So, if you've been in a bubble the last twenty-four hours, you might have missed that the man sporting America's Favorite Combover has offered $5 MILLION to President Obama's charity of choice if the President will release his college transcripts and applications and a few passport details.
I'm not a Birther in the strictest sense of the meaning, but I have to agree with Donald Trump when he indicates this is a very secretive president. Why do we know so little about young Obama? And why do we not consider it batshit crazy that a U.S. President wrote a fabricated autobiography?
Dreams From My Father has a disclaimer in the front:
”For the sake of compression, some of the characters that appear are composites of people I’ve known, and some events appear out of precise chronology. With the exception of my family and a handful of public figures, the names of most characters have been changed for the sake of their privacy.”
Hey I write composite characters, too, but it's called fiction. We have a President who is delighted to provide a fictional accounting of his life in hopes we like him better.
Which brings me back to my first question: What would it take for you to reveal your deepest, darkest secret?
I'm easy here. A few years ago I made a concerted effort to live full-out, all the time. I cleaned up whatever lies I'd told myself and stories I'd let others assume and let it all hang out. Oh, it wasn't pretty, but darn it. It's so much easier! And I'm a lot more fun now.
You will be spared. I shall not provide a list of my secrets, because technically I don't have any now. For me it was a matter of living authentically and it was a gift I gave myself. You can have my college transcripts for the asking if you'd like, though. They are kind of awesome.
But why is President Obama so quiet about his past? Why do his ancestors make their way into stories under one set of details only to have those details unwound when the stories are obviously untrue?
I have my own answer. I'll probably lay it out in the comments later. But I want to know what you think. Bring it on.
atthec44
1:47 pm on Thursday, October 25, 2012
We’re about to find out that BHO is hiding something, or we’re about to find out what he’s hid.
St. Swithin
2:00 pm on Thursday, October 25, 2012
You and the rest of the Birthers have fun together. While you are prying up secrets you can dig up Romney's tax returns. I can confidently predict that your 'answer' about the 'secrecy' of the most public figure in the world will turn out to be unprovable bunk. Meanwhile the sane people will concern ourselves with things like the economy, jobs, welfare, wars, etc.
H.E. Pennypacker
2:04 pm on Thursday, October 25, 2012
Too bad that Barack Hussein Obama is throwing that $5million away, what exactly is he hiding on his college transcripts? Passport? Think of all of the good that money would do for the needy. Too bad Obama is so selfish.
James R Hoffa
3:36 pm on Thursday, October 25, 2012
@St. Swithin -
"Meanwhile the sane people will concern ourselves with things like the economy, jobs, welfare, wars, etc."
You must be voting third party then, as the Democrats are recently concerning themselves with things such as Big Bird, 'binders full of women,' the aforementioned Romney's personal tax returns, comments about rape made by GOP hopefuls, Gloria Allred, etc. Definitely not the issues that you appear to be concerned about.
So, what candidate are you supporting in this election - Jill Stein?
Craig
2:59 pm on Thursday, October 25, 2012
St. Swithin:
http://www.snopes.com/politics/obama/birthers/booklet.asp
When there are repeated 'errors' in a person's past, usually it means the truth is hidden or redacted.
Bert
4:23 pm on Thursday, October 25, 2012
Penny - seems to me that Trump is the selfish one. Why not just give the money to charity without the publicity stunt? Oh, right, Trump is nothing BUT a big publicity stunt.
Luke
10:02 pm on Thursday, October 25, 2012
@Bert
He gives a lot to charity. He's not a Democrat.
CowDung
2:06 pm on Thursday, October 25, 2012
What would be so secretive that one would spend $1.4 million to block access to those 'secrets'? What happened to Obama's pledge to bring openness and transparency to the presidency?
"A nation-wide network of researchers has sprung up to attempt to fill in the blanks, but at every opportunity Obama’s high-priced lawyers have built walls around various records or simply made them disappear. It is estimated that Obama’s legal team has now spent well over $1.4 million dollars blocking access to documents every American should have access to. The question is why would he spend so much money to do this? "
http://www.westernjournalism.com/exclusive-investigative-reports/the-mystery-of-barack-obama-continues/
Bert
4:22 pm on Thursday, October 25, 2012
So, who shot Kennedy? How did NASA fake the moon landing? And is Hitler really dead? Barnum was definitely right - there's one born every minute.
