9 posts tagged “vox hunt”

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I got an email in my inbox today that is one of those awful chain letters from a "Concerned citizen" showing pictures of Barack Obama's family in Africa today.  If you haven't seen one of these, it has pictures like these:

And  has veriagated-font-color fear-mongering text around them like the following:

Barack stands behind Kezia (stepmother) in a Kenyan family shot.

(Including brother Abongo ' Roy ' Obama who is a Luo activist and

a 'Militant Muslim' who argues that the black man must 'liberate

himself from the poisoning influences of European culture.' )

'Abongo's new lifestyle has left him lean and clear-eyed, and at

the wedding, he looked so dignified in his black African gown

with white trim and matching cap that some of our guests

mistook him for my father,' Obama wrote in Dreams

From My Father.

and my personal favorite:

SINCE CBS, ABC, NBC, CNN, AND THE NEW YORK TIMES

WILL NOT SHOW THESE PICTURES, AND WE WONDER WHY NOT,

 

WILL YOU FORWARD THESE TO THE (APPROXIMATE NUMBER) 

200 MILLION AMERICANS THAT HAVE INTERNET ACCESS?

 

THANK YOU.

I got it from someone I like a lot, and it makes it that much more painful.  Plus, It was the first email I saw this morning, and the second one I have received from this person.

I sent off some gruff email about how we all shouldn't be forwarding boogeyman bullshit, and some other niceness.

What I should have done is addressed the email itself.

I'll do it here.  First, I'll post it.  It's a bit lengthy.

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MORE FAMILY PICTURES OF THE NEW FIRST FAMILY??

 

PLEASE READ THE FINE PRINT AND FORWARD TO OTHERS. How come we haven't seen or  known about some of these....?    Barack Obama's grandmother, Sarah Hussein Onyango Obama           U.S. presidential hopeful Barack Obama's uncle has been a prisoner in his own home, trapped by post election violence that has left more than 600 Kenyans dead. 'If Barack Obama were elected, he would improve relations between Africa and  America  because he had his roots in Africa', his uncle said.          Malik Obama, older brother to Barack Obama, holds an undated picture of   Barak, left, and himself, middle, and an unidentified friend in his shop in eastern Kenya .       Luo dancers from the Senator Barack Obama Primary School       Barack has stated his support for Luo Raila Odinga (Opposition Leader in Kenya who signed a 'Shariah pact' with Muslims and claims to be Obama's cousin) and is married to Ida Odinga. They have four children - two sons and two daughters. His oldest son, Fidel, is named after Fidel Castro.       Barack's father, Muslim, hard-drinker, was married three times, attended Harvard and returned to Kenya . Obama claims he was an atheist,  but he was raised Muslim and was given a Muslim burial at Barack's family's request.       With mother Stanley  Ann Dunham.  In his own autobiography Obama writes, 'How and when the marriage occurred remains a bit murky, a bill of particulars that I have never quite had the courage to explore.'  (His father was still married to his first wife Kezia in Kenya at the time.)       His father's only visit while Obama was in Hawaii .             Mother's 2nd husband Lolo Soetoro (Indonesian Muslim), their daughter Maya, and Obama.         Abandoned by his father and shipped off by his mother to his white grandparents, Barry Sotero becomes Barack Hussein Obama. Obama would describe his grandparents as 'white folk.' (Yeah, 'white folk' that would NOT abandon you, their grandchild.  Shame on you Obama.)           Barack stands behind Kezia (stepmother) in a Kenyan family shot. (Including brother Abongo ' Roy ' Obama who is a Luo activist and a 'Militant Muslim' who argues that the black man must 'liberate himself from the poisoning influences of European culture.' ) 'Abongo's new lifestyle has left him lean and clear-eyed, and at the wedding, he looked so dignified in his black African gown with white trim and matching cap that some of our guests mistook him for my father,' Obama wrote in Dreams From My Father.         Obama's visit to Africa '06 (Where are the transcripts of the speeches he gave here? Campaigning for Odinga? Wouldn't it be great to be able to read these? Do the people of the state of Illinois know about Obama's radical background?)     SINCE CBS, ABC, NBC, CNN, AND THE NEW YORK TIMES WILL NOT SHOW THESE PICTURES, AND WE WONDER WHY NOT,   WILL YOU FORWARD THESE TO THE (APPROXIMATE NUMBER)  200 MILLION AMERICANS THAT HAVE INTERNET ACCESS?   THANK YOU.

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Still here?  I know, it's  a lot to get through.

My second reaction from reading this is... So?

I get what I am supposed to feel about this, so let me run through it.

What I am supposed to believe after reading this can best be listed in the following order of importance.

1. I should be afraid of Barack Obama because he is Black.
2. I should be afraid of Barack Obama because he has direct family that are not American Citizens (oh, and they are black also)
3. I should be afraid of Barack Obama because his father's religion was Islam, and he might have been exposed to it.
4. I should have contempt for Barack Obama because he has a complicated family structure.
5. I should believe that somehow Barack Obama has some nebulous pseudo-religious radical agenda for the US because he supported some guy in Africa who has a son who is named after Fidel Castro.

Honestly I am not sure about #5 because the writing is so bad on this email that I am probably doing the writer a favor by giving him a list to hang the poorly made skirt of his arguments on.

