# Obama's aunt steps into the illegal immigrant debate **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [September 21, 2010, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-aunt-steps-into-the-illegal-immigrant-debate/554586 "2010-09-21T22:39:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2010, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-aunt-steps-into-the-illegal-immigrant-debate/554586/21 "2010-09-22T14:23:55Z")
> [@lavenderviolet](#): > > > [@Bricker](#): > > > > Yes, but that highlights the fundamental unfairness of tarring Obama with her idiocy. He can’t pick his family. I have a cousin that’s been in and out of jail and still (I think) struggles with a substance abuse problem. Is it my fault? Do my views on treatment or prosecution of substance abusers get diluted somehow? > > It does become relevant for you if there is any reason to think that you were aiding and abetting your cousin in his drug use. Or if your actions on drug policy may have been based on trying to help out your ole cuz. True. But completely inapplicable here, where there’s not a scintilla of evidence that Obama has done any analogous thing. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2010, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-aunt-steps-into-the-illegal-immigrant-debate/554586/22 "2010-09-22T14:36:21Z")
OTOH, [breaking his promise](http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2010/07/the-roundtable-obamas-broken-immigration-promise.html)to deal with immigration his first year now holds a whiff of that “appearence of impropriety” that is so important to the SDMB (when it concerns a Republican). Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2010, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-aunt-steps-into-the-illegal-immigrant-debate/554586/23 "2010-09-22T14:40:25Z")
Just checking in as someone who heard about this aunt quite a while back, and also one who heard that she had already been granted asylum. Nothing new here. ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2010, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-aunt-steps-into-the-illegal-immigrant-debate/554586/24 "2010-09-22T14:51:37Z")
The new thing is that for the first time, she sat down and agreed to be interviewed. And during that interview, she gave a bunch of early Christmas presents to the Republican party. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2010, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-aunt-steps-into-the-illegal-immigrant-debate/554586/25 "2010-09-22T15:43:16Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > OTOH, [breaking his promise](http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2010/07/the-roundtable-obamas-broken-immigration-promise.html)to deal with immigration his first year now holds a whiff of that “appearence of impropriety” that is so important to the SDMB (when it concerns a Republican). > > Regards, > Shodan You’re grasping at straws. First of all, he HAS dealt with immigration as much as he can, and has stepped up both border security and deportations well above what Bush was doing, and secondly “impropriety?” Are you serious? What has he done that’s remotely “improper” regarding any aspect of immigration, much less specifically with regards to his aunt? ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2010, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-aunt-steps-into-the-illegal-immigrant-debate/554586/26 "2010-09-22T15:44:35Z")
> [@muldoonthief](#): > > The new thing is that for the first time, she sat down and agreed to be interviewed. And during that interview, she gave a bunch of early Christmas presents to the Republican party. Like what? What has she said that has anything to do with the President? ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2010, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-aunt-steps-into-the-illegal-immigrant-debate/554586/27 "2010-09-22T16:28:00Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > > [@muldoonthief](#): > > > > The new thing is that for the first time, she sat down and agreed to be interviewed. And during that interview, she gave a bunch of early Christmas presents to the Republican party. > > Like what? What has she said that has anything to do with the President? Nothing directly to do with the President. But she basically acted out many of the stereotypes that immigration opponents have claimed. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2010, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-aunt-steps-into-the-illegal-immigrant-debate/554586/28 "2010-09-22T16:57:07Z")
> [@lavenderviolet](#): > > > [@muldoonthief](#): > > > > She did attend his swearing in as a Senator back in 2005, and his inauguration in 2008. Don’t know if she actually spent any time with him though, but she claims they’re “close.” > > I’d love to know where the money came from for these trips, if she is so destitute that she needs to be on the dole. She’s not on “the dole”. She was or is on disability. What kind of disability isn’t clear, although it can’t be SSDI. SSI, perhaps, or a Massachusetts-specific program. > [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > > [@muldoonthief](#): > > > > The new thing is that for the first time, she sat down and agreed to be interviewed. And during that interview, she gave a bunch of early Christmas presents to the Republican party. > > Like what? What has she said that has anything to do with the President? You know better than that. It’s not about whether it has anything to do with the President; it’s about whether it can be made to sound like it does - and this particular issue doesn’t even need that much massaging. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2010, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-aunt-steps-into-the-illegal-immigrant-debate/554586/29 "2010-09-22T16:58:12Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > First of all, he HAS dealt with immigration as much as he can, and has stepped up both border security and deportations well above what Bush was doing… No he hasn’t. Stop lying. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2010, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-aunt-steps-into-the-illegal-immigrant-debate/554586/30 "2010-09-22T17:02:43Z")
