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Saturday, March 15, 2008
Obama's Mother and Father Met in Russian Class
An interesting tidbit from this article in The New York Times:
In a Russian class at the University of Hawaii, she met the college’s first African student, Barack Obama.
While, of course, plenty of people have learned Russian over the years - and it's a fine language - surely I'm not the only one who finds it interesting that a woman described as a "fellow traveller" met a member of a communist-inspired movement in a Russian class in 1960?
Elsewhere, the Times describes her as an "idealist" and a friend describes her as someone who, "cared about the core issues" and, "was not afraid to speak truth to power." Euphemisms like that can only be hiding a red-tinged past for Senator Obama.
Posted by Adam T. Yoshida on March 15, 2008 in International Politics | Permalink
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Comments
Thats not too bad a credit for a Russian class, is it?
Posted by: Micheal Wynn | 15-Mar-08 12:27:15 AM
Lee Harvey Oswald was in Minsk at the time.
Posted by: Speller | 15-Mar-08 12:58:13 AM
Crap!! This is the democaracy that America wants to force down the throat of the rest of the world. Something people write as if they don't have brains.
Posted by: karon | 15-Mar-08 6:21:53 AM
Great that they met and produced Wonder Boy.
Who gives a damn?
Posted by: Liz J | 15-Mar-08 6:57:49 AM
So, Obama is the son of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg? Or maybe just a couple of young college kids just taking a class?
This proves nothing, except the desperation of Obama's critics to smear him.
Posted by: Zebulon Pike | 15-Mar-08 7:49:24 AM
You lost me, so if Senator Obama's father was a leftist with Russion sympathies, does that mean that Senator Obama also is a leftist with Russian sympathies?
Please, spare me this type of ad hominem and "inherit the sins of your parents" style, arguments.
Posted by: Johan i Kanada | 15-Mar-08 9:04:24 AM
How better to explain his insane leftist tendencies? It doesn`t have to be the sole factor but it could be an influence . Besides the piece wasn`t intended to be a lesson in history ; just interesting speculation . You`d have to agree that he`s right up there with Edward Bernays and Joseph Goebells when it comes to mind control and propaganda
Posted by: daveh | 15-Mar-08 9:40:45 AM
Changing the world does not require a committee. It requires the love and courage of one person with the ability to overcome small-minded people - like "The Shot gun blog"- to propagate his/her vision and empower ordinary people to change thier individual lives and their communities. Obama embodies that singularly courageous white woman
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/03/13/america/obama.php, whose positive perception of other races was and still far ahead of the average white folk. It is time for change.
Posted by: albert | 15-Mar-08 9:41:49 AM
what a crap! what a bunkum! The one who wrote this piece needs his head examined.
Posted by: siam | 15-Mar-08 11:01:54 AM
There are many reasons to learn Russian. They have a rich history, a rich literature, and it is capable of even the subtlest distinctions of expression. All of this is what others have written about it, of course; I don't speak Russian. But I DO know that you do not need to learn Russian to read the Communist Manifesto, which was originally penned in German (under the title "Manifest der Kommunistischen Partei," to be precise). And there are plenty of Russians who hate communism. They have far more reason to do so than we.
Posted by: Shane Matthews | 15-Mar-08 11:24:20 AM
I was under the impression that Obama's father was Muslim.
Posted by: JL | 15-Mar-08 11:49:05 AM
Shane wrote
"There are many reasons to learn Russian."
Not so many in 1960. I remember my mother mentioning someone in our community who was learning to speak German in 1940. They were still talking about it in the 1970's after the guy was dead.
Posted by: dp | 15-Mar-08 12:08:13 PM
Look, there is nothing inherently wrong or suspicious or duplicitous about learning Russian during the ColdWar. Or learning German during WWII.
There is, however, a reason to be suspicious when a pattern of this type of activity exists and continues as it does with Obama and his heritage. It is strongly suggestive of someone who identifies or sympathizes with the "other" because they themselves feel outside the norm.
Most people outgrow this aspect of their youthful personality. Obama continues to be attracted to these extremes as evident by the latest scandal with Pastor Wright.
In this case, the "other" (read: socialism, identity politics) is not something our society should strive to become. Just say no to Obama.
