Last week's column for the Post featured a Paul Harvey-esque disclosure about a white supremacist in Barack Obama's family tree. Although there has been some general discussion concerning Obama's genealogy, of the sort that typically accompanies U.S. presidential elections, I think I am the first journalist anywhere to dig up and publish this particular datum. It's of no more than idle interest, but idle interest is the columnist's business; you'd think someone would have had a rummage...
I also wrote a half-column about Isiah Thomas's pill overdose on Full Comment yesterday.
Comments (5)
You seem to have correctly assessed your Obama-rama column, but I wanted to compliment you on the Isiah Thomas piece, which seems like it got measurably closer to what really happened than any other reporting on the subject.
Posted by Ryan Cousineau | October 28, 2008 10:35 AM
Posted on October 28, 2008 10:35
Colby, I'm sure you realize that, in general, "idle interest" is something that most of the media appears to have forsworn in the quest to elect The One™. After all, such interest is dangerous: someone might find something embarrassing or damaging, and we just can't have that, now can we?
Posted by Garth Wood | October 28, 2008 1:14 PM
Posted on October 28, 2008 13:14
Garth,
I am interested in your opinion that unsavoury views by distant relatives are relevant to the electability of politicians you dislike. The conventional view in our civilization is that we are not personally responsible for the sins of our ancestors. Canada abolished corruption of the blood in the 1860s, and it is contrary to the original draft of the US Constitution.
Posted by Pithlord | October 28, 2008 5:14 PM
Posted on October 28, 2008 17:14
The ancestry is meaningless in regards to Obama's character (interesting side story, Obama owing reparations), but the MSM sure has avoided interest in other stories.
Posted by Half Canadian | October 28, 2008 7:55 PM
Posted on October 28, 2008 19:55
Pithlord:
You read (or perhaps comprehend) poorly. My comment was directed towards Colby's noticing that "idle interest" in Obama was lacking; neither support nor condemnation of Colby's particular subject matter (O's distant relatives) was offered.
HalfCanadian understood immediately. This indicates that my post was not overly oblique.
Posted by Garth Wood | October 29, 2008 8:07 AM
Posted on October 29, 2008 08:07