The Kenyan connection

Gecko

Odinga the Kenyan Opposition leader of the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) is Obama's pateranl cousin.

Dee Ranged

I said it all along. There's more to come out on this guy.

JJ Joseph

More will be revealed as the closet door slowly opens

Joe Strummer

Despite being an obviously highly intelligent and charismatic figure, Obama has no political substance of note to speak of. Glib and meaningless L.A. psycho-babble appears to be his stock in trade for the soundbite culture. America, however, seems mesmerized by him and he can do no wrong up until now. Hillary or Obama.? Two wrongs don't make a right they say...

PJudice

All of us wish well for the places our parents came from. For Obama, whose Kenyen father abandoned him when he was two, this must be a bittersweet expereince. I admire how Michelle and Barak Obama went to Africa donated a mobile AIDS detection kit, and to help break cultural barriers that locl people feel towards getting themselves tested for AID, Barak and Michelle got themselves publically tested for AIDS. This simple act increased the regard Kenyans have for Americans so much. Obama needs to be admired for continuing to be engaged in a meaningful way in the land where his father came from. Africa is the next Asia and having Obama as President will give us a real leg up as far as American interests are concerned in Africa.

Alcuin

Looks like the Dems are going through another death wish moment. Many waverers (i.e. in the election, not the primaries) will find the source of the photo irrelevant - it will merely confirm their suspicions of Obama enough to dump him.

The last Mr Clean in the White House was the disastrous Carter (remember BillyGate?), at least he had the experience of running a state, and a business. Many will make the equation Clean = dumb.

Joshua

'having Obama as President will give us a real leg up as far as American interests are concerned in Africa.' -- Oh please, no president has done more for Africa than George W Bush. Don't take my word for it, just read what Bob Geldof (hardly a supporter of the right) has to say: "Mr. Geldof praised Mr. Bush for his work in delivering billions to fight disease and poverty in Africa, and blasted the U.S. press for ignoring the achievement. Mr. Bush, said Mr. Geldof, "has done more than any other president so far." "This is the triumph of American policy really," he said. "It was probably unexpected of the man. It was expected of the nation, but not of the man, but both rose to the occasion." "What's in it for [Mr. Bush]? Absolutely nothing," Mr. Geldof said.' -- http://tinyurl.com/2ulzlv

THX1138

Joe Strummer are you pissing on the reals one's grave.

John Paul Telhomme

Here are more pictures ... http://thinkprogress.org/2007/04/04/pelosi-laura-bush-scarf/ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dS0SbTDwdrk&feature=related

elixelx

P.Judice. I love inviting people over for dinner especially when I KNOW they won't be able to accept. It's called sucking-up, pandering, brown-nosing, or in the modern lexicon, obamaing. That's what taking an AIDS test in Africa amounted to. By the way, and tahnks to Geldof, the O'bamas owe a debt of gratitude to one G.W.Bush, whose generosity in giving these testing kits to Africa allowed people who don't have AIDS to make the thoroughly meaningless political statement by having an AIDS test, and thereby denying two people who might need the test from getting it! Apropos the other poseur in this story: Nobody has pointed out that the failure of the Kenyan Peace Talks came despite the efforts of the greatest diplomat the world has ever seen--Ex-Sec.Gen. of the UN., Mr Negotiator, Kofi Annan. May all his efforts meet with similar success. If peace makers are blessed I don't wonder that this man's works and days are and always will be blighted!

ANTHONY POSNER

Barack Hussein Obama jnr has the same name as his father.
Was Obama snr, Christian or Muslim ? If Christain, doesnt "Hussein" have an Arab / Islamic derivation ?
Obama jnr's stepfather is Lolo Soetoro. Is the latter Christian or Muslim ?
Obama's paternal background is quite exotic for a US presidential hopeful and I wonder whether it has been adequately analysed.

