Obama memoir filled with misrepresentations

By Catholic Online (NEWS CONSORTIUM)
6/21/2012
Catholic Online (www.catholic.org)

Also known as lies.

It's a given that politicians aren't always accurate when they speak, but it's another thing when they are inaccurate in their own memoirs. Yet, that's precisely what biographer David Maraniss claims in his book "Barack Obama: The Story."

A biographer has uncovered untruth Obama may have told about his grandfather.

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LONDON, ENGLAND (Catholic Online) - As reported in the Daily Mail, "Maraniss catalogues dozens of instances in which Obama deviated significantly from the truth in his book 'Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance'." The book is another account of Obama's life based on a comprehensive set of interviews with a variety of individuals.

According to Maraniss, one of Obama's largest myths is the claim that his paternal grandfather, Hussein Onyango Obama was imprisoned and tortured by the British in Kenya in 1949.

According to Obama, his grandfather was targeted by the British for assisting local rebels in their efforts to cast off British colonial rule. His grandfather was imprisoned for six months in a detention camp and he was routinely beaten and tortured.

However, Maraniss conducted interviews with people who know Obama's grandfather during the time and none of them recall such a thing. Furthermore, they insist that had something like that happened, he would have never found a subsequent career in civil service.

According to the Daily Mail article, of the individuals Mariniss interviewed was John Ndalo Aguk, who was a former coworker of the elder Obama. Aguk said he knew nothing of such an imprisonment. The same thing was stated by Zablon Okatch, who worked with Obama after Aguk. "Hussein was never jailed," he said. "I know that for a fact. It would have been difficult for him to get a job with a white family, let alone a diplomat, if he once served in jail."

A number of other individuals made identical claims.

Maraniss concludes in his work that Obama has tailored the facts to fit an image of himself that he finds acceptable. The Mail article says, "Obama himself, Maraniss finds, deliberately distorted elements of his own life to fit into a racial narrative. The author writes that Obama presents himself in his memoir as 'blacker and more disaffected' than he really was."

How this translates into Obama's leadership is incalculable, but a willingness to fabricate stories about oneself cannot be a positive trait for the leader of the free world. Alas, it may be the norm. Maraniss also did a biography of Bill Clinton and claims in that book that the former president did the same as Obama.

� 2012, Distributed by NEWS CONSORTIUM.

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Pope Benedict XVI's Prayer Intentions for January 2013
General Intention: The Faith of Christians. That in this Year of Faith Christians may deepen their knowledge of the mystery of Christ and witness joyfully to the gift of faith in him.
Missionary Intention: Middle Eastern Christians. That the Christian communities of the Middle East, often discriminated against, may receive from the Holy Spirit the strength of fidelity and perseverance.

