Obama’s aunt Zeituni Onyango, the Kenyan half sister of his father, has been in the United States since 2000. She was ordered deported in 2004, but she squatted in Boston public housing and continued to plead for asylum.
THE DIARY OF PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA
THE OVAL OFFICE
January 12, 2010
Just got a letter from Auntie Zeituni. Immigration is threatening to deport her, and the electric company in Boston is about to turn off her lights. What does she want me to do? Why doesn’t she go on eBay and sell the dress and pearls I sent her last year?! She’d make a fortune!
I can’t save the world and all my relatives. There are just too many of them.
Reggie gave her a call. He hooked her up with a nearby charity that hands out flashlights and blankets to the homeless. I also asked Rahm to see if we could toss some stimulus money her way. We might be able to set her up as the director of the new “Barack Hussein Obama Immigrant Outreach Center” in downtown Boston. I bet the city would go for it, if we pick up the tab. On second thought, maybe I need to call that immigration judge in Boston. The last thing I need in my first term is an Elian Gonzalez situation with my own flesh and blood!
Then I hear Grandma Sarah has sent word that she’s coming over from Kenya to celebrate my first year in office. I hope she doesn’t try to bring another one of those ceremonial spears with her. Last night I had a dream that she nicked a pair of Kenyan Airways attendants and her seatmate trying to fit the thing in the overhead compartment. Then things get blurry . . . but Homeland Security called to say Big Janet raised the threat level because the old girl inadvertently poked the checkout clerk at the Dulles Airport Cinnabon with her spear and then knocked over a Dreams from My Father shrine display at Hudson News.
Michelle told me that my brother George in Nairobi is now looking for a handout. He wrote her a letter asking for help to renovate his shanty. Use of the Obama name is one of the most valuable gifts that I could give the man. How much more does he want from me?! Michelle was about to write him a check, but I know if we start giving to one, they’ll all be calling: Abo, Auma, Abongo, and those other three guys the press haven’t caught wind of yet.
On May 17, 2010, an immigration court granted “Auntie Zeituni” asylum. “It’s obvious her nephew helped,” neighbor Marian Swain told the Boston Herald.
Of all of Barack Obama, Sr.’s children, only two of them, David and Mark Ndesandjo, lived under the same roof as their father. David (like his dad) was killed in an accident, but Mark has vivid memories of Barack Obama, Sr. He told the Associated Press in November 2009, “My father beat my mother and my father beat me, and you don’t do that.” In his semi-autobiographical novel, Nairobi to Shenzhen, he writes: “David easily remembered the hulking man whose breath reeked of cheap Pilsner beer who had often beaten his mother. He had long searched for good memories of his father but had found none.”
This history had to be difficult for Barack Obama to reconcile with the memory of his father passed on to him by Stanley Ann. In Dreams from My Father, he wrote in anguished tones:
All my life, I had carried a single image of my father, one that I had sometimes rebelled against but had never questioned, one that I had later tried to take as my own. The brilliant scholar, the generous friend, the upstanding leader—my father had been all those things . . . I’d seen weakness in other men—Gramps in his disappointments, Lolo and his compromise. But these men had become object lessons for me, men I might love but never emulate, white men and brown men whose fates didn’t speak to my own. It was into my father’s image, the black man, son of Africa, that I’d packed all the attributes I sought in myself, the attributes of Martin and Malcolm, DuBois and Mandela . . . my father’s voice had nevertheless remained untainted, inspiring, rebuking, granting or withholding approval. You do not work hard enough, Barry. You must help your people’s struggle. Wake up, black man!
Now . . . that image had suddenly vanished. Replaced by . . . what? A bitter drunk? An abusive husband? A defeated, lonely bureaucrat? To think that all my life I had been wrestling with nothing more than a ghost!
President Obama no doubt continues to feel the absence of his father, even in adulthood, as any child in this situation would. This may explain his praiseworthy public service announcements encouraging fathers to “take time to be a dad today.” Launched by his Department of Health and Human Services, the PSAs are part of a fatherhood initiative designed to strengthen marriages and family stability. As nice as these spots are, the policies of Obama’s administration are out of sync with his message. Strong families and responsible fathers cannot be summoned through legislation or willed via the teleprompter. They can only be raised from within solid, intact families. Given his tortured lineage, the concept of a solid family may be difficult for the president to grasp fully.
Through his out-of-control spending, President Obama overrules the responsible heads of households, snatching money from America’s families and depriving them of their liberty and leisure. While the president trots out idealistic measures to “help families,” his economic policies sap stable families of their earned income and redistribute it as he sees fit. By 2015, it is estimated that the U.S. debt will reach $14 trillion—nearly 73 percent of our gross domestic product. This will negatively affect our spending power and erode our way of life. Unfunded entitlement programs are exploding to the point where Medicare is expected to be insolvent by 2017—and let’s not even talk about Social Security. Obama’s polices are disempowering the family, America’s greatest hope, and leaving future generations holding the bag.
