# Trival Pursuit: Kenyan Edition **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [May 18, 2012, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trival-pursuit-kenyan-edition/622328 "2012-05-18T16:12:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![IntelliQ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e99b99/32.png) [@IntelliQ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IntelliQ)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2012, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trival-pursuit-kenyan-edition/622328/1 "2012-05-18T16:12:32Z")
**IANAB** , but it is entertaining. Promotional booklets produced in 1991 by Barack Obama’s then-literary agency, Acton & Dystel, states that Obama was “born in Kenya and raised in Indonesia and Hawaii”, because… A) he wrote it B) his agent did it as a joke. C) it was a collaborative effort, manufactured for street cred. D) it was a simple mistake which no one noticed, and subsequently was repeated a few times by others who didn’t think anything of it. E) it’s a parallel universe back-story that popped into our reality through a dimensional gateway. F) it’s a vast [del]racist teabagger[/del] right wing conspiracy G) George Bush ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2012, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trival-pursuit-kenyan-edition/622328/2 "2012-05-18T16:17:07Z")
H) Hitler ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2012, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trival-pursuit-kenyan-edition/622328/3 "2012-05-18T16:19:50Z")
I) Robot ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2012, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trival-pursuit-kenyan-edition/622328/4 "2012-05-18T16:22:53Z")
J) Crew ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2012, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trival-pursuit-kenyan-edition/622328/5 "2012-05-18T16:25:49Z")
K) guise, enuff kidding around. What is the OP talking about? ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2012, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trival-pursuit-kenyan-edition/622328/6 "2012-05-18T16:27:30Z")
L) Dorado ---
**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:** [May 18, 2012, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trival-pursuit-kenyan-edition/622328/7 "2012-05-18T16:29:12Z")
> [@foolsguinea](#): > > K) guise, enuff kidding around. What is the OP talking about? [This.](http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2012/05/17/Obama-pamphlet-in-use-2007) M) Breitbart being a douchebag from beyond the grave. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2012, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trival-pursuit-kenyan-edition/622328/8 "2012-05-18T16:31:42Z")
N) terprising attempt by [Breitbart.com](http://Breitbart.com) to make a mountain out of an error, and by **IntelliQ** to keep this story going. Is this really an Elections thread? ---
**Author:** ![Sicks\_Ate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Sicks\_Ate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sicks_Ate)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2012, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trival-pursuit-kenyan-edition/622328/9 "2012-05-18T16:36:19Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > N) terprising attempt by [Breitbart.com](http://Breitbart.com) to make a mountain out of an error, and by **IntelliQ** to keep this story going. > > Is this really an Elections thread? O) MG An _error?_ Like 'whoops, I accidentally typed ‘Kenya’ error? ---
**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:** [May 18, 2012, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trival-pursuit-kenyan-edition/622328/10 "2012-05-18T16:41:18Z")
> [@IntelliQ](#): > > Promotional booklets produced in 1991 by Barack Obama’s then-literary agency, Acton & Dystel, states that Obama was “born in Kenya and raised in Indonesia and Hawaii”, because… > > \ > > D) it was a simple mistake which no one noticed, and subsequently was repeated a few times by others who didn’t think anything of it. Since the passage in question also contains another obvious error (from **kd99** ’s link): > [@](#): > > He was born in Kenya to an American anthropologist and **a Kenyan finance minister** and was raised in Indonesia, Hawaii, and Chicago. Barack Obama Sr. was a civil service economist in the Kenyan Ministry of Economic Planning and Development, not a “finance minister”. Not sure what you mean by “…was repeated a few times by others who didn’t think anything of it”, though. As far as I can tell, even the Birthers have never brought this up. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2012, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trival-pursuit-kenyan-edition/622328/11 "2012-05-18T16:58:48Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > [This.](http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2012/05/17/Obama-pamphlet-in-use-2007) > > M) Breitbart being a douchebag from beyond the grave. And [this.](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/05/17/obama-birthers_n_1526222.html?1337309704&icid=maing-grid7%7Cmain5%7Cdl1%7Csec1_lnk3%26pLid%3D162031) P) Attribution of malice to that which can adequately explained by . . . well, in this case, simple carelessness. ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2012, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trival-pursuit-kenyan-edition/622328/12 "2012-05-18T17:02:28Z")
Q) uite ludicrous. ---
