Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga--an imagined boogie man in a number of American imaginations and a real one for a number of Kenyans--is in the United States today, but is not scheduled to officially meet with his "cousin," Senator Barack Obama. Says Kevin J. Kelley of the not-meeting:
Right-wing extremists have been circulating baseless claims on the Internet that Senator Obama is closely allied with Prime Minister Odinga, who is described by the Obama-haters as both an Islamist and a socialist.Dude, it was Odinga himself who claimed that Obama was his cousin. And the two did hang out regularly when Obama made his last trip to Kenya in 2006. And Odinga did get his undergrad in what used to be East Germany. And he did name his first born 'Fidel Castro.' As for the Islamist stuff, read here and scroll down to the bottom for the background.
Kelley is playing to the preconceived notions of Kenyan and other African audiences. However, the jury's still out on what the nature of the relationship is between the two men. And if the purpose of not meeting during the visit is stop the tongues from wagging--as Kelley suggest--then neither of them is any great judge of human nature.
What I think is this: both men have shown a propensity to take on whatever ideology each deems necessary to bring them power. And it doesn't matter what the nature of the ideology is.
(Thanks to LGF)
Kenya Happenings
Kenya: The Basics
