March 4, 2013

Celebrities in the news and their philoprogenitive relations

With Dennis Rodman back in the news for his exercise in basketball diplomacy in North Korea, it's worth mentioning Dennis's dad, Philander Rodman Jr., who is the father of between 29 and 47 children, according to various published reports and what kind of mood Philander Jr. is in when reporters visit his Rodman's Rainbow Obamaburger in the Philippines.

No word yet on Philander Rodman Sr.

Also in the news is Barack Obama, whose favorite half-brother and Best Man at his wedding Roy Abong'o Malik Obama is running for governor of Siaya County in Kenya. According to the always informative Daily Mail, Roy-Abong'o Malik has had approximately 12 wives.
Indeed, female members of his extended family accuse him of being a wife-beater and philanderer, who seduced the newest of his estimated 12 wives while she was a 17-year-old schoolgirl — a crime in a country where the legal age of consent is 18. 

As opposed to the United States in November 1960.
To the dismay of teachers and the girl’s mother, Mary, Obama had secret trysts with the girl after spotting her attending prayers at the mosque he has built in Kogelo — he and his brother’s ancestral home — as part of his promotion of the Islamic faith across the country.  
Now in hiding at her mother’s mud house, down a rutted track, Sheila Anyango, 35 years younger than her husband, told me this week that marrying him was the ‘worst decision’ of her life — and confirmed that they had ‘kept a secret’ since she was 17. 
Shy and softly-spoken, Sheila, 20, says: ‘At first he was good, after he started speaking to me at the mosque. But he has changed. Marrying him has been the biggest mistake of my life. He beats me, but mostly he’s just nasty and quarrelsome.’ ...

Dreams from My Father, indeed.
Sheila, who has an 18-month-old daughter by Obama called Hafifa, had spent the past two years living with three of Malik’s other wives at the ‘Barack H Obama Foundation rest and relaxation centre’ — a restaurant complex built by her husband to profit from the visitors attracted to the area by his links to his brother. 
Nor is Sheila the only one of Malik’s wives to accuse him of beating her.
Hafsa Abwanda, now 33, also  married the politician as a teenager, but escaped in 2008 after five years of marriage, saying he beat her and her ‘co-wives’, of whom she says she saw at least 12 come and go over  the years. 
Before Hafsa fled her miserable  marriage to live with relatives, she had a son with Malik, who she took with her when she left. ‘He is a bad man and I don’t want to ever see him again,’ she says. 
With Islam allowing only four wives, former wives and friends say Malik flouts this rule by ‘rotating’ his spouses out to other properties so he lives with only the maximum number at any one time. 
Fabulously rich by Kenyan standards, Malik is nevertheless careful with his money. ...
A former headmaster at the local school in Kogelo, Mr Ogombe knew Malik as a boy, and met Barack on his first visit to his homeland in 1987, when the future U.S. President spent his days in a simple room at his family home, and developed a taste for local home-brewed beers. 
‘Barack was a nice boy,’ he says. ‘He wasn’t used to the heat here, so he spent a lot of time inside resting, but he loved our beers and was very friendly to everyone. Malik and he got along well — but that was when both were nobodies.’ ...
He took a degree in accounting in Nairobi, studied at a madrassa — an Islamic school where students memorise the Koran — and became a committed Muslim. He moved to Washington DC in the Eighties and opened an electronics shop there, though he now divides his time between Kenya and America. 
He is also a regular traveller to Saudi Arabia, where he has taken part in pilgrimages to Mecca. He now spends his time fund-raising for the Barack H Obama Foundation, a body he set up to capitalise on his brother’s election for the ‘good of Kogelo’. 
But there have been questions about where the money has gone from his ‘charity work’, with a probe launched over cash owed to the U.S. taxpayer from his fund-raising activities. Famously, Malik’s conversion to Islam has been saluted by Barack, whose remaining family in Kogelo are all Muslims.  
He asked Malik to be best man at his 1992 wedding to Michelle. In his book Dreams From My Father, the American President wrote: ‘The person who made me proudest was Roy [Malik]. He converted to Islam, and has sworn off pork and tobacco and alcohol. 
‘[His] new lifestyle has left him lean and clear-eyed, and at the wedding, he looked so dignified in his black African gown with white trim and matching cap, that some of our guests mistook him for my father.’

