It is the shear novelty of the story which will drive the media to cover this one, unfortunately. There's absolutely nothing newsworthy to it, but when has that ever been a criterion?

While it is general policy for Citizenship and Immigration Services to not comment on immigration status of individuals, for asylum applicants there is a specific regulation guaranteeing them confidentiality.

8 CFR § 208.6 Disclosure to third parties.

(a) Information contained in or pertaining to any asylum application, records pertaining to any credible fear determination conducted pursuant to §208.30, and records pertaining to any reasonable fear determination conducted pursuant to §208.31, shall not be disclosed without the written consent of the applicant, except as permitted by this section or at the discretion of the Attorney General.

(b) The confidentiality of other records kept by the Service and the Executive Office for Immigration Review that indicate that a specific alien has applied for asylum, received a credible fear or reasonable fear interview, or received a credible fear or reasonable fear review shall also be protected from disclosure. The Service will coordinate with the Department of State to ensure that the confidentiality of those records is maintained if they are transmitted to Department of State offices in other countries.

(c) This section shall not apply to any disclosure to:

(1) Any United States Government official or contractor having a need to examine information in connection with:

(i) The adjudication of asylum applications;

(ii) The consideration of a request for a credible fear or reasonable fear interview, or a credible fear or reasonable fear review;

(iii) The defense of any legal action arising from the adjudication of, or failure to adjudicate, the asylum application, or from a credible fear determination or reasonable fear determination under §208.30 or §208.31;

(iv) The defense of any legal action of which the asylum application, credible fear determination, or reasonable fear determination is a part; or

(v) Any United States Government investigation concerning any criminal or civil matter; or

(2) Any Federal, State, or local court in the United States considering any legal action:

(i) Arising from the adjudication of, or failure to adjudicate, the asylum application, or from a credible fear or reasonable fear determination under §208.30 or §208.31; or

(ii) Arising from the proceedings of which the asylum application, credible fear determination, or reasonable fear determination is a part.

Whatever government official leaked the information should be fired.

Your reaction is supposed to be something like, "OMG!!~! Illegals" It's another case of the type of stuff that wingnuts and the talk-radio crowd find damning, like how "Rashid Khalidi" is supposed to make you say "OMG, Arabs!" and "Bill Ayers" is supposed to make you say "OMG, hippies!" Further proof that Obama is one of Them, by blood, by choice, or by some no-doubt toxic combination of the two.

>"I was going to vote for a healthier economy and a sensible foreign policy, but Obama has a half-aunt that apparently was denied asylum and didn't leave. Now, I want more of the same for four more years."

Sadly, you have just described a significant percentage of the American electorate.

So it's Obama's half-aunt versus McCain's half-assed!

I'm shocked that the story didn't also include outraged comments about how he lets his half-aunt live in public housing--the same way he "neglects" his half-brother in Kenya!

I think the Obama campaign is astute enough to portray this as yet another example of McCain desperation and Bush administration corruption/abuse of power.

Jesus Christ himself could run as a Republican this year and still lose.

This election is as much about their punishment and humiliation as it is about choosing someone from the other side.

A flawed ideology and flawed policies are finally getting flushed down the toilet.

I was an immigration officer for many years and it is indeed illegal to disclose asylee information like this. In fact, USCIS (aka USELESS) has not been able to share this information completely for useful and sensible law enforcement and security efforts. Not to mention the fact that some USCIS asylum employees have been arrested and jailed for giving the same information to Cuba. It should be very easy to find out who did this though (note everyone gets to look at it....)so we should expect no less than a culprit very soon.

Gee, what do you have here? This woman -- reliable sources tell me she has dark skin -- resides here illegally in public housing, and she has illegally donated money to Barack Hussein Obama's campaign. In other words, she's a welfare sucking illegal immigrant who is subverting our democracy with illegal campaign contributions. Maybe the Reps will get really lucky, and she will have registered to vote -- it will give them a clean sweep for the themes their party has embraced, all in one woman.

I don't think this will directly affect the election itself, but it ties in to what the Reps are excited about, it's a source of distraction for our ADD media, and is the sort of thing, suitably amended, of course, the conservatives will tack on to their never ending chain e-mails. My guess is we'll be seeing more of Ms. Onyango in the future.

This must be the McCain's GOTV strategy. I doubt it will persaude anyone to change their vote, but I'm sure they're hoping it will fire up the base enough for them to drag themselves to the polls.
Will it? I have long since given up trying to figure out what sparks the wingnut brain.

I was born in Hawaii before it was a State.

My mother grew up in Japan and then Honolulu, where she attended Punaho.

She also has 2 grandchildren, named Sasha and Malia.

Oh my god... now comes an illegal alienaunt of Obama whomustbeanother!

