[H]e depicts their Kenyan father as an abusive alcoholic who beats David and David's Jewish American mother.
November 4, 2009
Mark Okoth Obama Ndesandjo. "This is what America's 44th president would look like if he shaved his head, wore a bandanna, favored black T-shirts and sported an earring in his left ear."
The President's half-brother. He's written a book about his life:
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Sounds like Barry is lucky that the old man cut out on him.
What is the reporter talking about? They don't look alike at all.
...talk about coat-tailing...
Splitting is abuse in a different form. I don't know if I'd call it lucky - either way, something happens to everybody.
I was always wondered when Obama would produce a shady and/or stupid and/or embarrassing brother, but this article doesn’t give me too much hope. This Mark Okoth Obama Ndesandjo seems irritatingly free of scandal.
I still hold out hope that he can truly join the men who possibly gained political favors from Howard Hughes to finance a drive-in restaurant (Donald Nixon), endorsed a vile variety of beer (Billy Carter), appeared in unwarranted horror sequel “Pumpkinhead II: Blood Wings” (Roger Clinton), or became Governor of Florida (Jeb Bush).
A Brown Stanford and Emory education. On whose tab this time? Barak got a Saudi benefactor to pay the big time money. Did this half brother also have some benefactors other than his abused mother's family?
Is there any undisputable evidence that Barack Obama Sr. was really "brilliant"?
Or is this another fawing description like when the WAPO called Van Jones a "towering figure in the green movement"?
What is the reporter talking about? They don't look alike at all.
I don't think they look identical, but they do look a little related to me.
He is also an accomplished pianist, does Chinese calligraphy and he has just finished reading the Chinese epic "The Dream of Red Mansions" -- in Mandarin.
I was amused that reading a book in mandarin is important enough to include in a write-up.
Good for him captializing on his brother's fame. Man was Obama's father a piece of human garbage. Did the man have one redeaming quality?
I put a spell on you. Because you're MINE!
ricpic,
LOL
"Man was Obama's father a piece of human garbage. Did the man have one redeeming quality?"
Well, if you could ask the Obama boys' mothers, he must have had at least ONE redeeming quality...before he either split or started beating them up. (I doubt they each said "let me lay that piece of human garbage" when he started romancing them.)
also has an academic pedigree as lofty as his half-brother's, with bachelor's degrees in physics and math from Brown University, a master's degree in physics from Stanford and an MBA from Emory.
Right. Because a BA in poli sci is just as hard as a BS/MS in physics and math.
"Well, if you could ask the Obama boys' mothers, he must have had at least ONE redeeming quality...before he either split or started beating them up. (I doubt they each said "let me lay that piece of human garbage" when he started romancing them.)"
Lots of sociopaths can be quite charming and good at luring women. Don't ask me why. Seriously, the guy was a deadbeat wife beating communist. Short of being a child molester, can it get much worse than that?
Lots of sociopaths can be quite charming and good at luring women. Don't ask me why.
They say Ted Bundy was quite charming. How else are you going to lure women into your creepy van?
Right. Because a BA in poli sci is just as hard as a BS/MS in physics and math.
Lofty doesn't mean difficult, silly. They're comparing Ivy to Ivy, or USNews rankings, or something.
Perhaps they can get Billy Carter or Neil Bush or Roger Clinton to do the book review when it comes to that.
(Assuming all those folks are still alive)
"Right. Because a BA in poli sci is just as hard as a BS/MS in physics and math."
Especially at the graduate level. The dude worked at Lawrence Livermore. That is no small shakes. Too bad he decided to waste himself by getting an MBA.
Mark Okoth Obama Ndesandjo doesn't always drink beer.
But when he does, he prefers Dos Equis.
It's the first thing that ever really bothered me about Obama. Considering that his father was, among other things, a bigamist, an abuser, and an abandoner of children, other than skin color, why did Barack see fit to identify with this person over the ones who loved and raised him?
I hate to remind everyone, but it takes a village.
Especially at the graduate level. The dude worked at Lawrence Livermore. That is no small shakes.
I'll agree on the LL part. Stanford students in my day worked on what is now the SLAC. It was Cal students who got an edge on the LL jobs.
However, In my experience, an MS in physics was the mark of a failed PhD.
