Obama and the Mau Mau

Yet again, it seems that Barack Obama is acting out his pathology at our expense. His appalling treatment of British Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, could be written off as another example of this administration’s incompetence. But, it also looks as if Obama also has his own ax to grind with the Brits and lacks the emotional maturity to deal with it like a grown up. Phase one of Operation Ally Alienation was the belligerent act of rejecting Downing Street’s offer to allow the new president to keep the bust of Winston Churchill that had been given to former president Bush after 9/11 in a gesture of solidarity and support.

After snubbing the prime minster of America’s staunchest ally by cancelling a joint news conference in the Rose Garden, the Obamas took their boorishness to the next level during the traditional world leader gift exchange. Prime Minister Brown presented the new Oval Office occupant with gifts reflecting considerable forethought. Brown gave Obama a pen holder made of oak timber from the HMS Gannet, a Royal Navy ship that served on anti-slavery missions off Africa. The Prime Minister also gave ingrate Obama the framed commissioning paper for the HMS Resolute, another Royal Navy ship. The ship had been rescued from icebergs by the US and was offered as a symbol of the goodwill between our two nations.

Rounding out the collection of treasures was the 1st edition of Martin Gilbert’s seven volume biography of Winston Churchill; another symbolic gift representing the alliance of the United States and Britain during WWII. Not to be outdone, our president presented the Prime Minister of our most important ally with a collection of his top twenty five favorite DVDs. In attestation to Gordon Brown’s graciousness, the Prime Minister did, actually sit down to view the DVDs, only to discover they are unusable in the UK due to the format. Mrs. Brown presented the first daughters with lovely outfits from Topshop, a British clothing chain. Michelle gave Mrs. Brown’s boys toy helicopters modeled after Marine One, no doubt picked up by an aide at the last minute in the White House gift shop.

Evidently, the president who swore he would change the way the world looks at America is not a fan of the British. Obama’s paternal grandfather, Hussein Onyango Obama worked as a cook for a British army officer when he became involved with the Kenyan independence movement. Grandpa Obama was arrested in 1949 as a sympathizer for the Kikuyu Central Association, the organization that ultimately spawned the Mau Mau. There is no question that the Kenyan penal system of that era was a violent place; mere imprisonment was not considered sufficiently punitive; torture was ubiquitous.

Grandpa Hussein’s wife tells of horrific torture of her husband at the hands of the Brits. Some of her recollections are questionable however: one scene of hell on earth she describes is actually a pretty good description of the process of delousing. There is also no question that if Hussein was arrested for subversive activities, he was up to something more than just being a good community organizer. He certainly would have been subject to some enhanced interrogation. The left wants to paint the Mau Mau as yet another misunderstood group of oppressed victims. The truth is, the Mau Maus were vicious guerrilla fighters. Contrary to popular folklore, the Mau Mau slaughtered far more Kikuyu citizens than the whites they were supposedly rebelling against. Mau Mau membership required taking an oath which was not exactly frat boy material. The colonial secretary, Oliver Lyttleton wrote:

“The Mau Mau oath is the most bestial, filthy and nauseating incantation which perverted minds can ever have brewed. I have never felt the forces of evil to be so near and as strong as in Mau Mau. As I wrote memoranda or instruction, I would suddenly see a shadow fall across the page-the horned shadow of the Devil himself.” (Source)

Little information is available as to the specific language of individual oaths, but we know that the process was taken seriously and had more elements of magic than politics. Kikuyu were under tremendous pressure to take the oath and join the movement. Counter insurgency expert, Major Frank Kitson describes a Mau Mau body snatching raid:

“The gang, frenzied by the thought of blood, slashed around with their simis (a Kikuyu sword) and fired their guns. One old man, slower than the rest, was caught and hamstrung. He fell at the feet of his pursuers, covering his face with his arms to protect it from the slicing swords, but a mouse in a mechanical mincing machine would have had a better chance of survival. One terrorist hacked off a foot, and another sliced off his testicles to use later in an Oathing ceremony. A third gouged out his eyes with a staple and put them in his pocket for the same purpose. When they had finished, most of the gang came by to cut and stab the twitching corpse. They then licked the blood off their simis and moved off into the night, having first set fire to all the huts they could see.” (Source)

Other writers claim the oath was far more innocuous. However, a 322 page report by Career Colonial Administrator, Frank D. Cornfield supports the seamier version: Source) Sounds like an earnest group of freedom fighters, right? Again corroborating that Barack Obama has never known a normal person, his grandfather’s support for the Mau Mau was sufficient to get himself arrested. The struggle for independence from the Brits may have been a noble one, but not justification for the kind of depravity indulged by the Mau Mau. Longtime nationalist leader and Mau Mau manager, Jomo Kenyatta studied economics in Moscow in 1932.

We are not supposed to make too much of that. Obama has a grudge against the Brits for their abuse of his grandfather, a subversive who supported a bunch of ferocious guerillas. And as always with Obama, rather than deal with his own inner demons, he uses his position of power to act out. Another campaign promise kept: Obama is most assuredly changing the world’s view of America. Perhaps Obama is saving up all the really cool gifts for Ahmedinejad.