Print subscribers If you're a print subscriber, but do not yet have an online account, click here to create one. Non-subscribers Fight for the world as it should be Posted Betty Firth Betty Firth I have been reading Michelle Obama’s book, Beloved, and waxing nostalgic about what was and what could have been. When Barack Obama was elected in 2008, I thought we, as a country, were finally taking a step up on the evolutionary scale, finally living up to the ideals that are the underpinnings of this country. I loved reading Michelle’s words about struggling to balance the demands of politics. She wanted to nurture and protect her family, but as a citizen, she knew that America needed and deserved to have the man with the “noble heart” in the Oval Office. She deplored the hype and pretension, but she wanted so much to have a positive effect during Obama’s campaign. She said she did that best by revealing her real self, making personal connections with people she met in small groups and in large crowds. Facing the small-minded sniping about her, her clothes, and every word she uttered, she wanted to articulate who she really was and to show the world an intimate view of Barack.