In fairness the Stanford web page says: Students may enter the Department with the intention of obtaining either a MS or a PhD or both degrees.
Salamynder,
Having a deadbeat for a father does bad things to a person's pschye. If your dad is a dead beat, you are always left to wonder if that means you are destined to be one to. People deal with it in one of two ways. They either totally reject their father and pretend he isn't their father. Or, the romanticize him into something that he wasn't and avoid facing the fact that he was a louse. Clearly Obama chose option number 2.
Christmas reunions are probably unpleasant.
Drill SGT,
I would think it would be very difficult to both get a PHD and make a living as a physicist. There are a lot of tremendously smart people who do it. You could be pretty smart and still get weeded out.
The latest and greatest research on the mind now claims confidently that all of the "character traits" in people come thru their DNA and is all inherited. These "materialists of the soul" are not correct, IMO; but the scientific absolutists like Alex will have to agree to that. So where does that put the USA with its President carrying the DNA of this psychopath father?
I heard Brown University grades on the pass/ fail scale. When asked how their grads can get into grad schools, a school official said "our grads tend to do their grad work at Brown".
Having a deadbeat for a father does bad things to a person's pschye. If your dad is a dead beat, you are always left to wonder if that means you are destined to be one to. People deal with it in one of two ways. They either totally reject their father and pretend he isn't their father. Or, the romanticize him into something that he wasn't and avoid facing the fact that he was a louse. Clearly Obama chose option number 2.
I have a deadbeat father. Left when I was four. I still remember an argument where he got out his shotgun and pointed it at my mother and me. I must have been about 3.
The thing is, every day I saw how hard mother worked to raise me and my sister. I saw the sacrifices she made, the times she gave up her happiness for me or my sister. Every day I am grateful to her for what she was willing to do for me.
Obama was in a similar situation; he had family that did everything they could for him. He chose to spit on them in order to chase dreams of this mythological "father". It's frankly disgusting.
"also has an academic pedigree as lofty as his half-brother's, with bachelor's degrees in physics and math from Brown University, a master's degree in physics from Stanford and an MBA from Emory."
As lofty as his half-brother's? I think they got that backwards. Actually it should be POTUS Obama WISHES he had a academic pedigree that lofty. Although, we still probably wouldn't be allowed to see his papers and grades.
Mark Okoth Obama Ndesandjo doesn't always drink beer.
But when he does, he prefers Dos Equis.
Hee!
They don't look alike. The president would not look like that if he shaved his head and so on.
Actually, Beth, they look more like each other than they do their father, who was round faced and shiny black. Both mothers must have had big chins.
Something is off with this reporting. It says that he took his stepfather's last name to reject the Obama name, but what are the chances that Mr. NDESANDjo and Ms. NiDESAND happened to find each other and fall in love? It looks like he tried to (faux-?) Africanize his mother's maiden name. Now he's promoting a story about his identification with his Kenyan father's legacy a la brother Barack, but even this short news article contains a substantial seeming-lie about his background and means of identification with his paternal and ethnic roots.
That one detail is so weird to me that I have trouble believing any of the other details about his background and the quality of the reporting. To say it another way, I'll believe that he's got an MA in physics when I see some evidence of it.
His name spells MOON.
How cool is that?
Barry coulda been HOBO: (Hussein Okoth Barack Obama).
Coulda.
Does WaPo think he looks like Barry just 'cause he's half black?
The soft racism of low examination.
They all look alike.
Off topic
Has anybody else joined Facebook? I'm getting requests to be friends like you wouldn't believe. You know who, even showed up. For real?
I think he looks a little like barry around the eyes and the mouth, but he has a lot of wrinkles? Smile lines? I don't know. He certainly doesn't look like a twin or anything.
The latest and greatest research on the mind now claims confidently that all of the "character traits" in people come thru their DNA and is all inherited. These "materialists of the soul" are not correct, IMO; but the scientific absolutists like Alex will have to agree to that. So where does that put the USA with its President carrying the DNA of this psychopath father?
If liberals say it means nothing, do we get to talk about how anti-science they are?
traditonalguy,
"So where does that put the USA with its President carrying the DNA of this psychopath father?"
