Barry Obama and the gang
It looks like Barack Obama has taken the plunge and is forming an exploratory committee to seek the U.S. presidential nomination from his party. To me, this is a case of Local Boy Makes Good: though we didn’t really travel in the same circles and I was a year behind him, I actually went to the same high school he did (Punahou), and at the time he went by, yes, “Barry”. I’m pretty sure he’s “Mr. Obama” to me now. :-)
I’ve taken the liberty, since he’s a public figure and all, of reproducing his senior yearbook entry below. (Click to enlarge.)
Barry Obama, class of ‘79
Lots of late-70’s influence there, including that great haircut, those fantastic lapels, and the shout-out to his “Choom Gang” (chooming = smoking pakalolo, at least back then).
Good luck, Barr…uh, Mr. Obama!
UPDATE: A number of commenters have taken me to task for posting this entry. I’ve added one final comment, and I’d like to address the “charges” here.
Some people have leapt to Barry’s* defense, assuming that I was mounting an attack or trying to embarrass him. My intent was merely to have a little timely fun in the “brush with fame” category. It was far from an attack; what I saw in the entry and what seemed to be the consensus among others (until this week) was a handsome, athletic fellow with plenty of friends at school and love for his family, who — yes — happened to be pretty fond of his teenaged bad habits.
I would never have deliberately broken any news about this, and in fact I established before publishing the post that this was indeed old news, broken and discussed many times by Barry himself in the last decade and largely dismissed by the media.
I do think that someone running for president has to tolerate a ton of public scrutiny, and I’m confident my entry was entirely fair and benign to post under those conditions. (Someone suggested it wasn’t fair to post under copyright law, but it seems to come under fair use guidelines as I understand them.)
However, I’m no longer confident that it wasn’t a uncool thing to do, and for that I’m sorry. Though I meant to cause no embarrassment, it’s apparent some felt it crossed the line. And because I would certainly have asked my close friends before sharing their entries, I’ve belatedly sent a note to Barry’s campaign asking what his preferences are.
One last point: I see that my lighthearted comment about smoking being a rite of passage was taken badly by some other former Punahou students. I’m truly sorry to have upset them. I certainly wasn’t intending to tar everyone with that brush (I feel I have to insert a “not that there’s anything wrong with that” here), so let me apologize to those who took it that way. Punahou was not and is not a hotbed of drug activity; I have the utmost respect for the school and the experience I had there, and I support it to this day.
Let me spell out the point I was trying to make in joshing fashion: it’s undeniable that the era (late 70’s), the location (Hawaii), and the venue (high school) lent themselves to such indulgences on the part of quite a few teenagers. The fact that such references could appear explicitly in a yearbook — a Punahou yearbook, no less — supports this. And I actually think it’s a fair part of a discussion anyone might want to have about politicians and former drug use, if people want to get into that. Personally, I care far less what someone did in high school than the political stances they take in the modern era. And for what it’s worth, I happen to support marijuana legalization.
*I had a tough time deciding how to refer to Barry in this update. Honestly, it’s really hard to think of him as “Barack”, but equally (as I noted above), we didn’t know each other at school. I ultimately decided to stick with the “Punahou usage” that pervades the thread, but please understand that he and I are not on a first-name basis.
Me Said,
January 16, 2007 @ 1:16 pm
Amazing how many racist references can you make in one such short post? On the other hand, for a “democracy” which never had “black, female or gay” for a president, I guess you just fit in nicely.
Elias Israel Said,
January 16, 2007 @ 1:41 pm
Amazing how many “racist” references moonbats can find in plainly innocent text. Go get a therapist, Anonymous.
Doug Burgess Said,
January 16, 2007 @ 3:32 pm
Pakalolo!
Doesn’t inhaling disqualify him? ;-)
Eve M. Said,
January 16, 2007 @ 5:21 pm
Doug– These days it seems to be a rite of passage! Given the fairly high (ar ar) percentage of those who indulged back when I was in high school, and the number of high (hee hee) achievers who have come out of Punahou, there must have been considerable overlap, in the cohort I’m familiar with at least. Not that I’m trying to call out anyone specifically. :-)
Eric’s World » Obama’s Yearbook Photo Said,
January 18, 2007 @ 4:47 pm
[…] check it out […]
claude Said,
January 18, 2007 @ 6:53 pm
thanks for the wonderful image, which I saw at Daily Kos, and thanks for the personal memoir of Obama.