The MSM = Mainly Stupid Morons

The Times of London wrote the original story on Thursday. There's a photo of Onyango. she's a frail lady using a cane.

Go on, Michelle Malkin. Start beating up on her. Or maybe you can have Joe the Plumber start beatin up on her. That'd go over big.

It's fascinating because the right thinks it proves what McCain has been saying all along: all black people are criminals, if not terrorists.

Ergo: vote for the old white guy and the bitch.

What's a half-aunt?

Anyone have a commenter account at NPR? They have the story up with no mention that it's illegal to disclose confidential information. Someone should comment. I've tried to create an account but you have to confirm and I haven't received the confirmation email yet.

Removing the slimy little Bush apparatchiks from government is going to be a Herculean task.

I would presume a half-aunt would be a half-sister of his father. (A half-sister of one's mother would also be a half-aunt, but in this case it's gotta be his father.)

Maybe cousin Dick smuggled her in when he had a heart.

I think the point is "For all his talk about caring for people, Barack Obama left his own aunt to die on the streets of America. What a lying asshole."

Frankly I'm a bit surprised myself.

It's slightly more momentous than Samuel "Joe" Wurzelbacher's tax lien. Or the Ryans' divorce papers.

If the headline had been that Obama HAD helped her, though, partisan shitheads would complain that he had used undue influence to manipulate the INS.

The party of torture would have used that as evidence of his intent to abuse power once president.

Helping families illegally only works if you and your family are white.

Where's Scooter Libby?

I can only imagine Drudge is about to dirty himself. Eewwww disgusting.

Ah, Steve. C'mon. It's November 1. It's the biggest election in a generation. It's the ugliest Republican campaign our our lifetimes (I believe you and I are approximately the same age), if not ever. It's the age of the 24-hour news cycle, and the media-manufactured narrative. It's not about content or reason, it's about timing and sensation. In other words, it's about the hype. That's why people will be interested.

"I was going to vote for a healthier economy and a sensible foreign policy, but Obama has a half-aunt that apparently was denied asylum and didn't leave. Now, I want more of the same for four more years."

I think you are giving too many people credit for rational thinking. Remember that a lot of wackos vote from their emotional center, wherever that is, not from their rational center if it exists. There are lots of George Bush's in this country who disregard any rational analysis of a situation and instead, go with their emotions. That's why people do more price checking after they buy a new car than before.

Go on, Michelle Malkin. Start beating up on her. Or maybe you can have Joe the Plumber start beatin up on her. That'd go over big.

Don't forget, as far as Malkin is concerned, Joe the Plumber is a weak, innocent victim who can't defend himself.

On the other hand, a 12-year-old boy or an elderly woman are worthy adversaries and should be fought with all of the tools at her disposal.

It used to be a bad thing to beat up people who were smaller and weaker than you are, but now it's just the Republican way.

"The story first got leaked to the Times of London...."
That statement is nothing more than your opinion and attempt at spin. The Time of London story breaking Auntiegate has all the making of reporting based on legwork, not leakage. Not only is there the simple fact that she was a donor to Obama, but there is this: "George Onyango said that his aunt had left for the US about eight years ago but sent him e-mails." George is the youngest son of B.O. Senior. In other words, this is a well-sourced story.

So, DF, what difference does it make to you and the rest of us who are sickened by the Republican Slime Machine? I imagine if Larry Flynt were to take it upon himself to search your background, you would be very embarrassed by the revelations. Can you guarantee that there is no one in your past who has in some way violated some statue of the U.S.A.? If not, then you should be running for office and heading up the investigations into all the financial shenanigans.
Bless you, in you Perfection.

peace,
st john

The barn door is closed.

Its too late to spin this foolishness in any that will turn the election. It will resonated withe the Republican base, but Obama spitting gum out onto the sidewalk would resonate with them.

It would take a huge blunder in addressing a giant crisis in the finals days to turn the tide at this point. And lets face it, if there were to be some kind of giant crisis Obama wouldn't be the one who fumbled.

Voters don't care, but the media does. This is a shiny object and it will distract them for the entire weekend and cast the press coverage of obama in negative light. That's all it's meant to do, to sow the seeds of doubt now for Obama's Presidency.

In other words, this is a well-sourced story.
Posted by: DF

Presumably sourced by someone making an illegal revelation to the press regarding an old black lady, making her a target of the racist nativists and conservatives.

When unnamed government officials make revelations which demonstrate republican-sponsored war crimes in guantanemo and Iraq, or regarding rendition and torture, they are demonstrably better sourced. And they have the benefit of blowing the whistle on government abuse of power, and thus serve an actual function of the press.