Roy changing his name to Abongo is the happy ending to Dreams from My Father. The President devotes the last four pages of his autobiography to his brother's re-conversion to Islam. Here's the beginning and the end of the last four pages:
The person who made me proudest of all was Roy. Actually, now we call him Abongo, his Luo name, for two years ago he decided to reassert his African heritage. ... Abongo lifted up his glass of fruit juice for a toast. 
"To those who are not here with us," he said. 
"And to a happy ending," I said. 
We dribbled our drinks onto the checkered-tile floor. And for that moment, at least, I felt like the luckiest man alive.  
THE END

And lastly in the news about celebrities and their philoprogenitive relations, Ann Romney said she cried when Mitt lost.

34 comments:

Anonymous said...

Is his name really Philander?

If so at least he lives up to it.

Jessup said...

Nice work Sailer drudging up some irreverent news story about one of Obama's 40 million half-siblings.

Who here is so unintelligent to think digging up dirt on the President's extended family is some how is going to besmirches the mans name.

Anonymous said...

Jessup,

I don't think the point of this "drudging" "is some how is going to besmirches the mans name", rather it's just to enjoy a little laugh at an eminently funny subject - Africans and their generally ineffective mimicry of western ways.

The Onion had some great piece once on how BET was bought by the klan and nobody noticed any change in programming (because black programs show blacks precisely as bad as the klan would - get it?). In this instance, had anyone have written such an article about Philander or the Obama tree it would be considered disgustingly racist and the worst form of slapstick humor. The fact that these articles are non-fiction however tends to back up the racists.

It can't be said often enough that the "talented tenth" (or quarter) suffer needlessly and wrongly from the perception that most clear eyed people have that Africans are incorrigably incapable of acting like civilized people. But it's also important to be able to say that the other 2/3rds are not really civilizable so that we take these matters into account in the structure of society.

Is the little O to blame for the hilarity vwith which his relations live? Nah. But is there harm in laughing about it? After all we're talking about wackiness that goes beyond "potatoe", peanut farming and Russia from her porch... NOT laughing at the litle O's ridiculous life story and even more ridiculous bros and hos would indicate an insane level of self censorship. Happily, Stevey doesn't suffer from that fault.


Drunk Idiot said...

"Nice work Sailer drudging up some irreverent news story about one of Obama's 40 million half-siblings.

Who here is so unintelligent to think digging up dirt on the President's extended family is some how is going to besmirches the mans name.
"

Not sure if it's supposed to besmirch Obama's name, but it shows how different his familial and life experiences are from those of most Americans (including the black Americans who identify with him and love him unconditionally).

And it's interesting that one has to go the British press to get this kind of information, since it's nowhere to be found in the American press.

Roger Clinton is starting to look better and better all the time.

BTW, gotta try one of those Rodman Rainbow Obamaburgers next time I'm hanging out in the Philippines. Think I'll call ahead on my Obama phone and order carry out.

Anonymous said...

Is his name really Philander?

If so at least he lives up to it.


Good thing he didn't take it too literally. Philandros : "man-lover"

SFG said...

And Obama became...a mediocre liberal politician who put forth a somewhat-OK universal health care plan!

I have to say, whatever you think of Obama's policies, the guy's got a wife, two kids, and a steady job. Considering what his relatives are up to, it's a triumph of the American ideal.

Anonymous said...

@Jessup

Lol why u mad tho?

Anonymous said...

Obama isn't responsible for what his relatives do, Jessup. He is, however, responsible for not presenting an accurate picture of his less than savory kin, if not actually valorizing them.

Sailer identifying willful, self-serving lacunae in Obama's descriptions of his family is not besmirching the man, it is truth-telling. The same sort of truth-telling the Left insists regarding the dead male white villains who founded this country. Both instances are justifiable revisionism.

peterike said...

