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101 Comments
- Dipsomaniac, on 04/02/2009, -4/+56Of course, Obama's kind of boned either way: Either the law is followed without his input, and then the right will be all over how he's "throwing his family under the bus."
Or he could try to help her, and then the right will be all over how he's using his influence improperly. - edstate, on 04/02/2009, -4/+42This is a good test... the law should apply equally to everyone.
- ironhide, on 04/02/2009, -4/+33So, is everyone responsible for their relatives or do they expect them to handle their own problems?
This is the sister of the man who abandoned Obama and his mother.
I wouldn't bother with her either. - Lucas123, on 04/02/2009, -16/+44Obama's Aunt has been living in low-income public housing since coming to America and Obama has never once used his influence to help her with the immigration process. Just another reason why I respect this president.
- divinediva, on 04/02/2009, -1/+19The Department of Homeland Security acts as a prosecutor at such hearings.
- tsotha, on 04/02/2009, -5/+21Yes, that's true. And if it did she would already be gone. She's been ordered deported *twice*, and now she has an extension? For what?
I have an ex-gf in her home country who wishes she had had the opportunity for that kind of "equality". - inactive, on 04/02/2009, -0/+15His mom, probably.
- SteveMTyler, on 04/02/2009, -6/+21Seems kindof like a bad move deporting her. It just lets crazy people in a foreign country kidnap her/make demands/etc...
Doesn't seem like it would end well. - MaxxusFlamus, on 04/02/2009, -1/+16I get the feeling that either way, if he helped her or if he didn't help her, you'd be pissing on him anyway.
- kukurio, on 04/02/2009, -1/+14Why should Obama help the family of the father who didn't even attempt to be a part of his life?
- nirav72, on 04/02/2009, -3/+14wait what? I thought you rightwingers were all about personal responsibility and one should take charge of their own destiny. Anything is possible if you work hard ,regardless of your circumstances or cards you've been handed and blah blah blah....now he's a classless ***** for not helping a step brother who's 5000 miles away that he never had any contact with?
- rhoonah, on 04/02/2009, -2/+13I read that he isn't close to his aunt so I don't see it being much of a test. However, the law should indeed apply to all and it is wise of him to stay out of it.
- Shadic, on 04/02/2009, -4/+14Except when it's Repubulicans judging you, where they'll bitch about your decision either way.
- Dipsomaniac, on 04/02/2009, -0/+8Like what, precisely? What could he do that wouldn't be affected by the fact that he runs the country?
- charm803, on 04/02/2009, -0/+8@o0lIl0o
"It seems incredibly, presumptiously close to paternalism to me for Westerners to sit here and assume that everyone wants to live like them, in full contradiction of George Obama's own words. " Comment on TimesOnline.co.uk
Actually, his own brother said he didn't want his help because Obama came from nothing, and he respects that.
George says:
http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/08/22/bts.obama.b ...
"I was brought up well. I live well even now," he said. "The magazines, they have exaggerated everything.
"I would like Obama to visit his brother to see how he is living, to improve his way of life," said Emelda Negei, who runs a small dispensary near Obama's house.
But George Obama will have none of it. He draws inspiration from his famous half-brother.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and ...
“Life in Huruma is good." (He obviously appreciates what he does have.)
-“They say I live on a dollar a month, but this is all lies by people who don’t want my brother to win.”
-Yesterday, as the Democratic nominee moved ever closer to the White House, George Hussein Onyango Obama, the youngest of his halfsiblings, responded to claims that his family had abandoned him by insisting that he was content with life in a simple wooden hut.
-“Life in Huruma is good. In other places you must lock yourself in to keep yourself safe,” he told The Times. “Here I am surrounded by friends and family and feel safe and secure.”
-He said that he was furious at subsequent reports that he had been abandoned by the Obama family and that he was filled with shame about living in a slum. “It seems there are people who want to destroy me and my family,” he said.
-“They say I live on a dollar a month, but this is all lies by people who don’t want my brother to win.”
