In this Obama Family photo are: (bottom row, from left) half-sister Auma, her mother Kezia Obama, Obama’s step-grandmother Sarah Hussein Onyango Obama and unknown; (top row, from left) unknown, Barack Obama, half-brother Abongo (Roy) Obama, and three unknowns.
On Thursday Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer decided to go after Romney’s family history regarding polygamy stating Hispanics would not approve of such a history. So it is only fair to point out that President Obama’s family has a history of polygamy and bigamy as well. Yet the majority of Hispanics voted for President Obama in 2008.
The Washington Post reported:
“The line of polygamists in Obama’s family can be traced back generations in western Kenya, where it was an accepted practice within the Luo (pronounced LOO-oh) tribe.” His great-grandfather, Obama Opiyo, had five wives, including two who were sisters. His grandfather, Hussein Onyango, had at least four wives, one of whom, Akumu, gave birth to the president’s father, Barack Obama” before fleeing her abusive husband. Obama Sr. was already married when he left Kenya to study at the University of Hawaii, where he married again. His American wife-to-be, Stanley Ann Dunham, was not yet 18 and unaware of his marital situation when she became pregnant with his namesake son in 1961.
It is also well known that Democrat Senator from New Mexico, Tom Udall, and his cousin, Senator Mark Udall (D) from Colorado, come from a long line of polygamists. But that was never an issue because they are Democrats.
Mens Journal reported:
In the Udall family, politics stretches back generations. Mark’s and Tom’s great-grandfather, David King Udall, was a pioneer Arizonan and a Mormon polygamist who was sent to federal prison (on testimony of an ancestor of Mitt Romney’s, family lore has it). He was pardoned by President Grover Cleveland, then tossed back in jail. This time, it was Barry Goldwater’s grandfather who got him off the hook.
It’s only ever an issue if the politician is Republican.
Source
Bigamy is illegal HERE, according to our culture, so shut it. It's so convenient you WANT to refer to other other countries habits when it supports your twisted rhetoric, but National healthcare is what other dirty socialist countries do and we just CAN'T abide it. Seriously, fuck this.
*Flips table*
also as someone else said, it's illegal here. so gtfo with this.
Edited at 2012-04-21 01:41 am (UTC)
That said, can we just not attack politicians because of their family backgrounds and what their ancestors did? My ancestors on my father's side were a bunch of radical communists, and idek want to know the shit that would be flung at me if I ran for political office because of it. (tbf I'm not at all ashamed of it, but I know it would be used for derailing my hypothetical campaign.)
and fleeing to mexico because of your illegal polygamist practices isn't the same as legal polygamy in other cultures, so bye.
regardless, mitt romney and barack obama aren't the polygamists, so it shouldn't even matter.
I guess if you wanted to be fair and balanced, you should have included a photo of all the very extended family of Mitt Romney still living on that polygamy compound in Mexico...
Both Gov. Schweitzer and the author of this piece are idiots for attempting to make this relevant.
Nah, I'm not buying it either.
Let the games begin.
aka the only politician this debate is relevant to
2. People can't help what their relatives and family do.
3. There's nothing inherently wrong with polygamy, provided all partners are equal and consenting.
4. And this helps create jobs--how exactly?
I really hope this doesn't become a major issue. Really, really hope.
I don't care if Romney's family fled to Mexico to practice polygamy or whether Obama's family also had polygamists as well. How does this affect me? It doesn't.
You can pick your friends, but you can't pick your ancestors. So really, IDGAF.
Next up: "AHMAHGAH, u gaiz, Obama ate DOG when he was little! He's EVOL!"
Done. Next?
That said, neither Romney or Obama are bigamists themselves, they simply both descend from ancestors who lived in situations where bigamy/polygamy was legal and accepted and/or condoned by their religion. Furthermore, I hardly think it's fair to criticise someone for the actions of their parents.
Logic, how does it fucking work?
I said it during the LDS "polygamist compound" thing and I'll say it again. If the most salient label for the things those men were doing is "polygamy", then what does that say? That rape is by comparison NORMAL and UNSURPRISING.
Bringing up Romney's and Obama's family histories like this is, yes, cynical stupid nonsense on both sides. But I don't even want to listen to anyone who talks about "polygamy" as if the word itself is a condemnation. Just, no.
You'd think someone with a name like "Hedgecock" would know better than to draw attention to other people's perceived 'peculiarities'.
GTFO. Ye gods.