... And yet THOSE revelations are invariably denounced as treasonous. Do they only count as legitimate stories if they result in more death and discomfort to non-whites?

So the McCain campaign wants us to vote against Obama because Bush's immigration and deportation folks are completely incompetent?

Do I have this right?

The reason this is "interesting" to Noron and her ilk is that as a Democrat you are responsible for the behaviors, actions, positions, opinions of any relative no matter how far removed...but if you are a REPUG it's "hands off family stuff"...where are the stories about Cindy's half-sisters who she has NO CONTACT with and who share in none of the ESTATE???? And, I believe, are NOT McShame supporters...and, of course, after the bit on NORON'S "show" about Obama asking photographers to back off after they followed him while out with his daughter ...Ms. O'Donnell dropped a remark about Obama dishing the press! Mark my words the MSM will be all over this story about his HALF-AUNT with whom I'm betting he has little or no contact...YEGODS, some of my relatives could be ax murders and I'd have NO FRIGGING IDEA!!!

Good Lord!

This ridiculous story is garnering 10x the media coverage than Sarah's guilty verdict got on the Troopergate scandal.

If you had any doubts about who's in the tank for the GOP, the MSM is trying very hard to erase them.

On another note, 2 years into this campaign and this is the republican party's "big" spoiler story? BWAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHH

To make this fly as far as the Wright Bros. did at Kitty Hawk, this has to be tied to Obama in some direct way. The outrage, if you are looking for one, is that the feds didn't enforce the law. Her decision to stay is completely understandable and commonplace.

"This is fascinating because ... well, actually I have no idea why anyone would find this even remotely interesting."

The Kennedys were famous for providing special immigration status for the Irish, as if deliberate racism was perfectly fine for a Kennedy because, after all, they were not subject to anti-discrimination laws.

Maybe that is the Obama appeal, gazzillions of Africans coming over in a kind of new slavery.

I guess McTwitco is implying that if Obama was a true patriot he would have shown up with a couple thugs to drag her on to a scow headed for Africa.

"Maybe that is the Obama appeal, gazzillions of Africans coming over in a kind of new slavery."

Not likely, Republicans have fucked up our economy so badly no one will soon want to immigrate here.

This "story" is very suspicious not only in timing but in meme.
Think about it. It's really about rallying the base by bringing up illegals and tying Obama to "mysterious" roots.

It must really pisses off the wacko conservatives that a black man from a broken home, raised by a single parent can be so successful. It blows a fucking hole right through their conservative family values rant. Family values are terrific, don't get me wrong, but the right has decided it's the sole gatekeeper of all that is good in America. Bleh ;

Hey! I already voted and did so without knowing this important fact! Can I change my vote from Obama to Obama? And let's hope Saxby Chamblis is toast too!

'a black man from a broken home, raised by a single parent can be so successful.'

Two fat thumbs up to granny, a tad racist though she may be. Now there is a little irony for you. At least for her, blood was thicker than pigment.

I didn't read all the comments, but doesn't it seem as if the scandal is the Bush Administration's lax enforcement of existing immigration laws?

The leak is the same old, same old. It may dawn on someone somewhere that the subtext of this potentially sordid leak story is that we are a nation of immigrants. How many Americans will see this story and think of their aunt or uncle or cousin or mom or dad? The INS has been a nightmare for many a family here in the good ol'USA. No, this story will end like the rest of the official canards this campaign season - real ordinary Americans will wipe the McCain/Bush/Cheney shit off their shoes and vote for the change Barack Obama is offering! -Kevo

McCain's campaign sacrifices yet another victim to their hopeless agenda. The way these folks are willing to mess with bystanders and turn them into collateral casualties is just despicable.

People do vote on this kind of stupid information. I saw an interview with one voter who is voting for McCain because Obama knows too many terrorists.

So, this might sway a few more voters.

The United States of Idiots.

The Devil chooses your family. Thank God,you can choose your frinds.(Some body said that. I forgot who.)

Both Cindy McCain and her father Jim Hensley had serious legal problems, and we all know about McCain's treatment of his first wife.

Republicans like to sling around this stuff about unflattering family ties, but it's a _damn_ good thing for them Obama is such a positive, calm guy.

But OTOH there was good news about Obama's own citizenship, when Hawaiian officials reported having Obama's birth certificate on record there. It is reported with comments in the interesting link below - the freepers still try to spin it away, citing not getting a specific statement "Barack Obama was born in HI." However, I don't see why HI would have a birth cert on record if he was really born in Kenya.

"
Obama’s Hawaii birth certificate confirmed
Pacific Business News ^ | October 31, 2008

Posted on Saturday, November 01, 2008 1:41:42 AM by Hanna548

The director of Hawaii’s Department of Health confirmed on Friday what Barack Obama has been saying all along: the presidential candidate was born in Honolulu.