-The Obama family in Kenya watched with dismay as the campaign in the US turned increasingly negative. Reporters have tried to prove that Barack Obama is a secret Muslim and have tracked down friends of his father, portrayed as a drunk and abusive husband.
-George said he expected no favours and wanted to work for a living, even though he was confident that his brother would be moving into the White House. “He has already done so many firsts, as black president of the Harvard Law Review and getting the nomination, so we believe he will win,” he said. - manjas8, on 04/02/2009, -1/+10Agreed tsotha. She'd be gone already. If she's been rejected already, why is she still here?
- ironhide, on 04/02/2009, -0/+9Why are her personal problems the fault of Obama?
- inactive, on 04/02/2009, -2/+11Says the ***** who has had a hundred+ accounts banned.
- JustinJS, on 04/02/2009, -2/+11why should she get to stay? she is living here illegally and is doing nothing for our country.
Give some green card to immigrants that are here legal and contributing to our society. - ultraseamus, on 04/03/2009, -0/+8People generally like to believe that the president works for the citizens of the US, if he starts throwing around his power for his own personal agenda, then we have problems (and yes, I am sure it has happened in the past, but that does not make it right).
- MaxxusFlamus, on 04/02/2009, -0/+8blood does not make someone any more of a brother if they were never in your life.
Are you saying adoptive parents are never true parents, and person that gave up the child can only be considered the true mother/father? - inactive, on 04/02/2009, -5/+13Who the ***** are you to judge? Are you on great terms with your entire family?
- Y0tsuya, on 04/02/2009, -1/+7What makes you think Obama give a crap about her?
- austroLogi, on 04/02/2009, -16/+22deport her ass
- dazparkour, on 04/02/2009, -1/+7You people are all weird.
Like has been said AND dugg up - if he does anything, he'll have people screaming about incorrect use of powers, if he helps out, he'll have people screaming about how he doesn't care about his family.
Here's how I see it - if people are going to bitch anyway, he might as well do what he wants.
If you want people to make the right decision, people need to learn to actually PRAISE the people who make those kinds of decisions when they are made, otherwise, you might as well shout ***** everyone really loudly and do whatever you feel like - you get the pointy end of the stick either way, why not get something out of it? - mcquitty, on 04/03/2009, -1/+711oops,
Ethics would mean, when you are told to leave a country, you leave. Not wait around another 8 years. - charm803, on 04/02/2009, -0/+5Obama is President of the United States, not President of his Aunt.
He is too busy trying to worry about the rest of us to focus on just one person.
Like he said, the law will work, either good or bad for her, but there is no need for him to be involved in her case at this point.
Good because he's busy trying to run a freaking country. - j0en, on 04/02/2009, -9/+14Lets revert to 19th century anti-immigration ideals shall we...
- deema1, on 04/02/2009, -0/+5Ah, the blind lady of justice.
- TheEggAndI, on 04/02/2009, -1/+6waaah waaah! someone that isnt me is getting something that i want so im going to ***** all over them. boo hoo!
- HHP2K, on 04/02/2009, -2/+7And who cares about you ..????
- ironhide, on 04/02/2009, -8/+12Half-brother, who he has had minimal contact with.
- GrodyChamp, on 04/02/2009, -4/+8She's been living off tax payers for years. Get rid of her lazy ass.
- Vaiper, on 04/02/2009, -0/+4***** EVERYONE!
Am I doing it right? - ironhide, on 04/02/2009, -5/+9By the way, if there are any tigers in Kenya, they're in a zoo. Moron.
- oldcrow, on 04/02/2009, -0/+4It'll be interesting to see what Obama does if she gets booted. I seem to remember that his father left the family when he was still a little kid so he might not have much sympathy towards that side of the family, especially if she's been breaking the law and leeching off the low income housing. Even if he does sympathize though, he should respect the law and not try to use his influence to get her a special deal.
