Monday, July 14, 2008

BARACK OBAMA

Barack Obama's Struggle Over Whether Marriage Had Become 'An Outdated Institution'

A new detail about the courtship of Michelle Obama:

It took two years for Obama to finally propose. Though she knew he didn't fear commitment, Michelle had become a bit irritated with his struggle over whether marriage had become an outdated institution.

Wow. And with this offhand comment, a thousand new excuses are born. "Honey, it's not that I fear commitment. It's that I'm struggling over whether marriage has become an outdated institution."

I recall from that other Obama profile in the New Yorker, this one on Michelle:

Barack had a more bohemian attitude toward romance. “We would have this running debate throughout our relationship about whether marriage was necessary,” Obama told me. “It was sort of a bone of contention, because I was, like, ‘Look, buddy, I’m not one of these who’ll just hang out forever.’ You know, that’s just not who I am. He was, like”—she broke into a wishy-washy voice—“ ‘Marriage, it doesn’t mean anything, it’s really how you feel.’ And I was, like, ‘Yeah, right.’ ”

Richard Starr asks, "Wasn't it a little, um, outdated, to be doubting the institution of marriage in the early 1990s?"

Why do I get the feeling that many, many wives in this country will read the above paragraphs and nod in familiarity? 

07/14 02:46 PMShare