• Welfare: As the economy contracted, President Obama did manage to grow one thing: the welfare state. He has paved the way for more government dependency than any president before him. The Heritage Foundation reports that within his first two years in office, welfare programs like housing and food stamps will have increased a staggering 30 percent. The tragedy is that only one of the seventy-two government welfare programs actually moves people to self-sufficiency. And when entitlements metastasize, someone must pay. You are that someone.
• Taxes: Families will be disproportionately hit by the Obama taxes. Under his 2011 budget, upper-income earners will see their income tax rates rise from 33 percent to 35 percent and 36 percent to 39.6 percent. Those making less than $250, 000 a year will assume that these tax increases will have no effect on them. They couldn’t be more wrong. These elevated income taxes on upper earners will suppress investment in new and existing companies and jobs will be lost. Middle-class families will be hit hard by the aftershocks.
Even the dead are not safe from Obama’s tax policies. Though the death tax (also known as the estate tax) died on January 1, 2010, President Obama has proposed its resurrection. The president not only wants to revive the death tax, he plans to increase it to a top rate of 45 percent, with an exemption for estates worth $3.5 million. Family business will be torn to pieces by this tax.
Obama has also endorsed taxing carbon emissions. His cap-and-trade bill, in the name of protecting the environment, will tax everything from gas to home heating oil to the groceries you buy. And when you start taxing carbon emissions, everyone is hit, particularly the middle class and the poor.
• Abstinence Funding: A recent study in the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine indicated that abstinence-based education programs are effective—more students remain chaste after taking the classes (two-thirds) and young people learn to respect their bodies. In poll after poll, parents prefer that their children learn the virtue of abstinence before marriage. But parents be damned. President Obama defunded abstinence-only education in his first year in office. In 2011, he has proposed routing more than $100 million to new, condom-focused sex ed programs. This is sure to bolster responsible parenthood and inculcate a love of family in the young!
• Education: Since 2003, poor families in D.C. had been allowed to send their children to private schools of their choice. The D.C. voucher program was a
raging success, with 1, 700 children participating each year. Under this innovative scholarship fund, parents 185 percent below the federal poverty line could send their sons and daughters to outstanding parochial schools or exclusive academies like Sidwell Friends, where the Obama girls attend school. President Obama, who claims to care so deeply for the poor, sat back while Congress defunded this program in 2009. He would rather condemn poor children to failing schools than offend the teachers unions. So much for parents making educational choices for their own children. Again, does this help or hurt poor families?
• Marriage: In 2008, Obama responded to a Human Rights Campaign (HRC) Presidential Questionnaire with these words: “I do not support gay marriage. Marriage has religious and social connotations, and I consider marriage to be between a man and a woman.” But at an HRC dinner in October 10, 2009, the president changed his tune: “I support ensuring that committed gay couples have the same rights and responsibilities afforded to any married couple in this country. . . . And I’ve called on Congress to repeal the so-called Defense of Marriage Act. . . .” Now wait a minute. The Defense of Marriage Act, signed into law by Bill Clinton in 1996, merely codifies in federal law the definition of marriage that Obama advanced during the campaign, mainly that “marriage means only a legal union between one man and one woman.” But even this elementary view of marriage, embraced by the majority of Americans, is up for grabs in the age of Obama.
Marriage is the foundation of the family, and contrary to President Obama’s suggestions, it predates both religion and the state. There are fringe elements bent on trying to turn marriage into a right. But it is not a right. Rather it is a privilege conferred by society upon one man and one woman for the furtherance of the society itself. Marriage exists, primarily, to produce and nurture children. A June 2002 Child Trends study puts it best: “Research clearly demonstrates that family structure matters for children, and the family structure that helps children the most is a family headed by two biological parents in a low-conflict marriage.”
THE DIARY OF PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA
THE WHITE HOUSE
October 8, 2009
This marriage debate is so divisive. Favreau and I were working on this Human Rights Campaign speech, so we decided to read part of it to Rahm, Gibbs, and some of the staffers last night. A couple of the women didn’t like my pointed support for gay marriage in the talk. One of the ladies thought I was “flip-flopping on my stated position.” I don’t think Rahm appreciated her candor. He jumped up from the couch, called the woman a “bigoted f*#@ing whore,” and stomped out of the Oval. He’s got to switch to decaf.
I can’t understand why everyone gets so emotional over this issue. I mean, I didn’t exactly have a traditional Ward and June Cleaver, Mitt and Ann Romney scene at my house—and look how I turned out. The most admired man in America two years in a row! Just ask Gallup.
This morning in the gym, Will & Grace was on TV and Reggie pointed out that two men could have a relationship just as strong as any between a man and a woman. There might be something there. Even after that tiger attack, Siegfried and Roy are still together. I told Desiree at lunch, the next time we have a gay event in the East Room, we should invite couples: Dolce & Gabbana, Mary Chapin & Carpenter, & Rosie & whoever she’s seeing these days . . .
In the end, President Obama will be judged not by the image of family he portrays on magazine covers, but by the policies advocated and enacted during his term in office. He has within him the possibility of being an incredible role model for fathers and a true advocate for families. But his credibility is damaged by the inconsistency of his policies and the horrendous effects they are already having on American families. Ultimately, no matter what the government does, the responsibility to strengthen the family rests with each of us.
