A nice, warm, gooey Barack Obama glurge story

Those of us who heart Obama will love this story.

Even if you don’t like the Obama love, it’s still a cool story.

Is there some particular reason why I should believe that this is a true story?

Really would have been awesome proof if she kept the slip of paper.

For now, this story goes in the “nifty if real” pile.

Well, the woman and her parents are identifiable people who really exist and have gone public. Barack Obama himself has also aknowledged the story to be true. There is a photograph of her holding the letter from Obama with the US Senate stamp on it. That’s a lot more than you usually get with glurge. Is there any reason you should not believe its true? I guess it’s possible that all parties involved are lying (and have been lying since 1988), and that they forged the letter from Obama, but do you think that’sthe most likely scenario?

I don’t see it on Snopes, but the source is a legitimate newspaper, not an email forward.

She does have the Senate stamped letter from Obama. That’s something.

Sorry, I got saccharined out before I got to that part of the article. Was already on suspicious alert because your link is to a blog and the original article is in Norwegian.

Moved to “nifty” pile.

Thanks for posting that. Lovely story.

The only thing I see on your cite is a story, and a picture with a letter which I cannot read. Can you cite Obama acknowledging it? Or is that letter which cannot be read the cite? Where is the link to the legitimate newspaper? The appearance of their front page indicates that some skepticism is not out of place.

I don’t know if it’s true or not. Until it’s proven, I’ll accept it just as readily as I accept all glurge, i.e., not at all.

A question: If you’ve been living in Norway for 20 years and are married to a Norwegian, how do you get to vote in the presidential election? And why would you even care?

The original newspaper story is right here. It’s a Norwegian newspaper. Knock yourself out.

Why would you lose your right to vote? You’d still be a US citizen. My father has lived in Brazil for years. He still votes.

In most states, expatriates are allowed to vote (in federal elections) from their last registered adress. In some states, they are allowed to vote from their parents last address.

If she’s still a U.S. citizen, she’s entitled to vote for President, and I see no reason why she shouldn’t be allowed to.

That part of the story, I have no issue with.

What part do you have an issue with? That Barack Obama could have ever done anything nice for a stranger? It’s not like the story is THAT extraordinary. It was only 100 bucks. If it was fake, I’d expect to see it beefed up more.

You also don’t usually get identifiable people and Senate stamped letters to go along with the glurge.

The story was reported in a legit Norwegian newspaper. If it was an American newspaper, would you accept it?

That was a nice story, but I would appreciate a confirmation from a Norwegian Doper (where’s our own American in Norway, flodnak at?) that the paper is legit and not a Scandinavian version of a supermarket tabloid.

The letter is still not readable. (I can’t even make out a Senate seal, for that matter.) For all I know, it says, “Thank you for your best wishes.”

How would you react to a blog’s translation of a Vietnamese newspaper story about John McCain giving the Heimleich maneuver to a child before he was captured? “Oh, how nice and warm,” you’d say?

As I said: this may be a true story; it may not. I see no reason to believe that it is true (or not) without some kind of proof.

New York Times or New York Post?

Wall Street Journal or USA Today?

Washington Post or Washington Times?

I’d accept pretty much any of those.

Heh. I’ll keep that in mind.

None of the sources you listed make things up out of thin air. They might spin or editorialize but they’re generally factually accurate.

I’m seeing that this airport story is getting spread around on a lot of lefty blogs (Kos, HuffPo, DU), all translating from the same Norwegian newspaper. I guess it all boils down to the credibility of that paper. I haven’t seen anyone trying to debunk it.

Like I said, I’ll keep that in mind.