Welcome Guest [Log In] [Register]
Welcome to The New Coffee Room. We hope you enjoy your visit.


You're currently viewing our forum as a guest. This means you are limited to certain areas of the board and there are some features you can't use. If you join our community, you'll be able to access member-only sections, and use many member-only features such as customizing your profile, sending personal messages, and voting in polls. Registration is simple, fast, and completely free.


Join our community!


If you're already a member please log in to your account to access all of our features:

Username:   Password:
Add Reply
  • Pages:
  • 1
  • 3
  • 4
Obama's Young Mother
Topic Started: Apr 23 2011, 09:28 AM (938 Views)
jon-nyc
Member Avatar
Cheers
Fascinating story, often overlooked.

Quote:
 
To describe Dunham as a white woman from Kansas turns out to be about as illuminating as describing her son as a politician who likes golf. Intentionally or not, the label obscures an extraordinary story — of a girl with a boy’s name who grew up in the years before the women’s movement, the pill and the antiwar movement; who married an African at a time when nearly two dozen states still had laws against interracial marriage; who, at 24, moved to Jakarta with her son in the waning days of an anticommunist bloodbath in which hundreds of thousands of Indonesians were slaughtered; who lived more than half her adult life in a place barely known to most Americans, in the country with the largest Muslim population in the world; who spent years working in villages where a lone Western woman was a rarity; who immersed herself in the study of blacksmithing, a craft long practiced exclusively by men; who, as a working and mostly single mother, brought up two biracial children; who believed her son in particular had the potential to be great; who raised him to be, as he has put it jokingly, a combination of Albert Einstein, Mahatma Gandhi and Harry Belafonte; and then died at 52, never knowing who or what he would become.


http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04...?_r=1&pagewanted=all
In my defense, I was left unsupervised.
Online Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Horace
Member Avatar
HOLY CARP!!!
most of those biographical bits make me think she might have been a bit of a nutcase. I bet she was.
As a good person, I implore you to do as I, a good person, do. Be good. Do NOT be bad. If you see bad, end bad. End it in yourself, and end it in others. By any means necessary, the good must conquer the bad. Good people know this. Do you know this? Are you good?
Online Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
jon-nyc
Member Avatar
Cheers
Well she seems to have consistently chosen dramatically less taken paths at any rate.


I for one admire that.
In my defense, I was left unsupervised.
Online Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Axtremus
Member Avatar
HOLY CARP!!!
jon-nyc
Apr 23 2011, 10:11 AM
Well she seems to have consistently chosen dramatically less taken paths at any rate.
Don't know enough to say that she has "chosen" those paths or forced into them either by bad luck or as consequences of having made stupid (by conventional wisdom) choices earlier on. :shrug:
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Copper
Member Avatar
Shortstop

Now that I think about it I can't remember ever seeing her birth certificate.
The Confederate soldier was peculiar in that he was ever ready to fight, but never ready to submit to the routine duty and discipline of the camp or the march. The soldiers were determined to be soldiers after their own notions, and do their duty, for the love of it, as they thought best. Carlton McCarthy
Online Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Larry
Member Avatar
Mmmmmmm, pie!
Just think - if she'd have struck out toward the east, she could easily have ended up a lawyer in Maine..
Of the Pokatwat Tribe

Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Jolly
Member Avatar
Geaux Tigers!
Larry
Apr 23 2011, 11:43 AM
Just think - if she'd have struck out toward the east, she could easily have ended up a lawyer in Maine..
:spit:
The main obstacle to a stable and just world order is the United States.- George Soros
Online Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Mikhailoh
Member Avatar
If you want trouble, find yourself a redhead
Axtremus
Apr 23 2011, 10:26 AM
jon-nyc
Apr 23 2011, 10:11 AM
Well she seems to have consistently chosen dramatically less taken paths at any rate.
Don't know enough to say that she has "chosen" those paths or forced into them either by bad luck or as consequences of having made stupid (by conventional wisdom) choices earlier on. :shrug:
One is hard pressed to think of circumstances devoid of choice that leads one to leave the US and live in Jakarta or the many other places she did. It's not like she had a flat tire while passing through and ended up staying.

