Dear Bridget,
Amar chotho apu. My sister from another mother (because all of us Bangladeshis essentially are, nah?). Is Bridget your bhalou nam or dak nam? Neither? Ok. Well, yay! Finally, a Bangladeshi-American makes it to the stage of a big political party convention. Rumor has it that your outfit was pretty fly. How did it feel being up there on stage? Did you feel like you were breaking boundaries? Because as the first Bangladeshi-American on stage at the Republican National Convention, you definitely were. And your mother, Cindy McCain, made sure to let everyone know in her RNC speech how she “discovered” you too.
For me, the great moment of clarity was when I became a mother. Something changed in me. I would never see my obligations the same way again. It was after that I was walking through the streets of Dhaka, Bangladesh, surrounded by terrible poverty and the devastation of a cyclone. All around me were the children and the desperate faces of their mothers. The pain was overwhelming, and I felt helpless. But then I visited an orphanage begun by Mother Teresa, and two very sick little girls captured my heart. There was something I could do. I could take them home, and so I did. Today, both of those little girls are healthy and happy. And one of them you just met tonight: our beautiful daughter, Bridget. [Fox News]
Ahh, but who is this other little Bangladeshi girl you were adopted with?
John and Cindy McCain adopted one of them, Wes Gullett [McCain’s former aide] and his wife Deborah adopted the other… The McCains adopted the baby with the cleft palate, Bridget, and the Gulletts adopted the other one, Nicki. Both children required a lot of medical attention, but the Gulletts never saw a hospital bill.[ABCNews]
It was a little bittersweet to see you on stage, I must admit. I wonder how many times you’ve heard that story told, over and over again. I wonder if you are tired of hearing it, or if in reality, you are too young to realize how you were touted like a token. Don’t get me wrong, I’m sure you must be proud of your mother, the way you are proud of your father, John McCain. I’m also sure they provided you with a happy life in your four (or maybe seven?) houses. 
But, I have to admit, Cindy’s speech felt a little like pandering to me. Did it feel like that to you? Or maybe Cindy’s speech was simply your father taking Karl Rove’s advice. The video introducing your father said, “his youngest daughter…who became a McCain after his wife Cindy discovered her as a baby.”[YouTube @ 6:22] I hate they say that you were ‘discovered’ as if you are a piece of land to be colonized, or gold to be found. You existed as a Bangladeshi far before your discovery. At least this true story is a positive change from the smear campaign in the 2000 2004 where you were called a ‘black love child.’ So hey, at least there’s that.
Seriously though. It’s great. Really, the chance to have a Bangladeshi- American teenage girl in the White House. So exciting there’s even a couple of books out on it, The First Daughter series by Mitali Perkins.
The First Daughter books are about Sameera Righton, the daughter of a front-runner candidate in the presidential election…In the first novel, Extreme American Makeover, campaign staffers try to package Sameera into what they think would be a more “American” version of the Pakistani-born only daughter of James Righton… I had no idea that John McCain had adopted a daughter from Bangladesh, and by the time I found out about Bridget, the first book was already written. I wrote the Senator’s office and explained my dilemma–I had no desire to exploit Bridget’s real life joys and challenges for my own purposes…If she objected to the publication of books in any way, I’d be willing to dump them. McCain’s office responded with a lovely note setting me free to go ahead, asking for copies once the books were released, which I gladly sent. [cynsations]
So you see, Bridget? Your story is exciting. But since you have a chance at being a Bangladeshi voice in the White House, I have a couple of words of advice. Most Bangladeshi-Americans can’t afford the $300,000 outfit Cindy McCain wore on Monday. Nationally speaking, 23% of Bangladeshi Americans live below the federal poverty line. In fact, the median income for Bangladeshi’s in the US is $37,074 (Asian Indian is highest at $61,322). And even though your parents don’t know how many homes they own, only 25% of Bangladeshi- Americans own homes. And almost 23% of them have less than a high school degree.[AAJC’s A Community of Contrast]
I just…I kinda want you to know how the other Bangladeshi- Americans live in this country. If you make it to the White House, it’d be great if you could advocate for the Bangladeshi community. On the real, you are welcome to our house for some dhaal bhaat & roshogulla whenever you are in town. You know, to see how we do it on the flip side.
Khuda Hafiz, Taz Apa
28 · Vic said
It would be charitable if I believed it to be so–which I hoped to make clear by using the phrase “They believe” instead of “I believe.” And yes the base voters in 2000-era SC were indeed bigoted if they voted for Bush over McCain because of the black baby smear.
I see you favor the foxnews/malkin approach of arguing against the liberal metanarrative conservatives have constructed for the purpose of making Palin a values-voter martyr.
Why don’t you substantiate your accusations by indicating exactly where in this post did Taz accuse, blame or otherwise single out for criticism, this blessed child.