“There have been numerous requests for Sen. Barack Hussein Obama’s official birth certificate,� said Chiyome Fukino. “State law prohibits the release of a certified birth certificate to persons who do not have a tangible interest in the vital record.�

Citing her statutory authority to oversee and maintain Hawaii’s vital records, Fukino said she has “personally seen and verified that the Hawaii State Department of Health has Sen. Obama’s original birth certificate on record in accordance with state policies and procedures.

“No state official, including Gov. Linda Lingle, has ever instructed that this vital record be handled in a manner different from any other vital record in the possession of the State of Hawaii,� Fukino added.

Lingle, a Republican, has been campaigning on the Mainland for Obama’s opponent, Sen. John McCain of Arizona.

Obama, a Democratic senator from Illinois, was born Aug. 4, 1961, in Honolulu. He graduated high school at Punahou School in 1979.
"

http://freerepublic.info/focus/f-news/2121489/posts

The Boston Fox affiliate led with this story as a tie into the Obama 30 minute advertisement. It's how they framed the entire thing that night. THey had a reporter stalking out this ladies apartment building. Truly fascist stuff. If Obama wins I expect some serious backlash from the right wing republicans.

Locally the other bad reporting was Tom Ashbrook 'award winning journalist' saying on his Friday radio show that his 'friend' from Chicago says to 'put an Obama sign in your window if you are white and Obama loses' This was said on NPR affiliate WBUR by the host of a two hour daily radio show.

Truly insane stuff and extremely sad.

It is against the law for the Federal Government to insert propaganda into the US press, but not against the law for them to do it in the foreign press.

This is a classic CIA way of disseminating information for consumption inside the USA with out having finger prints on a plant in the US press, for which they could do federal jail time.

It is very common for the US goverment to 'place' fake or fraudulent news stories in the forigen press to further the US goverments intentions. For example there has been quite a bit of reporting in the US press about the stories the US physiological opps staff have been placing in the news media, in the gulf nations. This is standard operating procedure.

The point of the law is to prevent the US government from doing the same at home, here in the USA. The US government is banned from creating or inserting propaganda or any other works that are intended to be targeted at the US population or to disrupt or influence a US election.

When US domestic news media in the US take up a story planted by the US government in the foreign media, even if it is fake, it is considered just unfortunate blowback. In this situation, if the story is considered to be essential to national defense, US government workers are allowed to confirm the foreign story, even when it is fake, so as not to blow the credibility of the story or the conduit.

BUT in this case it looks like the timing and content of the story were leaked (planted) into the British press with the deliberate intention to influence the US election.

I believe a good federal prosecutor would bring people up on charges.

I wish the Murdochs of the world were consistent. Apparently an illegal immigrant should never cross into our country because (a) they steal our jobs and (b) they don't steal our jobs.

And if they legally apply for asylum and are denied, they (a)should not be allowed to stick around for an appeal and (b) should immediately leave the country, even if they feel their lives would be in jeopardy by doing that.

Also, (a) anyone related to them is guilty of something, even if they're unaware of their circumstances.

Which (a) explains the dishonest reasons a Republican president started a war in Iraq, (b) why gasoline went from $1.35/gallon to $4.30/gallon in 5 years, (c) the corruption of the subprime mortgage lenders, (d) torturing POWs, (e) spying on innocent Americans, and the rest of the crappy leadership decisions that emanated from the White House.

Frail black illegal immigrants: they've ruined everything. And their distant relatives must be held to account.

I'm not sure why, but I think it has something to do with all blacks looking the same, even the half-white ones.

She was denied asylum four years ago, but that doesn't mean she's here illegally. When application gets rejected, it can be appealed, and it can take years to get hearing with immigration judge. In the meantime, you are in the country legally, I believe. If immigration knows of her whereabouts, they can always apprehend her and deport her. I'm not sure about legalese, but I think she's not doing anything illegally here, except giving money to campaign.

Other that the obvious breech of confidentiality with the whole asylum thing, the real question here is does Obama even know this woman? My father's side of the family has one of the largest reunions in Pennsylvania annually - well over 300 people. I know maybe 20 of them and am acquaintances with probably another 20 of them... so who's to say that Obama has even ever met this woman? I know what it's like with large mixed families, you could literally walk into your cousin at the store and not know who they are or why in God's name they knew your name!

Obama's going to debort her ass as part of his bi-partisan immigration reform. If she has any programming skills he would have wrangled an H-1 visa for her.

John McCain is a nasty, mean-spirited, violent and unintelligent man who calls his wife a c*nt in public. You don't need to know anything more than that.

Congratulations to President Obama!