poor side of town . . .

The Poor Side of Town – Johnny Rivers