Cuisines from My Stepfather [Mark Steyn]

National Review ^ | 4/28/2012 | Mark Steyn

[Servant of the Cross]

A couple of days ago, Obama-campaign top dog David Axelrod threw in the towel on the dog war. “I thought it was a little absurd to talk about what the president had done as a ten-year-old boy,” he sniffed to MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell, which is as near as the suddenly sheepish attack dog will ever get to conceding that Barack Obama is the first dog-eating president in the history of the republic. For those coming late to the feud, the Democrats started it, assiduously promoting accounts of a 1983 Romney vacation to Canada in which the family pooch Seamus rode on the roof of the car. Axelrod and the boys thought they could have some sport with this, and their poodles in the media eagerly played along. The New York Times columnist Gail Collins alone has referred to it dozens of times.

And then Jim Treacher, the sharp-eyed wag of the Daily Caller, uncovered this passage from Chapter Two of Obama’s bestselling but apparently largely unread memoir Dreams from My Father, in which the author recalls childhood meals with his stepfather Lolo Soetoro:

I was introduced to dog meat (tough), snake meat (tougher), and roasted grasshopper (crunchy). Like many Indonesians, Lolo followed a brand of Islam that could make room for the remnants of more ancient animist and Hindu faiths. He explained that a man took on the powers of whatever he ate: One day soon, he promised, he would bring home a piece of tiger meat for us to share.

[Servant of the Cross]

Mark Steyn 'let's the dogs out'. Woof.

[Diogenesis]

Steyn makes light of what the MSM has in store for Romney. That said,

[samtheman]

How much is that doggy on the menu?

[yldstrk]

my dad ate Russian food, piroshki, pelmeny, twelve layer cake, borscht. My grandmother could do everything, reupholster, cook like an angel, knit, crochet, sew, she knitted us all sailor sweaters, she made my Chatty Cathy a green velvet coat and a pink flowered dress with a satin sash, she made my First Communion Dress. They had all survived 3 years in a Japanese concentration camp during WW2. People used to be better than they are now.

[shooter223]

A dog makes a fine meal.

[Aevery_Freeman]

It’s not just that Obama ate the dog, but that he’s screwing the pooch.

Wow! Mark Steyn, the Bard of the Barb.

[chuck_the_tv_out]

I’m a member of rushlimbaugh.com, and I like to know when Steyn stands in as I make a special effort to listen. But now the archives section doesn’t show who stands in

[Scotswife]

bestselling buy largely unread..

LOL!!!!

I’ve often wondered how many libs have actually read these books they proudly display on their shelves.

[Conservative Vermont Vet]

"Obama is correct that certain cultures believe a man takes on the powers of whatever he eats. In Liberia, where presidential contests are somewhat more primal than in this effete republic, Samuel Doe was captured by some of his eventual successor’s, ah, campaign staff, who cut off President Doe’s ears and then fed them to him.

They then removed His Excellency’s genitals and wound up in a fight over who should get them, believing that the still not quite yet late president’s powers would be transferred to whoever got to chow down on the crown jewels. I’m not suggesting that President Obama has eaten a human penis, because, if he had, he’d almost certainly have boasted about it to the impressionable NPR ninnies who gobbled up his memoirs. But I am suggesting that Mitt Romney might like to consider it for next year’s Inauguration Day.

I jest — just in case the Secret Service are taking a break from their Colombian hookers and are minded to investigate me for a threat against what Joe Biden would call the “big stick.”

Ooh, that one's gonna sting. lol

Steyn strikes again.

He has to be the master of the double entendre and not so subtle nuances aimed squarely at Dear Leader and the Demo-Rats.

Thing is, he makes it seem effortless and so easy to decimate them, that its almost not fair.

Ooh, that one's gonna sting. lol

I'm betting must be at the very top (probably right next to Rush) on the White Hut's most despised list.

[Malone LaVeigh]

. I’m not suggesting that President Obama has eaten a human penis, because, if he had, he’d almost certainly have boasted about it to the impressionable NPR ninnies who gobbled up his memoirs.