- inactive, on 04/02/2009, -3/+7Just because it's a lot more common now than in the 19th century doesn't make it false. Let's hear your more accurate description.
By the way, California is massively in debt, and it's exactly the reasons pathouston22 describes. - JohnAdams999, on 04/02/2009, -2/+5Why is this news?
- inactive, on 04/02/2009, -1/+4Why would Obama's aunt be tortured?
- nullcodes, on 04/02/2009, -6/+9She applied for political asylum, if someone is seeking asylum .. they are probably fearing going back to their origin country .. so obviously that person is going to stay here in spite of the fact many people collectively decided (the law/government?) she should leave.
You think the justice system doesn't make mistakes? Innocent people get convicted all the time, and when you are an alien you don't even have all the rights of regular citizens to make your case.
Think about it .. stay here versus go back and get tortured or whatever.
Living off public assistance isn't a good thing, but also remember it's not exactly easier for an older woman with no papers to get a job.
What would you do? Go back and get tortured? Not everyone's a superhero. - rrgg, on 04/02/2009, -1/+4She's been getting hearings for years now.
In Mass. it's illegal to ask immigration status when someone applies for taxpayer-funded public housing. So that is why she's been able to live there all these years, despite the fact that there's a waiting list! - nullcodes, on 04/02/2009, -1/+4Moral character is doing the right thing regardless of peer pressure/reward.
I agree that people punishing others for doing the right thing is not good, but mobs can't decide morality. Only truth decides it.
People should definitely be understanding of people who make difficult choices, but making the wrong choice to curry favor with a mob is wrong.
There are legitimate excuses though I mean for example if the consequences of defying the mob will harm a lot of others etc. then you haven't really a choice but to go along. But how often does that happen? Pretty rarely. Most of the time people do the wrong thing just to benefit themselves, and maybe squash the guilt by saying it's the right thing. - inactive, on 04/02/2009, -2/+5Deport the useless one
- dazparkour, on 04/02/2009, -1/+3It's everyone's responsibility to step back from party politics, not tow the line and say "These people are only complaining because we are supposed to be against them, even though, if it was the leader of my party up their, he would have our full support".
As soon as you say "it's just a mob", "it's not the mobs fault" - your saying PEOPLE can't decide, and if we can't, who the hell can, goats?
I get your point about morality - but it is the fault of people and people will have to do the fixing.
It is a sad day that you worry about doing the right thing because of the backlash from the opposition.
I understand your sentiment that you should do the right thing either way.
The reward for that is knowing yourself that you did - if the reward of doing the other thing is greater than the knowing, the current system supports those who will do the wrong thing and take the bigger reward.
I agree - it should not be so.
I see you editted and what I said doesn't quite apply completely, but I'll leave what I said for record.
+1 - dannykeene, on 04/02/2009, -3/+5illegal criminals who steal tax money get too much leeway
- akula89, on 04/03/2009, -2/+4where did he say it's Obamas fault
- beatitlikeacop, on 04/02/2009, -6/+8Oh, I wonder how the hearing will work out for her... </sarcasm>
- dazparkour, on 04/02/2009, -1/+3Close enough.
You do see what I mean though - this kind of bitching, for lack of a better word, removes the motivation for doing good things - there will always be people who are very vocal about following you around and telling you that you have it wrong.
That leaks down into the people in both partys who are now required to take sides on something that should be a straight up moral issue, from there into the general population and now we have lost the ability to just "get along" and unite properly.
This ***** is the stuff that divides nations - why - because signing bills is nothing to them, everyone can understand instances of nepotism they have seen - everyone can empathise with having to deal with relatives you are bound to support even though you may disagree with them.
This issue, as much as it has nothing to do with real politics, torture, war, the budget, is what people get behind. - nepidae, on 04/02/2009, -1/+3Why do we care about hope for any illegal resident? It may seem cruel but we no longer can absorb every poor non-working person in the world.
- aresef, on 04/02/2009, -1/+3It's all so awkward.
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