Andy Martin: Did the Associated Press report Obama’s grandmother has converted to Christianity?


Andy Martin continues to explore Barack Obama’s Muslim “roots.”
Did the Associated Press report Obama’s grandmother has converted to Christianity? Andy follows up on this unusual story: did Barack Obama’s “grandmother” abandon Islam for Christianity? The reports are not clear; contradictory facts mandate an explanation from the candidate.


ANDY MARTIN
Executive Editor
ContrarianCommentary.com

“Factually Correct, Not
Politically Correct”

OBAMA’S MUSLIM RELIGION CAUSES NEW EXPLOSIONS ON THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL: PART ONE

DID OBAMA’S STEP-GRANDMOTHER SWITCH RELIGIONS SINCE 2007?

(CHICAGO)(March 6, 2008) I have been writing about Barack Obama’s religious roots since 2004. It was my news conferences in Chicago and London that first presented the original research concerning Obama’s father’s religion (Barack Obama, Sr.) as well as his grandfather’s religion and overall family heritage within Islam. Obama’s hesitancy to openly and honestly discuss his religious roots intrigued me, and I have pursued the topic for four years.

But lately, it almost seems as though Obama’s religion and his strenuous efforts to conceal his religious heritage are pursuing me. The topic has become so bizarre and so convoluted and so fascinating that I am now returning to Obama’s religion with a two-part analysis and commentary.

Part One concerns Obama’s step-grandmother, who may be experiencing sloppy reporting by the Associate Press, or failing memory, or bad translation. In any event, the facts are out there to see. Obama and his family owe voters a frank and uncomplicated explanation.

When last heard from, “Granny” Sara Obama was demanding cash (“outstretched palms”) for interviews, from Nick Kristof of the New York Times, http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/24/opinion/24kristof.html?scp=3&sq=Kristof&st=nyt

In an extended story on Obama’s religions beliefs, the New York Times in 2007 reported a statement by Obama’s step-grandmother, “Granny” Sarah, in which she stated:

“I am a strong believer of the Islamic faith,” Ms. Obama, 85, said in a recent interview in Kenya. See: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/30/us/politics/30obama.html

March 5, 2008, the Associated Press posted a story by Katharine Houreld, datelined, Kogelo, Kenya, in which Sara Obama is quoted as saying:
Obama's grandfather had converted to Islam from Roman Catholicism and taken the name Hussein, Sarah Obama said, but his children had inherited only the name, not the religion. Each person should be able to choose how they worshipped, she said…In the world of today, children have different religions from their parents," she said. She, too, is a Christian. See: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/03/05/AR2008030501503.html
With all due respect, the news that Barack Obama’s step-grandmother, whom Barack calls “granny” and who Obama’s half-sister states:
Sarah Obama was the second wife of the candidate's late grandfather, so she is not his biological grandmother. But Auma Obama said: "By our definition, in our culture, she is his grandmother," she said.
has possibly converted to Christianity is blockbuster news.
What is the truth? Obama owes us an answer. He has shamelessly exploited his Kenyan relatives for political advantage, claiming a “family visit” in 2006 is part of his “foreign policy” experience. I have previously asked why millionaire-Barack does not send his “granny” the money to connect indoor plumbing and electricity, and the response was that Sarah wants to live under primitive conditions.
So what has happened? Is Sarah losing it? Is AP guilty of sloppy or erroneous reporting, for not even bothering to fact-check the Sarah Obama story? Did AP use an incompetent translator? Or is it true that Sarah has abandoned Islam for Christianity?
Senator Obama, and/or Associated press, you have some explaining to do. The Chicago Sun-Times’ editors recently posted their phone number in an editorial asking for a call to discuss Tony Rezko. Barry O has my number; I’d like a call on what gives with AP and Granny Sarah.
If the Associated Press and the Obama campaign are going to use Granny Sarah to launch attacks on people who question Obama’s background and religious heritage, we have a right to know if she is mentally competent at this time or if the AP is guilty of sloppy reporting (which has been picked up by virtually every major American newspaper web site).
TOMORROW, PART TWO: A NEWSPAPER COLUMNIST CASTS A CLOUD OVER BARACK OBAMA’S RELIGIOUS ROPE-A-DOPE; IS HILLARY CLINTON OWED AN APOLOGY?
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Chicago-based Internet journalist, broadcaster and media critic Andy Martin is the Executive Editor and publisher of http://www.ContrarianCommentary.com. © Copyright by Andy Martin 2008. Martin covers regional, national and world events with over forty years of experience. He has been a candidate for U. S. Senator from Illinois. www.AndyforUSSenator.com. He holds a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Illinois College of Law. Columns also posted at ContrarianCommentary.blogspot.com; contrariancommentary.wordpress.com. Comments? E-mail: AndyMart20@aol.com. Media contact: (866) 706-2639.