Johnny Blade
1:21 pm on Friday, October 26, 2012
As long as Bert keeps gettin his free stuff he doesn't care if Hilter was in office
Cindy Kilkenny
2:14 pm on Thursday, October 25, 2012
Come on guys. What about your own secrets?
James R Hoffa
3:36 pm on Thursday, October 25, 2012
Do you really want Hoffa to disclose all of his mafia connections and the people that he has had whacked out over the years?
Jay Sykes
8:21 pm on Thursday, October 25, 2012
I've got one about Hoffa and Schmitz. I'll reveal it for just 50 bucks.
Mafia Mike
9:41 am on Friday, October 26, 2012
If I told you, I'd have to kill you. Hahahaha!!!!! {:-D)
Randy1949
3:38 pm on Friday, October 26, 2012
I don't think anyone would give a damn, much less pay $5 million for them.
Avenging Angel
2:18 pm on Thursday, October 25, 2012
@Cindy, A Wonder Woman throwing her lasso around me would do it for me.
scott
2:59 pm on Thursday, October 25, 2012
Would George Bush have gotten away with this? Hell no they were insencenced at everything he ever did. This could be all cleared up but the main stream media has not done thier job from the get go!
Bert
4:19 pm on Thursday, October 25, 2012
If your teachers had done THEIR jobs, perhaps spelling and grammar wouldn't be such a problem for you. As for the media, it has done its job. That's why these racist witch hunts only exist in the conspiracy-fixated world of loony-toon right wing websites.
scott
8:10 am on Friday, October 26, 2012
Well Burt spelling really isn't a problem for me - but hey you done just what liberals do take your shot at a poor defenceless teacher. By the way they tried; I just never gave a shit.
Craig
2:59 pm on Thursday, October 25, 2012
If the American people can demand tax records from one candidate, why can't they demand college transcripts of another?
Columbia University will not release information, but people who were there at the time Obama was have interesting things to say.
Bob McBride
3:23 pm on Thursday, October 25, 2012
I don't have any secrets worth $5.00, much less that plus any number additional zeroes to the left of the decimal point.
As for this deal with Obama and Trump, chalk it up to Trump's bi-monthly effort to get his name front and center for any reason whatsoever. All that crap might have been interesting prior to his first term in office for some, but now it's completely moot. He'll be judged on his performance in office. If we're to go by the numbers du jour, a good half the nation thinks his performance was none too stellar and they're willing to give his opponent a shot rather than stumble along for another 4.
James R Hoffa
3:47 pm on Thursday, October 25, 2012
No need to repeat yourself Bob - you usually come off as pretty clear and concise with one reading ;-)
Bob McBride
4:05 pm on Thursday, October 25, 2012
I was told it was "two for the price of one" day here on Patch.
Actually, the first one was in quarantine and the second one wasn't, initially, but then it was. Thankfully I didn't keep going or there'd be 3 or 4 of them. 1 was definitely more than enough. I'll fix that.
St. Swithin
4:18 pm on Thursday, October 25, 2012
I second what Bob said. At this point his past is irrelevant. For four years he's been carrying around the nuclear football. He's had the FBI and the CIA at his beck and call. He's checked out all the secret rooms in the White House. Anyone still ranting on about college records and birth certificates is being pedantic. Judge him by his last four years.
Johnny Blade
1:18 pm on Friday, October 26, 2012
Your right St Swindler .. why have laws, hey if my work found out i lied about who i was or my grades in college I would be fired, but i guess in your little commie mind as long as your guy is in there, Phuck the laws ehh ... No one has any principles anymore
Greg
3:52 pm on Thursday, October 25, 2012
Five Million Dollars (pinky at corner of the mouth), ask me anything!
Bert
4:16 pm on Thursday, October 25, 2012
This absurd fascination with "proving" that Obama is "not one of us" has a name. Racism. Those who scream loudest about being called out as racists, are likely the ones whose know in their hearts that it's true.
