Can Obama get National Security Clearance

Obama's New Book Deal The White House has posted the personal financial disclosure reports for Obama, and here are some interesting tidbits.

Obama's report shows evidence that he and the first lady trust the government with their money.  The couple has somewhere between $1 million and $5 million invested in Treasury bills.

In the category of It's Never Too Early to Seek New Supporters, the forms show that Obama in January struck a $500,000 advance deal with Crown Publishing Group for an abridged version of his best-seller, "Dreams From My Father," aimed at "middle grade or young adult readers."  When the book comes out, Obama will rack up more in royalties: 15% of the hardcover sales price and 10% of the paperback price.

It's hard to figure out net worth from these forms because they only ask for broad ranges when reporting value of assets and debts.  But the Obamas tax day filing had showed they paid $855,323 in taxes on a combined income of $2,656,902.

Toot
Dies Honoring his beloved toot. President-elect Barack Obama and family spent the third day of their vacation, remembering the life of Obama's grandmother Madelyn Dunham.

Dying of Cancer, Obama left the campaign trail and rushed to be by her side to be one last time in October.  She died at the age of 86 just days before her grandson won the presidency.  Obama says his Toot raised, loved, and helped him become the man he is today.  Almost two months after Dunham's death, the family pays their final respects.

Just as the wind, emotions run strong at Lanai lookout.  President-elect Barack Obama and family arrive around 3:30pm after an earlier private service for "Toot" at a Nuuanu church. (video)

Following the ceremony, Obama drove to the Lanai Lookout.  He and about 20 members of his family climbed over a stone wall and down onto rocky ledges to scatter Dunham’s ashes.

She died late the night of the 2nd, the body was removed by 3:30 am Monday morning, the urn of ashes was returned Tuesday morning and an apartment lived in for 40 years was cleaned out by Nov. 6th.

She was cremated and her urn of ashes was returned to her apartment by the morning of Tuesday, November 4th.

The medical examiner wasn’t involved.  The staff from the funeral home showed up for her body before 3:30 am Monday and brought the ashes back by Tuesday morning.

grandma
and
Typical
White
Grandma Obama's grandmother -- who isn't his grandmother -- and who is described in this fawning report as "the famous woman from Nyang’oma Kogelo Village of Siaya District" -- made an appearance at the U. S. Independence Day celebrations, held at the U. S. ambassadors residence in Nairobi, Kenya.

Sarah Obama was the second wife of the candidate's late grandfather, so she is not his biological grandmother.  But Auma Obama, Obama's half-sister, said: "By our definition, in our culture, she is his grandmother." -- it's that "it takes a village" thing -- necessitated by the fact that these Kenyan Muslim men have many, many wives.

"It’s quite a surprise.  I couldn’t in my wildest imagination think that Obama’s grandmother (she's not his grandmother) would be here.  I did not expect it at all.  I have to at least say hi to her," one person was overheard saying.

And as she mingled freely with many dignitaries, who included Prime Minister Raila Odinga and Vice-President Kalonzo Musyoka, Mama Obama, who was with her grand-daughter, Dr Auma Obama, engaged her new found friends in hearty conversations.


Phony grandma --"celebrity"

She clearly stole the show.  Many could not resist either posing for a photo with her, or taking her pictures, with the hope that in the next few months, they would brag to others that they once were with the US President’s grandmother! (she's really not his grandmother!)

This was the first time Mama Sarah, who embraced the Obama family tradition, first saying she was a Muslim and then saying she was a Christian, attended an official function and going by the look of things, she is definitely going places (yeah, to the White House).

Meanwhile, Obama's real grandmother, Madelyn Dunham, who raised him and put him through the prestigious Punahou School, remains a shadowy figure.  Hidden away by Obama's campaign, the woman that Obama described as a "typical white person" is, according to Obama, "somewhere in Hawaii."


Real grandma -- "typical white person"

In August, 2008, after delivering a campaign speech, Obama's first stop on his Hawaii vacation was a visit to his white grandmother's Makiki apartment, where he lived during his youth.



Obama -- escorted by Secret Service and accompanied by a few campaign staff and a pool of reporters and camera crews -- arrived at about 4:10 p.m. yesterday and spent an hour with his 85-year-old maternal grandmother, Madelyn Dunham, who helped raise him.  He was not accompanied by his wife, Michelle, and two daughters.

The original "typical white person," probably doesn't have a lot of time left, but Obama didn't think to bring her grandchildren for a visit -- and after almost 2, years spent an hour -- what a loving grandson.

Uncle
Charles Charles Payne, Obama's great uncle offered some blunt language as to why his nephew is visiting the memorial at the former Buchenwald concentration camp next week during his trip to Europe and the Middle East.

