Looking at Obama from a new angle

HAPPY NEW YEARS ALL!!
I LOVE the library!! I have read more books in the last two years than I could ever have afforded. I always saw the public libraries in the same light as busses... some inferior government substitution that only the broke and busted turned to.

Although the libraries have their fair share of bureaucratic drawbacks (right now the Denver Public Library has a kibosh on holds while they transfer to a new system…their hours are sucktacular… their choices on certain books is horrid…)… it still has allowed me to enjoy books I could never afford at the moment. The most recent is The Roots of Obama’s Rage by Dinesh D’Souza.


I have been a fan of Professor D’Souza’s work since I picked up The Enemy At Home
when I was working at Borders. That’s probably the best book for answering why the Islamoterrorists hate us, and well worth the read! But I digress.

In The Roots of Obama’s Rage, Professor D’Souza comes across as a true seeker of the truth behind Obama’s motives and action. Although his predisposition towards conservatism is no secret, this book isn’t really judgmental until the final pages. For the most part, he doesn’t pass a judgment on the worthiness of Obama’s actions… only seeks a consistent source of these actions.

In an earlier post “Stop Saying Obama a Muslim!” I addressed how the Obama-haters might be missing the truth of the matter in their attempt to just attack the man. Similarly, Dinesh D’Souza opens his offering by equally assailing Obama’s haters and lovers. He immediately shows that this will be an academic vivisection of Obama’s words, writings, and actions in an attempt to find some core philosophy that explains everything from the GM Bailout to the return of the Churchill bust to the British. He takes us along his journey of reading Obama’s tomes - Audacity of Hope and Dreams From My Father. He also gives us his own first-hand experience with colonialism as a child in India… a childhood very similar to President Obama’s in many respects. By the end, he has found a hypothesis that not only fits the previous actions of the Administration (including healthcare ‘reform’ and ‘the apology tour’) but gives us a glimpse of what is probably coming in the near future.

It’s a quick read that doesn’t become “textbook-y” and I found myself learning more about African colonialism than I ever imagined! With the feel of an NCIS, House MD, or Lie to Me… it takes evidence, observes it from different angles and then tries to read the tea leaves. One never gets the feeling that the evidence is being forced or twisted… just presented. In fact, Professor D’Souza from the outset clearly states his feeling that current judgments of Obama – from ‘he’s a Socialist’ to ‘he’s the greatest president ever’- need to shove puzzle pieces together to support their premises. He is in search of the philosophy that will fit all the pieces nicely. Does he accomplish this task? That’s for the reader to decide.