CowDung
4:23 pm on Thursday, October 25, 2012
How it is racism, Bert? Is it at all common for someone to accuse a person of being an immigrant because he's Black?
The questions persist because Obama spent a lot of time overseas during his early years, and Obama seems to be very secretive about his life. How long did it take for him to release a birth certificate? Why is he spending so much money to prevent the release of other documents?
Nuitari
7:08 pm on Thursday, October 25, 2012
Bert, explain your stupidity.
Johnny Blade
1:22 pm on Friday, October 26, 2012
Why not have foreign nationals be president makes sense to me .. If you don't like foreign nationals being our President you are a racist POS
Dean Mundy
6:42 pm on Thursday, October 25, 2012
For $5million, I might share. For free, not a chance :)
Nuitari
7:09 pm on Thursday, October 25, 2012
Thank you Cindy for pointing out Dreams of My Father was indeed a lot of fiction. I like the part about his girlfriend in college. If he ever went to college that is.
DontTreadOnMeEither
8:33 am on Friday, October 26, 2012
Stephen Colbert had it right in his response to Mr. Trump's ridiculous (and redundant) offer. (Google "Colbert + balls")
DontTreadOnMeEither
8:40 am on Friday, October 26, 2012
Is 1990 early enough for you?
http://www.nytimes.com/1990/02/06/us/first-black-elected-to-head-harvard-s-law-review.html
DICK STEINBERG
6:13 pm on Friday, October 26, 2012
Thanx for the info. Harvard Law School is considered as the most prestigious law school in the USA. That alone would be enough for the average law graduate to gain success. This blog is an insult to the military people who fight and die for our country headed by the commander in chief.
Randy1949
6:23 pm on Friday, October 26, 2012
Very interesting. Note his listed place of birth.
AWD
10:01 am on Friday, October 26, 2012
Obama has spent 1.4 million to keep is ‘real’ birth certificate hidden, why? We have not seen any of Obama’s college papers yet we have seen the papers from the three colleges Sarah Palin attended. I ask you, how many competent black doctors, lawyers, and professionals are there in America? Very few. In fact, there are not enough blacks in the U.S. with an IQ high enough to graduate a university to fill the quotas of companies for management positions. Many black people are shuffled through schools, hired by companies, put in a corner office, and given easy work to keep them busy. Where am I going with this? Obama is an affirmative action President. He never had the grades to get into Harvard. Obama has been coddled by white liberals all the way to the top.
Dave Koven
10:25 am on Friday, October 26, 2012
You all realize that if a candidate's grades transcript shows he/she was a poor student, he/she would never hear the end of it. They would not be trusted. If their transcript showed straight A's, they'd never hear the end of it. They'd be pilloried as an "intellectual", a "snob", or a "brainiac", and not be trusted. Worse yet, they'd be told" "if you're so smart, why can't you solve every problem?" Frankly, I don't care where my leaders were born as long as the country benefits from their leadership. We're a country of immigrants. Americans have a love-hate relationship with intelligent people. They need the advances the smart come up with, but they view the intelligent as "mad scientists" or "Dr. Evil". They don't trust them. As a society, Americans are pretty stupid and easily manipulated. For proof of this, look at the political ads we're bombarded with.
Craig
10:34 am on Friday, October 26, 2012
Maybe asking to see the transcripts is less to do with grades, and more about who footed the bill. Maybe there was a free education given here, and maybe it was based on non citizenship. The transcripts may be redacted, but unless they are released we will never know.
Funny that a candidate is forced to release tax transcripts for fishing expeditions.
Randy1949
3:46 pm on Friday, October 26, 2012
@Craig -- I knew a young man, an alumnus of my high school, who went to Harvard on full scholarship. He was legitimately brilliant. Does it matter who footed the bill for it?
What is Trump trying to imply? That Barack Obama took the place of a more deserving white student?
James R Hoffa
3:57 pm on Friday, October 26, 2012
If Barack claimed to be a foreign exchange student or a national of any country other than the United States of America, then wouldn't that mean that Obama committed fraud against those colleges if he really is an American citizen, or fraud in the 2008 election if he really isn't a citizen?
