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REQUIEM

Below are the two final essays to be posted on Allegiance and Duty Betrayed. The first one is written by a friend -- screen name 'Euro-American Scum' -- who, over the past four years, has been the most faithful essayist here. He has written about everything from his pilgrimage to Normandy in 2004 to take part in the 60th–year commemoration of the invasion, to his memories of his tour in Vietnam. His dedication to America’s founding principles ... and those who have sacrificed to preserve them over the past 200+ years ... is unequaled. Thank you, E-A-S. It has been a privilege to include your writing here, and it is a privilege to call you my friend.

The second essay is my own farewell. And with it I thank all of the many regular visitors, and those who may have only dropped in occasionally, for coming here. I hope you learned something. I hope a seed or two was planted. But, even if not, I thank you for stopping by ... 25 March, 2010

5/05/2008

Who is Barack Obama?
(The Question the MSM Won't Answer)

question mark.jpg

I watched DNC Chairman Howard Dean bragging on Fox News Sunday yesterday morning about the large Republican re-registration trend of recent times. He seemed to be oblivious to the possibility that these reregistrations were for tactical purposes, not because of Pubbie changes of heart, nor enthusiasm for either Democrat candidate....

But I digress from my main purpose in writing here. I just wanted to put up some reflections about what we know about Barack Hussein Mohammed Obama [his full name, if the accounts of anonymous missionaries in Kenya are to be trusted].

The short answer is: We know very little about this man indeed. The MSM is being very selective about what they report in regard to Obama's biography.

And so, we have very little to go on in trying to establish this political neophyte's character, or to understand what he actually believes.

Yet we are told he is the candidate of racial healing, of reaching "across the aisle" to bring the people together to solve the great challenges of American life.

Well, that all sounds really great. Until you realize that Obama himself is personally deeply divided on questions of racial identity: His own.

One senses that Obama does not see himself as an "interracial person," half white, half black. Rather, it seems that from early on in life, he has been trying to understand himself in terms of one side of the racial divide or the other. And he settled this problem essentially by identifying himself as a black person.

But given his mixed racial heritage, which some in the American black community regard as suspicious, he has had for political reasons to develop "street creds" as a black American. Which explains his long-time association with the Reverend Jeremiah Wright, Jr. and Chicago's Trinity Church of Christ, a bastion of (left-progressive and activist) black liberation theology, in tone and tenor little different than Minister Louis Farrakhan's black-separatist Nation of Islam. [FWIW, I do not think that black liberation theology has anything to do with the Christian message of hope to all mankind.]

After Rev. Wright's recent performances on PBS with the absolutely insipid and deplorable Bill Moyers, his address to the N.A.A.C.P., and his speech to the National Press Club, I have this overwhelming sense of "lostness," of a sense of felt betrayal, emanating from Obama — forced to disavow himself from a person who, to Obama, has served as a major "father figure" for over twenty years.

Of course, not only has Obama's life been complicated by racial ambivalence, but even more so, it has been complicated by the fact that he was raised in a dysfunctional household: a wholly ditzy and irresponsible mother, with no father present. (Kinda reminds me of Bill Clinton's background.)

So one can suppose the search for a bona-fide "father figure" has motivated Obama throughout his life. Rev. Wright, one supposes, was one such; but he has clearly recently betrayed Obama.... I sense genuine pain for Obama in the practical need to distance himself from this man.

But the Rev. Wright probably was not Obama's first "father figure." There was another, during Obama's teenage years in Hawaii, who was probably the most powerful influence over Obama's decision to identify himself as a black man. And that was Frank Marshall Davis.

Frank Marshall Davis was a black poet who, through the influence of the great black American actor, bass-baritone, athlete, and lawyer Paul Robeson, secured a position as journalist with a Honolulu newspaper. He was the "Frank" so often mentioned in Obama's first book, Dreams from My Father.

Both "Frank" and Robeson were card-carrying members of the Communist Party U.S.A.

So here we have the case of a young man, searching for his racial identity, trying to establish his political philosophy, and somehow managing to find "meaning" in relations with people who embrace radical politics.