Posted by: h2o273kk9 | 15-Mar-08 12:35:04 PM
"Look, there is nothing inherently wrong or suspicious or duplicitous about learning Russian during the ColdWar. Or learning German during WWII."
You need to think about that one for a while. There are only two reasons for learning the language of the enemy. I think most people can name them without too much trouble.
Posted by: dp | 15-Mar-08 1:18:43 PM
dp
"You need to think about that one for a while."
I did. Then I wrote my response.
"There are only two reasons for learning the language of the enemy."
1) One sympathizes with the enemy
2) One wishes to undermine the enemy and knowledge is power
3) One wishes to understand the enemy's arguments before jumping to conclusions and language is as close to a way of thinking as you can get.
4) One is a linguist and appreciates the richness of human communication
Shall I continue?
I was 2)
Posted by: h2o273kk9 | 15-Mar-08 1:29:25 PM
There's nothing wrong with learning Russian, in and of itself. Plenty of people learned Russian in case we needed to fight the SOB's. I'd even like to learn Russian so as to read talented writers like Dostoevsky and Nabokov in their mother tongue.
But, there is something interesting about two people with known far-left connections meeting in Russian class in 1960.
Posted by: Adam Yoshida | 15-Mar-08 5:39:01 PM
Adam
"Crime and Punishment"
Best book I ever read. BAR NONE!
Posted by: h2o273kk9 | 15-Mar-08 5:45:38 PM
h2
As I said, most people can name the 2 reasons.
Posted by: dp | 15-Mar-08 7:12:50 PM
dp,
I'm not most people.
Posted by: h2o273kk9 | 15-Mar-08 7:17:48 PM
Where's McCarthy when you need him?
RG
Posted by: RightGirl | 15-Mar-08 7:33:46 PM
RG,
Love and kisses.
h2o...
Posted by: h2o273kk9 | 15-Mar-08 7:40:02 PM
Adam,
contact this guy, he may be just what you're looking for:
http://forums.hannity.com/showthread.php?t=580281
Posted by: Snowrunner | 15-Mar-08 11:09:02 PM
There zillions of reasons for learning Russian and German (and any other language).
In my case, I studied both German (5 years) and Russian (only 1 year) in school. Extremely rewarding.
It seem some here see learning a language as a way to adopt the currently ruling class' ideology. Rubbish.
North Americans would benefit greatly if more people would learn foreign languages. It is despicable that one can go through the Canadian school system without any foreign language (except a bit of French, but most students don't learn any, not even bright students). And, to top it up, foreign language skills are not a prerequisite for admission to university.
(Neither is philosophy or history (more that the pitiful one year Canadian history course offered (in Ontario)), but that's another story.)
Posted by: Johan i Kanada | 16-Mar-08 2:51:57 AM
"Neither is philosophy or history (more that the pitiful one year Canadian history course offered (in Ontario)), but that's another story"
That's because our leftist schools of indoctrination are busy trying to rewrite history as it stands to be bothered to teach it.
Like all true leftists Trudeau hated his own country, hated Canada the way it was and did his best to bring down this proud country.
Sadly he had a profound effect and his legacy of destroying the pride of this nation is still felt today.
I see many of the same leanings with Obama.
Posted by: deepblue | 16-Mar-08 10:17:16 AM
"I'd even like to learn Russian so as to read talented writers like Dostoevsky and Nabokov in their mother tongue."
Nabokov? Does wanting to read "Lolita" in Russian make you a paedophile, Adam? Do your observations on Obama's heritage make your Japanese ancestry open for debate? Just asking questions here.
Posted by: Lou | 16-Mar-08 10:30:51 AM
johan
Learning Russian NOW is rewarding. There are many opportunities for Canadians in Russia. They have huge oil & gas reserves, and their technology is 70 years behind ours. In 1960 it was a different story.
Learning German NOW is rewarding. They are our allies, and after 60 years of assistance from the west they are once again a player in Europes economy. In 1945 things were different.
I'm not trying to say ignorance is bliss. Sometimes things ARE what they appear to be.
Posted by: dp | 16-Mar-08 11:18:36 AM
Learning German NOW is rewarding. They are our allies, and after 60 years of assistance from the west they are once again a player in Europes economy. In 1945 things were different.
Posted by: dp | 16-Mar-08 11:18:36 AM
*cough* 60 years of assitance from the West? Someone must not only have slept through history class but pretty much most of his life to make a statement like this.