Pushing String » Incoming! Said,
January 19, 2007 @ 10:49 am
[…] Well, well, well. I wondered if posting that yearbook entry of Barack Obama would be a traffic-generator, and I guess it was. I don’t have a hit counter and I barely even look at my logs, but when my site crashes because of Daily Kos and Wonkette links, it’s a sign! (Wonkette is hysterical, subsequently picking up on the Hawaiian pidgin usage in the yearbook entry. We go blog! Laters!) Now I’ve just gotten a call from CNN, looking for background on a story I’m told they’ll run at 4pm Eastern time. […]
Noli Irritare Leones » Blog Archive » I should find my old high school yearbooks Said,
January 20, 2007 @ 8:48 am
[…] I may have a photo of Vanessa Williams in there somewhere. But it won’t bring me the hits (and Daily Kos, Wonkette, and ABC links) that Obama’s high school yearbook page brought the normally apolitical blog Pushing String, whose author once attended Punahou High School with Obama. No big revelations here; his style is more 70s, and there’s a reference to smoking pot, but we already knew that from his autobiography. […]
TuckerTales Podcast » Blog Archive » Episode 4 - A Cake for Everybody Said,
January 25, 2007 @ 12:17 pm
[…] Berry Obama?!??! - Taken from his Barack Obama’s senior yearbook the text reads: “Thanks Tut, Gramps, Choom Gand and Ray for the good times” from what xmlgrrl.com says the act of Chooming means smoking “pakalolo” or Marijuana. […]
barackobama » Blog Archive » Barry for 08! Said,
January 26, 2007 @ 1:52 pm
[…] It was bound to happen sooner or later. Former high school classmate, Eve Maler dug up her old yearbook and shared Barack aka Barry Obama’s page with the world on her blog: Pushing String blog. Personally, I love the shirt! Laters Barry! […]
MB Said,
January 29, 2007 @ 4:26 pm
Shame on you Eve Mailer. What possessed you to do something like this? As a friend and former class mate of his I don’t think he would appreciate this. Very lame.
Puanani Said,
January 29, 2007 @ 5:53 pm
I agree with MB, that was very lame of you. I also was at Punahou when Barry was there. I suppose there isn’t anything you did at Punahou that you might have thought better of as an adult. What next? Na Opio pics of Barry checking out girls by the stairs of Bishop Hall? And, for the record, what are you basing your “fairly high percentage” of Punahou pakalolo indulgers on? Your friends? That wasn’t my experience, nor that of my large group of girlfriends and three siblings who went there. People who read this blog should take your Barry stories with a giant chunk of rock salt. He was a nice, humble, smart guy who could play basketball and sing. He smiled a lot. What would the kids at Punahou have said about you?
hapa Said,
January 29, 2007 @ 8:36 pm
So Eve Lynn Maler, Punahou Class of 1980, out of 1600+ alumni with that yearbook, it was you who couldn’t stand it any longer, and had to publish Barry’s senior yearbook page on your blog on the internet. Ho, what a showoff!
Eve Said,
January 29, 2007 @ 10:02 pm
Some of the commenters here seem to have misread my intent. Most people found the photo to be charming, and I can’t see why he would need defending over things he’s already been refreshingly honest about in his autobiography.
MB Said,
January 30, 2007 @ 9:07 am
Sorry Eve. Still comes off as sarcastic and even a little mean spirited. I liked what Hapa said. Out of all the alumnai from Punahou going back years and years you of all people were compelled, oh I’m sorry, took the “liberty” to put this on a blog. Also, Pua was right about the chooming. There were a lot more people that did not choom then did. So instead of making a generalization like that, think about it first Eve. Auwe!
Beth Ferkatch Said,
January 30, 2007 @ 10:01 pm
I’m surprised and a bit confused about the negative comments regarding Eve’s intention and posting of Barack Obama’s High School yearbook page. What I read in her comments was nothing more than someone saying, “How fun! I went to school with a man running for president of the United States,” with some comments on the styles of the time and explanation for those not in the know about what ‘chooming’ was (how many of you other Punahou alumni have told all your friends and shared your yearbook….some of you probably even bragging that you knew him!) To the person that feels Eve is meanspirited in her intentions, I can tell you, most definitely (as her sister and admirer of hers’) that Eve is anything but meanspirited. I do respect any friends of Barry’s trying to protect what they feel is a tarnishing of his reputation, but I can assure you that there is not/has never been/and never will be an attempt on Eve’s part to disparage him.
MB Said,
January 31, 2007 @ 8:12 am
Ok. Maybe not mean spirited. Eve is naive though when as you put it “having fun” or a good laugh by pointing out the chooming and the choom gang. Now every kook out there is making a big deal out of this. News magazines are trying to contact me about this stuff! This will eventually fade away, but next time Eve just keep things on the down low and be cool. The choom gang had a name for people like you. Goober!