I think we can safely say she chose her path.
Once in his life, every man is entitled to fall madly in love with a gorgeous redhead - Lucille Ball
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
apple
one of the angels
a VERY impressive individual.. I've read a lot about her she was really remarkable.

sorry she died of breast cancer.
it behooves me to behold
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Jolly
Member Avatar
Geaux Tigers!
Ok, I'll bite...What was so impressive about the woman?
The main obstacle to a stable and just world order is the United States.- George Soros
Online Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Larry
Member Avatar
Mmmmmmm, pie!
I'd like to know that myself.
Of the Pokatwat Tribe

Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
jon-nyc
Member Avatar
Cheers
For a 19 year old girl to make the trek to Kenya to give birth to a son, at such incredible expense and material risk to her health and that of her baby is pretty impressive. Most women would have taken the easy way out and given birth in Hawaii with mom and dad near by.

Then to have the foresight to bribe the guy at the Hawaii hospital to submit the birth announcement, just on the off chance her son wanted to be president someday.


Damn impressive, if you ask me.
In my defense, I was left unsupervised.
Online Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Copper
Member Avatar
Shortstop
Jolly
Apr 23 2011, 02:41 PM
Ok, I'll bite...What was so impressive about the woman?

There is an unconfirmed report that says she gave birth to a president.

Unfortunately the paperwork is tied up in red tape and we may never know for sure.

Not many women have given birth to a president.

Even fewer who have committed some heinous act in the process and kept it hidden.

So maybe impressive has the wrong connotation, but it's in the ballpark.
The Confederate soldier was peculiar in that he was ever ready to fight, but never ready to submit to the routine duty and discipline of the camp or the march. The soldiers were determined to be soldiers after their own notions, and do their duty, for the love of it, as they thought best. Carlton McCarthy
Online Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Jolly
Member Avatar
Geaux Tigers!
jon-nyc
Apr 23 2011, 03:38 PM
For a 19 year old girl to make the trek to Kenya to give birth to a son, at such incredible expense and material risk to her health and that of her baby is pretty impressive. Most women would have taken the easy way out and given birth in Hawaii with mom and dad near by.

Then to have the foresight to bribe the guy at the Hawaii hospital to submit the birth announcement, just on the off chance her son wanted to be president someday.


Damn impressive, if you ask me.
That's not impressive. It's rank stupidity.

People who die while engaged in such behavior win Darwin Arwards.

Now, the part about bribing the hospital does show a bit of smarts....
The main obstacle to a stable and just world order is the United States.- George Soros
Online Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
jon-nyc
Member Avatar
Cheers
She also conned her parents into givng her something close to a year's wages for those airline tickets. Clearly the woman had amazing persuasive powers.
In my defense, I was left unsupervised.
Online Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
jon-nyc
Member Avatar
Cheers
She's also brave - not only was she flying to a poor African country to give birth, she would be going to the village where her husband's other wife lived.

Damn!
In my defense, I was left unsupervised.
Online Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
John D'Oh
Member Avatar
MAMIL
jon-nyc
Apr 23 2011, 03:38 PM
For a 19 year old girl to make the trek to Kenya to give birth to a son, at such incredible expense and material risk to her health and that of her baby is pretty impressive. Most women would have taken the easy way out and given birth in Hawaii with mom and dad near by.

Then to have the foresight to bribe the guy at the Hawaii hospital to submit the birth announcement, just on the off chance her son wanted to be president someday.


Damn impressive, if you ask me.

:lol:
What do you mean "we", have you got a mouse in your pocket?
Online Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Larry
Member Avatar
Mmmmmmm, pie!
Interesting how the liberals are trying to present such a sanitized and romanticized version of things. They make the woman sound so noble and daring, so wise.... why she could almost pass for Mary mother of Jesus....


But it misses the mark. Whether you like it or not, we're talking about a woman born in the 40s, a young woman in the 50s - a time when certain things were just not done by decent people. You can cry racism if you want, that won't change the fact that even those people who didn't see themselves as racist did not engage in interracial marriage, those who did were considered trash. Women who were pregnant and single did not traipse off to another country. Being an atheist was rare. Being a Marxist was even more rare.