Keywords: Obama, memoir, Maraniss, biography, lies, Hussein Obama

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1 - 10 of 17 Comments

JoAnn
10 months ago
Rob: All I'm going to say to you, Rob is this; when America is a third world country, where is the rest of the world going to go for help. Ronald Reagan said something to that effect. This "Blamer-In-Chief" in the WH has done nothing but lie to the American people. Everytime he opens his mouth, he is lying. People need to read a very short book called "How Do You Kill 11 Million People" by Andy Andrews. Maybe then they would see what is going on here. Obama oversteps the Constitution because he can't stand the word NO! He doesn't even uphold its laws as he swore he would do. From the very beginning, the destruction of this Nation has been his agenda. Ok, so Bush got us into 2 wars ,but if memory serves me right, we didn't start them. It wasn't the US that flew planes into the WTC In my opinion, that was the start of WWIII.. Obama has just made it worse by helping the Muslim Brotherhood in the middle-east. He is helping them build their Caliphate. He has Muslim Brotherhood members in his administration; including HOMELAND SECURITY of all places. THAT'S real safe for our country. He is having any derogatory references to Muslim radicals erased from our records. He is altering records of the founding of this country and other pertinent facts of our history and changing quotes and history of our founding fathers. He has erased all reference of Jerusalem being in the state of Israel. They do not say Jerusalem, Israel anymore. He is no Christian. I don't care how many times he throws God and Jesus' name around. The devil did the same thing, look where he is. Obama and his comrades are evil to the core. And, if people can't see what he has done and is still doing to this country, well, I don't know if I should feel sorry for them or be extremely angry or just ignore them because I am rapidly losing my patience with all of them. I am in my last quarter of a century in age and it tears my heart apart to see this once great country, even with some of her flaws, be sold down the river by a CANCER that exists in our government and has existed for over 100 years, when the "Progressives" started invading our system. Remember, I said the Progressives are in both parties and they have brought this country to ruin. Obama is the instrument that will finalize what the Progressives have been trying to do, IF WE LET HIM. He was "selected" as Farrakhan said, and he has been nurtured and trained by the evil people that want to take over this country. Obama is no constitutional scholar, he is a Saul Alinsky scholar. He even taught Alinsky's methods. Alinsky's books are bibles to these people. I am appalled that there are so many people in America that don't even know our history. If they knew it, they would recognize the "enemies within" and would stand up to them. But if you don't know who Hitler was, or Stalin or Mussolini and what they did to their countries, how are you going to recognize them in our own country. Progressives on the left are COMMUNISTS and Progressives on the right are FACISTS. Joe McCarthy sacrificed his reputation fighting communist enemies in our system Now that it is known to be all true, has there ever been anyone who tried to destroy him, apologize? NO! The only favorable thing that I have ever read about McCarthy is a book by M. Stanton Evans entitled "Blacklisted by History." It is the only ACCURATE account (that I know of) of what McCarthy did and "what happened to America during the Cold War.and the "forces" that distorted our national policy in that conflict and our understanding of its history since." Maybe I'm just in a rotten mood because of the recent developments in our country or maybe I'm just getting too old to put up with the "selective ignorance" that is running rampant in people and places around me. I even had my TV service disconected because I'm sick of the politics (that's all it is) We don't have a government that represents us anymore, we have a bunch of terrorists in Washington that are tyrannizing their constituents. They no longer work for us, we work for them. "A government that is afraid of its people, is liberty. People that are afraid of its government, is tyranny" Thomas Jefferson. How true, how true. And we keep voting these terrorists into office. When will we ever learn? Never, I'm afraid. Sorry for my ranting. I never meant to make my comment so long. God bless.
Rob
10 months ago
JoAnn, just out of curiousity, what exactly are you basing your assertions on? We have always given money to other countries. We have always failed at immigration issues. Although it's interesting that Obama needed this immigration gimmick because deportations under his watch were the highest in years. And for some America has been an oppressive place (I'm sure slaves, those who lived during segregation and those among us who are still the cast aways from society may see things differently or perhaps have a reason why they feel the way they do). Raising taxes? He walked into horrible deficits, unfunded wars and an economy on the brink. Maybe we don't agree about raising taxes, but I don't think it's subversive to suggest that as a possible solution? Enemies of the wealth and corporations? You wouldn't know that from his campaign contributions and his total failure to reel in the banks. When you consider how well those in high finance are doing (and especially how quickly they recovered), it's laughable to say he hates the rich. I thnk it's fair to say the DC establishment only cares for the rich....the rest can fend for themselves. Maybe he has some thoughts about America that are different from George Washington. So what?? It's not a crime to do so and unless we ceased freedom of speech, he has every right to do it. Like I said before, I didn't vote for the man and no way I could vote for him now. But this might actually be an election I sit out if Romeny doesn't get on the stick and start describing what he's actually going to do. It was a mistake to vote for Obama because he wasn't Bush/GOP, the same will be true now. Folks better look past the lenses of their ideologies and actually check what the guy is planning to do. The job is way too important just to cast a vote because you hate Obama....and if you do, well then you'll deserve what you get.