Learning German even in 1945 or 1938 made a lot of sense, a lot of Engineers as well as Phislophers and artists come from there "Land der Dichter und Denker" is one way to describe Germany.
Yeah, there was a very dark decade in it's history, but to dismiss an entire country (or rather language are, because German is spoken in places other than Germany) is just utterly ignorant.
The same, btw, goes for Russia.
------------
I'm not trying to say ignorance is bliss. Sometimes things ARE what they appear to be.
Posted by: dp | 16-Mar-08 11:18:36 AM
Indeed, you've just proven that.
Posted by: Snowrunner | 16-Mar-08 12:12:32 PM
It's obvious the snow guy's family didn't have to learn german. It's probably spoken at the dinner table.
Posted by: dp | 16-Mar-08 12:19:18 PM
It's obvious the snow guy's family didn't have to learn german. It's probably spoken at the dinner table.
Posted by: dp | 16-Mar-08 12:19:18 PM
Richtig, und haben Sie damit ein Problem?
Posted by: Snowrunner | 16-Mar-08 12:24:55 PM
A dark decade in its history? How about just a dark history, Ubermensch?
Posted by: dp | 16-Mar-08 12:27:20 PM
A dark decade in its history? How about just a dark history, Ubermensch?
Posted by: dp | 16-Mar-08 12:27:20 PM
Funny, what about the small pox infected blankets and other "niceness" that the North American explorers pulled?
I'd be careful with throwing dirt, you have already demonstrated a big gap in your historic knowledge.
But that's okay, after all you are a prime example of the superior Western Culture, as commentators and posters in this blog never tire to tell us.
"We learn from history that we learn nothing from history." -- George Bernard Shaw
And just to round it out with a German take on it:
"Patriotism ruins history." Johann Wolfgang Goethe
And just to help you out, here are two links about the people who these quotes are attributed to:
Goethe: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johann_Wolfgang_Goethe
Shaw: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Bernard_Shaw
Posted by: Snowrunner | 16-Mar-08 12:36:33 PM
Thank you for the links Superman.
Smallpox infected blankets would be sort of scary to handle, don't you think? I suppose it might be a true story.
We could debate it, but I'll concede there were plenty of atrocities in American history.
So do your dinner table conversations ever touch on the inflated numbers of "missing" Jews?
Posted by: dp | 16-Mar-08 12:54:00 PM
Smallpox infected blankets would be sort of scary to handle, don't you think? I suppose it might be a true story.
Posted by: dp | 16-Mar-08 12:54:00 PM
I would have said you should know about the history of infectious deseases especially in regards to small pox, but then I remembered that history is not something you are well aquainted with.
But never fear, Mothercorps can enlighten you:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/history/inourtime/inourtime_20060420.shtml
----------------
So do your dinner table conversations ever touch on the inflated numbers of "missing" Jews?
Posted by: dp | 16-Mar-08 12:54:00 PM
*yawn* Do you ever try not to attack people based on their place of Origin and your limited understanding of History?
Posted by: Snowrunner | 16-Mar-08 1:01:53 PM
Superman
Speaking of history. The alleged attempt to infect Indians with blankets from Fort Pitt happened about a century before the medical discovery of germs. A bunch of British soldiers would not have knowledge that smallpox can be carried on blankets.
Posted by: dp | 16-Mar-08 1:10:21 PM
dp (you do know what that usually identifies, right?)
Speaking of history. The alleged attempt to infect Indians with blankets from Fort Pitt happened about a century before the medical discovery of germs. A bunch of British soldiers would not have knowledge that smallpox can be carried on blankets.
Posted by: dp | 16-Mar-08 1:10:21 PM
Well, as you said before: Ignorance is bliss. They may not have understood why it happened / how it happened, but they didn't need to as long as it worked.
The point was more about immunity by the Europeans though, they were exposed to these Germs for a long enough time to have taken out anybody who wasn't resistant, so the risk for them handling these was pretty small.
Posted by: Snowrunner | 16-Mar-08 1:16:11 PM
In that period of history, it was believed that disease came from bad air. If these British soldiers wanted to infect someone, they would not use blankets.
There was a trade off of diseases that is often overlooked. There was a serious outbreak of syphilis in the old world that killed a lot of people very quickly.
