Michelle Obama: 'For the first time in my adult lifetime, I am (really) proud of my country'

The video, taken from a speech delivered by Michelle Obama over the weekend, surfaced on the eve of the crucial Wisconsin primary.

In the speech, reported on Outside The Beltway, she says: "What we have learned over this year is that hope is making a comeback. It is making a comeback and let me tell you something. For the first time in my adult lifetime, I am really proud of my country. And not just because Barack has done well, but because I think people are hungry for change. I have been desperate to see our country moving in that direction and just not feeling so alone in my frustration and disappointment. I have seen people who are hungry to be unified around some basic common issues. It has made me proud."

Conservative commentator John Podhoretz attributed the remark to the "pseudo-messianic nature of the Obama candidacy" and questioned the meaning of Obama's statement.  "She has been an adult since 1982. Can it really be there has not been a moment during that time when she felt proud of her country? Forget matters like the victory in the Cold War; how about only things that have made liberals proud -- all the accomplishments of inclusion? How about the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1991? Or Ruth Bader Ginsburg's elevation to the Supreme Court? Or Carol Moseley Braun's election to the Senate in 1998?"

The controversy seems to evolve from a misquotation of Obama's words.  The story was first reported in the Boston Globe, which erroneously quoted the candidate's spouse as saying she was "proud" of her country for the first time instead of "really proud."  In addition, the video (shown above) seems to cut off the word "really" during Obama's speech.

An Obama campaign spokesman, Bill Burton, explained the quote to ABC News.  "Of course Michelle is proud of her country, which is why she and Barack talk constantly about how their story wouldn't be possible in any other nation on Earth.  What she meant is that she's really proud at this moment because for the first time in a long time, thousands of Americans who've never participated in politics before are coming out in record numbers to build a grassroots movement for change."