Angry Obama the pothead is not how they remember him on Hawaii

Daily Telegraph ^ | March 25, 2007 | Hans Nichols in Honolulu, Sunday Telegraph

[Cincinatus' Wife]

.....Sen Obama's self-portrait of an angry young black man who became a "pothead" is scarcely recognisable to those who knew him during his formative years in Hawaii.

Now some are asking whether the first serious black contender for the White House may also be the first major candidate to exaggerate his drug use for political effect.

....The Illinois senator's depiction of his Hawaiian upbringing as a time of intense inner struggle, full of racial angst, is also a surprise to those who shared his time in the archipelago where the "Aloha Spirit" of racial harmony defines America's 50th state.

The verdant islands, with their golden beaches 5,000 miles from the American capital, are the home to a Pacific melting pot, where Polynesians, Japanese and Chinese have harvested sugar cane for generations and whites from the mainland, known as haoles, have long been a minority.

A keen basketball player, Sen Obama highlights in his book the feelings of alienation caused by "always playing on the white man's court - by the white man's rules. If the principal, or the coach, or a teacher wanted to spit in your face, he could, because he had the power and you didn't."

But that's not the Barack Obama, nor the Hawaii of the 1970s, recalled by his friends, teachers and team-mates. They remember instead the summer of 1978 when "easy-going Barry" was in constant search of a basketball game, strutting around the island as if he owned it, dribbling a ball from school to the golden sands of Waikiki beach as he belted out Earth, Wind and Fire songs in a distinctive, gravelly voice..............

[Darkwolf377]

Good stuff, thanks.

As someone writing this from Cambridge, MA, I can tell you you're correct about late fees, etc., on late tax bills.

[robertpaulsen]

"and whites from the mainland, known as "haoles"

At least, that's what it sounded like.

[aruanan]

.Sen Obama's self-portrait of an angry young black man who became a "pothead" is scarcely recognisable to those who knew him during his formative years in Hawaii.

Obama the Opportunist. When it was to his perceived advantage to be the angry black guy, he hushed up his white background. When it was to his advantage to use his white background to be the Magic Negro, he emphasized this. Now we hear about how when he was seven he wanted to be president. Doesn't this recall the childhood of another famous opportunist who said in elementary school that if he had been the Roman emperor the Roman Empire would never have fallen? Or the opportunists Algore and John Friggin Kerry who, from young ages, have lusted for the presidency?

[Beckwith]

... who, from young ages, have lusted for the presidency?

If someone has wanted to be president since grammar school, he or she should be disqualified out of hand.

[papasmurf]

Very good, thank you.

:O)

P

[redstates4ever]

Hey! Lay off swimsuit boy and give him a break. I like him he's everything I want in a liberal democrat - Muslim, anti-war, angry and a liar. No faker here, like Hillary and Zipper Boy. /sarcasm/