You may not want to suggest it Mark, but a lot of others certainly have.

[bert]

———It seems President Obama is the first male in his line not to be a polygamist. ——

Except that in modern America polygamy is replaced in urban black society by promiscuity. Promiscuity practicers don’t get married and have their babies raised by grandmothers or aborted. The fact is, America doesn’t know the magnitude of Obama black societal promiscuity and how many Jesse Jackson like fathered bastards are floating around Cambridge or Chicago.

[Calvin Locke]

Shame on the pubbie campaign consultants that didn't bother to read BHO's BS too.

I remember the news reports of the first Clinton-Gore campaign worried about the factual errors and outrageous statements Gore penned in "Earth in Balance".

The book advance biz is notorious for laundering bribes and payoffs.

Kudos to the libs that actually spend their own money buying the books, rather than unions, organizations, countries, etc.

[basil]

Ping!

[Scotswife]

Well I don’t know if they aren’t actually reading the books?
Or they have poor memory?

Many times I have made this or that statement about Obama to a lib friend, and I’ll get the inevitable question...”where did you hear that garbage? Fox News?”
And I’ll say...”no...it’s in Obama’s autobiography. You’ve read it right?...”

[Paine in the Neck]

[Last Dakotan]

This "dog on roof of car" story has me once again in amazement at the Democrat/Media machine.

Just look at how fast it was picked up, told and retold. On Leno, Stewart, Colbert, NYT, USA Today, Newsweek etc, etc.

I'll bet you could not find a conscious American who did not hear of the story within one week.

[Servant of the Cross]

Steyn ping.

[Servant of the Cross]

You make some very good points regarding the 'modern America polygamy'.

Also, as suggested in post 10, the 'polygamy' of 0bama in and around Cambridge or Chicago may not have been of the procreative type.

[Tax-chick]

I’m not suggesting that President Obama has eaten a human penis, because, if he had, he’d almost certainly have boasted about it to the impressionable NPR ninnies who gobbled up his memoirs.

Yet another just-sufficiently-veiled reference to Zero's homosexuality.

[Last Dakotan]

It’s not just that Obama ate the dog, but that he’s screwing the pooch.

Jeez, stop it with the attacks on Michelle...

[Tax-chick]

So, instead of, “How many wives did he have?” we could be asking, “How many wives has he been?”

[layman]

He explained that a man took on the powers of whatever he ate

Well, that explains Hussein's long, skinny grasshopper-like legs and his reptile-like personality. I guess he only humps on visitors' legs in private.

[mombonn]

He explained that a man took on the powers of whatever he ate. . .

Evidently the president has also feasted generously on weasel throughout his life.

[spokeshave]

I was introduced to dog meat (tough), snake meat (tougher), and roasted grasshopper (crunchy)

I think he lies.....and / or someone else wrote his autobiography.

snake is not necessarily tough...as anyone from London who has eaten jellied eels can testify.....eel is the aquatic version of snake.

same with dog ...the toughness or otherwise depends on the preparation and cooking.

[Last Dakotan]

I note that Bo is seldom without his leash. No matter where the photo op occurs, his leash is dragging behind him, inside or out. I can't recall any dog owners I know, myself included, who keep their pets leashed inside the house. And more often than not, it's the President and the Mrs. who are photographed with Bo, not the Obama girls. Anyone want to bet how long Bo remains a beloved family pet (convenient political tool) after the Obamas leave the White House? Hopefully, he won't come to the same tragic end as Buddy, the Clinton's White House dog. I'm skeptical of any President who never owned a dog prior to arriving at the White House, but obtains one soon after he does.

[Servant of the Cross]

I think he lies.....and / or someone else wrote his autobiography ... snake is not necessarily tough ...

More proof that Weatherman terrorist Ayers actually wrote this made-up crap.

[aruanan]

snake is not necessarily tough...as anyone from London who has eaten jellied eels can testify.....eel is the aquatic version of snake.

An aquatic snake is the aquatic version of a snake. An eel is a fish.