And last Hoffa checked, that kind of fraud is still a crime.
Randy1949
4:02 pm on Friday, October 26, 2012
Why does Donald Trump suspect this? He seems to have no actual evidence, or else he'd be releasing it.
I'd like to see Trump's college transcripts, myself, or maybe his SATs. We could all have a good laugh.
CowDung
4:12 pm on Friday, October 26, 2012
I think that's what they thought when they looked at GW Bush's college grades. It was all fun and laughs until it came out that Algore had lower grades than the guy they were trying to paint as the 'dummy'...
James R Hoffa
6:49 pm on Friday, October 26, 2012
@Randy1949 -
Is Trump running for public office?
Randy1949
6:51 pm on Friday, October 26, 2012
He was. He might decide to try again. Let's discourage him.
James R Hoffa
6:54 pm on Friday, October 26, 2012
@Randy1949 -
When was Trump formally and actively running for public office as a declared candidate?
Hoffa wasn't aware of this - can you provide a link?
mau
2:25 pm on Friday, October 26, 2012
Yes I have a few secrets which shall remain secrets. By my standards they were unacceptable but by today's standards they would be considered normal behavior.
Notice that polygamy is not an issue that the media is harping about during this election. I wonder why :)
Randy1949
4:04 pm on Friday, October 26, 2012
I don't think either side wants to open the issue of polygamy.
DICK STEINBERG
6:24 pm on Friday, October 26, 2012
Charity and Politics do not mix well. This blog is also an insult to legitimate charities that are not political in nature.
Lyle Ruble
7:14 am on Saturday, October 27, 2012
Since when is it a sin to maintain a certain level of privacy and control of information about oneself. I have enough skeletons in my closet that I don't want to share with the world. I would like to think I'm the norm rather than the exception.
Donald Trump is an ego maniac and will do anything to get publicity. I personally don't care about Obama's transcripts or Romney's tax returns. For the political right if transcripts were so important, then why are they demanding the release of Scott Walker's MU transcripts? Beyond being hypocritical, it just doesn't matter.
One of the casualties of the Information Age is privacy.
Bob McBride
8:06 am on Saturday, October 27, 2012
The left was calling for the release of Scott Walker's MU records during the recall temper tantrum, so I guess hypocritical goes both ways.
Calling for the release of records that either can't be produced due to legal or security concerns or that won't be produced because they're immaterial and doing so would be open the floodgates to non-stop requests for similar crap is a time honored tradition in our political system.
Rather than getting our undies in a bundle over the same thing repeatedly, maybe we should be asking how much longer we're going to continue to participate in this foolishness? It wouldn't keep coming up if we didn't all respond as desired over and over again. In this case, Donald Trump got exactly what he desired by utilizing it, as did the press, the talking heads...all the way down to rock bottom - this level - where we can swat each other over the heads with it.
If you truly want it to stop, don't play along.
Lyle Ruble
8:09 am on Saturday, October 27, 2012
@Bob McBride...Amen!
Cindy Kilkenny
8:28 am on Saturday, October 27, 2012
@Bob and @Lyle - I made the very same argument about Scott Walker in my book:
http://www.amazon.com/Scott-Walkers-Wisconsin-Conservative-ebook/dp/B009E6CPKO
Greg
8:44 am on Saturday, October 27, 2012
$2.99 ??? Who do you think we are, Trump?
DICK STEINBERG
6:39 pm on Saturday, October 27, 2012
Cindy. The only comment you have made is to promote your book. You either promote your own ego or something else that sells. Your fairly conservative blog filters comments with either blocking them or having your followers back you up. You criticize a candidate and then back him/her when it looks like a winnner; you write about the failures of the Governor and your own Mayor and them back them when they are looking good; You tout yourself as a candidate for Alderman and then get cold feet because of a little extra effort; you hide behind your computer and refuse to have a face to face meeting with you know who; you resent a local Alderman because he challenged your ability; you research with fever every issue to make you look like a professor; you want to have political influence but admit you do not have time to work in the trenches. Cindy, you ask for our secrets but have not released yours. I like the times better when we took someone at their word.