Okey then! Describe to me your analysis of the picture! Apaarently YOU’RE the one with a personal agenda.
(re: Obama’s political endorsement of Odinga) http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2008/aug/20/jerome-corsi/obama-did-not-take-sides-in-kenya/
“Barack Obama “openly supported (opposition leader) Raila Odinga during his visit to Africa in 2006.”
Obama did not take sides in Kenya
A new book — The Obama Nation by Jerome R. Corsi — attacks Barack Obama as a political extremist. Taken as a whole, the book’s primary argument is that Obama is a likely communist sympathizer with ties to Islam who has skillfully hidden his true agenda as he ruthlessly pursues elected office.
We found factual problems with Corsi’s book and question its overall tone; read our extended story here.
Corsi’s description of Obama’s role in Kenyan politics is filled with errors and innuendo. Corsi focuses on a 2006 trip Obama made to Africa as a U.S. senator. The visit included stops in South Africa, Kenya and Chad.
Obama’s trip came about a year before elections were scheduled in Kenya. On one side was incumbent President Mwai Kibaki; one of his main challengers was Raila Odinga.
Corsi alleges in his book that Obama openly supported Odinga, because Obama wanted to avenge his father’s tribe, the Luo, against rival tribes. Corsi also suggests that Odinga is a socialist and was part of an alliance with Muslims to expel Christians in Kenya.
There are a number of problems here. First, we reported previously that Odinga is not a socialist . The alliance Corsi describes between Muslims and socialists seems conjecture at best. Corsi himself says his case hinges on a secret memo that he admits may or may not exist. Corsi then states that Odinga “professes to be an Anglican Christian” but adds that “concerns even today continue to circulate among Kenya’s Christian leaders ... that Odinga intends to pursue an undeclared radical Islamic political agenda.” His argument here is highly speculative.
What we can confirm is that Obama has remained neutral in Kenyan politics, and did not support Odinga during his trip. Odinga attended some of Obama’s events while Obama was in Kenya, and clearly wanted to associate himself with Obama, but there is no evidence to indicate that Obama “openly supported” Odinga. (We previously reported on a letter from missionaries that alleged Obama contributed to Odinga’s campaign; we rated it Pants on Fire! wrong.)
For this statement, we decided to scour the public record for evidence that Obama supported Odinga. We looked to contemporary accounts of the 2006 trip and found a transcript from an interview Obama gave to a Kenyan newspaper that directly contradicts Corsi’s allegation.
Question: “As you prepared to travel to Kenya you were obviously conscious of two things. One was about being drawn into local politics. The other was the high expectations of what you could do for Kenya now that you are a senator. How did you handle both?”
Obama: “One of the things we try to do is meet with all parties. I met President Kibaki, I met Uhuru Kenyatta, I was with Raila Odinga. We met the government, met the opposition and met other groups such as human rights activists. What I try to do is give a consistent message on what I think U.S.-Kenya relations should be, but not to suggest somehow that I think one party is better than the other. That’s for the Kenyan people to decide.”
Also, Obama’s gave a high-profile speech the need for the country to move beyond corruption and tribal rivalries. This undercuts Corsi’s theory that Obama was motivated by his Luo tribal heritage.
“Finally, ethnic-based tribal politics has to stop,” Obama said in his speech at the University of Nairobi on Aug. 28, 2006. “It is rooted in the bankrupt idea that the goal of politics or business is to funnel as much of the pie as possible to one’s family, tribe, or circle with little regard for the public good. It stifles innovation and fractures the fabric of the society. Instead of opening businesses and engaging in commerce, people come to rely on patronage and payback as a means of advancing. Instead of unifying the country to move forward on solving problems, it divides neighbor from neighbor.”
Corsi states that Obama “openly supported” Raila Odinga. We found public statements from Obama during the trip saying the exact opposite. We found no other evidence to support Corsi’s statement, so we rate his statement False.
Obama’s partisan support for Odinga was considered so transparent, that the Kenyan Government spokesman, Alfred Matua, complained of political posturing to aid Odinga’s election chances: “It is very clear that the senator has been used as a puppet to perpetuate opposition politics,”(“Walking The World Stage” Newsweek 9/11/06).
“This popular internet video at 6:26 in cites Obama’s connection and support for Odinga. An edited version of this internet video exists here and an Obama/Odinga on the campaign trail is here. All 3 video embeds are at Eyeblast.tv...............................................................................................
>The Odinga association may be even more devastating than the Bill Ayers link, because Obama cannot make the “I was only eight years old when this bad stuff happened” excuse. Also, questions are being raised if Obama may have violated the Logan Act. Additionally, Odinga’s thugs were involved in the slaughter of thousands of Kenyans.......................................................
>By mid-February 2008, more than 1,500 Kenyans were killed. Many were slain by machete-armed attackers. More than 500,000 were displaced by the religious strife. Villages lay in ruin. Many of the atrocities were perpetrated by Muslims against Christians..............................................................
>The violence was led by supporters of Raila Odinga, the opposition leader who lost the Dec. 27, 2007, presidential election by more than 230,000 votes. Odinga supporters began the genocide hours after the final election results were announced Dec. 30. Mr. Odinga was a member of Parliament representing an area in western Kenya, heavily populated by the Luo tribe, and the birthplace of Barack Obama’s father..............................................
>Hyman goes into Obama’s coordinated support for Odinga:
>Initially, Mr. Odinga was not the favored opposition candidate to stand in the 2007 election against President Mwai Kibaki, who was seeking his second term. However, he received a tremendous boost when Sen. Barack Obama arrived in Kenya in August 2006 to campaign on his behalf. Mr. Obama denies that supporting Mr. Odinga was the intention of his trip, but his actions and local media reports tell otherwise..................................................
>Mr. Odinga and Mr. Obama were nearly inseparable throughout Mr. Obama’s six-day stay. The two traveled together throughout Kenya and Mr. Obama spoke on behalf of Mr. Odinga at numerous rallies. In contrast, Mr. Obama had only criticism for Kibaki. He lashed out against the Kenyan government shortly after meeting with the president on Aug. 25. “The [Kenyan] people have to suffer over corruption perpetrated by government officials,” Mr. Obama announced.........................................................
>”Kenyans are now yearning for change,” he declared. The intent of Mr. Obama’s remarks and actions was transparent to Kenyans - he was firmly behind Mr. Odinga...............................................................
>Mr. Odinga and Mr. Obama had met several times before the 2006 trip. Reports indicate Mr. Odinga visited Mr. Obama during trips to the U.S. in 2004, 2005 and 2006. Mr. Obama sent his foreign policy adviser Mark Lippert to Kenya in early 2006 to coordinate his summer visit. Mr. Obama’s August trip coincided with strategizing by Orange Democratic Movement leaders to defeat Mr. Kibaki in the upcoming elections. Mr. Odinga represented the ODM ticket in the presidential race........................................................
Nice try spectra.
But his ACTIONS speak, or rather SHOUT clearly to his actual intent, rather than your hollow words.