THE WINNING WAY
Here are some recommendations that might help insulate your family from today’s prevailing cultural and political winds:
At dinnertime, my friends Raymond and Rebecca discuss news of the day with their children. They read clippings from the paper, show the family images that relate to the story, and have a spirited discussion. It’s a good idea—a way to help children put world events in context, and an opportunity for you to impart your worldview to your family. If you don’t form your family’s understanding of the issues facing them, someone else will. Best to get your ideas out there early and often.
How we treat one another in our family will inevitably make its way out into society. To keep families strong we have to understand roles and see the goodness that is worth preserving. A dear friend of mine, Pat, always says, “The way you treat your wife at home teaches boys how to treat women.” The same is true for the way a wife treats her husband. The girls are watching, too. Modeling good behavior and reinforcing the positive roles within the family creates a living memory that will endure. Don’t just tell your children that family is important; show them in ways large and small. Unlike Michelle Obama, try not to undercut your spouse in front of the family or in public. You are the protector (or destroyer) of your children’s virtue and the principal architect of their families. They will repeat for decades to come what they see from you.
Don Corleone was right. At one point in The Godfather, the don advises a loose-lipped family member, “What’s the matter with you? I think your brain is going soft. . . . Never tell anyone outside the Family what you are thinking again.” We should all listen to the don and teach the next generation discretion and a sense of modesty. Every family has its difficulties and its failings, but that is no reason to broadcast it to everyone you know. Don’t enshrine your family secrets on a blog, and please spare us the endless Face-book updates on your toddler’s potty training! Establish rules of discretion and modesty that everyone in the family is obligated to maintain. Too many young reputations have already been harmed by careless images and gossip passed along to the wrong parties. Please, keep it in the family!
Support public policy organizations, politicians, and individuals who are committed to the true prosperity of the family, and give them your support. Beware of politicians who invoke “the children” or “the family”— using them as little more than props. All too often these pols are the ones advocating policies that sap the family of true liberty and limit the freedom of the children they claim to be protecting.
Think about ways that you can help other families in your immediate vicinity. It may be a family in your neighborhood or at church experiencing a health crisis or a job loss. My friend Wendy Long, who has two small children of her own, goes out of her way to help a mother of eight receive the proper lung cancer treatment. Reach out to single people or the widowed, who might not have a place to go on the holidays. This kind of personal, sacrificial concern for others will enrich your family. It will also show young family members the quality of selflessness, which is a wonderful trait to carry into adulthood. (And frankly, something that I need to do a better job of fostering in myself!)
Look around—you will see countless examples of people who go above and beyond to help other families in need. I think of Peggy Hartshorn, who took her outrage and shock over Roe v. Wade and turned it into something profoundly positive. As president of Heartbeat International, she has grown this pro-life ministry into a global phenomenon. It has 1, 100 affiliates in forty-three countries helping an estimated two million women annually. Heartbeat gives women the option of choosing life for their unborn child by offering complete information and caring support. Now that is truly “pro-family.”
But you do not have to run a global charitable effort to make a lasting impact in the most important family of all—your own. Unlike the Obamas, you won’t get adoring press coverage when you spend quality time with your children. You do it because you know that the values you instill in them today will serve them well throughout their adult years. Something as simple as reading together after dinner—a “family book club”—will resonate with your children years after they leave the nest. My f
riend Stephen Vaughn chooses books important to our American heritage—chronicles of great battles and personal courage. Sharing books that reflect your own family’s values and interests is a great way to keep connected with your children, and keep them away from the video screens. With younger children, you can read the books aloud. As they get older, everyone can read chapters alone and then discuss as a group.
My great hope is that by the time I shuffle off this earth, I will have left my children with a strong faith, a solid character, and a love of learning. In a world that bombards them with sexualized and violent content 24/7, we as adults must work overtime to fill them up with so much of the “good stuff” that they really have little desire (or time) for the bad stuff.
CHAPTER 3
RAZZLE-DAZZLING US TO DEATH
We have the best brand on earth: the Obama brand. Our possibilities are endless.
—DESIREE ROGERS, WHITE HOUSE SOCIAL SECRETARY (RETIRED)
Even if she wasn’t humble, at least Desiree Rogers, the Obamas’ former White House social secretary, was honest in her appraisal of how this White House and its occupants see themselves. From the very beginning, Barack and Michelle Obama were not merely exposing the public to their individual gifts and ideas, but also marketing a carefully managed brand to the nation and the globe. Rogers described the White House as the “crown jewel” of this relentless campaign to win hearts and minds.
The Obama brand, like any brand, must be constantly reinforced and shaped to keep the public coming back for more. Just as Steve Jobs is constantly innovating to sell all things Apple, so too is the marketing machine that has been pushing the Obama narrative for years. Since the appearance of the Obama logo during the campaign—the blue O riding on a wave of red and white stripes—it was clear that these people wanted to set themselves apart as unique, iconic, and of course historic. Nothing they did would be like anything that preceded it. Through signs, gestures, costumes, and stagecraft, this new political force intended to one-up Camelot by cultivating a level of media and public adoration that would exceed that of any American president who came before.
The Obama Diaries Page 7
