How many people have been killed in the wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Yemen or Somalia? On November 18th, a UN press briefing on the war in Yemen declared authoritatively that it had so far killed 5,700 people, including 830 women and children. But how precise are these figures, what are they based on, and what relation are they likely to bear to the true numbers of people killed?

“Priority number one is protecting the American people and going after terrorist networks. Both al Qaeda and now ISIL pose a direct threat to our people, because in today’s world, even a handful of terrorists who place no value on human life, including their own, can do a lot of damage. They use the Internet to poison the minds of individuals inside our country; they undermine our allies. But as we focus on destroying ISIL, over-the-top claims that this is World War III just play into their hands…. they do not threaten our national existence. That’s the story ISIL wants to tell; that’s the kind of propaganda they use to recruit.”

                                – President Obama, State of the Union, January 12, 2016

“Even worse, we are facing the most dangerous terrorist threat our nation has seen since September 11th, and this president appears either unwilling or unable to deal with it.”

                              – Gov. Nikki Haley, Republican response to State of the Union

As someone who has a doctorate in American history, it always makes me nervous to hear people declaim that the United States was founded as a Christian nation and the First Amendment guarantees freedom of religion. It is all I can do to hold my tongue when folks say that the Constitution guarantees the separation of Church and state, and when they start talking about a Constitutional amendment requiring prayer in the public schools–as long as I’m a professor, students will be praying in school!–well then, Katie bar the door! The first assertion is an oversimplified story about Pilgrims, Puritans and the Mayflower Compact, written in 1620. The second statement is flat out wrong, and the third one, well whatareyagonnado?

It is truly banal to say that we have never seen a First Lady like Michelle Obama; she is, as they say in the fashion world, a one off. Historically, the role of the president’s spouse has always been ill defined. First Ladies–Jacqueline Kennedy hated the term because it sounded like the name of a saddle horse–have no constitutional authority and do not answer to the electorate. However, just by virtue of being the president’s wife, they have tremendous influence. Consequently, American people project their expectations about many things such as gender roles and family values onto America’s Queen Consorts, and the public can be quite fickle when those expectations are not met. No more has this been the case than with Michelle Robinson Obama.