Monday, November 23, 2009

The Secret Life of Obama's Brother

Am I the last Obama fan to know that our president has a biracial (Jewish and Kenyan) half brother, Mark Ndesandjo, who lives in China and is married to a Chinese woman?

I mean I've read his memoir. I've read all the Obama children's books. I even keep my own Obama scrapbook and yet when I caught the brief headline in Time magazine last week, that Obama stopped by to visit his half-brother in China during his official Asia trip, I did a double take.

Now, I'm generally not a pessimist, but doesn't it just seem like every president has to have a creepy and/or slightly embarrassing brother hiding in a closet, just waiting for the right time to expose his creepy and/or embarrassing habits on the public stage? I'm not saying this is true about Obama's brother, at all. I'm just saying I wouldn't be surprised if a little something scandalous doesn't come out soon.

Right now the media seems to be respecting his privacy. The fact that he lives in a small province in China probably makes it easier for him to lay low, although now that he has his own new self-published, semi-autobiographical novel to promote, he may want a little bit more publicity. Can I just ask, why can't presidential siblings just have really normal jobs and boring lives that nobody would care about?

I'm not going to judge, but as Dick Cheney might say, I'm staying on high alert. What do you think? Will we hear more from and about Mark Ndesandjo? Good stuff or bad stuff? Here's some basic information about him from the Associated Press.

Peace.

PS. You still have a few more hours to post your entry in Friday's comments for a chance to win a book and a t-shirt.

5 comments:

iamatraveler said...

I ordered Mark Ndesandjo's book a couple of weeks ago. I just finished the fist chapter. It's not written as well has our President's autobiographies. I do remember reading about Ndesandjo last year on Huffingtonpost.com. And a couple of weeks ago, Huffingtonpost.com had another piece on him, which is why I ordered the book. He seems like a really good guy. Successful in his own right.

Sandra said...

My one question is how come the President's half-brother's last name isn't Obama?

Professor Tharps said...

Iamatraveler,
Please let us know how the book turns out.

Sandra,
Apparently he changed his last name because he didn't want his father's last name. But don't quote me on that.

iamatraveler said...

I sure will!

Ashley-Nicole said...

I have a problem with siblings trying to cash in on being associated with their well-known sibling. And I'm not going to read Mark Ndesandjo's book because of it.Why is it that he's talking now when he has a book coming out? Why couldn't he make himself known while Barack was still an Illinois Senator?