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.

[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.