Who here is so unintelligent to think digging up dirt on the President's extended family is some how is going to besmirches the mans name.

True enough. And Obama does more than enough to "besmirches" his own name.

Ann Romney said she cried when Mitt lost.

So did America, Ann, so did America.

FWG said...

I honestly can't believe a person of this background is President of the U.S. I'm just dumbfounded.

Mr. Anon said...

"Jessup said....

Who here is so unintelligent to think digging up dirt on the President's extended family is some how is going to besmirches the mans name."

Who is so stupid as to think that a man's family does not reflect on him, because they come from the same stock?

Did I think less of Jimmy Carter because of Billy? Did I think less of Bill Clinton because of Roger? Did I think less of George W. Bush because of Neil? Yes to all three.

Anonymous said...

The much maligned British newspapers seem to a better job of covering America than the our own Pravdas and Ministries of Propaganda.

Baloo said...

Is there a Jessup Obama? I detect Luo prosody in that comment, don't I? Anyhow, this is a delight, and the Sam Johnsons and Billy Carters pale (heh!) into insignificance in comparison. I have gratefully linked to this and commented on it here:
A Country Full Of Obamas

Anonymous said...

Abongo! LOL! You can't make this stuff up.

Anonymous said...

Of course, Romney is also related to a weird polygamist cult with some very odd relatives, including a distant relative who was a serial killer. But he's 100 percent white as opposed to half white...

rightsaidfred said...

some how... besmirches the man[']s name.

Kind of the point. The 53% that voted for him don't look into Barry's relationships. When pointed out, they don't make any adjustment. I believe this is described here.

Anonymous said...

Philo- has one L.

Camlost said...

I have to say, whatever you think of Obama's policies, the guy's got a wife, two kids, and a steady job. Considering what his relatives are up to, it's a triumph of the American ideal.

A black man living under the same roof as his own children is truly a treasure to be cherished and lauded eternally.

Ed said...

"Barack was a nice boy,’ he says. ‘He wasn’t used to the heat here, so he spent a lot of time inside resting, but he loved our beers and was very friendly to everyone. Malik and he got along well — but that was when both were nobodies.’ ...

"He took a degree in accounting in Nairobi, studied at a madrassa — an Islamic school where students memorise the Koran — and became a committed Muslim. He moved to Washington DC in the Eighties and opened an electronics shop there, though he now divides his time between Kenya and America."

At first I thought you were still talking about Barack in the second paragraph. Too bad.

Anonymous said...

Anyone taking bets on whether this is another episode of a lefty ginning up outrage?

Someone walks around in KKK robes at Oberlin--Oberlin! My BS detector is klanging.

http://gawker.com/5988307/oberlin-cancels-classes-after-figure-in-kkk-robes-spotted-near-african-heritage-house

Anonymous said...

"Of course, Romney is also related to a weird polygamist cult with some very odd relatives, including a distant relative who was a serial killer. But he's 100 percent white as opposed to half white..."

We were all well aware that we were supposed to hate Mitt Romney because he was a weirdo-Mormon. If Mitt had a brother with 20 wives who he regularly beat and was also running scam charities, how often would we hear about it?

a. every week
b. every day
c. every hour
d. every minute

The American press is oddly incurious about Barack's blood relations.

Anonymous said...

Should have read all the way to the bottom:

"Update: According to a person with access to the faculty mailing list, faculty members had been told—"unofficially," (i.e., not through official channels)—that "the investigation into this incident was dropped when it was discovered that the person responsible was someone within the MRC [the Multicultural Resource Center], who would be disciplined internally"; according to conversations with other members of the Oberlin community, this appears to be a widespread, and widely-believed, rumor. (The same source, who asked to remain anonymous, claims that the MRC, whose former director, Eric Estes, is now the Dean of Students, has been criticized for the amount of student college money it receives, and that its leadership has "had trouble justifying how many campus coordinators they have on staff.")"

Anonymous said...

"I felt like the luckiest man alive2

I thought Lou Gehrig owned that line.

Dennis Dale said...