Beth Ferkatch Said,
January 31, 2007 @ 10:30 am
Ok, at first I thought that was an apology for the name calling until I got to the Goober part! Perhaps you’re right. I’m sure Eve never imagined the media attention that exploded after an innocent post on her mostly work related blog. I will point out that Barack Obama’s education is public knowledge. So is his pakalolo use (he is the one that published that info.) Eve is not a Goober, she is far from naive. Eve is well respected in her career field. She is a true and loyal friend who continues to keep in close contact with her Punahou friends and with new friends. I am saddened that this has turned personal through name calling. If nothing else, in this amazing forum for the exchange of ideas, I wish we could stay on topic…..
Jacob Ferkatch Said,
January 31, 2007 @ 12:18 pm
why is this racist all she did was make a mini story on Mr. Obama’s high school life.
MB Said,
January 31, 2007 @ 2:10 pm
Don’t really know where the racism comes in either. Not sure where that person was coming from with that comment.
My point is that Eve was being naive by putting this on a blog and thinking nothing was going to happen. Blogs can be pretty damning sometimes for the people involved and she of all people should know that. You say that Eve is loyal to her Punahou friends. Obviously she is not a friend of Obama beacause that is not a sign of loyality. If I or one of his other friends put this on a blog I don’t think he would be calling us a friend much longer. Eve might be respected in her career field but she sounds rather immature and full of herself to me. Sorry, but that’s how I feel about and that’s all I have to say. Good luck.
Good googly moogly Said,
February 1, 2007 @ 3:23 am
My point is that Eve was being naive by putting this on a blog and thinking nothing was going to happen.
What happened exactly? People thought it was cute.
Obviously she is not a friend of Obama beacause that is not a sign of loyality.
Well, she already said they didn’t know each other.
If I or one of his other friends put this on a blog I don’t think he would be calling us a friend much longer.
Why? It’s his YEARBOOK for heaven’s sake. Not deviant porno he did before he got famous.
Puanani Said,
February 1, 2007 @ 9:04 am
Eve, you really didn’t have the “liberty” to post those photos on the internet unless you received permission from Barry (for his two photos), Dougie Davidson (who took the official graduation shot) and Punahou School, since it is a Punahou publication. It is surprisingly that someone who creates computer information for a living and is careful to protect such property would be so disrespectful of other people’s creative work. The right thing to do would be for you to take the page off the internet immediately and write a letter of apology to Barry.
hapa Said,
February 1, 2007 @ 10:34 am
Perhaps Eve’s distance from Barry socially is what made her feel that it was ok to provide entertainment to her usual blog readers by posting his senior page. When she knew that the readership had gone far beyond her blog community, that would have been the time to pull the page and decline the background interview with CNN. But instead she brags about it and her husband even makes sure she is given proper “credit” for the pictures on another website. And she didn’t merely post the pictures but made snarky remarks about them and even went so far in her blog comments to state that there was “considerable overlap” in those who indulged in pakalolo and those who were “high” (”heehee” “ar ar”) achievers at Punahou School. That is neither true nor loyal behavior towards her schoolmates and the Punahou o’hana. Let’s say that one of her high friends, Wendy May or Donna Ching, became famous and she knew that their high school senior page might cause them some embarrassment or perhaps contained a special message to their friends and family. Would she have posted their pages on this blog? I doubt it. Do you understand where we are coming from here? It’s about treating someone as you would want to be treated. Eve and Barry were kids going to the same challenging school, dealing with the pressures of fitting in and adolescence. We’re talking about the Barry Obama who passed by her and her buddies on the Alexander Hall steps, did homework a few cubicles over in the Cooke library, ate lunch in the Dole cafeteria just like she did over 25 years ago. It’s the hope that someone who knew you back when you both were awkward and immature kids would not take advantage of that connection. It is the special aloha and pride that Punahou alumni have towards each other, even the kids we didn’t get along with in school, that keeps us connected and coming back for carnivals and reunions. In the end, it is Eve’s reputation in the Punahou community, not Barry’s, that will have suffered for her actions.
hapa Said,
February 1, 2007 @ 1:51 pm
“Let’s say that one of her high friends, Wendy May or Donna Ching, became famous”
This should read “one of her high school friends” not “high friends”. My apologies to Wendy and Donna for the typo.
Eve Said,
February 1, 2007 @ 2:13 pm
Okay, folks, enough of the potshots and the psychologizing. I’ve done three things in response: I’ve provided an update on this post that gives my perspective, I’ve sent mail to Barry’s campaign, and I’ve closed the comments.
By the way, right after MB’s first comment, I reached out to him in private email asking what he recommended as next steps, with no response. I invite you all to engage with me in email — and to reveal your identities — if you want to discuss anything with me further.