US Edition 
Michelle Obama attacked over patriotism gaffe
Barack Obama's wife Michelle has been accused of being unpatriotic after she said that her husband's White House campaign had made her "really proud" of her country for the first time.
Speaking at a rally in Milwaukee, she said: "Hope is making a comeback and, let me tell you, for the first time in my adult life I am really proud of my country. Not just because Barack is doing well, but I think people are hungry for change."
Mrs Obama, a 44-year-old Harvard-trained lawyer with two children, has been an effective advocate for her husband on the campaign trail, but has a reputation for speaking her mind and has occasionally raised eyebrows.
This time conservatives seized on the remarks and the internet was ablaze with comments criticising her loyalty to the United States and lack of gratitude for the opportunities it had provided her.
Some said she would lose her husband their votes in his bid to become the first African American US president.
"Although I'm sometimes not proud of specific actions our government takes or of specific leaders, I remain a proud American. This statement by Michelle Obama is outrageous and I can now never vote for Obama," wrote a contributor to the ABC News website.
Others were overtly racist, revealing the sort of emotions that could well rise to the surface if Mr Obama is the Democratic Party's choice to run in November.
A member of the American Disabled Veterans group, in turn, accused Mrs Obama of racism.
"Ms Obama, your comments are nothing short of unpatriotic, racist and downright shameful," he wrote.
Cindy McCain, the wife of the Republican frontrunner John McCain, also waded into the controversy.
"I am proud of my country. I don't know about you? If you heard those words earlier, I am very proud of my country."
But Mrs Obama was defended by other political bloggers, who shared her apparent disillusion with the US, and others who analysed her intonation and exact meaning.
An anonymous contributor said that "really" was the key word.
"It is the first time in her adult lifetime that she's been REALLY proud," the blogger wrote.
Her comments are likely to be greeted with private glee in the rival camp of Hillary Clinton, which has been trying to land blows on her husband with limited success since he moved ahead in their protracted battle for their party's nomination.
She made them on the same day her husband was forced to fend off claims that he had plagiarised a speech of a Democratic colleague, the Massachusetts governor, Deval Patrick.