I'd like to take these on in reverse order:

#5.  Yeah, I didn't get this one at first.  I think the general idea is that somehow Barry has some kind of radical adgenda based on his relationship with Odinga in Kenya.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raila_Odinga

So the major fear here is the idea that Odinga somehow might get enough power to declare "Shariah" law in Kenya.   Then somehow this will make Kenya a safe haven for terrorists. This is a theory only fielded on some right wing blogs, and degraded by the fact that Odinga doesn't have the power to do this.

The more I read about this one, the more crazy the people who are writing about it seem.  I does, however, feed well into #4.

4. I should have contempt for Barack Obama because he has a complicated family structure

Somehow, the fact that Barack Obama's family life is complicated endears me to him.  He had multiple fathers, his family is mixed and complex.  He has had exposure to other cultures and ideas, and somehow because of this, he is supposed to be a poor candidate for president.

You know who didn't have a complex family life:  George Bush.  In fact one branch of his family can trace themselves back to another President: Franklin Pierce.

Both are in the top 10 of Worst Presidents ever.

I'll take the guy who didn't know his dad too well over the guy who took our country to an unneeded war because he wanted to do better than daddy, thank you very much.

3. I should be afraid of Barack Obama because his father's religion was Islam, and he might have been exposed to it.

     So?  I don't like to talk much about my Step-father because he's been kind of a jerk to my mom lately, but he did something I will thank him for.  He exposed me to Islam.  I have had an insiders / outsiders view of the religion, and I can tell you that it's not that different from Christianity.

I know there are people who want to scare others with the idea that it's different, it's essentially the same.

What is different is the one condition that makes me laugh every time I hear the conspiracy theorists say that somehow Obama is a "secret Muslim".  It has to do with Shahada:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shahadah

It's the first Pillar of Islam, and the most important.  The recitation of faith means everything, and it's the fundamental reason I have never become a muslim.  It's irrevocable:  once you have made it, you can't recant.  Well you can, but it's not a good idea.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apostasy_in_Islam#Punishment_for_apostasy

So, there is no way the Muslim world would allow a secret Muslim to go to a Christian church for 20 years.

1. I should be afraid of Barack Obama because he is Black.
2. I should be afraid of Barack Obama because he has direct family that are not American Citizens (oh, and they are black also)

I added these two together because this is the central crux of the email isn't it.  Barack Obama is Black.  He's the other, a man you should be afraid of because he's not a Pasty white guy in his 50-70's that we have grown to expect in a candidate.

That makes him different.  You should be fear.

Bullshit. 

I have no fear of this man, I know this.  He is just as smart as any of the other candidates that were and are running.  He has the ability to attract people who are excited about an election for the first time in 12 years. I have no doubt he'll be able to attract the kind of brain trust needed to deal with a post-Bush world.

He's got the kind of charisma that will make the rest of the world leaders give us a chance again.

He's a leader in whom I won't wince when I hear him speak.

Also, addressing the last paragraph in the email:  Fox news tried to smear Barack Obama with all of these claims.  They didn't stick because there is nothing there.

That is why they send it out in emails like this.  It's garbage, bunk, written diarrhea of the worst kind because it doesn't answer anything. It only exists to plant the seed of fear in your mind.

This was on my mind all day today.

Show us your gorgeous eyes.
Submitted by [Susan].

no.

Show us your favorite album cover.

I mean, its got a fucking DRAGON on the cover.  How cool is that shit.  Yes, this is another reason why I believe they based "The 40 Year Old Virgin" on me.

Asia

Asia

Show us your favorite word, sentence or quote.

"If the other fellow can't tell you his story, you can never be sure he isn't trying to kill you."

Ender's Game.  Actually here is the full quote:

"Maybe they didn't know we were intelligent life. Maybe—"

The best thing about this book is that it gives you a kid you wish you could be, and yet, you don't want to be.  It takes a vulnerable kid and breaks him down, and does so with ruthless efficiency and with good reason. You want him to be normal, and have a normal childhood, and yet you know that can't be.

When the end comes, it is so horrible, you can't imagine it, and yet, you should have seen it coming.

"Welcome to the human race. Nobody controls his own life, Ender. The best you can do is choose to fill the roles given you by good people, by people who love you."

I am a little scared because when I was searching google for the above quote, one of the pages shown was a IMDB  page for a movie coming out next year about this book.

Event though the director of this film is a great director. I have a hard time believing the nuance of this book will be preserved.  There are horrible decisions made to and against a 6-10 year old boy.  There is violence that is absolutely necessary to the advancement of the plot.  And the moral grey areas described within it are so hard to stomach that the first time I read it, I realized I had missed something somewhere.  I've read it several times.  And I'm not alone.  It's one of the most celebrated books among combat veterans.  Particularly those that don't fire the gun, or do it from a distance.

It's also had a lot of vehement discussion, because it isn't a book you come away from without a strong opinion.  That opinion is ultimately split between whether or not you believe Ender is the victim in this book, or the perpetrator.

Ender's Game (Ender, Book 1)

Orson Scott Card

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Slash shreds

This shouldn"t be as funny as it it.

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laurna and me in balboa park