THX1138

Joe Strummer-There ain't no need for ya Go Straight to Hell

Bogdan of Australia

Prejudice of P.Judice; What is so sweet in being abandoned by an irresponsible, reckless father? Or perhaps is Obama attempting to vent his concealled anger, generated by his bitter experience of being abandoned by his debauched father, and to exact a sweet revenge on the country that gave him a refuge and unlimited opportunities to progress, by supporting a crawling Sharia? It is not that difficult to notice that behind his cherubic smile that makes many of his supporters faint, hides a real hatred of free-market, democratic America that he is dreaming of damaging...

Libax

To Melanie & cheerleaders! I am a Kenyan & before you start running your ignorant loud mouths on Kenyan issues of which you are neither an expert nor have any historical sense of—please go & learn beyond Googling detestable partisan websites. Another word of advise—you can disparage Obama & other Western leaders—until the cows come home—but please leave our black African leaders out. We Kenyans might have our own serious tribal differences—but when it comes to ignorant Western armchair Google expert trolls—like you trying to take advantage of our bleeding—we close ranks.

Mzee

Melanie, I am a Kenyan & I like the way you cull out views that clearly point out holes in your erroneous arguments—while posting only views from your non-Kenyans who support your myopic arguments. No wonder, your blog suffers from ignorant & hypocritical ‘group-think-mentality’. Melanie listen to yourself, “…his apparent support for the Kenyan opposition leader Raila Odinga, who signed a memorandum of understanding with Kenyan Muslims to turn Kenya into an Islamic state governed by sharia law”. According to The Pew Forum (http://pewforum.org/world-affairs/countries/?CountryID=106), the Kenyan Muslims are about 7% of the Kenyan population while the Christians are 88.5% of the population. We also know that Mr. Odinga is a Christian. So here is my question: In a democratic election, what does Raila Odinga gain by signing a memorandum of understanding (to turn Kenya into an Islamic state governed by sharia law)—with only 7% of the population—at the expense of the other 93% who are non-Muslims—and some 88.5% of which are his fellow Christians? Your argument is not only ludicrous but it’s also unbelievably childish! In short, the so called memorandum of understanding with Kenyan Muslims—only exists in your mind & those fellow all-Muslim-hating hypocrites like you. If you want to hear it—this fake document has been debunked repeatedly. Wikileaks & other local Kenyan authoritative agencies have debunked this fake document that you unashamedly keep bringing up! I am amazed at your usual Western hubris—of pretending to know more than the local Kenyan people!

Mzee

Although in the mind of Melanie, the Kenyans are divided along religious lines—with Muslims supporting Mr. Odinga & the Christians supporting Mr. Kibaki—the truth is that Kenyans are divided along tribal lines; and Kenyan Muslims are in either side of the current tribal divide. In Kenya, Muslims overwhelming live in two provinces & each leader carried one of these Muslim provinces. In fact, despite your claim that Mr. Raila Odinga, signed a memorandum of understanding with Kenyan Muslims to turn Kenya into an Islamic state governed by sharia law, when only Muslim votes were counted—Mr. Kibaki (current president) won more Muslim votes than Mr. Odinga did. So whose side are the majority of the Muslims, Melanie? Little wonder then that some of the most powerful ministerial positions in the current government went to Muslims; the current Kenya Defense Minister & the Chief of entire Police Force, Mr. Yusuf Haji & Mr. Ali, respectively come from strong pro-government Muslim tribes.--------------------------- On a different note, Melanie, in the eyes of the majority of Kenyans (I don’t come from Mr. Odinga’s tribe)—no single Kenyan family has given so much sweat, blood & funds to the fight for freedom, human rights & democracy in Kenya—like Mr. Odinga’s family. If you have ever heard of Mr. Mandela, arguably in the eyes of many Kenyans, Mr. Odinga is the equivalent of Mr. Mandela—because of his selfless fight for freedom & democracy in Kenya! Do you remember what Mr. Mandela was called when he was fighting for freedom, equality & democracy for his black people against White South African apartheid regime? So please stop disparaging our black African leaders—just because you want to score some cheap political

