Memo To The Right: Obama’s Father Is A Stupid Thing To Be Talking About
All day I’ve had people emailing me a link to this story about Obama’s half-brother writing a book in which he talks about their abusive father:
Mr Ndesandjo, who lives in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen, is the son of Barack Obama senior and his third wife, Ruth Nidesand, an American.
In a rare appearance to promote his semi-autobiographical novel, Nairobi to Shenzhen, Mr Ndesandjo said: “My father beat me. He beat my mother. You just do not do that.
That is perhaps interesting in a biographical sort of way, but why does this matter politically? Some people are carrying on as though this has some important bloody meaning for Obama’s service as President. That’s wrong.
Obama couldn’t choose who his father was, and he certainly didn’t have anything to do with his father’s abusive tendencies. Agree or disagree with Obama’s politics, that he was able to overcome a difficult childhood and go on to achieve what he’s achieved is a mark in his favor.
Certainly nothing to be held against him.