Rob
10 months ago
I wish I could say that any of this mattered, but it doesn't. The unfortunate thing is that so many people on the right and left find themselves chasing these rabbit holes. So what if someone makes a claim that everyone just accepts as gospel truth? We let all these issues distract us from the task at hand. Is he doing a good job or not? If no, then fire him. If yes, then re-elect him. I hope we aren't basing our decisions on how truthful a politician is or isn't or we'll in real trouble. What's the saying, "how do you know if a politician is lying....he's moving his lips." I think we have two things we must do, judge Obama fairly and honestly on his results. And judge Romney for what he will do. The more time we spend on Obama conspiracy theories, the less we spend doing the latter. And it shows in the caliber of people serving us right now.
JoAnn
10 months ago
If there are misrepresentations ( and I say "if') in Obama's book "Dreams From My Father", it doesn't matter. I have read the book and the message is the same. Just like there are many stories in the Bible, but the message is the same. All you have to do is compare the book to his actions and they are identical. He does not believe in America. His enemies are the wealthy & corporations. Anyone that has been successful, he hates. He doesn't believe in American exceptionalism. He believes that America is an oppressive country and thrived on the backs of the unfortunate all over the world and it's time to teach her a lesson. He is taking our money and distributing it all over the world, hence why he needs to raise taxes. I wouldn't complain so much about the money if it were going to Americans. He doesn't believe in borders. He despises colonialism and capitalism. Like his benefactor, George Soros, they want an "Open Society", no borders anywhere in the world. He is bringing America down to the level of all other nations, maybe even lower. This man is evil to the core and definitely does NOT have America's best interest at heart. People are finally waking up to this "Destroyer" and I hope there are enough people waking up by November so that we can get this "Dictator" out of office and send him back where he belongs, to some Socialist/Communist country, because he surely doesn't belong here. I have a question for you all to ponder. One of the first things Obama did when he got in office was box up the bust of Winston Chruchill that was in the oval office and sent it back to England. That bust was a gift to America and he had no right to do that. Why do you think he did that? Could it be because the story about his grandfather is true? Think about it. I believe the entire book is true, just "enhanced" to make it more interesting. There's a book titled "The Roots of Obama's Rage" by Dinesh D'Souza. It is a stunning book that has better diagnosed who Obama is, what he intends to do, and why he poses an existential threat to America. It is full of footnotes for verification. It's an easy read, 218 pages. God bless.
robert matzinger
11 months ago
People don't make mistakes when recalling that their grandfather was imprisoned and tortured. Obama just made that all up. But then again this is the same Obama who once campaigned for president "against" lobbyists and PAC monies but eagerly takes both in today, so one should not be surprised to find that "his" book contains "inaccuracies," or better put, total fabrications to attempt his personal gain.
JoAnn
11 months ago
Isn't it amazing how lies are accepted and truth is called hate speech. People accepting lies is what got us into this mess our country ,and the whole world for that matter, is in. The "father of lies" is doing a great job. Some of you people need to wake up, and wake up quickly. You are the instruments of our undoing. God bless.
SCW
11 months ago
The sad part is that it appears that most of what Obama says and does is for political gain for himself and his idealogical cabal. Watching and listening for over four years leads one to conclude that he cares little for actual truth, and has even less respect for the people of this country.
Life apparently does not matter, as abortion is something he promotes. Respect for faith is obviously non existant. Winning is everything, and the end justifies the means used to get there, truth or not, harm done or not. No matter how he has embellished his biography, we have seen who he is and what he stands for now, and the picture is not attractive.

Lofty lectures are empty words, since his hypocrisy speak so much louder.

Sadly, he had a chance to bring unity, but it appears all he knows is division.
Ran
11 months ago
And How is this Catholic News???... @ MARY... I am a Kenyan.. and YOU HAVE NOOO IDEA WHAT YOUR TALKING ABOUT... The statements you make are hurtful and hate driven.. a characteristic of most of the comments on this site..
KarlVDH
11 months ago
May one poi t out that Reagan's and Bush's memoirs were ALSO full of glaring inaccuracies, and that what we're talking about is a MAN telling HIS OWN story, or is it imply to be accepted that Obama is a lying pig, and Reagan a Conservative superhero?
greg
11 months ago
I agree with Esther-Marie and Steve, sometimes we tell stories of our families past that we think are correct but get lost in accuracy over the years. I get corrected sometimes by my older brothers about stories in our family that I thought had happened a certain way but did not.

OR.....maybe that is what Obama's father told him. His father may be the one telling the fib to make his son proud of him? Don't know, won't guess. Should he have gone over there and checked out the facts, maybe, but then, would you if it was your father?

Just another Obama basher trying to find some dirt on him.

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