His Brother's Keeper

It seems the Times of London did something the American newspapers were unwilling to do: they went searching for the aunt Barack Obama writes so fondly of, Zeituni Onyango, in his apologia pro vita sua and found her living "in a disabled-access flat on a rundown public housing estate [housing project in Americanese] in South Boston." This is not quite the journalistic coup it might appear, the Times reporters probably just Googled her name, as I recently did, and her phone book listing popped right up with her address and number (no doubt it will be "disappeared" soon but it was there as of 9:26 this morning). Then again, British reporters, unlike their American counterparts, aren't beset with the all-consuming task getting the One into the White House.

In their travels, the Times also managed to find Barack's "Uncle Omar," who is also in a bad way, having once been beaten by "armed robbers with a 'sawed-off rifle' while working in a corner shop in the Dorchester area of the city. He was later evicted from his one-bedroom flat for failing to pay $2,324.20 (£1,488) arrears, according to the Boston Housing Court."

Well, so what, Obama's supporters will argue. Barack can hardly be expected to take responsibility for all the lost relatives who will, no doubt, come calling with tales of woe when he is elected president, can he? The answer, of course, is no. In the case of the two unfortunates above, however, it strikes me as more than a little galling that Obama is willing using them as props in his presidential campaign but, apparently, unwilling to use some his considerable income to ease their wretched conditions a bit; you know, to "spread the wealth around" a little. I guess, like most on the left, he feels that's the government's job.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church instructs:

The fourth commandment is addressed expressly to children in their relationship to their father and mother, because this relationship is the most universal. It likewise concerns the ties of kinship between members of the extended family. It requires honor, affection, and gratitude toward elders and ancestors.

Never let it be said Obama doesn't pay homage to his elderly kin. He just doesn't want to pay money to them, his, anyway; it's okay if it comes from the rest of us.

UPDATE: Ms. Onyango's phone listing on Google has been (quite rightly) removed.