I have to confess that reading columns by Michael Sneed is something of a

guilty pleasure. Sneed’s column is one part gossip, one part political intrigue

and one part scandal mongering. Journalistic accuracy, however, is not

necessarily a prerequisite for the inclusion of an item in the column.

I was somewhat startled and surprised to read in Sneed’s column this morning

that both Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle Obama (formerly Michelle

Robinson), have allowed their law licenses to become inactive. As Sneed pointed

out, both of the Obamas could complete some paperwork, pay the necessary fees

and reinstate their law licenses. The item continued by stating that various

politicians choose to go on inactive status when they are no longer engaged in

the practice of law on a regular basis. For example, both Governor Rod

Blagojevich and US Senator Richard Durbin have also elected to assume inactive

status. Of course, in Blagojevich’s case, one might be tempted to suggest that

he did not renew his law license so as to avoid being subject to possible

discipline by the Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission of the

Supreme Court of Illinois. The ARDC has investigatory powers in addition to

registration recordkeeping responsibilities.

To return to the Obamas, it is worth noting that Michael Sneed omitted to

state one curious fact in her column. Unlike her husband, Barack Hussein Obama

(that reference is not a slur since that is exactly how Obama chose to be

listed on his the Master Roll of Attorneys and on the face of his law license),

who opted to voluntarily assume inactive status as an attorney in 2008,

Michelle Obama has not registered with the Attorney Registration and Disciplinary

Commission since (drum roll for emphasis) 1993. Since she was admitted to the

bar in the Spring of 1989, her entire career as a licensed attorney lasted

less than five full years. As published, the item in the Sun Times would make

one believe that Michelle Obama assumed inactive status within the past few

months, not a decade and a half ago.

What is particularly mystifying about this fifteen year lapse in Michelle

Obama’s registration status in that she is constantly identified as an attorney

in print, notwithstanding her lack of a current law license, and she has held

a series of high level employment positions in the interim. Absent her

ability to practice law what precisely did she bring to the table in her various

positions? What were her other qualifications?

Her undergraduate degree was from Princeton University where she majored in

sociology with a minor in African American studies. Her inflammatory

undergraduate thesis “Princeton-Educated Blacks and the Black Community” has stirred

up a great deal of controversy and has been removed from circulation by the

university library for the duration of the campaign. Nevertheless, the thesis

has been available via the Internet and, taken together with her statement

on the campaign trail that “For the first time in my adult lifetime, I am

really proud of my country… ,” as indicative of the fact that she is a militant

radical filled with anger and resentment towards the USA. It has been

reported that Michelle served to introduce Barack to the Reverend Jeremiah Wright of

the Trinity United Church of Christ and that she was far more active in the

radical minister’s Afrocentric congregation than her husband.

For someone who complains about discrimination and inequality so frequently,

Michelle Obama has certainly lived a charmed life. After attending two

prestigious universities (Princeton and Harvard), she has enjoyed a luxurious

standard of living and career opportunities not readily available to mere

mortals.

Michelle Obama has served as an Assistant to the Mayor of the City of

Chicago and as an Assistant Commissioner of Planning and Development. Her positions

at City Hall belie the assertions that her husband was a truly progressive

politician entirely independent of the Democratic Machine. After leaving the

Daley administration, Michelle Obama became the Executive Director of a not

for profit organization, the Chicago Office of Public Allies. This organization

was supposed to encourage youths to accept positions with not for profits

and public agencies. Were Bill Ayers and Bernadine Dohrn a part of the this

same project? They share a passion for similar types of organizing.

In 1996, the same year that her husband was first elected to the Illinois

Senate, Michelle Obama accepted a position at the University of Chicago as the

Associate Dean of Student Services. In 2002, she took a position as a

hospital administrator specializing in community and external affairs. Curiously,

her salary was increased significantly immediately after her husband was

elected to the US Senate. Cause and effect? Although she has decreased her work

load to a part-time status on account of her parental responsibilities, she

earned $273,618.00 in 2006. As a part-time employee, Michelle Obama earned more

in salary than her husband did as a senator. More recently, Mrs. Obama has

taken an unpaid leave of absence.

Untangling financial data is not always an exact science, but Michelle Obama’s unusual career path strongly suggests that the long hand of City Hall and

the Democratic political machine have been guiding the careers and fortunes

of the presumptive nominee and his spouse to a far greater degree than any

official campaign biography would indicate. These are questionable ties without

any reference being made Tony Rezko.

To counterbalance my cynicism where politicians are concerned, let us consi

der a more romantic episode.

According to the Internet Movie Data Base, Barack and Michelle went to the

movies on their first date. The film that the happy loving couple chose to

see was “Do the Right Thing” which was produced and directed by Spike Lee. The

conclusion of the movie features a race riot in a Brooklyn pizzeria which

takes place after an argument between the Italian owner of the shop and a black

customer who refuses to turn down a loud boom box radio escalates into a

full scale war inside the restaurant. The business ends up being destroyed as

the building is set on fire by the angry mob.

Is that your idea of a good date movie or a chick flick? It certainly isn’t

a family classic.

Daniel J. Kelley is a contributor to The Chicago Daily Observer.