It puts us exactly where conservatives have been saying we are: ruled by an arrogant psychopath who kills babies and wants to destroy us all.
Everything. . . absolutely EVERYTHING. . . confirms conservative beliefs!
It's really fascinating to watch.
John - Lots of sociopaths can be quite charming and good at luring women. Don't ask me why. Seriously, the guy was a deadbeat wife beating communist. Short of being a child molester, can it get much worse than that?
Well, in a way it can. Fuck an eager liberal white bitch, impregnate her, and split. Then after the foolish bitch and her Mom spend a fortune raising the spawn and sending him to posh schools ..have the son announce he doesn't identify with the white women who raised him but the black philanderer that left him.
And of course, it could get yet worse - if Ndesandjo wasn't apparantly a decent guy but had grown up instead seeking to emulate and pay emotional tribute the drunk wastrel man who beat him and his liberal Jewish mom.
Mad... I don't believe that DNA causes character unless other life experiences pushes one into traps, like an Alcoholic gene will lay a trap for a social drinker. And I also believe that these traps can be escaped from with a little help. So Obama may be fine. Even his father may have recovered. I just want him to get help when the stresses from all sides push him too hard. I remember Nixon was given an easy road in his early political career and later while an isolated President he reacted badly to pressures and was easily played by his advisors, such as Dr Kissenger.There, that's my best MoDo impersonation of the trials of Obama.
Everything. . . absolutely EVERYTHING. . . confirms conservative beliefs!
Well, that's because conservatism is a form of realism: it takes a jaundiced view of human nature, it recognizes limits to all schemes for human betterment, etc.
"[H]e relocated to China just after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001."
Okie dokie.
traditionalguy - I remember Nixon was given an easy road in his early political career and later while an isolated President he reacted badly to pressures and was easily played by his advisors, such as Dr Kissenger.
Nixon really wasn't someone I associate with handling stress poorly. He was regarded by contemporaries in WWII, in Eisenhower's Administration - as having an iron will and superb under pressure.
What Nixon did that hurt him tremendously in the long run was ditching most of his inner circle out of hubris following his landslide 1972 victory...then losing the remainder of his trusted advisors to Watergate indictments. That isolated him. And in the final days, the only people he had left to fall back on were his trusted Marine aide de camp, Kissinger, Manolo the manservant, his national security advisor, and some loopy Rabbi.Korlff - something...
The curse of a guy who preferred the solitary decision-making path. Reagan was similar, aloof. Though not the introvert Nixon was, a far better communicator, though not close to Nixon's intellect. The stars just aligned better for Reagan. Had Iran-Contra acquired velocity, Reagan might have had last days like Nixons..isolated but for "Mommy".
Fortunately for Reagan and then Clinton later, the People looked at the damage "pursuing justice" caused the nation during Watergate and had no enthusiasm for doing what was done to Nixon and the country with Reagan or Bubba.
This is what America's 44th president would look like if he shaved his head, wore a bandanna, favored black T-shirts, sported an earring in his left ear, and had a whole bunch of plastic surgery on his face to make him look like a different person.
C-4...I admired Nixon's smarts concerning China, ending the Draft, Clean water act, and his single handed saving of Israel from extinction on October 9-10, 1973. But seeing the Watergate films and interviews and recordings of Nixon leaves you wondering how could have fooled so many people for so long that he was fearlessly in control. He just had extraordinary courage. Thank God for that trait, which is THE trait especially need in Presidents.
Everything. . . absolutely EVERYTHING. . . confirms conservative beliefs!
I know. Makes you wonder why anyone would believe anything else.
Freeman Hunt: "What is the reporter talking about? They don't look alike at all."
To the mainstream media, they all look alike.
Mark seems a lot happier than his older brother. I know looks can be deceiving, but I just don't remember seeing that older brother smiling as unassumingly. Rather, his smiles seem almost staged.
And, I think I would rather know Mark than his brother. He seems like an interesting person.
And, yes, I was more impressed with his credentials than his brother's. You don't get those degrees through Affirmative Action.
Agree - the half-brother's academic degrees are more impressive.
What do you suppose Obama is hiding, never releasing any college transcripts? That he was an AA admit extraordinaire throughout? But everyone assumes that, anyway, so I think it must be something else...
