I missed this story when it was published in January. Unlike the romanticized picture Barack Obama has drawn of his Kenyan father, the elder Obama was a drunk and a bigamist. Interesting.
(As a former drunk myself, I’m well aware that any book or investigative article written about me will include that sorry chapter of my life.)
You know, I never thought much of Obama’s father in the first place because he abandoned Barack and his mother. I had no idea he’d abandoned his first wife and children, too. I haven’t read Obama’s book about his father, Dreams From My Father, but I suspected it probably didn’t contain the whole truth about the kind of man he was. For instance, Obama says “racism” tore apart his white mother and black father, but in reality, his mother divorced his father after she found out he was still married to someone else, whom he’d abandoned back in Kenya. (Daily Mail) His first wife was pregnant with their second child when he left.
According to the Daily Mail, Obama’s father married a third time to a woman he’d met while married to Obama’s mother. A nephew told the paper that polygamy is part of African culture, implying that there’s nothing unusual about an African having multiple wives. I’m no expert on African culture, but I believe would-be wives in polygamous cultures know about previous wives, and Obama Sr. hadn’t told his second wife about his first wife. Deception and bigamy.
Well, when you’re running for office, your life and the lives of people you know are scrutinized. Since Barack “He speaks so well!” Obama is positioning himself as someone overcoming racial obstacles and claiming that his parent’s divorce and his father’s “issues” were caused by racism, his story is ripe for nitpicking.
Addendum: Believe me, I have plenty of “issues” in my family as well (understatement alert), and I’d hate for my loved ones’ lives to be on display. But if I wrote a book about one of them without telling the whole story (and blamed their bad behavior on white or black racism, which I’d never do, even to sell a book), I’d expect detractors and people with grudges to pick the book apart. You can’t have it both ways. Ideally, Obama’s father’s life would be irrelevant, but one’s family is relevant if you’re running for public office. That doesn’t mean the person running for office is held accountable for what someone else did, but he/she should expect scrutiny.
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Ripe for nit-picking indeed….That last sentence is a classic LaShawnism, though I hesitate to laud your written word in case that is akin to saying that you are “articulate.”
While it’s true that both are fair game, the question is: why? The respective candidates’ fathers and great, great grandfathers are not running for office. Should this disqualify either candidate? Let’s make it interesting…if a candidate has a family history involving the slave trade, should that disqualify him or her? The sins of the father cannot be visited upon the son in these cases unless, of course, you want to make the argument that the candidate’s judgment could be impaired by psychic scars.
Agree with Angel that the “sins of the father” should not disqualify the son.
But Obama has brought this on himself – by writing a book that brought attention to his father – something irresistable by one with political ambitions.
A more rational thing to do would be to disown such a dishonorable man, not to apologize for him. That would be a sign of real courage.
That would be a sign of real courage
I think that reconciling and embracing a flawed father is more courageous. Obama’s book is simply an excuse people use to attack his black African father and as far as I’m concerned, it is not my place to counter his views of his own father. Nothing in that article proves that Obama fabricated anything. Racism on both sides of his family, among other things, very well could have played a huge role in the break-up and I figure that Obama would know better than most of us.
Frank,
Disown his father? You’re kidding, right? To do so in the glare of the national spotlight would do irreparable damage to their relationship, such as it is. His father isn’t Farrakhan to merit such treatment. He’s not a public figure. His son is. Who would be satisfied by Obama throwing his father under the bus? Only people who want to see him stumble. And, this would be a mistake of the first order.
Pretty much Obama’s relationship with his father is none of my business and not relevant to whether I choose to support his candidacy. I also don’t find Mitt Romney’s Mormon familial history a major issue either.
For the most part, I think these types of things are distractions tossed up by political operatives on both sides of the aisle.
and blamed their bad behavior on white racism
He equally blamed black racism.
Thanks for the “clarification.” – Admin
After you state: “I haven’t read Obama’s book about his father, Dreams From My Father, but I suspected it probably didn’t contain the whole truth about the kind of man he was.”
How can you pretend do know anything about how he deals with his father. How can I take your opinion seriously if you haven’t even read the main source for the information you rely upon.
I’m not pretending to know anything; that’s the reason I disclose that I haven’t read the book and why I used the word “suspected.” My opinion is out there, “dag,” and readers can take it for what it’s worth. Thankfully, most commenters are intelligent enough to understand that. But every now and then, someone like you comes along, offering nothing of substance and hiding behind a phony name. – Admin
If Obama’s “…mother divorced his father after she found out he was still married to someone else, whom he’d abandoned back in Kenya.”, but Obama claims that racism was the cause of the divorce, then he is either lying or substituting an alternative cause because he cannot assimilate or admit to the facts. That would make him untrustworthy, unworthy of confidence, at the least.
lie- 1: to make an untrue statement with intent to deceive 2: to create a false or misleading impression (from m-w.com)
delude- 1: to mislead the mind or judgment of (from m-w.com)
“Obama’s relationship with his father is none of my business”
But his relationship to the concept of truth and honesty IS the business of the voting public.
