Obama’s high school pot-smoking detailed in Maraniss book

The Ticket ^ | 05/25/2012 | Olivier Knox

[EnigmaticAnomaly]

Bill Clinton he was not. When it came to smoking pot, the teenage Barack Obama had rules. You had to embrace "total absorption" or face a penalty. When you smoked in the car, "the windows had to be rolled up." And he could horn his way in, calling out "Intercepted!" and grab the joint out of turn.

Best-selling author David Maraniss' "Barack Obama: The Story" describes the future president's teenage antics, notably his copious marijuana smoking, details of which were published early Friday by Buzzfeed. While the book won't be released until June 19, vast sections of it were already available Friday on Google Books.

[unixfox]

Good point. Seems like everything else surrounding this guy has been “fixed”

[Gabrial]

Agree completely.

What an absolute horrible message to send to the youth of America.

We have an admitted criminal in the Whitehouse. How is that even possible?

[adorno]

Too bad he never got arrested. We wouldn’t be having this conversation.

How do we know he wasn't?

If he had been arrested, we wouldn't know about it, since, before he started running for the senate, and especially for president, there would have been huge efforts to scrub or expunge any damaging facts in his past, especially arrest records.

We don't know about his college records or about his teenage years or about his whereabouts when he was "calling it in" while a state senator in Illinois. So, it's doubtful that, things such as his arrest records, if any, wouldn't have been hidden from public scrutiny as well.

[RedMonqey]

Ah!!!!! School days memories come flooding.

I and a bunch of my friends, smoked pot just like "Barry" did, at least for a time.(my drug of choice was alochol, "jack in the black", if you please) And I was considerd a redneck/"hood" at the time and not a "stoner,".

And my guess is half the school I went to at least tried pot and this was not a left coast liberal area but at an conservative, the buckle of the Bible Belt state.

If you didn't either you were really "uptight" or just couldn't find it(you weren't looking very hard)

IMHO "Barry" was "hotboxing" (faking) toking the "doobies" at least some of the time.

The real stoners I knew that went to school and contined the habit are dead or working at dead end jobs.

Of course, none of them had connections to get them into high priced universities and were vanilla white poor trash.

[RedMonqey]

Too bad he never got arrested. We wouldn’t be having this conversation.

How do we know he wasn't?


Arrested? In uber-liberal Hawaii on pot charges?

I imagine the cop would asked where he("Barry") got the fine bud, maaaaan.(Best "Cheech and Chong imatation)

[x]

Or he did just well enough to pass and -- with enough playing up to teachers and the advantages given to minority students -- to get a transfer.

Without a lot of cockiness and BS'ing and affirmative action, he might not have made it through, but with enough, it's just possible that he did.

It would be nice if everybody we didn't like came undone and had to cheat to get through school, but it doesn't always happen like that (unless you want to call affirmative action itself cheating).

[QT3.14]

ZerObama In 1980, while a freshman at Occidental College in Los Angeles.

Notice the wedding ring?

[QT3.14]

Does anyone believe that ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, and Fox don’t have the money or manpower to check these stories out? What are they afraid of? My guess is...the truth.

Most had the time and money to expose the Palin family.

Revealing the truth? It reminds me of this quote believed uttered by Orwell:

In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act.

[JustSayNoToNannies]

And my guess is half the school I went to at least tried pot and this was not a left coast liberal area but at an conservative, the buckle of the Bible Belt state.

Not possible - every other FReeper on this thread has assured us that pot is exclusively a liberal vice.

[JustSayNoToNannies]

a pothead kid who is sitting in a private high school....probably graduates only because they inflate the grades.

Except the ones who get 1540 on their SATs and get admitted to MIT (and graduate).

[RedMonqey]

Not possible - every other FReeper on this thread has assured us that pot is exclusively a liberal vice.

Yeah I know of a few people who didn't do things like this(because of overly strict parents) and some went horribly wild or their "spirit" broke and become timid as rabbits. Some of the "rabbits" turned out to be bitter adults who were very judgmental of those who didn't live an "exemplar" life as they did.

I'll let you to "read between the lines."

Despite all the stupid things I did when I was young I only regret a few things.

Smoking pot isn't high(no pun) on the list.

Like the Amish, I had my "Rumspringa" period and let the "wildness run itself out."

I had a heck of a lot of fun. But I also saw enough of "The Other Side" to know it was ultimately a bad path to take.

My parents attitude was very forgiving about my lapses of judgment, saying to me "If you're going to act like an adult, you're going to be held responsible like an adult."

Meaning "Don't call us to bail you out"

It was the beginning of my first step into becoming an staunch conservative.

To quote from the Bible: "When I was a child I spoke as a child I understood as a child I thought as a child; but when I became a man I put away childish things." I Cor. xiii. 11.

I can understand "youthful indiscretions" like Romney's and Obama's. I'm more worried about their foolish acts as an adult.

[RedMonqey]

Or he did just well enough to pass and -- with enough playing up to teachers and the advantages given to minority students -- to get a transfer.

Agreed.

We know he isn't above "composite..ing" the facts to his advantage and like Bill Clinton, can charm the birds out of the trees.

And I can see a young "Barry" playing the "Pity card" to a few young, naive teachers with "white guilt complex" to bump up a few points for a better grade and excuse a missed test because of "unexplained absences."

Nope, not hard to do at all.