The MBA degree was not easy and was unlikely an affirmative action admissiom Emory/Goizueta is a top ranked program. In a way a move to China was a smart move for any American citizen with that education after 2000. There is a rumor that Jobs are very strong and high paying there.
Jobs? What are those? Haven't seen any of those in nearly a year....
What do you suppose Obama is hiding, never releasing any college transcripts? That he was an AA admit extraordinaire throughout? But everyone assumes that, anyway, so I think it must be something else...
I'm guessing he got decent grades, but it's probably the type of courses he took and the kind of papers he wrote. What has dribbled out, e.g., his puerile article for a Columbia student magazine, indicates a pretty lefty and thoughtless conformity: anybody remember the "nuclear freeze" movement? If that freeze had happened, the Cold War would still be going on.
They look somewhat alike, you can guess they are related but it is far from conclusive they are brothers. That said, Obama's father was a jerk for the way he abandoned wives and kids. But he is not the first man to do that. I guess I am not surprised by Mark Obama Ndesandjo's accusations and they certainly could be true. But then again, the old man is dead and unable to respond to them.
Slightly OT, but I see some of the usual suspects trying to score points on the Bush brothers. While I have a couple of issues with Dubya (spending and letting Henry Paulson have his way last fall), as far as I know, Jeb Bush doesn't have anything to compare him to Billy Carter or Roger Clinton (or, for that matter, Billy Clinton, an equally scuzzy excuse for humanity).
As for Neil Bush, those who wish to look at the facts will quickly see that Justice tried to roust him and then get him to sign one of those "even though I did nothing wrong, I promise I'll never do it again" documents (I'm sure Althouse can elaborate). Dad, very rightly, told him to tell Justice to stick it someplace.
If you want to go after goofy Presidential brothers, feel free, but go after ones that have it coming.
WV "aplot" What almost all porno movies don't have.
Kissinger, Manolo the manservant, his national security advisor
Kissinger *was* the NSA.
Who was the Marine?
Shanna wrote:
I was amused that reading a book in mandarin is important enough to include in a write-up.
Were you really? Do you think it all that inconsequential? I think it is a big deal if true, but I'm not an expert like you, I guess. BTW, Dream of the Red Chamber is written in 18th century vernacular Chinese. Here's a sample page. (Let us know when you figure out where the punctuation marks are, or where the sentences begin and end ;-)
The reporter's real error was failing to know that Mandarin is the primary spoken dialect and not the written word, which is substantially the same for all dialects of Chinese. But you knew that, didn't you?
AJ Lynch said...
"Is there any undisputable evidence that Barack Obama Sr. was really "brilliant"?"
Well, brilliant is perhaps a stretch. Very, very few people are actually brilliant, and for all his obvious smarts Barack does not seem to be brilliant. But give Senior some credit. He fathered some pretty accomplished sons.
Re Obama's grades: most candidates don't release them because they aren't very relevant. Perhaps they were a little more so in Obama's case because of the claims made about him, but so what if he didn't release his grades?
And so what if they were not stellar. It would not necessarily show that he's stupid--he very likely is not. It could just be that he was a fuck off.
Now his medical records? Those are relevant and I still have the feeling he's hiding something. Shades of JFK.
it truly amazes me how some of these posts are incredibly judgmental and so remarkably short sighted in their judgment of Barack's relationship to his parents and to his grand parents. If you'll recall, Barack is *named after* his father, and he writes that the family he grew up with continually talked about how great his dad was ... growing up, being NAMED for your dad, and with your family talking about how great he was, how could a child not seek him out.
Lets also not forget the 'otherness' that Obama described feeling, and how he felt he had to raise himself to be a black man .... i'm sure that also contributed to his seeking out of his father ..
And seeking out his father absolutely does not mean that he didnt absolutely adore his mom and grandparents. He clearly adored his mom and grandparents .... maybe he'll write about about that too and then you naysayers will be appeased.
and for those of you projecting your own circumstances onto obama's life and then being angry that he didnt do what you did, you should really get over yourselves: his life was not your life.
danielle said...
Lets also not forget the 'otherness' that Obama described feeling, and how he felt he had to raise himself to be a black man .... i'm sure that also contributed to his seeking out of his father ..
