Michelle Obama Absence vs Attendees

Do y’all keep in mind when former First Woman Michelle Obama hit us with that well-known line, “Once they go low, we go excessive?”

So many individuals reacted like she was studying from the Gospel of Turntheothercheekians: “And lo, resisteth not the urge to learn a idiot for filth.  Thou shalt not clap again, lest ye be dragged into the pit of foolishness and covfefe.  Blessed is the unbothered.’”

Liberals swooned like Obama had personally baptized them within the holy waters of civility, they usually acted like she was out in these streets floating on a cloud of ethical superiority just like the Patron Saint of the Excessive Highway. That iconic line turned a complete mantra, a rallying cry, a bumper sticker philosophy for dealing with nonsense with dignity.

MORE: ‘Huge Mistake’: Trump Seemingly Threatens ‘Nasty’ Michelle Obama For Telling The Fact About Him

Welp, quick ahead to only a few days earlier than Donald Trump’s dystopian, Ebook of Revelations-season-finale, Starvation Video games-ass inauguration, and guess what?  Sis took the highest street doable—straight up outta there!

As a result of generally “going excessive” means staying house, sipping tea and letting the clowns have their circus with out you within the viewers.

Michelle Obama is true to not fake that is enterprise as regular.

For these of you who by some means missed it—possibly you had been busy hoarding canned items, reinforcing your sanity bunker, panic-knitting an emotional assist scarf, triple-checking your passport expiration date, or pre-loading your “I instructed y’all” social media posts like doomsday prep for the approaching rise of the Fourth Reich—Michelle Obama made it loud and clear that she won’t be attending Trump’s inauguration.

And why ought to she?

As a result of custom?

Decorum and respect?

Unity?

Patriotism?

The sacred, centuries-old American ritual of pretending convicted felons are reliable heads of state?

Or maybe, the deeply held perception that irrespective of how unhinged, harmful, or morally bankrupt a president is, a former first woman should smile by means of gritted enamel, nod like she’s making an attempt to maintain a nasty wig from slipping, and clap with the dead-eyed enthusiasm of a hostage blinking in Morse code—all whereas pretending the nation isn’t quickly descending into authoritarian chaos?

Ought to she slip right into a pastel-colored gown, clasp her pearls like an overqualified debutante at a racist nation membership, and nod alongside like a Stepford First Woman—all within the title of civility?  Ought to she grin and bear it for a similar individuals who spent eight years questioning her husband’s citizenship, mocking her options, peddling racist gorilla memes and foaming on the mouth like a demon at a full-throttle Pentecostal exorcism each time she had the sheer audacity to flex her toned arms in a sleeveless gown?

Some issues are beneath dignity—and Trump’s America is one among them.

Ought to she curl her hair, “beat her face” and waltz in like that is simply one other peaceable switch of energy—all whereas a convicted felon, a sexual predator and the man who turned the U.S. Capitol right into a DIY coup try takes the oath of workplace… once more?  Ought to she smile by means of the nationwide embarrassment and nod alongside like she’s at a nasty PTA assembly?

Why ought to Michelle Obama take part on this extremely produced cosplay of American democracy, the place the main man constructed his whole political profession on stoking white grievance, screaming about “rigged elections” and promising mass deportations like a wannabe Twenty first-century Andrew Jackson? Why ought to she dignify an inauguration the place the man getting sworn in actually ran on the promise to pardon the individuals who smeared their very own feces on the Capitol partitions on January sixth, constructed a guillotine, constructed a gallows and tried to hold the vp?

What does it say about all these individuals who will probably be standing on that platform and within the crowds?

But, predictably, the standard suspects are in a full meltdown, shrieking that Michelle is “petty,” “classless” and “disrespecting custom.” You understand, the identical of us who’ve spent the final eight years clapping like skilled seals whereas Trump shattered each norm of decency, torched democratic establishments and handled the presidency like a private grift machine.

Take Megyn Kelly, who by no means met a Black lady she couldn’t condescend to, smugly sneering. “Nobody desires to see you. You’re proper.  You shouldn’t come,” Kelly instructed Sky Information host Paul Murray. “Not solely does she hate Trump, she doesn’t suppose a lot of America. So she will sit this one out.”  Oh, so now loving America means displaying up for convicted felons?

In the meantime, Child Rock, America’s favourite middle-aged human embodiment of a Monster Vitality drink spilled on a Accomplice flag, weighed in with the deeply insightful, “She appears a bit of indignant.” Wow. A white man accusing a Black lady of being “indignant”—we’ve by no means seen that earlier than.

And, after all, Trump’s staff is reportedly “having a very good chortle” over Michelle skipping the occasion. Which is smart. Additionally they laughed when he mocked a disabled reporter, laughed when he referred to as fallen troopers “suckers” and laughed when he instructed injecting bleach to remedy COVID-19. If there’s one factor MAGA loves, it’s laughing by means of their lacking enamel whereas torching the nation like an overcooked Freedom Fry.

Michelle Obama is true to not fake that is enterprise as regular. She is true to not prolong any type of grace to a person who constructed his MAGA motion on disrespecting her and placing her household in peril. By not displaying up on January twentieth, Obama is refusing to lend legitimacy to a spectacle of hypocrisy. She is letting the world know that she just isn’t normalizing this as a result of some issues are beneath dignity—and Trump’s America is one among them.

However there’s a extra basic query, y’all: What does it say about all these individuals who will probably be standing on that platform and within the crowds?

There are lots of political figures who’re kissing the ring and normalizing Trump’s return to energy: former presidents, Supreme Courtroom justices, members of Congress, tech giants and billionaires. How a lot are these leaders prepared to miss within the title of custom?

By attending, they’re signaling that, regardless of every part, Trump nonetheless belongs within the pantheon of reliable American presidents. This isn’t nearly peaceable transitions—it’s about whitewashing a presidency (and now, a second time period) that was constructed on authoritarianism, racism and unapologetic criminality. Their presence lends credibility to a frontrunner who referred to as for political violence, tried to overturn an election and has overtly stated he desires to rule like a dictator “on day one.”

Typically “going excessive” means staying house, sipping tea and letting the clowns have their circus with out you within the viewers.

For Democrats who attend, it begs the query: If Trump is the existential risk to democracy that you simply declare he’s, then why are you standing there, smiling for the cameras? And for Republicans who as soon as distanced themselves from Trump, however now re-embrace him, it reveals the cowardice of a celebration that has absolutely surrendered to his cult of character.

Oh, and I’m side-eyeing Barack for taking the “excessive street” that leads straight to nowhere. This was the right second for him to take a stand alongside his spouse, and as a substitute, he’s choosing the route of custom and civility and taking part in the function of the respectable statesman. It’s giving respectability politics over righteous refusal.

Ultimately, Michelle Obama’s determination makes everybody else’s attendance look worse by comparability. Whereas she refuses to co-sign this farce, lots of America’s strongest political figures are lining as much as just do that. Her absence is a principled determination. Their presence is complicity.

The actual query isn’t why Michelle Obama received’t attend Trump’s inauguration. The actual query is: Why are so many individuals nonetheless prepared to face subsequent to him?

Dr. Stacey Patton is an award-winning journalist and the creator of Spare the Children: Why Whupping Youngsters Gained’t Save Black America.

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