So the picture is not one of some sophisticated intellectual braving life's difficulties. It's a picture of a little girl whose father wanted a boy so bad that when she turned out to be a girl he gave her a boy's name anyway, who left home to flop from one bed to another, a welfare recipient hippy who ran around with pornographers, atheists, communists, and every other type of low life you can think of, who got knocked up by a married black man, who abandoned her kid to chase after that wife beating drunk, and what little time she did spend with her kid she exposed him to a constant barrage of anti-american and anti-semitic propaganda.

Not what I'd call a good role model..
Of the Pokatwat Tribe

Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
John D'Oh
Member Avatar
MAMIL
Larry
Apr 23 2011, 08:20 PM
Interesting how the liberals are trying to present such a sanitized and romanticized version of things. They make the woman sound so noble and daring, so wise.... why she could almost pass for Mary mother of Jesus....


But it misses the mark. Whether you like it or not, we're talking about a woman born in the 40s, a young woman in the 50s - a time when certain things were just not done by decent people. You can cry racism if you want, that won't change the fact that even those people who didn't see themselves as racist did not engage in interracial marriage, those who did were considered trash. Women who were pregnant and single did not traipse off to another country. Being an atheist was rare. Being a Marxist was even more rare.

So the picture is not one of some sophisticated intellectual braving life's difficulties. It's a picture of a little girl whose father wanted a boy so bad that when she turned out to be a girl he gave her a boy's name anyway, who left home to flop from one bed to another, a welfare recipient hippy who ran around with pornographers, atheists, communists, and every other type of low life you can think of, who got knocked up by a married black man, who abandoned her kid to chase after that wife beating drunk, and what little time she did spend with her kid she exposed him to a constant barrage of anti-american and anti-semitic propaganda.

Not what I'd call a good role model..
So you're saying that it was pretty amazing for Obama to be as successful as he has been when his mother was such an awful parent?
What do you mean "we", have you got a mouse in your pocket?
Online Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Larry
Member Avatar
Mmmmmmm, pie!
Quote:
 
So you're saying that it was pretty amazing for Obama to be as successful as he has been when his mother was such an awful parent?



From what I've read, Obama wasn't that good of a student, was lazy, and had about as much potential as a warm turd.

Of the Pokatwat Tribe

Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Axtremus
Member Avatar
HOLY CARP!!!
Wow! Yeah, I see attempt "to present such a sanitized and romanticized version of things," and I asked some tough, uncomfortable questions. But, man, Larry, you just jumped right in a passed judgments -- and damning ones at that without any attempt to gather facts and evaluate circumstances.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Larry
Member Avatar
Mmmmmmm, pie!
Didn't pass any judgments at all. I pointed out that this was the 50s, not today. This is who the woman was. If you don't like it, tough.

Of the Pokatwat Tribe

Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Axtremus
Member Avatar
HOLY CARP!!!
Larry
Apr 23 2011, 08:45 PM
Didn't pass any judgments at all. I pointed out that this was the 50s, not today. This is who the woman was.
That's you passing judgement right there.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Larry
Member Avatar
Mmmmmmm, pie!
No it's not.

Everything I said is a known fact. Therefore, that is who the woman was. Can you prove she wasn't? No, you can't. So if you don't like who she was, fine. But don't accuse me of passing judgment just because you don't like seeing the facts laid out in front of you.

Of the Pokatwat Tribe

Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
John D'Oh
Member Avatar
MAMIL
Larry
Apr 23 2011, 08:43 PM
Quote:
 
So you're saying that it was pretty amazing for Obama to be as successful as he has been when his mother was such an awful parent?



From what I've read, Obama wasn't that good of a student, was lazy, and had about as much potential as a warm turd.

And yet, he was still elected leader of the self-proclaimed greatest nation on earth!

How odd. Couldn't you find anybody better? Maybe an Englishman?
What do you mean "we", have you got a mouse in your pocket?
Online Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
DealsFor.me - The best sales, coupons, and discounts for you
Go to Next Page
« Previous Topic · The New Coffee Room · Next Topic »
Add Reply
  • Pages:
  • 1
  • 3
  • 4