Ten Things You Didn't Know About Barack Obama

[133724]

1. Obama was born on Aug. 4, 1961, in Honolulu. His first name, Barack, means "blessed" in Swahili and was also his Kenyan father's name.

2. He says he hasn't liked ice cream since working at Baskin-Robbins as a teenager.

3. His childhood nickname was Barry.

4. Obama is the third African-American senator since Reconstruction.

5. He married Michelle Robinson, also a Harvard Law School graduate, who supervised him while he was working as a summer associate in a Chicago law firm. They have two daughters, Malia and Sasha.

6. As an Illinois state senator, he sponsored a bill to require the police to videotape interrogations in capital crime cases. Illinois was the first state to do this.

7. A school in his father's hometown near Lake Victoria in Kenya has been renamed the Senator Barack Obama Secondary School.

8. He loves playing Scrabble.

9. Obama and his wife bought a house on Chicago's South Side in June 2005 for $1.65 million. It has four fireplaces.

10. His heroes are Martin Luther King Jr., Mohandas Gandhi, Pablo Picasso, and John Coltrane.

http://www.usnews.com/usnews/news/articles/070116/16obamafacts.htm

[rebel with a cause]

1. It is nice to see something positive

I am use to opening threads with his name, only to find an attack on him for something/nothing. Thanks.

[cascadiance]

2. I'm still hoping to see that he's a closet supporter of clean elections public campaign financing!

That's what would perhaps sway me to his side!

[Hippo_Tron]

7. According to his website he doesn't take money from PACs or Lobbyists

https://donate.barackobama.com/page/contribute/main?source=homedropdown

That's certainly a good start.

[Bucky]

28. So who does that mean he gets his money from? I'm guessing trial lawyers

He's getting plenty of money (and lots of free PR). It's gotta come from some groups, but who?

[Hippo_Tron]

29. Individual contributions, but that doesn't mean he isn't beholden to anyone

Part of it will be grassroots money with no strings attached. Part of it will involve a middle man who can generate a large fundraising group.

[Bucky]

31. Oh, Hippo, it's politics. Everyone's beholden to somebody.

The professional fundraisers work groups of people, they network among interest groups. That's one reason the world goes around the world goes around the clinky clanky sound. The thing about Madisonian democracy is to have the ruling class beholden to as many diverse people as possible. I wouldn't trust a president of whom I could honestly say "no one owns him." The big dogs always need to be kept on a leash.

[loudsue]

8. He doesn't believe the election machines are/were rigged.

He thinks we're a bunch of "conspiracy theorists".

On edit: Ref: His second book.

:kick:

[cascadiance]

23. That's also a concern of mine too, but it really isn't the same issue though...

I'm talking about campaign financing and how companies buy off our candidates. The e-voting mess is more about making sure that we have elections that have integrity. Him supporting fundamental voting reform (like Edwards is now doing) would also help him a lot in my mind too.

[never cry wolf]

13. He's not at all a closet supporter of public campaign financing

He's been very open about it and his distaste for the current system.

[cascadiance]

22. I just want to see him come out and support pubic campaign financing...

In my book, that's the only way to take corporate money and influence out of our system that's been shown to work in places like Arizona and Maine now. There have been other "campaign financing" bills that have been compromised to death that really serve more as window dressing rather than real reform that prevents the institutionalized bribery we have now. If he'd come out and make no bones out about his support of this sort of legislation, it would take away a lot of my concerns that he's still got a lot of influence under the table from the corporate lobbies that want to keep control over our government and who realize that any candidate that is more publicly supported by the DLC and corporate money is becoming increasingly tainted for 2008 as the voting public wakes up to their real agenda. I just want to feel sure that he's really representing a voice for change and not just talk that will still stay beholden to corporate agendas later.

I like what he says in many other ways, and I do feel that if he really comes out as a champion for what the people want, he'll overcome any concern that some have that he's a minority running as a limiting factor. Being a minority certainly won't stand in the way of my supporting him, but I won't vote for him just because he's a minority either. I need to see that he'll be a force for very fundamental changes that our government needs to fix this mess that it is in now.

[TlalocW]

3. So let's put the right-wing spin on all this...

Tongue firmly planted in cheek...