Get real, honey. Obambi was "invented" by Mommy and Grandad and Frank Marshall Davis and Rev. Wright and William Ayers. What is his was created to game the system, which he did quite well until actually required to do something.
I think that another reason that it would be interesting to see President Obama's grades and test scores is to see if he really is as brilliant as his supporters claim, or an affirmative action admittee like his detractors claim.
That said, I think it likely that in terms of "book smarts" he is likely smarter than our last President and his two opponents (who both appear to have done even worse than Bush in college and with test scores). Oh, and his VP. (And probably both McCain and Palin too). That wouldn't make him brilliant though, and, I seriously doubt if he is anywhere near the same class intellectually as the two most disgraced presidents of the second half of the 20th Century (Nixon and Clinton).
Oh, or can play golf nearly as well as Gerald Ford did.
Ralph L. - Kissinger moved to Secreatry of State in 1973. Brent Scowcroft became "acting" NSA. And he was loyal to Nixon.
The Marine aide de camp accompanied Nixon into exile and played a critical role getting both Nixons through medical emergencies in the next few years..as well as being Nixon's right hand man as his post-exile chief-of-staff. That was Jack Brennan.
Drew W. wrote: "I was always wondered when Obama would produce a shady and/or stupid and/or embarrassing brother. . . "
Barack has eight half siblings. One of them, George, was interviewed in his shack in a Kenyan shantytown last summer. Didn't seem like a bad guy, just dirt poor.
Barack doesn't look like his half-brother Mark, nor does he look like his father, but he looks almost exactly like his maternal grandfather, Stanley Dunham. Do a Google image search on him and you'll see. Same jaw line, same protruding ears, same eyes
Nixons through medical emergencies
I remember when Nixon had phlebitis. I'd have sworn that Ford made K SoS, but there was a joke that Ford would make K half the cabinet which I may be confusing.
AJL -- When did Brown go to Pass / Fail? This guy would have gone to Brown when --- 20 + years ago?
Nomilk -- but it's probably the type of courses he took and the kind of papers he wrote.
Yeah, but the grades aren't the deal, it's the COURSES and the content of the papers that count. With Frank Marshal Davis as his guru, his grandfather a fellow traveler, and a mother educated in a private school for communism, I am interested in his classes, instructors, and activities.
I believe his time in NYC may have overlapped with Bill Ayers. Wonder how much time did they hang out together in the leftest NY culture if it did?
Salamandyr -- I am with you. As a counselor (therapist) his pursuing his African heritage is very quirky and more than weird. This guy, the sr. Obama, was a loser. Of course, he also was a Marxist (like Davis) and so was probably painted in a more favorable light by Davis. (I wish that pigs could fly -- no wait -- I wish that the Amercian MSM had been more forceful in investigating Senator Obama campaigning for Odinga [sharia law for me and thee] in Kenya, given his position and the bloody riots it involved. See? Pigs flying would have been easier.)
If the Barack Obama Sr. did beat his other American wife and child, it would totally not be a surprise to me that Stanley (she was what 17 - 18? when she had Barry?) was abused.
Senior Obama's alchoholism has been documented elsewhere -- and IIRC (no guarantee of that ;-) ) he died in a DUI car wreck?
BTW, did Obama mention Mark in his book(s)?
I'm really getting freaked out by all the parallels between Obama and Jimmy Carter. If this guy starts marketing Obama Beer, we'll know the conspiracy is real.
I think that it would actually be interesting to read this book whether or not this book written by President Obama’s half brother is true or not. I grew up in a home with an abusive alcoholic and it is interesting to read how people deal with someone who is in their life suffering from alcoholism. I am not a big fan of Barak Obama but I believe if this book is true and I see what kind of home President Obama was raised in because of the alcoholism, I might learn to respect him as a person more. From reading the article about President Obama’s half brother, I like the fact that he does not seem like your typical sibling of a famous person just publishing books to make money off the famous sibling’s fortunate outcomes in life. He seems like a very well rounded person who could care less if his half brother was President of the United States or stay at home father.
some people try to belittle both Obama's achievements, by saying that they would not have attained them without Affirmative Action, you delude yourselves. You try to belittle other people's achievements, because you have no way of explaining your failures. grow up, and face your demons!
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