So it seems that from Davis, Obama imbibed the spirit of the Harlem Renaissance, which was fundamentally radical in its politics, very racialist in its focus, as spear-headed by such notable creative cultural figures as Davis, Robeson, and the black poet Langston Hughes (an associate of Davis and Robeson, who was not himself a member of CPUSA, but may fairly be said to have been a trusty "fellow-traveler").

The Rev. Wright also falls into this category, as do William Ayers and Bernadine Dohrn.... Is it somehow accidental that Obama should feel so at home with such "radical political" characters?

And we haven't even touched his Kenyan connections yet. Other than his black grandmother in Kenya (evidently to square up in journalistic accounts with his white grandmother in America who effectively raised him), we hear nothing about his other family connections there.

Yet Barack Hussein Mohammed Obama senior left this country, returning to Kenya with an American wife in tow (not Obama's mother, but another woman he later met in Massachusetts). She became one of four of his wives — he being a Muslim and so entitled to have four wives.

But we never hear a word about Obama's many half-brothers and half-sisters in Kenya. Nor do we hear much of anything from his politically-inclined cousin, one Odinga, who as head of the Obama family tribe is mounting an insurgency against the Kenyan government along Islamofascist lines, similar to what we now witness in Somalia....

Obama's cousin has promised to institute Sharia law in Kenya if his insurgency is successful, even though Muslims in Kenya constitute only around 12% of the Kenyan population. Can you spell: "Totalitarian [of the Islamofascist brand] dictatorship" here? Obama is reported to have sent his cousin at least $27 thousand of American greenbacks so far to back his cousin's political ambitions....

So, what are we to make of Obama? Who is this guy? What does he actually believe? I'm beginning to wonder whether even he knows.

In any case, my point in writing today is to suggest that Obama is a deeply divided human being, psychologically speaking, conflicted on issues of race, culture, and politics. He does not himself know whether he's "fish or fowl." His character is fragmented along so many different racial and political lines. It is uncertain what he actually believes about anything: Certainly, he is rarely forthcoming in answering direct questions.

In short, with so many perfectly legitimate open questions in regard to "who this guy is," I cannot conceive that he can be elected president of the United States. The American people historically have been unwilling "to purchase a pig in a poke."

But who knows? Could the American people be so "lost" themselves that they would be willing to elect such a deeply-divided, conflicted, and ostensibly anti-American man to the highest office of our nation?

I guess that's still an open question.

Interesting links, in case anyone wants to look into these matters further:

Frank Marshall Davis

Paul Robeson testimony before HUAC

Obama Biography


by betty boop from FR
(contributing team member of Allegiance and Duty Betrayed)

19 comments:

Anonymous said...

Betty, thank you for the thorough research and great commentary. I don’t think 1 in 100 Americans totally understands his Kenya connections, and they cannot be ignored.

You’d never be hired by any MSM outlet; you’re much too thorough, and fair. :-)

Anonymous said...

I would rank this column right up there with Human Events' Barack Obama Exposed. Both should be required reading before anyone pulls the Democrat lever in November.

Thanks for the great work, Ms. Boop. :>)

Anonymous said...

Nice work, on a frightening subject.

Anonymous said...

Good job, bb.

Anonymous said...

Way to go, Betty!

Obama's cousin has promised to institute Sharia law in Kenya if his insurgency is successful, even though Muslims in Kenya constitute only around 12% of the Kenyan population. Can you spell: "Totalitarian [of the Islamofascist brand] dictatorship" here? Obama is reported to have sent his cousin at least $27 thousand of American greenbacks so far to back his cousin's political ambitions....

Anonymous said...

Thank you for a very well considered and well researched column, Betty. You have done your homework.

I read an article on Obama's "spiritual advisor" entitled "Context, You Say?" in this week's National Review that is every bit as frightening as what you wrote here. The final paragraph of the article reads:

In his rejection of the path of assimilation; in his contempt for "middle-classness" and the capitalist system it sustains; in his pursuit of a separate, black Christianity and his hostility to conventional religion; in his bitter and "prophetic" denunciations of America's history, its founding icons and its anti-Qaddafi, pro-Israel foreign policy; in his conviction that the U.S. government is responsible for genocide against blacks; and in his insistence that Americans are collectively guilty for 9/11, Jeremiah Wright is a true follower of James Cone's theology of black liberation. It would seem the only thing worse than quoting Jeremiah Wright out of context is quoting him in context.

