B-Ball with Barack...Michelle's brother on why Obama will make a good President

[ribrepin]

I spent the day in doctor's offices and ran across this article. Enjoy!!!

My father Fraser Robinson and my basketball coach at Princeton, Hall of Famer Pete Carril, used to say the same thing: "On the court, you can tell who's a selfish jerk." And let's just say they used a less printable word than jerk.

When Michelle started dating Barack Obama, she finally had someone serious enough to bring home to meet the family. As it turned out, he had played basketball in high school and kind of thought he was pretty good. My sister said, "I want you to take him to play, to see what type of guy he is when he's not around me." So I invited Barack to play pickup hoops with a few friends of mine in Chicago. Some of these guys played in college, some didn't, but they were all pretty good players. I like to think I was the first guy to vet him

I was very nervous because I had already met Barack a few times and liked him a lot. My sister didn't have many long-term boyfriends. So I was thinking, This guy seems like a pretty good guy; I hope he makes it. I was rooting for him. But here I am with this responsibility: if he turns out to be a, er, jerk, I've got to be the one to tell her.

He handled everything perfectly. We played a hard five-on-five, so there were definitely potholes for him to fall into. He wasn't the best guy out there, but he wasn't the worst guy. I liked the fact that he was confident but wasn't cocky or talking trash. Barack was very team-oriented, very unselfish. He fit in like he was one of us — he wasn't trying to be president of the Harvard Law Review. But the best part about it was that when we were on the same team, he did not pass me the ball every single time. He wasn't trying to suck up to my sister through me. I thought, You know, I like that. I was relieved to give my sister the good news: "Your boy is straight, and he can ball."

http://www.time.com/time/specials/2008/personoftheyear/article/0,31682,1861543_1865068_1865096,00.html

[givemebackmycountry]

1. I hope so, I really do...

I hope he "can ball".
I know what that means.

I also hope he's tough enough to throw an elbow or two.
Just to send a message every now and then.

[Idealism]

3. I heart basketball analogies

!!! <3

[ribrepin]

5. Not much of a sports fan

but have enjoyed basketball stories since "Hoop Dreams."

[ribrepin]

4. I hope he "can ball"...that was my favorite line too

I don't know exactly what it means, but I like the sound of it. I'm a woman in my fifties and not much of a sports fan.

I hope he can throw some elbows or has somebody throwing them for him.

[silverojo]

2. I heard this story before, but it's still cool - n/t

[Wang111]

6. Bush is saddened that a black president is coming along

Bush is saddened that a black president is coming along.

“WASHINGTON Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice says the country is not ‘race-blind’ and ‘we shouldn’t deceive ourselves that we’re race-blind,’ but she said the election of Barack Obama as the first African-American president was a key moment in history. ‘I think all Americans were quite taken with the fact that we were able, after the long history we’ve been through, that initial birth defect of slavery, that we’ve elected an African-American,’ Rice said in an interview taped recently on CBS’ Sunday Morning. ‘And that’s enormously heartening for people in the country, but also people worldwide who still have trouble with differences.’ Rice, who left segregated Alabama to eventually become the first African-American woman to be secretary of state, warned that the United States still has problems with race. ‘But I do think we’ve gotten to the place that we don’t see a person and say, ‘That’s a black person, therefore they must be ...’ And that’s an enormous step forward’” ((No author listed). (2008, December 29). U.S. still has problems with race, Rice warns. http://www.baltimoresun.com/. Retrieved December 30, 2008, from http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/nation/bal-te.briefs292dec29,0,6091459.story).

For example, George W. Bush is not race-blind and still has problems with race.

On balance, George W. Bush is a hate-crime criminal (indicated at http://andrewyu-jenwang.blogspot.com/2008/12/what-did-you-think-of-that-naacp-anti.html: “George W. Bush had better stop committing hate crimes”).

On balance, George W. Bush hates Jews (indicated at http://andrewyu-jenwang.blogspot.com/2008/12/george-w-bush-dislikes-or-hates-jews-in.html: “George W. Bush dislikes or hates Jews in his heart and mind”).

On balance, George W. Bush hates immigrants (indicated at http://andrewyu-jenwang.blogspot.com/2008/12/george-w-bush-hates-immigrants.html: “George W. Bush hates immigrants”; and http://andrewyu-jenwang.blogspot.com/2008/12/what-did-you-think-of-that-naacp-anti.html: “George W. Bush had better stop committing hate crimes”).

On balance, George W. Bush hates black people (indicated at http://andrewyu-jenwang.blogspot.com/2008/12/andrew-yu-jen-wang-responds-to-stokely.html: “Andrew Yu-Jen Wang responds to Stokely Carmichael’s comment in Wang’s blog”).

On balance, George W. Bush hates Latino people (indicated at http://andrewyu-jenwang.blogspot.com/2008/12/what-did-you-think-of-that-naacp-anti.html: “George W. Bush had better stop committing hate crimes”).

On balance, George W. Bush hates Arabs and Muslims (indicated at http://andrewyu-jenwang.blogspot.com/2008/12/what-did-you-think-of-that-naacp-anti.html: “George W. Bush had better stop committing hate crimes”; and http://andrewyu-jenwang.blogspot.com/2008/11/george-w-bush-is-racist.html: “George W. Bush is a racist”).

On balance, George W. Bush hates Indian people (indicated at http://andrewyu-jenwang.blogspot.com/2008/11/george-w-bush-is-racist.html: “George W. Bush is a racist”).

On balance, George W. Bush hates Filipino people (indicated at http://andrewyu-jenwang.blogspot.com/2008/11/george-w-bush-is-racist.html: “George W. Bush is a racist”).

Bush is like Adolf Hitler: Bush in such an uncontainable manner wants to maintain that his race is superior to all other races.

Bush’s racial prejudices are shocking to the conscience.

Submitted by Andrew Yu-Jen Wang
B.S., Summa Cum Laude, 1996
Messiah College, Grantham, PA
Lower Merion High School, Ardmore, PA, 1993

“GEORGE W. BUSH IS THE WORST PRESIDENT IN U.S. HISTORY” BLOG OF ANDREW YU-JEN WANG

http://andrewyu-jenwang.blogspot.com/2008/12/us-still-has-problems-with-race-rice.html

[tom_paine]

9. Welcome to DU, Andrew. I'll be checking out your blog sometime...

:toast:

Hope you stick around.

[Triana]

7. Michelle has a great big brother. He seems very protective of her.

Very sweet!

[monmouth]

8. I love this, but also wonder if Obama kinda knew he was being "vetted."...LOL...nt

[ribrepin]

10. Can you image the pressure of being asked by your girlfriend's basketball star brother

to shoot some hoops? Talk about cool under pressure. I love this story too.

[ribrepin]

11. C'mon folks two more votes and off to the greatest page for this feel good story