Obama aunt from Kenya living illegally in US

[Gutenberg]

I think the GOPs want people to believe that Obama has been secretly bringing relatives into the country illegally and having them sheltered here (at taxpayer expense!) by nefarious Democratic operatives like Tom Menino, and if that doesn't stick Obama's a bum because he doesn't take care of his family--never mind that that branch of the family is quite distant indeed.

He flew back to Hawaii to see his grandmother, for which he caught some heat because there were Secret Service employees along with him. He also flew home last night to take his daughters to a Halloween party. I am sure some Fox commentator will try to make that into a big deal too. Waste of taxpayer money! Personal business!

[Black Landlord]

Not to mention that had Obama helped her in some way he would be equally under fire for having done so.
I find it touching that this person of meager means made the effort to donate to Obama's campaign, regardless of how "innappropriate" the media may frame it.

[Pam]

Not to mention it all plays on the poor blacks living off everyone else stereotype.

(BTW, more whites are on the welfare rolls)

[MacGurl]

Playing off of the hatred for immigrants.....

[Black Landlord]

MacGurl wrote:
Playing off of the hatred for immigrants.....

Well, who's doing so, exactly?
Is the AP showing a right wing bias?
I think what's going on here is a simple quest for controversy, irregardless of flavor.

[Acer]

I'd like to see the rest of the details...perhaps she was in some sort of paperwork limbo, which is quire common with INS proceedings.

But on the face of it, it's another example of the broken INS, which aggravates our illegal alien issues.

Play by the rules, stand up to request to become legal, get deported anyway.

Don't play by the rules, stay under the radar, stay indefinitely (or at least until your nephew is nominated for president.)

[graylocks]

I think Obama must know a little bit about her and where she might be living, since he wrote about her.

the article i read earlier today said Obama wrote about visiting her in Kenya. I think they visited briefly on one of her visits to the US but they weren't the close kind of family to keep in touch. i have relatives in Jamaica. i may have a chat or coffee with them when they visit the states. after the visit, i have no idea if or when they ever return to Jamaica and i'm certainly not responsible for their behavior. and if i won the lottery, they would not be on my list of folks i'd need to help out with my sudden abundance. family is about connection beyond blood. just because you're related to someone doesn't make them family.

[Bill in NC]

Would anyone here voluntarily live in public housing if they had another choice, though?

Having seen projects here and in other relatively small cities, I can't imagine how bad they must be in a large city like Boston.

[Gutenberg]

The McCain campaign is handling it decently. Steve Schmidt, campaign manager, said it was a family matter and that the campaign would have no comment.

[mikeylikesit]

Bill in NC wrote:
Would anyone here voluntarily live in public housing if they had another choice, though?

Having seen projects here and in other relatively small cities, I can't imagine how bad they must be in a large city like Boston.

I've been through those projects. It's not a target address. The level of violence residents as subject to might cause a resident to take an eight-year old to a firing range and put a self-defense Uzi in his hands, except they wouldn't have access to such a facility.