"This is a trip that he chose, not because of me I'm sure, but for political reasons," Payne told the German magazine Spiegel.  "Perhaps his visit also has something to do with improving his standing with (German Chancellor) Angela Merkel.  She gave him a hard time during his campaign and also afterwards."

 
 Payne, 84, is no stranger to Americans -- his WWII experiences were used by the Obama Campaign last year to burnish the candidate’s all-American upbringing.  But Obama made a gaffe when he said his great uncle liberated Auschwitz.  In fact, Payne was part of the force that liberated Ohrdruf, a subcamp of the Buchenwald concentration camp, in April 1945.

Payne told Spiegel that he was shocked to see his war experience, especially his "liberation" of a concentration camp, used in campaign commercials.  He said he had never spoke with his nephew about the matter, nor did Obama ever express any interest in Payne's experience.

"I was quite surprised when the whole thing came up and Barack talked about my war experiences in Nazi Germany," Payne said.  "We had never talked about that before."

Payne doesn’t know where Obama came up with the fictitious Auschwitz connection.

"He couldn't have gotten it from me since we had never talked about this particular episode in the war," said Payne.

Payne talks about his experience here . . .

Buchenwald concentration camp survivor Elie Wiesel is embraced by U.S. President Barack Obama after his speech during their visit of former Buchenwald concentration camp on June 5, 2009 near Weimar, Germany. Obama is visiting the site after his stop in Cairo, where in his speech to the Muslim world he made an appeal against Holocaust denial. Obama's great-uncle, Charles Payne, was among the first U.S. soldiers to arrive at the nearby subcamp of Ohrdruf in 1945. Thousands of Jews and other inmates worked as slave laborers and died under horrendous conditions at the Buchenwald camp during World War II. (Photo by -Pool/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Barack Obama;Angela Merkel;Elie Wiesel;Bertrand Herz

Obama traveled to Kenya to meet the family, for the first time, in 1986.

Obama's 40-year-old cousin Said Hussein Obama commented, "My cousin found it difficult when he came here to learn of his six half-brothers and sisters were born to four different mothers.



Obama's left hand is on the shoulder of Kezia, Obama Sr.'s first wife, who said, "The first time I met Barack Jr. was when he came to Kenya in 1985.  He was so much like his father, his looks, his voice, everything.  It was like seeing my husband all over again."
 


In addition to Obama's half-sister, Auma (Obama's right hand), Kezia has three sons by Barack Sr.  Her two youngest, Bernard and Abo, live in Nairobi. They are all Muslims.

We're
Movin'
On Up Mama Sarah Obama has started her journey to the US to witness the swearing-in of her grandson Barack Obama as the 44th American President.Especially if she continues to publicly assert she was in the delivery room when Obama was born in Kenya.

And she is not travelling empty-handed.  As a grandmother, she is carrying special gifts for her grandson -- a Luo traditional three-legged stool, a flywhisk and a shield, which are symbols of leadership.  "I wanted to give him a spear too, but I have been told that due to security reasons, I will not be allowed to board a plane with it," Mama Sarah told The Standard.

"I know Barack will be very happy to see me.  My presence will mean a lot to him," she added.

More
Movin'
On Up A new wave of excitement has gripped Kogelo village in Siaya District as relatives of the US President-elect Barack Obama prepare to fly to America for his historic inauguration as America’s 44th President.

Kogelo is alive once more, two months after the exhilaration that greeted his election as America’s first black president and the just concluded Christmas and New Year festivities.

The President-elect’s grandmother, Sarah Obama, is set to lead the delegation to US and was in Nairobi just before Christmas.  Sources say the US embassy has already given her a travel visa.

Initial reports that Prime Minister Raila Odinga, Obama's cousin, would lead the Kenyan delegation were refuted by an official in the PM’s office.  He said Raila would travel to the US in February.

The Standard On Saturday learnt that the team comprising the president–elect’s relatives in Kenya will travel 10 days before the historic ceremony on 20th this month.  Reports that Obama had personally paid for the airfare could not be confirmed.

The president-elect’s half-brother, Malik, said yesterday he would be part of the team that will jet to the US.  "Of course I will be there but I will give you more details later," he said from Siaya town.  Malik said the Obama family in Kenya is eager to see him being installed as the most powerful man in the world.

Besides the Obama family, several other prominent personalities, including musicians and politicians, from Nyanza Province were preparing to travel to Washington DC for the big occasion.

Most of those travelling are believed to have received invitation as well as sponsorship from friends living in the US or institutions in that country.