Note to Kenyan Readers (UPDATED: “Tell Obama we want guns”)

What is it with people? I’ve asked Kenyans to comment on what’s going on in their country while repeatedly acknowledging my knowledge and contextual deficiencies on the background of the crisis there. But I‘ve only received two Kenyan commenters. One “chastised” me for having no experience on the ground in that country (that’s a difficult feat to achieve from my office in South Central Los Angeles, California, USA). The other, after apparently reading only one post from the thirty or so Kenya posts I’ve written since January 1st and assuming that the post in question was the lone missive on the subject, ridiculed me as being a “faddist.” [2-9-08: In this case, an apology was offered and accepted.]

(I should like to be pat on the back for not playing the “do you know who my father is” card and would forget all this if either of them—instead of illogically sniping because someone who isn’t Kenyan cares about what's happening to that country--could tell me where he is.)

Know this, Kenyans: I’m not getting a whole lot of hits for my series on Kenya. My primary audience from this 4 ½ year old blog consists of Americans—conservative and military. I’ve diverted from my usually fare and my site-meter count has plunged as a result. You see, Kenyans, after Rwanda and after Bosnia, most Americans are tired of those who refuse to learn from the bad examples of others; they really don’t give a rat’s a** when a group of people are short-sighted enough to murder their own future. So the assertion that my Kenya posting is some sort of fad would be laughable if it weren’t an indication of something else: shame. You are ashamed of the behavior of your countrymen and you should be. (As your kinswoman, I know I am—as I often am upon revelation of crimes committed by my American kinsmen.) I mean why else would two Kenyans come to this blog and criticize a non-Kenyan for trying to keep track of what’s going on over there?

Well, check this out, Kenyans: even if I do go back to posting more lucrative fare, you all can’t hide the crimes that our ethnic brethren are committing against each other. The days during which that could have been achieved are over. So instead of stupidly bashing me for being fortunate enough to have been born and raised American, how about showing some National Will and stop murdering and raping each other? Failing that, how about sending my father and the rest of his family out? Alive? If you can do either--and, preferably, both--I will acknowledge your superiority.

UPDATE: National Will is not visible on the horizon (emphasis mine).

President Mwai Kibaki has claimed victory in the December 27 vote but opposition leader Raila Odinga says the polls were rigged. Even the international observers have cited serious flaws.

About 1,000 people have died in ethnic clashes, riots and looting since then.

The ethnic clashes have fueled [Senator Barack] Obama fever, with members of the Luo ethnic group rallying behind Obama [in his bid for the US presidency], whose father was a Luo.

''Obama!'' a group of Luo men shouted in unison, as they stood guard at a makeshift roadblock near the entrance of Kibera, Kenya's biggest shantytown outside Nairobi.

''We are supporting him here. We want him to win the election,'' said Mohammed Noor, 27.

''Did you know that Obama's father is also Luo?'' he added.

Behind Noor, young men yelled: ''Tell Obama we want guns!''

Fools.

(Thanks to This Ain't Hell)

UPDATE: Breakthrough? We'll see.

Comments

[AProudVeteran]

I tried to post this from work this a.m., but our firewalls don't allow images so I couldn't. Original comment follows...

Just so you know...I'm relying on you to keep me up to date on Kenya - I don't have time to track down the news on it, so I use you for my one-stop shopping, and have passed your name along to my friends that have ties to Kenya.

So the 2 sniping Kenyans aside, you are NOT unappreciated for keeping us clueless Americans informed.

I hope your dad's ok (and his family)

[baldilocks]

Much obliged.

BTW, one of my father's columns appeared this morning (next post). So I assume that he's somewhere where there's a stationary modem (unless he's pre-posting or unless he has one of those other things, which I doubt). His column scheduled for tomorrow should be more contemporaneous.