John Drew: How I Confronted Obama Biographer David Maraniss

American Thinker ^ | November 3, 2012 | John Drew

[maggief]

I pushed the envelope of citizen-journalism a little further this week by introducing myself to Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist David Maraniss. According to Maraniss, his research for Barack Obama: The Story took him to Hawaii, Indonesia, and Kenya. Unfortunately, he did not have the time to Google search me or review any of the five books, multiple blog posts, YouTube videos, or hundreds of websites that feature my take on young Obama's ideological extremism.

Ironically, Maraniss got awfully close to confirming the details of my 1980 Christmas break debate with young Obama -- a debate that reveals just how radical Obama was as a college student. Maraniss reports that young Obama was in the San Francisco area at precisely the time when I indicated I first met and debated him. Maraniss, in fact, talked at length with my college-era Marxist girlfriend, Caroline Boss, at whose home the debate took place. Maraniss goes so far as to report that Caroline was part of the composite character "Regina" in Dreams from My Father.

I managed to converse with Maraniss during his recent visit to my alma mater, Occidental College, on October 29, 2012. My wife Tricia and I arrived at Occidental's Thorne Hall early and picked out seats near the front. I learned that Maraniss sees young Obama as a largely apolitical figure generally interested more in personal growth than in raw political power.

[SatinDoll]

An apolitical person doesn’t have the Saudi Royal family paying for his university education and supporting him financially so he can become one of their operatives in our Federal government.

[marktwain]

Thank you for all of your work.

[hattend]

BTTT