And it's sort of weird that for food he is primarily commenting on texture rather than taste. I've had fried grasshoppers, though, and although a little crunchy, the primary consideration was taste. They tasted great.

[Tax-chick]

They tasted great.

That's because they were fried!

[aruanan]

He explained that a man took on the powers of whatever he ate.

[Mr Ramsbotham]

I heard that Obama once had a Pomeranian. Deee-licious!

[freeangel]

To admit to having eaten a dog would be the first step to admitting the pos potus is from a different culture and should never have been elected.

[JLS]

Mark Steyn ping.

Freepmail me, if you want on or off the Mark Steyn ping list.

Thanks for the ping Servant of the Cross.

[GOPJ]

Obama’s father was a polygamist; his grandfather was a polygamist; and his great-grandfather was a polygamist who had one more wife (five in total) than Romney’s great-grandfather. It seems President Obama is the first male in his line not to be a polygamist.

ping

[Henry Hnyellar]

Obama has been an “urban polygamist” as a homosexual.

[TheCipher]

I’m not suggesting that President Obama has eaten a human penis..

I think Reggie Love knows the answer to that one.

[Yaelle]

Lol! Obama is the first man in his lineage NOT to be polygamous!

[Salamander]

Run, Bo!

Run!

[SamAdams76]

I’ve often wondered how many libs have actually read these books they proudly display on their shelves. I can immediately ascertain the political views of people just by seeing what kind of books they display in their homes. Conservatives tend to have books that they have actually read a time or two, as the bindings are well-worn and pages are dog-eared. Lot of history books, novels tend to be books of action like Mark Twain, Jack London, Tom Clancy, C.F Forester, W.E.B. Griffin. Biographies of high achievers like Churchill, Washington, Edison, Eisenhower Benjamin Franklin. Some Ayn Rand will be in there as well as J.R.R. Tolkien and a whole mess of practical do-it-yourself books.

On the other hand, liberals go for the coffee table books. The type of books that you prominently display to show how enlightened and educated you are. Such as the Great Paintings of Monet or the Encyclopedia of Wine. These books are in pristine condition and dusted off by the cleaning people weekly. If you dare pick one of these up and attempt to open the cover, you will get a dirty look from the host.

The bookshelves will invariably feature biographies of people like Nelson Mandela, Alger Hiss and Vladmir Lenin. Books claiming how folks like Sacco & Vanzetti and the Rosenbergs were framed and on how 9/11 was a Bush conspiracy. Trendy but unreadable novels that normal people will never get through like "World According to Garp" by John Irving and "Ulysses" by James Joyce. With a whole mess of "new age" and "self-help" type books.

[Salamander]

Snake meat would indeed be tough due the configuration of the musculature necessary for each rib to move each belly scale which is a snake's form of locomotion.

This is why the leg/shoulder/rump cuts of beef are tough.

The more the muscle is used, the 'harder' it gets.

[Brom says eating snakes is disgusting]

[Salamander]

In bacon grease!

[Scoutmaster]

In bacon grease!

I don't think Obama's stepfather was allowed to consume swine-derived food products.

A shame. The Fried Grasshoppers recipe Tax-Chick shared with me is deeeee-licious, and it specifically calls for bacon grease.

[Scoutmaster]

Snake meat would indeed be tough due the configuration of the musculature necessary for each rib to move each belly scale which is a snake's form of locomotion.

Makes perfect sense in theory, but there must be exceptions - perhaps based on the method of cooking. I've had fried rattlesnake on quite a few occasions and never considered it to be tough.

[Salamander]

Dogs and snakes are ‘unclean’ so what’s a little pig fat?

LOL

[Slings and Arrows]

I think his feelings were hurt - he’s pouting.

[Salamander]

I've had fried rattlesnake

[skinkinthegrass]

bm

[tet68]

I’ve had rattler just broiled by being laid on rocks
next to the fire, it tasted like chicken, white meat.

Of course we WERE hungry.

[Tax-chick]

That was a Salvadoran delicacy. Their tamales aren’t as good as the Mexican version, but their grasshoppers ... ole’, the hit of the parish festival. And dragons will eat the leftovers.