Anonymous said...

So, what are we to make of Obama? Who is this guy? What does he actually believe? I'm beginning to wonder whether even he knows.

I think he knows. His allegiance to his "black heritage" is much deeper than we're being led to believe. The simple fact that he sat in a pew in Trinity Church for 20 years says everything. He didn't denounce anything that Jeremiah Wright said until it became politically opportune to do so. And his denunciations got louder when Wright betrayed him.

Obama believes in just about everything that Wright preaches.

Be afraid. Be very afraid.

Anonymous said...

Joanie and Betty (I love it),

I can't thank you enough for this piece. After reading the article and provided links I consider myself much better informed as to Obama's character.

God help us if he is elected!

A copy is on it's way to our friend Joanie.

Anonymous said...

Intelligent commentary. Thank you.

Anonymous said...

There's nothing like a pile of accurate facts backed up by an intelligent analysis of them. You've outdone yourself Betty Boop! Thank you for sharing your very informed thoughts on this frightening subject. All Americans should read this.

Anonymous said...

The major issue about Obama in this election is whether he shares Wright's anti-American, anti-Christian, anti-white, "we are the culprits" view of America. Kerry never figured out that the Swiftboaters spoke to his character, and that's exactly what is collapsing here---the perception that Obama was a "safe" black man who isn't a radical liberal in the mold of Sharpton, Jackson, and Farrakhan. His whole candidacy is built on a lie.

Anonymous said...

Betty, thank you for this great essay. There's so much information in it that most people don't know. Joanie, thank you for posting it.

Here's another article that shows the emperor without his clothes:

A Few Questions for Obama (by George Will)

joanie said...

Betty, you are a treasure.

I can’t disagree with anything you wrote, and I am ashamed to say that a few of your facts are new to me as well.

You have an uncanny ability to combine research and connect-the-dots analysis into arguments that are water-tight.

Your references to Davis and Robeson, and your conclusions about their influences on Obama’s life and perceptions, are spot on. The Harlem Renaissance appears to have played a much greater role in Obama’s political leanings than any true study, or appreciation, of the history of America (as a whole, as opposed to the role – either genuine or supposed – that blacks played).

His Kenya connections have received very little play in the media. Yet, as you so artfully point out, his relatives there, and his financial support of their political ambitions, deserve a great deal of scrutiny. The potential leader of the free world may well harbor a fondness for tyranny, when it suits his purposes. Somehow I think the American electorate ought to be aware of that.

Call me naïve if you like, but I truly believe that the leadership that represented our ancestors – especially those of the late eighteenth century – were generally a cut above the ‘common man’. And they were elected for just that reason: the ability to bear allegiance to those beliefs upon which we were founded, and the sense of duty required to see to it, at all costs, that those beliefs were defended. Their sense of duty and allegiance was considered a calling to them; whereas the ‘common man’ revered such character traits but did not necessarily possess them to the same degree.

Fast forward to 2008. We have duty-bound Americans laying their lives on the line in Iraq and Afghanistan – placing their lives on hold, and often in the cross-hairs of a brutal enemy – in order to defend the liberties of other people, and to prevent the enemy from once again reaching our shores.

And where is the allegiance and sense of duty of the democrat front-runners for the presidency these days? It lies in saying or doing anything, regardless of right or truth, in order to get elected and increase their personal and ideological power – which, incidentally, bears no resemblance whatsoever to our founding principles.

Our pretenders to the throne are fabricating lies about being under enemy fire abroad during diplomatic missions, while, at the same time, those they are seeking to lead are facing the threat of actual enemy fire every single day.

Our pretenders to the throne are embracing ‘theologies’ that demonize our protectors in Iraq and Afghanistan, and proclaim that the enemy that our duty-bound young men and women are facing in the middle east had reason to perpetrate the holocaust that was 9/11.

