What's the Truth About Barack Obama's Kenyan Connections?
Is "Grandma" Sarah Obama a genuine convert to Christianity, a religious flip flopper or a Christian impersonator with a political agenda?
Whatever it is, the whole truth about Barack Obama's Kenyan connections should be known, especially his ties to Raila Odinga, the radical Kenyan presidential aspirant who identifies himself as Barack cousin's and named his first born after Fidel Castro.
The March 5, 2008 Associated Press story by Katharine Houreld titled "Obama's Grandma Rips Campaign Tactics" raised questions about "Grandma."
The article's lead sentence is "American shock jocks, dirty tricks masterminds and political bloggers: Beware the wrath of an 86-year-old Kenyan villager."
That's immediately followed by: "A frown replaces the dimpled beam of Sarah Hussein Obama, grandmother of Barack Obama, when asked on Wednesday about recent attacks on her grandson that include the spreading of rumors that he is secretly a Muslim and the repeated use of his middle name -- Hussein -- by a radio host at a rally for presumptive Republican nominee John McCain."
Is this Sarah Hussein Obama really Barack Hussein Obama, Jr.'s grandmother?
By general American understanding, no.
If a reader reads the LAST sentence of the article, he or she will discover that the article's title, lead sentence and two, fifth and twelfth paragraphs referred to Sarah as Barack Jr.'s grandma or grandmother without quotations marks.
But Sarah is NOT Barack Jr.'s biological grandmother.
THE AP ADOPTED KENYAN VOCABULARY!
By Kenya's Muslim-influenced standards (Barack Hussein Obama, Sr. was a Muslim with multiple wives), apparently Sarah is considered Barack Jr.'s grandmother.
That last sentence: "Sarah Obama was the second wife of the candidate's late grandfather, so she is not his biological grandmother. But Auma Obama said: 'By our definition, in our culture, she is his grandmother,' she said."
Ironically, the article quoted Sarah as saying (in the local Luo language), "Untruths are told that don't have anything to do with what Barack is about."
Sarah is "very against" that, but apparently fine with charging for interviews and people thinking she really is Barack Jr.'s grandmother.
Sarah was very distressed that a posed photo showing Barack Jr. dressed in African garb and AP reported that, as follows: "'Bringing such pictures that are trying to imply that not only is he a foreigner, he is a Muslim, is wrong, because that is not what he is,' scolded Sarah Obama."
According to AP, Sarah said that "Obama's grandfather had converted to Islam from Roman Catholicism and taken the name Hussein...but his children had inherited only the name, not the religion."
AP also reported that Sarah is Christian, but is that true?
Andy Martin, executive editor of www.ContrarianCommentary.com and the person who first called public attention to Barack's Muslim "roots," is questioning whether Sarah abandoned Islam for Christianity.
Mr. Martin on Sarah's alleged conversion:
"The reports are not clear; contradictory facts mandate an explanation from the candidate."
"If the Associated Press and the Obama campaign are going to use Granny Sarah to launch attacks on people who question Obama’s background and religious heritage, we have a right to know if she is mentally competent at this time or if the AP is guilty of sloppy reporting (which has been picked up by virtually every major American newspaper web site).
Mr. Martin on himself: "I have been writing about Barack Obama’s religious roots since 2004. It was my news conferences in Chicago and London that first presented the original research concerning Obama’s father’s religion (Barack Obama, Sr.) as well as his grandfather’s religion and overall family heritage within Islam. Obama’s hesitancy to openly and honestly discuss his religious roots intrigued me, and I have pursued the topic for four years."
Mr. Martin identified some possible explanations: "Obama’s step-grandmother...may be experiencing sloppy reporting by the Associated Press, or failing memory, or bad translation."
"In an extended story on Obama’s religions beliefs, the New York Times in 2007 reported a statement by Obama’s step-grandmother, 'Granny' Sarah, in which she stated: 'I am a strong believer of the Islamic faith,' Ms. Obama, 85, said in a recent interview in Kenya. See: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/30/us/politics/30obama.html"
Is "Grandma" Sarah Obama a genuine convert to Christianity, a religious flip flopper or a Christian impersonator with a political agenda?
Was her alleged conversion real or feigned, sincere or "politically convenient"?
Mr. Martin:
"What is the truth? Obama owes us an answer. He has shamelessly exploited his Kenyan relatives for political advantage, claiming a 'family visit' in 2006 is part of his 'foreign policy' experience. I have previously asked why millionaire-Barack does not send his 'granny' the money to connect indoor plumbing and electricity, and the response was that Sarah wants to live under primitive conditions.
"So what has happened? Is Sarah losing it? Is AP guilty of sloppy or erroneous reporting, for not even bothering to fact-check the Sarah Obama story? Did AP use an incompetent translator? Or is it true that Sarah has abandoned Islam for Christianity?"
In the fairy tale about the emperor's "new clothes," it turned out that they were imaginary.
Michael J. Gaynor has been practicing law in New York since 1973. A former partner at Fulton, Duncombe & Rowe and Gaynor & Bass, he is a solo practitioner admitted to practice in New York state and federal courts and an Association of the Bar of the City of New York member.
Gaynor graduated magna cum laude, with Honors in Social Science, from Hofstra University's New College, and received his J.D. degree from St. John's Law School, where he won the American Jurisprudence Award in Evidence and served as an editor of the Law Review and the St. Thomas More Institute for Legal Research. He wrote on the Pentagon Papers case for the Review and obscenity law for The Catholic Lawyer and edited the Law Review's commentary on significant developments in New York law.
The day after graduating, Gaynor joined the Fulton firm, where he focused on litigation and corporate law. In 1997 Gaynor and Emily Bass formed Gaynor & Bass and then conducted a general legal practice, emphasizing litigation, and represented corporations, individuals and a New York City labor union. Notably, Gaynor & Bass prevailed in the Second Circuit in a seminal copyright infringement case, Tasini v. New York Times, against newspaper and magazine publishers and Lexis-Nexis. The U.S. Supreme Court affirmed, 7 to 2, holding that the copyrights of freelance writers had been infringed when their work was put online without permission or compensation.
Gaynor currently contributes regularly to www.MichNews.com, www.RenewAmerica.com, www.WebCommentary.com, www.PostChronicle.com and www.therealitycheck.org and has contributed to many other websites. He has written extensively on political and religious issues, notably the Terry Schiavo case, the Duke "no rape" case, ACORN and canon law, and appeared as a guest on television and radio. He was acknowledged in Until Proven Innocent, by Stuart Taylor and KC Johnson, and Culture of Corruption, by Michelle Malkin. He appeared on "Your World With Cavuto" to promote an eBay boycott that he initiated and "The World Over With Raymond Arroyo" (EWTN) to discuss the legal implications of the Schiavo case. On October 22, 2008, Gaynor was the first to report that The New York Times had killed an Obama/ACORN expose on which a Times reporter had been working with ACORN whistleblower Anita MonCrief.
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