If he wants to play the race card in relation to his father’s history, then that history is extremely relevant to the ensuing policy debate.
I don’t recall him campaigning on the issue of his father’s victimization at the hands of anti-bigamists.
Get it, people? What Jeff said is all I’m trying to say. Additionally if you roll out the race card, be prepared for people to call you on it, hunt for hypocrisy, and use your choice to play the card to assess where you’d stand on policy if elected to office. That’s politics.
The most disturbing part of this article isn’t that he glossed over the failings of his father. Granted that’s political expediency over apparent facts. Rather – what I find most disconcerting about all of this is his insistence of overcoming racism at every turn. Doesn’t seem as though his family and school chums remember it quite the same way. Is this a phony way to make him seem authentic? “I am one of you” sort of thing because he allegedly had to overcome such entrenched racism? Perhaps his account is the unvarnished truth. I rather doubt it. I suspect Madame Clinton already has her dogs digging deeply into this story and we’ll find out soon enough.
Wow, hearing about his dad makes me think of Kevin Federline.
Is this a phony way to make him seem authentic?
Once you learn to fake sincerity, the rest is easy.
It seems to me that the question to be raised has nothing to do with either man. The question is why the article points out polygamy in one man’s family history and not the same in the other’s. Obama’s book has nothing to do with that – it’s a different issue.
If I were to raise a question, it would be about the influence on the morality of each given the basis for the polygamy. In Romney’s family, the polygamy is the practice of their religion – a virtue. In Obama’s family, the polygamy is based on deceit. In Romney’s family, the practices of the religion are passed down, even if the polygamy practice is not (I think Romney’s observation that he’s the only one of a number of candidates who has only had one wife is ironically hilarious). The question is whether the deceit of Obama’s father is part of his upbringing. I’d suspect not, since he was raised by his mother who was a person victimized by his father’s wrongdoing. In fact, it might make him even more adamant about doing the right thing in such circumstances.
My question is why he hid the truth? He’s not the first whose family was torn apart because of things like this. It would have made him more human and appealing. The last thing he needs is to give Hillaryco more ammo during the primaries because she’s not shy about unloading both barrels in a campaign. Heck my family put the ‘fun’ in dysfunctional so it’s not like I would not have understood his pain. Oh, wait I’m white so there’s NO way I could understand a dad who cheats on his mom… Yea…. O_o
I am of the opinion that if you choose to make your family hostory public then do so canidly and honestly. If you choose a romantacized version be prepared for attacks on your credibility.
As far as I know no one forced Obama to write a book about his father nor to play the race card. Since he chose to do both then any questions are fair game.
La Shawn,
I won’t hold Obama’s father’s lack of character against him. As long as Obama doesn’t carry on the tradition of bigamy. There are so many people in the world who come from a divorced home or a disfunctional household. What I do hold against Obama is being a liberal!
Tracey
You know the old saying; “the nut doesn’t fall far from the tree.” I think it is worthwhile to look at the person’s father figure. A lot of people overcome poor “fathers”, but I suspect a lot also fall into the same patterns that were modeled for them. In Obama, I think we have a chameleon who isn’t deeply committed to anything. A chameleon adapts to it’s background to survive, always shifting to what’s best for the moment. Obama isn’t deeply committed to being either a Muslim or a Cristian. That is where his “father’s” influence seems to come in. Never committed to his wife and willing to drop the old for the sake of the new, temporarily. Obama will utter the right platitude to the right crowd at the right time, but won’t deeply believe any of it, just like Bill Clinton. Hide and watch.
I’ve got the answer for the Barack Obama ‘issues’.
We throw him in a pond.
A. If he floats, he’s a straight liar.
B. If he sinks, he’s a race-pimp.
C. If he swims, he’s given to deceiving.
But seriously, America isn’t ready for ‘non-white’ presidents, maybe not until the candidates make no mention of their own skin-colour, even then, either side would call them a ‘token black’ , or ‘race-card’ etc.
On the other hand – imagine a ‘white’ presidential candidate campaigning on his ‘white’ heritage? Oh yes…
What a silly web.
