Kansas House Speaker apologizes for calling First Lady 'Mrs. YoMama'

The Republican speaker of the Kansas statehouse issued an apology this week after sending emails from his personal account referring to First Lady Michelle Obama as "Mrs. YoMama" and quoting a Bible verse cited by some as a reference to presidential assassination.

Kansas House Speaker Mike O'Neal, from the city of Hutchison, sent an email before Christmas that compared the president's wife to the Dr. Seuss character The Grinch, with a tagline asking: "Twins separated at birth?"

"I'm sure you'll join me in wishing Mrs. YoMama a wonderful, long Hawaii Christmas vacation -- at our expense, of course," the forward read.

"Sorry, just had to forward this latest holiday message!" O'Neal wrote. "I've had worse hair days but this is pretty funny."

In a statement to The Lawrence Journal-World, a newspaper in Kansas that was first to obtain the emails, O'Neal apologized for "missing" the offending text. "To those I have offended, I am sorry," he said. "That was not my intent."

The Journal-World also revealed that O'Neal had forward another email which referenced the Bible verse Psalm 109:8, which reads: "Let his days be few; and let another take his office."

The very next verse adds: "Let his children be fatherless, and his wife a widow."

The verse became a conservative meme in 2009 after it began appearing on bumper stickers, t-shirts and even toys. The most common slogan was, "Pray for Obama: Psalm 109:8."

"At last -- I can honestly voice a Biblical prayer for our president!" O'Neal wrote. "Look it up -- it is word for word! Let us all bow our heads and pray. Brothers and Sisters, can I get an AMEN? AMEN!!!!!!"

O'Neal did not apologize for the second email.

Photo: Flickr user Rusty Darbonne.