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

[SeveneightyWhoa]

Source: Telegraph (UK)

Barack Obama's frank admissions of youthful drug abuse, helped establish him as a refreshingly different front-runner for the US presidency.

In his memoir, Senator Obama recalls smoking marijuana as a kid in Hawaii
The confession that he smoked marijuana and snorted cocaine presented the American public with a candidate prepared to tackle, head-on, questions usually ducked by senior politicians.

But now his candour has been questioned by some of those who knew him best.

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.

Read more: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/03/25/wobama25.xml

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Also, here's my response to this very odd article, which I liken to an overseas journalistic assault:
http://www.counterbias.com/blog/2007/03/barack-obama-serial-liar.html

[hedgehog]

1. Horrors! I bet he made A instead of A- on his geometry exam

second quarter sophomore year as well!!

[Connie_Corleone]

2. Who the hell is the same person they were when they were teenagers?

Excluding Bush of course.

On edit: Just because he didn't share his feelings with his classmates and teachers doesn't mean he didn't feel anguish over racial issues.

[More Than A Feeling]

3. I see what you mean.

They do bury the "never mind" at the end of the story, but my first reaction was "Obama sounds amazingly cool as a teen and young adult!"

[WorseBeforeBetter]

4. This will be lost on the wingnuts...

"In challenging Sen Obama's recollection of the 1970s, many of his friends are careful to note that he may have been hiding his inner anguish during his years on the tropical island, like any uncertain adolescent."

I can hear the talking point now - right up there with "Al Gore said he invented the Internet."

[Lautremont]

5. What's wrong with being a po-theed, anyway?

[LiberalFighter]

13. Aren't potheads brain dead from all that smoking?

Wait a minute...

Either smoking pot doesn't cause brain damage

or

Barack didn't smoke it that long

[ShamanaSZ]

6. Meh,

I'd say both articles jump to conclusions

Unless you're a complete loony, you won't start spouting the "OMGFFSBBQFTW! Obama's a liar" line, simply because - as you point out - the article is very inconclusive about its findings. Obama's teacher "hadn't seen" him come high to class. Good grief, so he wasn't a complete idiot. Not to mention that I don't know many teachers who would admit that they've had students come in class high - since obviously the teacher hadn't done anything about it. Likewise, anyone can guess that "being a partyboy" is very far from irreconcileable with smoking pot - and something heavier, perhaps. The article itself seems to admit that, although it is possible that a politicizing lovechild could decide to spin it anyway s/he wants.

But is it a hit piece? I wouldn't be sure. It's possible, but it could be that there's an interest in the UK about Obama's biography. Hardly surprising, given that he's afaik the first black candidate for president with seemingly wide support.

[Miss Chybil]

7. OMG.

I can see it on Faux now...

Interviewee: Yes, when I knew Obama he was a real straight-shooter. Got good grades. Worked real hard. He never smoked pot with me! Heck, I think I even saw him go to church once.

Faux Journalist: There you have it folks. Obama cannot be trusted!

[ShamanaSZ]

8. Bwahahaha! Good one

and continuing, folks, we have the respectable Mr. Gingrich to bemoan the Democratic party's lack of family values.

[msongs]

9. LA Times had an article about his Hawaii days a few weeks ago -

don't know if this new one is a reprint or an original piece.

the LAT article brought up the drugs and the alleged angst as well but the article was even handed and not perjurative.

turns out Obama went to Punahou school, which was about 5 blocks from one house I lived in while in Hawaii.

Msongs
www.msongs.com

[Odin2005]

10. Telegraph = Right-Wing rag

The Brits call it the TORYgraph for a reason...

[truthisfreedom]

11. Whatever. This article trys to paint Obama as a liar, but there's absolutely nothing

the writer can put his finger on that makes Obama look bad. Everyone's memories of youth are fragile.

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

12. OK, let me get this straight.

The scandal is that Obama wasn't a pothead? My, we've come so far from "I didn't inhale."

Shit, at this rate I might be able to run for President some day.