“of course there’s no reference to Stanley Ann Dunham traveling to Kenya.”
Well, I’m not sure what merits “of course.” Dreams From my Father was published in 1995 right after BHO finished law school and before he entered politics.
I realize BHO expressed aspirations to becoming president in grade school, but do people honestly believe he wrote that book with an eye to establishing his eligibility for president? After all, it’s chock full of not-so-complimentary info about his father, including the fact that he was already married when the alleged marriage to BHO’s mother occurred in 1961, that he abandoned them, that his mother then had yet another failed marriage etc.
Was BHO so prescient and arrogant that even in the aftermath of Jesse Jackson’s failed attempts in 1984 and 1988, he could envision that in 13 short years America would be ready to embrace a black candidate with such a checkered family background? That seems like a big stretch.
What I meant was that if there were a reference in the book to Ann Dunham traveling to Kenya, then there would be a solid basis for theorizing that Obama was born there. There isn't.
As far as the timeframe of the book, of course it was written to further his political career, and he used it as a campaign tool when he ran for state senate in '95, and as he says in the preface to the 2004 edition, he had a chance to revise the book (which was originally a flop), but he didn't.
Of course he intentionally included the dirt about his father, as well as other unsavory characters, as a preemptory strike, since there was no way he could have hidden it under the glare of the national spotlight in the internet age. What he did though, was weave the facts into a story of angst about his racial identity, making chronology and the complete story so disjointed and confusing that it's a safe bet that at least 90% of those who bought the book have never read more than a few pages. And the strategy worked, most especially with the media, most of whom haven't read it either, but simply use it to repeat the same contradictory timelines and disjointed narrative.
Being a somewhat perfect specimen of megalomaniacal narcissist, Obama's ambition knows no bounds. He has supreme confidence in himself, disdain for the intelligence of anyone other than himself, and has led a life where all doors have opened easily for him, while he essentially BS's his way through school and life.
If he thinks he's qualified to be president with no real accomplishments or proven leadership ability, then he would certainly think that a tawdry family history full of holes and half-truths wasn't an impediment.
I realize BHO expressed aspirations to becoming president in grade school, but do people honestly believe he wrote that book with an eye to establishing his eligibility for president?
Hard to say. After all, Jean Carrié took a super-8 camera to Vietnam to film his exploits to run in a future campaign to depict himself as a war hero.
Then he found out that war wasn't popular and back-stabbed the real heros.