"The First Family...You Never Knew!"

Three months ago I wrote about Madelyn Dunham, President Obama’s maternal grandmother. You may recall, she had just died, and virtually disappeared instantly as a news topic. Admittedly I found that somewhat troubling. Like hundreds of millions of Americans, and tens of billions of people around the world, I spend a great deal of time watching various aspects of the Inaugural ceremonies.

As the Obama Presidency enters its third week, there have been a plethora of news items from which to choose for highlighting. The Blagojevich imbroglio finally reached a head with his unanimous Impeachment by the Illinois State Senate, two Clinton…I mean Obama picks withdrew their names from consideration yesterday, due to tax-related scandals.

Nancy Killefer, appointed to the newly created position of Chief Performance Officer, and former Senator Tom Daschle, the President’s nominee to head the Department of Health and Human Services, would both have required Senate confirmation. Of course, Senator Bill Richardson withdrew earlier from being considered for the position of Secretary of Commerce, while Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, and Attorney General Eric Holder had tough confirmation battles. The latest withdrawals, by Killefer and Daschle, prompted a contrite President Obama to confess, "I screwed up!" I am convinced this lapse in standards does not reflect the best our President has to offer; nor is it the embodiment of the Change We Believed In.

Nevertheless, I had already decided what I wanted to write about after Inauguration. Faced with technical difficulties last week, I knew other matters would arise, but I am going to stick with my gut, and take, as Frost did, “The Road Less Traveled By (Technically, The Road Not Taken).”

We have been introduced to Stanley and Madelyn Dunham, and their daughter, Stanley Ann, who is Barack’s mother. We know about her daughter, and Barack’s half-sister, Dr. Maya Soetoro-Ng. There have been countless stories about the First Mother-in-law, Marian Robinson, who will live in the White House, with the Obamas. We even know by now that First Brother-in-law, Craig Robinson coaches basketball at Oregon State University, even though most of us have no idea where Corvallis is located. Naturally we are familiar with First Lady Michelle, and the Obama children, Malia and Natasha (Sasha).

Of course you know in order for there to be a Barack, Jr., there must have been a Barack, Senior; but did you know…Barack Hussein Obama, Senior, fathered seven other children, six of whom are living? That’s right the President has five half-brothers, and another half-sister. They live in far-away places such as Kenya, Germany, and China, and not so far away places such as Atlanta. Two of them, one brother, and one sister are older than President Obama. Five of the six share the Obama surname, the sister, and four of the brothers.

One fleeting Inaugural moment peeked my interest in this compelling (to me anyway) bit of trivia. I saw a crowd shot in which a stately African woman, identified as Sarah Obama, was referred to as the President’s grandmother. Having heard many previous references to the passing of Mrs. Dunham being the last direct connection to the President’s forebearers, I wondered how this matter could have escaped the omniscient eye of an omnipresent media.

A little research led me to the answer, quickly. Mrs. Obama was married to Barack Obama, Senior’s father at some point, but was not his mother, and therefore, not the President’s grandmother. However, they do have a warm relationship, and he refers to her as his grandmother.

Following up briefly on the First Siblings, the President is reported to have said he is in regular contact with his sisters only, both of whom are Ph.D.’s incidentally. Although not as close with his brothers, there are documented records of their having met him, or at least commenting on his phenomenal rise to the epicenter of global power. One brother, Mark Ndesandjo, who has live in China for a number of years, is thought to have gone underground to escape an increasingly intrusive media. His brother David, who is the one deceased sibling, was killed in a motorcycle accident.

President Obama’s seven paternal half-siblings are:

• Malik Obama (Abongo, Roy), Half-brother, 1958
• Auma Obama, Half-sister, Circa 1960
• Abo Obama, Half-brother, 1968
• Bernard Obama, Half Brother, 1970
• Mark Ndesandjo, Half-brother
• David Ndesandjo (deceased), Half-brother
• George Hussein Onyango Obama, Half-brother, 1982

Over the weekend, CNN reported with great fanfare the President’s youngest half-brother, George Obama, was arrested in Nairobi, Kenya, for possession of cannabis, and resisting arrest. A recent follow-up on the story, which was much less publicized, indicated Mr. Obama was released later in the day, and all charges were dropped. It appears, while he was picked up with people who had marijuana, but he did not. It turns out associating with people who have the drug is considered a petty offense. Who knew? Certainly not CNN; wink, wink!

Of course, when first seeing this story splashed across CNN, I was immediately reminded that there is rich legacy of First Familial notoriety, including Billy Carter, Ron Reagan, Jr., George W. Bush, Roger Clinton, and most recently Barbara and Jenna Bush. Then my prevailing notion was, welcome to the club, Mr. President. Now, it is less less certain this Commander-in-Chief will have family members joining that not so august crew. But if he does, they should be warmly received by an ample awaiting party.

In summary, there is nothing earth-shattering about anything in this story. Of course that’s the beauty of having a blog. You are empowered and free to write about what ever suits your own whimsical fancy. The essential point of this piece is from time to time, it is worthwhile to look beyond the front page, or CNN, or TVOne, or the Times, the Post, or the Journal, or wherever you get your news to find as Paul Harvey calls it, “The Rest of the Story!”

I’m done; holla back!

Read my blog anytime by clicking the link:
http://thesphinxofcharlotte.blogspot.com/. A new post is published each Wednesday.

For more detailed information on a variety of aspects relating to this post, consult the links below:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barack_Obama

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michelle_Obama

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barack_Obama_Sr.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/11/07/malia-obama-see-how-shes_n_141836.html

http://www.zimbio.com/pictures/XmjjbIadA0a/Obama+Campaigns+Ahead+Indiana+North+Carolina/1H0KETkkawd/Natasha+Obama

http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20253448,00.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Craig_Robinson_(basketball_coach)

http://www.suntimes.com/news/politics/obama/familytree/545442,BSX-News-wotreedd09.stng

http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/11/04/america/obama.php

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ann_Dunham

http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/02/03/citing-tax-troubles-an-obama-appointee-withdraws/?hp

http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/02/03/daschle/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malia_Obama#Malia_and_Sasha_Obama

http://www.suntimes.com/news/politics/obama/familytree/545462,BSX-News-wotrees09.stng

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Who_are_Barack_Obama's_siblings

http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/africa/01/31/george.obama.arrest/

http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/africa/02/02/kenya.george.obama/

http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/08/22/bts.obama.brother/

http://www.usatoday.com/news/politicselections/state/illinois/2004-10-26-obama-lifestyle_x.htm

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N4Rmbfohq6Y

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2127586/posts

http://www.suntimes.com/news/politics/obama/familytree/545470,BSX-News-wotreez09.article

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maya_Soetoro-Ng

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jtztrMoIUDc

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_W._Bush

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jenna_Bush

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbara_Pierce_Bush

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roger_Clinton,_Jr.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billy_Carter

http://www.beliefnet.com/News/Politics/2004/08/Breakthrough-For-Non-Believers.aspx