[Yes, he has](http://voices.washingtonpost.com/44/2010/03/dhs-corrects-report-that-overs.html). Just not quite as much as originally advertised. Stop kneejerking. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2010, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-aunt-steps-into-the-illegal-immigrant-debate/554586/31 "2010-09-22T17:15:34Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > > [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > > > First of all, he HAS dealt with immigration as much as he can, and has stepped up both border security and deportations well above what Bush was doing… > > No he hasn’t. Stop lying. [Yes he has](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/07/25/AR2010072501790.html). Don’t pop off at the mouth if you don’t know what you’re talking about. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2010, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-aunt-steps-into-the-illegal-immigrant-debate/554586/32 "2010-09-22T17:31:11Z")
That’s hardly fair, **Dio**. He pays $7.95 a year for his membership, same as you and me. You want he should stop posting altogether and let it go to waste? ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2010, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-aunt-steps-into-the-illegal-immigrant-debate/554586/33 "2010-09-22T17:42:09Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > > [@Shodan](#): > > > > No he hasn’t. Stop lying. > > [Yes he has](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/07/25/AR2010072501790.html). Don’t pop off at the mouth if you don’t know what you’re talking about. A simple link might be too subtle here. The headline reads: > [@](#): > > **Deportation of illegal immigrants increases under Obama administration** So **Shodan** , time to apologize for your accusation of lying. \ ---
**Author:** ![Damuri\_Ajashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/898d66/32.png) [@Damuri\_Ajashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damuri_Ajashi)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2010, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-aunt-steps-into-the-illegal-immigrant-debate/554586/34 "2010-09-22T18:41:49Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > This isn’t a new story- it was covered when he was running for president. Last year Glenn Beck even made fun of the fact she has a limp ([youtube](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nwy9L76npFM)). > How an aunt who he’s never met (or if he did it was for 12 minutes 30 years ago) even remotely affects him is a major stretch. My siblings are not only a lot more closely related to me than Obama’s father’s half-sister is to him but add to this the fact that I know them very well. My brother’s a liberal Democrat and my sister’s a tea partier. Both are pharmacists and rabid Auburn University football fans. All of this says absolutely jackshit about me. She’s an old illegal immigrant on welfare- you can find those in small towns and big cities in every single state of the nation, big whoop. Did you miss the part where she’s BLACK and on welfare? That fact alone PROVE that everything the Republicans have been saying was right all along. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2010, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-aunt-steps-into-the-illegal-immigrant-debate/554586/35 "2010-09-22T19:41:46Z")
> [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > > [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > > > [Yes he has](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/07/25/AR2010072501790.html). Don’t pop off at the mouth if you don’t know what you’re talking about. > > A simple link might be too subtle here. > > The headline reads: > > > [@](#): > > > > **Deportation of illegal immigrants increases under Obama administration** > > So **Shodan** , time to apologize for your accusation of lying. > > \ Don’t worry, we’ll send someone in once a week to dust you. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2010, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-aunt-steps-into-the-illegal-immigrant-debate/554586/36 "2010-09-22T20:12:14Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > > [@Shodan](#): > > > > No he hasn’t. Stop lying. > > [Yes he has](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/07/25/AR2010072501790.html). Don’t pop off at the mouth if you don’t know what you’re talking about. No he hasn’t. Your cite is horseshit. Obama hasn’t done anything. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2010, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-aunt-steps-into-the-illegal-immigrant-debate/554586/37 "2010-09-22T20:22:56Z")
So since you haven’t retracted your accusation of lying, does that mean you think that **Dio** knew his cite was “horseshit,” but deliberately used it anyway to turn the argument his way? ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2010, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-aunt-steps-into-the-illegal-immigrant-debate/554586/38 "2010-09-22T20:27:25Z")
> [@Leaper](#): > > So since you haven’t retracted your accusation of lying, does that mean you think that **Dio** knew his cite was “horseshit,” but deliberately used it anyway to turn the argument his way? He didn’t give any cite. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2010, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-aunt-steps-into-the-illegal-immigrant-debate/554586/39 "2010-09-22T20:29:03Z")
Uh, he did. You may think it’s crap (and you obviously do), but he gave SOMETHING. I mean, even the Truthers give cites, even if I don’t think they have any basis in reality. ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2010, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-aunt-steps-into-the-illegal-immigrant-debate/554586/40 "2010-09-22T21:07:46Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > But one thing I knew. I knew that the Right, my side, the side of fact-based, rational debate, would not stoop to these kinds of tactics. > > Ha! Ha! I slay myself. With, you know, the comedy. Oh, **Bricker**. You can be such a pendantic ass sometimes, but I will hand it to you: if there’s one thing you’re _not_, it’s blindly partisan. Cheers for making me laugh. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-aunt-steps-into-the-illegal-immigrant-debate/554586.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-aunt-steps-into-the-illegal-immigrant-debate/554586.md?page=3)