If the country had any sense of humor left about race Obama's memoir would be a source of endless embarrassment for the man. Just lurching from one scene of phony angst after another; it's self-pity porn.
But the reactions to even a little good-natured smirking as here are almost as laughable in their own right. These guys seem to forget O's whole schtick once it's appreciated with anything other than dull reverence. I mean, his Kansan mother isn't what sets him apart, it's his Kenyan father. That the man appears to have been a sh*t-heel I find hilariously ironic.

To be fair to O, he doesn't seem to have any of Daddy's traits. Does he see the irony of it all? He's so busy affecting this phony self-awareness he hasn't any time left over for the real thing.

DYork said...

Of course, Romney is ... 100 percent white as opposed to half white...

Which is why 97% of blacks would never vote for him and why so many racially self hating White Americans despise him.

Well, that and his 5 White sons and many White grandchildren.

Romney and his family are BIOLOGICALLY on the wrong side of history.

jody said...

Steve, you're post just proves that African-Americans and their relations are more interesting than people like Mitt Romney. There is no story there.

Reg Cæsar said...

I once handled the paperwork for a young man named Philander Cox. But I have to admit 'Rodman' tops even that!

And father passed it on to son.

ben tillman said...

Who here is so unintelligent to think digging up dirt on the President's extended family is some how is going to besmirches the mans name.

Good Lord, man, how many drinks did you have before submitting this?

Jessup said...

"it's just to enjoy a little laugh at an eminently funny subject - Africans and their generally ineffective mimicry of western ways"

I didn't realize Islam was a western invention, or that basic human cognitive society was also particular only to the western hemisphere sapiens, sadly the only "real humans" in your eyes.

"had anyone have written such an article about Philander or the Obama tree it would be considered disgustingly racist and the worst form of slapstick humor. The fact that these articles are non-fiction however tends to back up the racists."

Except that Obama's Kenyan relatives have nothing to do with BET/African Americans and the Klan wouldn't know the first thing about lampooning them but being the racists that they are would probably resort to using generic AA stereotypes and therefor be profoundly stupid like all racists.

Familial alcoholism, wife beating, and polygamy is not something unique only to the third world considering the latter of which white as milk Mitt Romney's family also has a legacy of, and I very much doubt they picked it up in Kenya.

And this line "Dreams from my father indeed" was not some lame attempt at humor, it was some lame attempt to draw parallels between Obama Sr. (who's alcoholism and prosperity to violence against woman is well know) to Barack Obama through Malik Obama.

its transparent, sad, and desperate

Anonymous said...

"Who is so stupid as to think that a man's family does not reflect on him, because they come from the same stock?

Did I think less of Jimmy Carter because of Billy? Did I think less of Bill Clinton because of Roger? Did I think less of George W. Bush because of Neil? Yes to all three."


It was funny story, although I feel a guilty because domiestic violence is serious matter - no! I know I shoudn't alugh but I can't help it ...


It does not reflect badly on Obama, on the contrary ...

Potato McGee said...

Ya name a kid Philander, what do you expect?

Anonymous said...

Philander Rodman Jr., who is the father of between 29 and 47 children

Welfare Loophole: Sisters Make $540,000 Babysitting Their Kids

A four-month investigation of the $340 million taxpayer-funded "Wisconsin Shares" welfare childcare program found the program rife with abuse and loopholes.

In one instance, research conducted by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel found that four sisters with 17 children bagged $540,000.00 in taxpayer monies since 2006 by simply staying home and babysitting for each other...

Mr. Anon said...

"Jessup said...

Who here is so unintelligent to think digging up dirt on the President's extended family is some how is going to besmirches the mans name."

How about the fact that Obama has both an aunt and an uncle who are illegal aliens, living here in the US, and on the dole. Should that not reflect poorly on him? Especially given that he won't act to deport them.

Why should it not be noteworthy that Obama's extended family are mostly irresponsible f*ck-ups.

Philip Stein said...

"Ya name a kid Philander, what do you expect?"

Sounds like some parents didn't know the difference between philanderer, philantropist, and philosopher.