New Video of Obama’s Trip to Kenya; Obama Appearing with Odinga

Texas Darlin’ has posted new video of Obama’s trip to Kenya which apparently shows him campaigning for his cousin (?)/fellow Luo clan member Raila Odinga.  This trip was made with taxpayer money back in August 2006.  For a profile of Odinga, see the BBC report “Odinga: Kenya’s King-maker.”

See the video, Obama and Odinga: New Video

Here’s a report from the New York Times on one phase of the trip. The headline is sort of ironic, isn’t it?

Obama Urges Kenyans to Get Tough on Corruption

By JEFFREY GETTLEMAN

Published: August 29, 2006

NAIROBI, Kenya, Aug. 28 — Barack Obama strode into a packed auditorium in Nairobi on Monday and attacked an issue that notoriously bedevils Kenyan society: corruption.

He urged people to reject “the insulting idea that corruption is somehow part of Kenyan culture” and “to stand up and speak out against injustices.”

This was Day 5 of his Kenya tour, and at each stop, each speech that he gives, the crowds only grow.

It is an unusual reception for an unusual trip for a Democratic freshman senator from Illinois to be making, but it seems that Mr. Obama, whose father was Kenyan, is using all the rapturous attention to spotlight serious issues that are too often ignored in Africa.

The Kenyans are loving it.

On Friday, thousands of students at the University of Nairobi in halter tops, Che Guevara T-shirts, blue jeans and three-piece suits, pressed up against barricades to watch Mr. Obama and his entourage walk through the door.

During a nationally televised speech at the campus, students and faculty clapped in all the right places and laughed at most of Mr. Obama’s jokes. For a second, it seemed as if Mr. Obama were back at the Democratic National Convention in Boston in 2004, when he gave such a rousing pep talk that people started mentioning the p-word with his name.

(SNIP)

He ended by telling the crowd, “I want you all to know that as your ally, your friend and your brother, I will be there in every way I can.”

Many in the audience left in high spirits.

“He’s inspiring,” said Miriam Musonye, a literature professor. “He really seems to believe what he says.”

The Che Guevara t-shirts reminds me of the Che poster in the Obama campaign office that we’ve seen…

In my April 9 post, Obama-Odinga:50-50 Split Demands Sound SOOOO FAMILIAR…(10/7/08 UPDATE  1X–Author of “The Obama Nation” Detained in Kenya) I quote a certain Kenyan immigrant named Edwin Okong’o at the PBS FrontlineWorld blog in a piece entitled Obama: the Kenya Connection who disputes the authenticity of pictures taken of Oding and Obama together (shown in the post).

Ordinary Kenyans are not the only ones who see Obama as a messiah. Kenyan politicians have been using his popularity as political capital. In 2006, opposition leader Raila Odinga tried to portray Obama’s trip to Kenya as a personal endorsement. Odinga’s supporters created T-shirts and posters with cleverly computer-altered images that showed Obama and Odinga standing side by side, arms around each other.

I posted one disputed photo in my April post. Watching the video, one can see that the picture in this post post seems to be taken directly from the video. See Minute 1:48 to 2:00 of the video which shows the source of the “photo-shopped” still picture.

The picture in question

So, to my eyes, the disputed picture seems to be legitimate…Look at the video, and see what you think…

For more on Odinga and Obama, see these earlier posts:

Obama’s Lessons to be Learned: Odinga Yields in Kenya, Positions Himself for Next Election (April 13, 2008)

In Kenya, Struggle for Parliament is Happening Now–Odinga’s Party Issues Warning (Sounds Like Cousin Obama) (June 10, 2008)

Latest Update on Kenya Elections: Odinga’s Party Wins 3 Seats of 5; UPDATED 2X (Just Say No Deal) (June 12, 2008)