OPINION | Ken Pittman: Michelle Obama Not ‘Forever First Lady’

C'mon Michelle!

I swear, I just had a conversation about First Ladies in the White House, and I was heaping praise on the last three: Laura Bush, Michelle Obama and Melania Trump. All made the nation proud, carried themselves with class and dignity and even grace.

The one or two minor beefs I had with Michelle Obama was in her uninvited and unpopular meddling with the nation's lunch program in the public school systems.

Every kid in every state had the same problem too, believe me.

For me, it was not the largest of matters, since her husband was creating problems that made hers small potatoes...literally. She seemed to me, though, to be a good mom and wife, and also seems to be a generally upbeat positive person. I liked her!

Oh, the only other thingy while she resided at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue was when I felt butt hurt when she said of her husband's inauguration that, "For the first time in my life, I am proud of my country."

Look, I get it. A high percentage of blacks in America feel disenfranchised and like second class citizens. There is still a lot of work to be done, no one should deny it. Their resentment of this fact is justifiable.

But..first time? Really?

Can it be true that she was not proud of the Emancipation Proclamation? Suffrage? Defeating Nazi and Japanese Imperial maniacs? Curing any of the hundreds of diseases America has cured? Being five percent of the world population but 35 percent of the world's charity provider? Civil Rights Act of 1965? MLK speaking on the National Mall? Jackie Robinson? Debate points made by Massachusetts Senator Daniel Webster? The freedoms and liberties guaranteed in the U.S. Constitution? Scholarship money for her very expensive Ivy league education in this nation?

Nada? Nothing?

Okay, you get my point. I got hers, too, but she could have been more thoughtful about that remark.

This week though, Michelle has declared herself as America's "forever First Lady." What does that even mean? What if her husband declared himself the "Forever President of The United States?" There would be a Constitutional crisis, war on the streets and chaos.

Sorry, Michelle, but to borrow from an old African proverb: the White House was not given to you by your predecessors, it was lent to you by your successors. There is a sunset to every presidency, good or bad. It is our way. Please find another title.

Aside from that, Michelle carried herself as a terrific First Lady, and I hope that is how she will always be remembered.

Ken Pittman is the host of The Ken Pittman Show on 1420 WBSM New Bedford. He can be heard Saturdays from 9 a.m. to noon. Contact him at talkerkenpittman@gmail.com and follow him on Twitter @RadioKenPittman. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of the author.