Grillsgt47 #20 said:
You know the old saying; “the nut doesn’t fall far from the tree.†I think it is worthwhile to look at the person’s father figure. A lot of people overcome poor “fathersâ€, but I suspect a lot also fall into the same patterns that were modeled for them.
So which father figure is he most like? Lolo Soetoro or his grandfather? Or are you saying that he was influenced genetically by Barack senior? Influenced by the non-committment gene?
it is abudantly clear that none of you have read Obama’s book…in the last and quite lengthy chapter, he goes into much detail about his fathers failures, wives, families, children, drunkeness, character flaws, the whole sordid story as told to him by his African relatives, including their OPINION that racism broke up his parents…he does not mythologize his father, his book exposes the myths he was told as a child by his mother/grandparents to protect him…
I would vote for a black man or woman that represented conservative values in a heartbeat.
It is not about his father, it is about him lying and blaming racism. Old and tired, if we wanted that, Sharpton could run.
Trey
It is not about his father, it is about him lying and blaming racism
So you ignored post #23 right?
It is not about his father, it is about him lying and blaming racism
So you ignored post #23 right?
Shocking! Can’t let facts get in the way of bashing Obama. After all, he said he triumphed over racism, which we all know is a figment of the imagination of neurotic blacks who don’t want to earn anything on merit. That can’t be right. Except that he did accomplish many things in spite of racism. Hmmm. Can we not even mention racism as a potential obstacle especially when it is?
Gotta make one comment; If a man’s faith informs his world view, then I’d be more concerned about the white-washed cowpatties spewed by Obama’s church. (H/T to Lisa M in …your children, your responsibility thread)
La Shawn, I hope you’ll give the sappy code of beliefs the fisking it deserves.
Why?
I’ve mentioned in times past here that Believers must sometimes forcefully challenge false teachers, lest by our silence, the world thinks we approve.
I’ll go ahead and take 4 shots at it for now and eagerly await to see other potshots:
1) So what does that make Abrahm, whom God called to forsake the land of his fathers? A sellout to his native land?? Didn’t Ur/Babylon have something to do with the dawning of civilization?
2) It’d be nice if everyone remembered that if it wasn’t for amazing grace and the diligence of fundamental evangelists, slavery would well be with us. IOW, it was NOT the liberals who ushered in the concept of human rights, rather the God-fearing Christians. So I expect Obama will be reminding his new friends of that fact.
4) Really!?!?! Adoration before SALVATION??? This is all anyone need to know that this church is founded on shifting sands instead of THE ROCK. Do not walk. Run!! Run as far away from such false teachings.
3. A congregation actively seeking RECONCILIATION.
4. A congregation with a non-negotiable COMMITMENT TO AFRICA.
5. A congregation committed to BIBLICAL EDUCATION.
6. A congregation committed to CULTURAL EDUCATION.
7. A congregation committed to the HISTORICAL EDUCATION OF AFRICAN PEOPLE IN DIASPORA.
8. A congregation committed to LIBERATION.
9. A congregation committed to RESTORATION.
10. A congregation working towards ECONOMIC PARITY.
If you haven’t read the book, and are basing your commentary off of this article, you’re misinformed. Post #23 is on point.
Post #21 is quite funny.
The “well, the courageous thing to do is disown his father” comment was also funny, but in a different, sadder way.
#23
“in the last and quite lengthy chapter, he goes into much detail about his fathers failures, wives, families, children, drunkeness, character flaws, the whole sordid story …”
Not important. Obama is bad for America for a number of reasons:
1. Not black enough.
2. Not white enough.
3. Not Conservative enough.
4. Not Liberal enough.
5. Says all the wrong things.
6. Says all the right things.
7. Is a fake Muslim.
8. Is a fake Christian.
9. Has the wrong name.
He’s toast.
I am some fifteen days younger than Obama and my Kenyan biological father knew the elder Obama and wrote about him in 2004 (may require registration).
I have Dreams of My Father, but haven’t read it yet, as some of it may hit a little too close to home (my father and mother divorced when I was an infant and I have yet to meet my father face-to-face).
I don’t know whether racism caused Obama’s parents to divorce or not–but I suspect that cultural differences were the culprit as was so for my parents (many Africa cultures do pratice polygamy, including some of the Kenyan tribes). BTW, my mother is a black American.
What does this have to do with Obama’s ability to be a great leader? We’re facing some very serious problems in this country, and quite frankly I don’t give a damn about Anna Nicole, what school Obama went to, Britney Spears or any other frivolous stuff. Lets figure out how we can get back to looking Bin Laden, as of now the Taliban and Al Qaeda has tripled in size. Meanwhile we’re stuck in this mess in Iraq.
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