I was going through some old photos and found this picture of a much younger John Drew graduating from Occidental College back on June 9, 1979. As you can see, I'm wearing a red arm band. I was doing this to protest Occidental College's investments in South Africa. The fellow handing me my diploma was Occidental College president Richard C. Gilman. As I've written before, I was one of the founders of the anti-apartheid group that President Obama mentions in his book, Dreams of My Father.
From what Obama writes, I guess I had the unusual opportunity to meet the young Barack Obama at a turning point in his life. In Dreams of My Father, Obama writes he got one of the early signs of his interest (and ability) in public speaking during his participation in an anti-apartheid rally at Occidental College in Los Angeles in the spring of 1981.
I met him for the first time in late December 1980. By then, I was in my second year of graduate school at Cornell. I was visiting a girlfriend who was still attending Occidental College who introduced me to him and his friend Mohammed Hasan Chandoo, a wealthy Pakistani student.
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| John Drew graduates from Occidental College as a fully trained Marxist in June, 1979. |
My most vivid memory of my time visiting with Obama was the way he strongly argued a rather simple-minded version of Marxist theory. I remember he was passionate about his point of view. As I remember, he was articulating the same Marxist theory taught by various professors at Occidental College. Based on my more detailed studies at Cornell, I remember I made a strong argument that his Marxist ideas were not in line with contemporary reality - particularly the practical experience of Western Europe.
I went on to become an assistant professor of political science at Williams College in MA, and won the William Anderson Award from the American Political Science Association for my doctoral dissertation. See,
http://anonymouspoliticalscientist.blogspot.com/2010/01/victory-is-so-sweet-for-those-who-have.html
Obama, of course, became President of the United States in 2009. I cannot help but wonder if my common sense arguments ended up impacting his decision-making and career planning.
Nevertheless, I think my experience with the young Barack Obama is useful evidence of why he was able to win the trust and support of Bill Ayers, Bernardine Dohrn and Alice Palmer. In 1995, as you may know, Alice Palmer represented the state of Illinois' 13th District. After she decided to run for the United States Congress she named Obama as her hand-picked successor to replace her. In June 1986, Palmer wrote an article for the Communist Party USA's newspaper, the People's Daily World, now the People's Weekly World. Amazingly, it detailed her experience at the 27th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.
Regarding Rev. Wright's affection for Marxism and socialism, please view the YouTube video below:
My gut feeling is that Obama won the trust of folks like Palmer because he never surrendered that tough, Marxist socialist ideology I saw in him as a sophomore at Occidental College. All in all, it takes me back to remember my days as a young revolutionary, the moments when - like Barack Obama - I sincerely believed a Marxist socialist revolution was coming to turn everything around and to create a new, fairer and more just world.
John C. Drew, Ph.D. is an award-winning political scientist.
Comments
Do you mean to say that somebody finally discovered that Kenyan born Barry Soetoro/Barack Obama is a very sincere COMMUNIST dedicated to the destruction of America?
Is any of this NEWS, even an old crab like myself can read between the lines.
You DO have a Voice!!!
Can you say IMPEACH or ARREST???
Can you say FAST and FURIOUS???
Can you say BENGHAZI???
Can you say IRS???
Can you say AP???
Can you say NSA???
Congress, where is the RULE of LAW??? When are you going to HONOR the OATH you took??? You DID take an OATH, Right???
Pseudo intellect. This is the poison they're teaching our children these days. Anytime you let someone else do your thinking for you, you are lost. Diversity is what makes us great, not socialism. I will never bow to this ideology. I will never be controlled by communism. I will never relinquish my freedom of speech or my right to bear arms.
hey how long ago was slavery ??????? wake up rev
What a surprise, Barry Soetoro, who has no background records of who, what, or where he has been. He is on a mission to convert the US into a Marxist/socialist society, and become its first dictator.
The upcoming economic collapse is part of his plan to declare martial law, end elections,and become the first dictator. But I am too busy shopping at WALMART for cheap Chinese crap, and planning my next gambling vacation to Lost Wages, NV to be bothered by this.
With all due respect professor what is your current belief as to how the United States should be politically and ideologically aligned?
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