Treason abounds in Washington. The Constitution is under relentless attack. And the democrat front-runners for the presidency of the United States bear little or no allegiance to its founding documents and principles. Nor do they place any value on truth, other than to the degree that it can increase their power.

As a people, we are collectively more moral, more honest, and more faithful to our Founders’ vision, than are those who believe they possess the credentials to lead us. And that sorry -- potentially deadly -- state of affairs has come into existence because (1) as a people, we are apathetic and uninformed, and (2) those seeking leadership positions in the highest levels of our government consider themselves to be members of an elite class whose superior qualifications destine them the right to dictate how the rest of us should live. They are personally and politically agenda-driven megalomaniacs, pathological liars, and they believe themselves answerable to no one, including their Creator.

As a free republic we are on the road to ruin. Without a rude awakening even more powerful than that which occurred on 9/11, the most moral and prosperous civilization in the history of mankind is in the process of writing its own gruesome epitaph.

As always, betty, thank you for sharing your research and commentary. Your words never cease to educate, inform, and stimulate critical thought. I wish your essay could somehow find its way into the hands of every adult American.

~ joanie

joanie said...

Thanks, Barry. I know 'our friend' will agree with Betty's every word. :)

~ joanie

Anonymous said...

Today's primary results in NC and IN are especially depressing after reading this.

Anonymous said...

I guess I'll be the lone voice of dissent.

Yes, Mr. Obama is of mixed heritage in more ways than one. Yes, he has some interesting relatives. Yes, he comes from a 'broken' home. Yes, he's talked to communists. Yes, some of his relatives are non-Christians. Yes, he's lived abroad.

Not everyone is 100% white. Not everyone comes from a family where mom and dad stayed together. Everyone that I know has some crazy aunt or uncle somewhere (I have two). Some people move out of the U.S. to find work and move back. Some people have relatives that don't believe in the same book as you do.

It is nothing less than the miracle of the Constitution of the United States and the drive of Mr. Obama that he is actually a viable candidate for the office of President. Could you imagine him running in the 'glorious' 50's? He'd be called a nigger and be told that he couldn't eat in certain places and told where he could and could not go to school.

The very fact that Mr. Obama has gotten as far as he has should be a celebration to those people who really believe that "All men are created equal".

You may disagree with him, you may not vote for him, but let's not be afraid of him because he has a different upbringing.

joanie said...

anonymous:

No one here claimed that a presidential candidate has to be 100% white. No one claimed that he must come from a family where mom and dad stayed together. Nor did anyone claim that having a crazy aunt or uncle should preclude candidacy.

I also applaud the fact that a black person can now be a viable candidate for national office in 2008. You're right. Fifty years ago that would have been an impossibility.

But there are dozens of much more qualified black candidates who have significantly more experience in government, significantly more experience managing people or running a business, and are significantly more educated in history and diplomacy -- Alan Keyes and J. C. Watts are striking examples, though certainly not the only ones.

What is troubling is the answer to the question, 'Why Obama?'

He has done far more than 'talk to communists'. He has enjoyed serious, deep friendships and working relationships with them, and with black separatists, over decades.

He has more than a 'crazy aunt' or 'crazy uncle' in his family tree. He has a cousin who has participated in, and even led, violent uprisings in the name of Islamic insurgency. Are you aware that Obama has funded his cousin Odinga's violent Islamic insurgency in Kenya to the tune of nearly a million dollars so far, with his own money and in a fundraiser?

He doesn't just 'talk to' terrorists. He supports them -- especially those who are members of his family.

You cannot treat lightly this man's deep, long-term relationships with communist and black separatist groups and their leaders. His life has been steeped in relationships, both familial and working, with people who despise the foundations upon which our republic was built.

~ joanie

Anonymous said...

Good work, Betty Boop.

Anonymous said...

????????????????????????????

It is nothing less than the miracle of the Constitution of the United States and the drive of Mr. Obama that he is actually a viable candidate for the office of President.

CORRECTION

It is nothing less than the manipulations of George Soros and others who slither behind the scenes while presenting their stooge Mr. Obama to the sheeplike public through their manipulated "news" media that he is actually a viable candidate for the office of President.