WP, pg1: Obama Overstates Kennedys' Role in Helping His Father

[DeepModem Mom]

The Fact Checker
Obama Overstates Kennedys' Role in Helping His Father
By Michael Dobbs
Sunday, March 30, 2008; Page A01


Then-Sen. John F. Kennedy met with Kenya's Tom Mboya in July 1960 to discuss funding for the second African student airlift. (Courtesy Of Susan Mboya/Zawadi Africa Educational Program)

Addressing civil rights activists in Selma, Ala., a year ago, Sen. Barack Obama traced his "very existence" to the generosity of the Kennedy family, which he said paid for his Kenyan father to travel to America on a student scholarship and thus meet his Kansan mother. The Camelot connection has become part of the mythology surrounding Obama's bid for the Democratic presidential nomination. After Caroline Kennedy endorsed his candidacy in January, Newsweek commentator Jonathan Alter reported that she had been struck by the extraordinary way in which "history replays itself" and by how "two generations of two families -- separated by distance, culture and wealth -- can intersect in strange and wonderful ways."

It is a touching story -- but the key details are either untrue or grossly oversimplified.

Contrary to Obama's claims in speeches in January at American University and in Selma last year, the Kennedy family did not provide the funding for a September 1959 airlift of 81 Kenyan students to the United States that included Obama's father. According to historical records and interviews with participants, the Kennedys were first approached for support for the program nearly a year later, in July 1960. The family responded with a $100,000 donation, most of which went to pay for a second airlift in September 1960. Obama spokesman Bill Burton acknowledged yesterday that the senator from Illinois had erred in crediting the Kennedy family with a role in his father's arrival in the United States. He said the Kennedy involvement in the Kenya student program apparently "started 48 years ago, not 49 years ago as Obama has mistakenly suggested in the past."...

In his speech commemorating the 42nd anniversary of the Selma civil rights march, Sen. Obama linked his father's arrival in the United States with the turmoil of the civil rights movement. Although the airlift occurred before John F. Kennedy became president, Obama said that "folks in the White House" around President Kennedy were looking for ways to counter charges of hypocrisy and "win hearts and minds all across the world" at a time when America was "battling communism." "So the Kennedys decided 'we're going to do an airlift,' " Obama continued. " 'We're going to go to Africa and start bringing young Africans over to this country and give them scholarships to study so they can learn what a wonderful country America is.' This young man named Barack Obama got one of those tickets and came over to this country. He met this woman whose great-great-great-great-grandfather had owned slaves. . . . So they got together and Barack Obama Jr. was born."

A more accurate version of the story would begin not with the Kennedys but with a Kenyan nationalist leader named Tom Mboya, who traveled to the United States in 1959 and 1960 to persuade thousands of Americans to support his efforts to educate a new African elite. Mboya did not approach the Kennedys for financial support until Obama Sr. was already studying in Hawaii....

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/03/29/AR2008032902031.html?nav%3Dhcmodule&sub=AR

[Buzz Clik]

1. Um. Okay. Speaking of old news, what about the grassy knoll?

And what about Obama's amazingly poor judgment in going on "The View"? :puke:

[SoFlaJet]

3. Cripes

talk about the CC (who most surely leaked this) operatives frigging reaching for anything and any angle to try and put into question his truthfulness. She is the frigging biggest liar I have ever seen this far along in a democratic campaign.

[SoFlaJet]

5. I hope you also have the second replier on ignore Buzz

I trust that whatever was written isn't worth reading

[Buzz Clik]

8. Let me share what I can see:

I'm probably missing the opportunity for an excellent roll of the eyes or even a chuckle, but it's worth the peace of mind.

[cornermouse]

10. Where is that sanctuary thing.

[Buzz Clik]

11. Everyone seems to be showing the good judgment of leaving it alone.

:thumbsup:

[SoFlaJet]

13. LOL

funny isn't it? We both have the same idiot on ignore

[MNDemNY]

2. He "misspoke"

He had a different recollection of it.

[youknowmenotdlc]

4. So Obama is slightly off on an event that occured befor his birth

and Hillary is completely off about an event she was actually a part of.

And this is supposed to be the same thing?

Puuuhhhhhlllleeeeezzzzzzzeeeeeee

[madrchsod]

6. in the alternate universe it is...

sorry...i thought you knew there is more than one.

[Changenow]

7. This happened before he was born

He didn't have a staff of researchers around to vet every prenatal story he believed about himself. His opponent, on the other hand, doesn't even have a memory of events in her recent life.

[cbaker3122]

9. So Much for the Whole Unity and Change Thing

When I joined this site, a very strong warning came up about how posts are monitored and will be deleted if people are not treated with civility. Well, I'm not sure that applies to comments about Hillary, because I've seen the most vile things, deeply personal and insulting said about her. So much for unity and change from the Obama supporters.

[DeepModem Mom]

12. This is not our finest hour here at DU, cbaker, on either side --

and Clinton supporters are outnumbered. I, myself, stay out of the GD Primaries forum, where the most acrimony occurs. Welcome.

[cbaker3122]

14. Thank you kindly...

This has all been horribly upsetting to me. To tell you the truth, it bothers me every day that people are so nasty WITHIN the Democratic party. Heartbroken is the best word for how I feel.

[Cha]

15. I know..it's really a shame how hilary

lies about being under sniper fire in Bosnia and actually getting called on it..the nerve of some people's actions. I've read the Soldiers are upset with her, too..what could they be thinking?

<snip>

Why is Hillary Clinton Lying?
by Robert Parry

March 26, 2008—Two weeks ago, I wrote a story that observed a disturbing trend in Hillary Clinton’s campaign – her growing tendency to stretch the truth, twist what her chief rival was saying and then rely on her supporters to go on the offensive against you if you spoke up.

tendencies were troubling, in part, because they mirrored what had become so common during George W. Bush’s years: to declare that a fantasy is the truth and then to attack the patriotism or sanity of anyone who thinks otherwise. I wrote:

“Throughout history, it’s been common for politicians to shade the truth when caught in a tight spot. But sometimes politicians push the limits, crossing the line into an Orwellian world where up is down, where bullies are victims, where people objecting to the lies are shouted down.”

The article cited a number of examples of Clinton turning reality inside out and repeating false attack lines against Barack Obama, such as claiming that he wanted to "bomb Pakistan" when he really advocated attacking al-Qaeda targets inside Pakistan if the government there refused to act.

<more>
http://baltimorechronicle.com/2008/032608Parry.shtml

[cbaker3122]

16. Writing is Hard Isn't It?

It's hard to come up with your own words and sentiments, isn't it? I wish I could cut and paste how I feel from opinions of other writers and cartoonists. I'd spend a lot less time with that whole pesky "thinking" and "writing" thing.

A few things struck me about Hillary's trip to Bosnia. These are facts, so get ready to hate them. First, like it or not, her landing was done in corkscrew fashion, which is done when there is potential danger from landing the normal way. (See, e.g. Iraq landings.) Second, there were reports of current sniper fire in the hills around the landing area. Third, 85% of the people there greeting her were in heavy military gear with visible heavy duty weapons, who were guarding the civilians who landed. Fourth, she was escorted into an armored jeep. And fifth, and most importantly, while she was actually in another country representing the US, where was Obama in 1996? At least she was actually doing something on an international scale of importance.

Now here's the part where you make all kinds of sexist comments about her baking cookies and painting her toenails, and how her trip to this active warzone was meaningless.

Go for it. But hey, not everyone buys your sentiments so deftly cut and pasted from others.