**Author:** ![Sicks\_Ate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Sicks\_Ate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sicks_Ate)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2012, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trival-pursuit-kenyan-edition/622328/13 "2012-05-18T17:04:33Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > And [this.](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/05/17/obama-birthers_n_1526222.html?1337309704&icid=maing-grid7%7Cmain5%7Cdl1%7Csec1_lnk3%26pLid%3D162031) > > P) Attribution of malice to that which can adequately explained by . . . well, in this case, simple carelessness. Ok again…carelessness? They accidentally said that Obama was born in Kenya and his father was a finance minister? It’s material from _his literary agent!_ I don’t think he was born in Kenya, but both he and his agent obviously thought it would make a better bio if he was, ditto having his father be a finance minister. That’s not ‘careless’…it’s a calculated lie to inflate his bio. But it still does nothing to bolster the arguments of the birthers. ---
**Author:** ![grude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47774/32.png) [@grude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grude)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2012, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trival-pursuit-kenyan-edition/622328/14 "2012-05-18T17:10:17Z")
> [@Sicks\_Ate](#): > > Ok again…carelessness? They accidentally said that Obama was born in Kenya and his father was a finance minister? > > It’s material from _his literary agent!_ I don’t think he was born in Kenya, but both he and his agent obviously thought it would make a better bio if he was, ditto having his father be a finance minister. > > That’s not ‘careless’…it’s a calculated lie to inflate his bio. But it still does nothing to bolster the arguments of the birthers. Who exactly is the audience they were targetting with this lie? Book buyers in Kenya?😕 I’m not a birther, far from it, but the lie to pad his bio doesn’t make much sense either. ---
**Author:** ![IntelliQ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e99b99/32.png) [@IntelliQ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IntelliQ)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2012, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trival-pursuit-kenyan-edition/622328/15 "2012-05-18T17:17:47Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Not sure what you mean by “…was repeated a few times by others who didn’t think anything of it”, though. As far as I can tell, even the Birthers have never brought this up. These popped up through Drudge today, he’s having a field day… [2007 client list](http://web.archive.org/web/20070403190001/http://www.dystel.com/clientlist.html) [2010 Kenyan newspaper](http://www.allvoices.com/news/6235996-row-hurts-kogelo-cultural-centre-plan) There’s plenty more surely. Im too lazy too dig. One can also just chalk it up to a “few” considering the massive amount of writing that’s been done about him in the past X amount of years. ---
**Author:** ![Sicks\_Ate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Sicks\_Ate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sicks_Ate)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2012, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trival-pursuit-kenyan-edition/622328/16 "2012-05-18T17:18:22Z")
> [@grude](#): > > Who exactly is the audience they were targetting with this lie? Book buyers in Kenya?😕 > > I’m not a birther, far from it, but the lie to pad his bio doesn’t make much sense either. It’s too much of a stretch to believe that material that was [ul] [li]meant to get books sold, [/li][li]probably composed with the assistance of or with information provided by Obama[/li][li]proofread by probably yet another party [/li][li]probably approved by O[/li][/ul]…can be classified as a mistake. ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2012, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trival-pursuit-kenyan-edition/622328/17 "2012-05-18T17:20:47Z")
> [@Sicks\_Ate](#): > > Ok again…carelessness? They accidentally said that Obama was born in Kenya and his father was a finance minister? > > It’s material from _his literary agent!_ I don’t think he was born in Kenya, but both he and his agent obviously thought it would make a better bio if he was, ditto having his father be a finance minister. > > That’s not ‘careless’…it’s a calculated lie to inflate his bio. But it still does nothing to bolster the arguments of the birthers. Obama wrote an actual autobiography where he gives his correct nationality and his fathers correct profession. He pretty clearly wasn’t trying to perpetuate a lie. **Braingluttons** link explains the source of the error, an assistant at the agency made a mistake, presumably because in 1991 no one really cared where Obama was born. ---
**Author:** ![IntelliQ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e99b99/32.png) [@IntelliQ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IntelliQ)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2012, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trival-pursuit-kenyan-edition/622328/18 "2012-05-18T17:22:22Z")
> [@Sicks\_Ate](#): > > Ok again…carelessness? They accidentally said that Obama was born in Kenya and his father was a finance minister? > > It’s material from _his literary agent!_ I don’t think he was born in Kenya, but both he and his agent obviously thought it would make a better bio if he was, ditto having his father be a finance minister. > > That’s not ‘careless’…it’s a calculated lie to inflate his bio. But it still does nothing to bolster the arguments of the birthers. This ^^^ ---
**Author:** ![Sicks\_Ate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Sicks\_Ate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sicks_Ate)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2012, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trival-pursuit-kenyan-edition/622328/19 "2012-05-18T17:26:27Z")
> [@Simplicio](#): > > Obama wrote an actual autobiography where he gives his correct nationality and his fathers correct profession. He pretty clearly wasn’t trying to perpetuate a lie. **Braingluttons** link explains the source of the error, an assistant at the agency made a mistake, presumably because in 1991 no one really cared where Obama was born. Oh, well if someone who was an assistant at the agency 20 years ago _says_ it ws just a mistake…not sure how _anybody_ could question that. It was, after all, right there in the Huffington Post, an outlet known for it’s skepticism of Obama. ---
**Author:** ![Gagundathar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a183cd/32.png) [@Gagundathar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gagundathar)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2012, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trival-pursuit-kenyan-edition/622328/20 "2012-05-18T17:36:04Z")
R)epublicans love this kind of stuff. It takes the minds of the electorate off of their obfuscatory tactics. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trival-pursuit-kenyan-edition/622328.md?page=2)