Mzee

Your claim that the Kenyan church killings were done by Muslims is not only untrue but it is also a blatant lie. The Church Killings were Christian-on-Christian. The perpetrators were Kalenjin youths (from the opposition party); while the victims were Kikuyu tribe—the tribe that stole the elections—both of these tribes are Christians. As much as you might not want the world to hear, the Church killings were unfortunately done by Christians & not by Muslim. I challenge Melanie to produce a single Kenyan media source that supports his claim—that Muslims were responsible for the Kenyan Church killings—instead of repeating garbage from detestable partisan websites outside the region. Apparently, Melanie, does a good job of ‘blindingly copying & pasting’ from hateful websites that are outside Kenya or East Africa—because you can’t find a single Kenyan or East African media source that supports your blatant lies! Perhaps, as the Jingoists said, one excellent lesson from the current Kenyan tribal crisis is this: Just like the Rwandan genocide—fanatics and extremists exist in ALL religions—not only among Muslims.

Hashi

Melanie, I am also a Kenyan & this is what Wikileaks & other local Kenyan chapters said about your Mr. Raila Odinga’s so called memorandum of understanding (MOU): ----------“…all said and done, the purported "MOU" is not worth the paper it is written on!”).-------local Wikileaks arrived at this conclusion after opening up the MOU for analysis by KENYANS. So it’s the Kenyans who determined that the document was fake—so please stop your ignorant Western hypocrisy & hubris.

David Lindsay

Prince Charles was once presented with a woolen coat worn by tribal elders in the North-West Frontier Province of Pakistan. In the winter months, he sometimes wears it around the grounds of Highgrove. Is he a Muslim, too? And who could possibly be less inclined towards Sharia Law than a Muslim-born convert to Christianity?

Theresa Jones

Mr. Obama was not just wearing local dress; he was wearing elder robes which are reserved for those men who are influencial and well respected. There is a big difference here!The question we need to ask is, "what has Mr. Obama done to deserve such an honor?"

Rob

It is interesting to this American that Barack Obama will dress as a Somali elder to appease his foreign hosts but refuses to wear an American flag pin our put his hand over his heart whilst the Star Spangled Banner is played.

Rob

It is interesting to this American that Barack Obama will dress as a Somali elder to appease his foreign hosts but refuses to wear an American flag pin or put his hand over his heart whilst the Star Spangled Banner is played.

Cainashe

Theresa Jones, as a sign of courtesy or welcoming, the Somali Garba of Kenya give their visitors (both male & female) their (Garba's) best garments. It's given to all visiting dignitaries; we don't discriminate. Any dignitary who went to Kenya knows this.

Verity

PJudice "Africa is the next Asia." To which African country do you refer specifically, as it is rather a large landmass. Which country do you see having the enterprise, energy and drive to move forward with the rest of the world as a contributor rather than a passenger? Obama going "back" to a country he left when he was two is a ridiculous grandstanding posture. Will we see him in Indonesia, next, which he left when he was 10? Where will the World "I Used to Live Here" Tour go next? Hawaii?

michael harris

In the Obama photo we also should note that he is wearing his wrist-watch on his leftwrist-where all Muslims wear them.

Ain

michael harris, listen to yourself

"In the Obama photo we also should note that he is wearing his wrist-watch on his leftwrist-where all Muslims wear them."

How can you claim that "ALL MUSLIMS" wear their watches on the leftwrist. Which planet do you live in, please? Your ignorance, hypocrisy & hubris is breathtaking!

John Doe

Ain: Ain't you got no sense of irony? michael harris (why be so shy: Capitalise Yourself Man and Stand Proud!) just meant that with Obama the left hand don't know what the right hand's doin' (same goes for his brain if his latest TV goof about Al-Qaeda, twice in 24 hrs, is anything to go by).

Ain

John Doe, if can't see any problem with michael harris' statement then I've nothing to tell you--for there are none as blind as those who won't see! Keep carrying other people's water--until the cows come home.

Jed

The Spectator engages in a smear campaign, long after the proof that the memo in question is absolutely a fake. Just one more reason not to trust this propaganda mill.