Socialist? Communist? Three Questions for Obama
7/18/12 By Paul Kengor
---
Really, the question of "socialist or communist" comes down to what's in Obama's heart, his mind, and (to some degree) his past. In other words, what does Barack Obama truly believe, and what would he really do if he could, without any of the aforementioned constraints on his actions?
Alas, that brings me to what I consider three much more valuable questions that cut to the chase of the real Barack Obama:
1. Was Obama really a communist when he entered Occidental College, as his former classmate, John Drew, claims and details quite conclusively?
2. Did Obama really join the socialist New Party in the 1990s, as Stanley Kurtz maintains?
3. If yes and yes, then when and why and how did Obama repudiate communism and socialism -- assuming he did? Where was the break? Why? When did the conversion happen?
On question 1: I interviewed Dr. John Drew at length for my new book on Obama's communist mentor, Frank Marshall Davis. Drew, who was a Marxist at Occidental College when Obama arrived there, sees himself as the "missing link" between the communist Davis and other radical Obama associations like Bill Ayers. Drew headed the student Marxist organization on campus, and Obama was introduced to him as a "fellow Marxist," as "one of us." Drew explained to me that Obama believed in the "Frank Marshall Davis fantasy of revolution" -- that is, of "imminent revolution" in America.
---
Read more:
Articles: Socialist? Communist? Three Questions for Obama