1. Obama was born on Aug. 4, 1961, in Honolulu. His first name, Barack, means "blessed" in Swahili and was also his Kenyan father's name.

So he's too good to have an English name, huh? Doesn't he know we're fighting a culture war? ENGLISH ONLY!

2. He says he hasn't liked ice cream since working at Baskin-Robbins as a teenager.

"Barack Obama says he hates ice cream. What does he have against our nation's dairy farmers?"
- Future TV Commercial

4. Obama is the third African-American senator since Reconstruction.

Just take all the various race-baiting commercials republicans have used, and you'll figure out what they'll do for this.

5. He married Michelle Robinson, also a Harvard Law School graduate, who supervised him while he was working as a summer associate in a Chicago law firm. They have two daughters, Malia and Sasha.

Bunch of Ivy-Leaguer Limousine Liberals

7. A school in his father's hometown near Lake Victoria in Kenya has been renamed the Senator Barack Obama Secondary School.

"Not the Senator Barack Obama Madrassa?"
- Future question from Sean Hannity

8. He loves playing Scrabble.

Intellectual elitist. Chutes and Ladders not good enough for ya?

9. Obama and his wife bought a house on Chicago's South Side in June 2005 for $1.65 million. It has four fireplaces.

Take the John Edwards dust-up over his house and magnify it.

10. His heroes are Martin Luther King Jr., Mohandas Gandhi, Pablo Picasso, and John Coltrane.

The usual stuff about King cheating on his wife; Coltrane's drug use and conversion to Islam, and then throw in a couple of foreigners as his heroes. Why can't he have good solid American heroes like George Washington and Ronald Reagan?

TlalocW

[Syrinx]

4. I didn't realize they were so wealthy

Is his wife a partner at some big law firm?

[never cry wolf]

14. His wife is a VP at the University of Chicago Hospital

She makes upwards of $400K as vice president for community and external affairs.

Plus they bought the house after he signed a $1.4M book deal.

A bit about Michelle, who also graduated cum laude from Harvard Law.

http://www.uchospitals.edu/news/2005/20050509-obama.html

[MadJohnShaft]

26. And she's a babe too

'who supervised him while he was working as a summer associate in a Chicago law firm'

Barack, you old dog you

[Syrinx]

27. thanks!

Obama is one of my favorites.

[Colobo]

5. Cool info, thanks!

[bling bling]

6. Interesting. Thanks for posting!

[ellisonz]

9. Doesn't like ice-cream-WTF!?!?!?!

That's un-American.

:sarcasm:

[pampango]

10. Not even chocolate.

I told you he wasn't black enough. ;)

[ellisonz]

11. That's cold.

Like ice-cream, which is delicious. :9

[tkmorris]

12. Coltrane? Really?

That's pretty cool. I think maybe I'd like this guy if I knew him better.

Most candidates wouldn't know Coltrane from Adam.

[Dr Fate]

21. Little things like that can tell you a lot about a person.

I dont really even want to KNOW someone who does NOT like Coltrane.

[never cry wolf]

15. Two more things I bet you didn't know

11. His wife's brother, Craig Robinson, was a two time Ivy League Player of the Year for Princeton in basketball and is currently the head coach at Brown.

12. Obama's sister, Maya Soetoro, teaches history and social studies at the University of Hawaii Lab School. (If you google her, she seems to be very good.)

[porphyrian]

16. Oh, doesn't like ice cream. Can't be an American.

Working around it and eating it every day for years is no excuse.
;)

[Bucky]

20. DAMN! You just blew that al-Qaeda mole's cover!

And to think we nearly elected that Manchurian president. Whew, that was close.

[porphyrian]

25. Just doing my job. - n/t

[michaelwb]

17. Number 11

11. He traveled back in time as the head of an elite fighting squad and prevented Hitler from winning World War II.


;)

[Bucky]

18. I knew 1, 4, 6, and 9 and half of #5. You owe me four and a half surprises about Obama

...and don't try that Madrassa line on me. I ain't falling for it.

[Firepit 462]

24. Pssssssssssssstttt............ ................he's black.

[Dr Fate]

19. One thing you may or may not have known about Dr Fate:

He thinks this Obama guy is pretty swell.

[mcar]

30. Ya gotta like a guy who plays Scrabble

My favorite game too! :-)