I lived in Northern Alberta for years. I know what DP stands for. It was stamped on Hungarian immigrants' papers. Your clan created more DPs than any other in history, superman. I use it cause it's my initials.
Posted by: dp | 16-Mar-08 1:29:16 PM
I lived in Northern Alberta for years. I know what DP stands for. It was stamped on Hungarian immigrants' papers. Your clan created more DPs than any other in history, superman. I use it cause it's my initials.
Posted by: dp | 16-Mar-08 1:29:16 PM
"My Clan"? Where did you learn about my families history I wonder? Tell me, where was I born, where did I grow up? Where did my parents hail from? What exactly did my ancestors do over the last 200 years? No need to give a day by day account, I don't think there will be enough space here, but give us some highlights. Enlighten us with your knowledge, DP.
Posted by: Snowrunner | 16-Mar-08 2:40:43 PM
All I did was push the buttons. You pretty well revealed the rest on your own.
Posted by: dp | 16-Mar-08 3:03:13 PM
All I did was push the buttons. You pretty well revealed the rest on your own.
Posted by: dp | 16-Mar-08 3:03:13 PM
Uhuuu, seems like besides history you also seem to lack reading comprehension. Ah well, you can't have it all. After all you are a defender of Western Values and cleaning all those guns every day take time.
Tata
Posted by: Snowrunner | 16-Mar-08 3:31:03 PM
By the time you've formulated the airtight case that Obama was planted by an Islamic Communist Scientologist Lesbian Zombie Hoard all funded by the estate of Robert Nozick, he may have run, won, and done his thing twice over. I'm sure there's been talk of this or that army training to fight "the previous war", are the Obama critics here waging "the previous campaign"?
Posted by: Pattern Recognition | 17-Mar-08 2:48:15 PM
First of all the fact that Obama's mother took a Russian class before he was born is irrelevant, even if she was an "idealist". Secondly, if it did mean something then a lot of American conservatives are in trouble given the numbers of them who were either "red diaper babies" or who were socialists or communists themselves in their youth (yes, I'm talking about you Robert Bork, you Jeanne Kirkpatrick and you Paul Wolfowitz).
Posted by: Andrew | 18-Mar-08 5:43:00 PM
Andrew,
"Secondly, if it did mean something then a lot of American conservatives are in trouble given the numbers of them who were either "red diaper babies" or who were socialists or communists themselves in their youth (yes, I'm talking about you Robert Bork, you Jeanne Kirkpatrick and you Paul Wolfowitz)."
A dollar short and a day late.
I already excoriated any de-facto association. Unlike you, however, I did allow for a pattern of activities associcated with treason if a pattern fit.
Posted by: h2o273kk9 | 18-Mar-08 5:49:01 PM
"There is, however, a reason to be suspicious when a pattern of this type of activity exists and continues as it does with Obama and his heritage. "
You're a fool. How is Obama or anyone's "heritage" treasonous? What is suspicious, indeed what is "un-American" is your and Yoshida's attraction to smears.
Posted by: Andrew | 18-Mar-08 6:19:58 PM
Andrew,
"You're a fool. How is Obama or anyone's "heritage" treasonous? What is suspicious, indeed what is "un-American" is your and Yoshida's attraction to smears."
I believe it was Snowy that wanted a definition of what constituted "un-American".
Please take it up with Snowy as I don't feel I have smeared anyone based on attraction or their heritage.
You are, of course, free to feel attracted to anyone you wish.
Posted by: h2o273kk9 | 18-Mar-08 6:25:34 PM
Andrew:
In case you thought I was kidding:
"Okay, can you define to me what it means to be American? And I am not talking about Apple Pie here. What are the three main characteristics that make someone American and that Obama is lacking?
And if you have the time, what do you think Obama's Agenda is?
Posted by: Snowrunner | 14-Mar-08 10:20:22 AM"
Andrew, Are you able to handle Snowy's query before labelling anyone here as
gasp
"un-American"?
Posted by: h2o273kk9 | 18-Mar-08 6:38:05 PM
"What are the three main characteristics that make someone American and that Obama is lacking?"
I think that's a question for you, Yoshida and the other Canadians who have decided that Obama is "un-American".
Posted by: Andrew | 18-Mar-08 8:41:44 PM
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