Discussing how McCains are handling Bridget’s adoption story is not off-limits when it is such a prominent part of their campaign, and especially because they started embellishing the good story.
Although it has been retracted since, the version where Mother Teresa personally convinced Cindy is still available in thearchive of official McCain campaign web site. When McCains were in Bangladesh in 1991, Mother Teresa was in Mexico.
Not all talking points have been updated though. On Brian Sussman’s radio show last night, Tom Del Beccaro, vice president of California republican party, said — “Cindy went to freaking Calcutta at great personal risk and adopted Bridget. Obama has not given a dime to his hut-dwelling relatives in Kenya”. I guess Mother Teresa’s personal request made Tom think that the adoption happened in Calcutta, not in Bangladesh. Anyways, what’s the difference between Calcutta and Dhaka? All ‘freaking’ third-world hellholes.
This post is pretty damn low.. look, they saved the kid’s life. Now if they want to brag about it, fine. I’d brag about something like that too. Heck, if every one of us saved someone and bragged about it, we’d all be better off.
On the other hand, this post makes me sick to my stomach.
In the US that’s considered poor form, especially if done by a parent talking about a child.
There’s conflation and there’s a dearth of nuance above.
I don’t think the media or others were wrong in first exposing and then asking questions about Bristol Palin’s pregnancy. Sarah Palin has been going around telling the whole world about her eldest son going to Iraq. In every speech, she brings it up. Well then it’s also fair she tell the world about her other child and not hide it. The wingnuts’ outrage is fake. There are things to be liked about Palin – her relinquishing the state jet and governor’s mansion as also her very middle class life. But I doubt if she knew what the capital of Pakistan was until a week ago. She’ll need a lot of babysitting. And I can’t for the life of me understand what was so great about her convention speech that has imbeciles like Laura Ingraham and Jonah Goldberg calling it the best convention speech ever. It was a very mediocre speech and her gratuitous kicking of Obama was disgusting. But then that’s most probably what the wingnuts liked about the speech.
And Ennis – the McCains haven’t been going around talking about Bridget this entire political season. They talked about it a little during the SC primary. You must agree that it was necessary then. And if they are talking a bit about her now at such a singular point in their lives then I won’t call it shameful pandering.
This post is vile. Most probably it wasn’t meant to be. And people say things in passion that they later regret. The author should disregard the support of a couple of leftie extremists here and apologize.
27 · Janeofalltrades said
“to bear the burden” hasn’t been established because the girl doesn’t yet have an independent voice and I believe no journalist has ever asked her whether she is aware of living conditions in Bangladesh. Which is why i pointed out earlier that she may very well choose to dispense with the can of worms and move on.
How does a career politician ‘serve the greater good’? By rent-seeking? By spending the taxpayer’s dime on massive foreign boondoggles? By committing Americans to such foreign boondoggles for years upon years?
47 · Nesha said
most of the adopted people that I know simply didn’t appreciate any airing of that fact in social situations (national tv, of course, could fit into that category) and would become quite annoyed if the topic of conversation ever veered in that direction.
10 · Humphrey said
yes, because desis and minorities form the majority of his base…oh wait…desis and other ethnic minorities are still a tiny portion of the electorate. Which means you should direct your ire at white bloggers and journalists who so love Obama (and not despite his skin color).
@Humphrey: Please don’t call me stupid or a bigot. You have a right to an opinion, but not to call me names. I am neither stupid nor a bigot. And your assessment of me (and left wingers) based on a four line comment on a blog post proves very short sighted, if not completely ridiculous.
That said, did you consider that what made me sick to my stomach was the fact that an infant from Bangladesh cannot get help for congenital deformities within her own nation? And that I find it sad that she must be adopted by people from another nation in order to get help? Of course not, that would not allow you to dismiss the entire left of American politics. That would force you to respect the human emotion behind an opinion which stands contrary to your own, which clearly you cannot do.
What sickens me is not the adoption of a brown child by a white woman. It’s that while I live a comfortable life here in the States, there are many people who need my help and I’m not doing anything about it. I feel a sense of shame when an non-desi American woman (who cares what color she is) with no ties in the region is moved to act upon her conscience when so many of us self described American desis are too busy worshiping at the altar of the Almighty Green.
Furthermore, my point stands, there are orphanages in the United States, too. Do Asian and African orphans have a monopoly on suffering and the need for parental love?
And, bleh, what the heck does what I had to say have to do with Obama? I find it interesting based onthis comment and others you’ve made before that everything you have to say has something to do with discrediting the Obamas. Get help, you’re addicted. Additionally, you’ve conveniently left out the part in the first story about the parents of that brown child. You know, the ones who had restricted access to the resources that might have helped their child have that better life or that might have given them the ability to keep their family intact.
55 · Humphrey said
How dare you single her out for her lifestyle–a middle-class life is something she never chose! Shame upon you!
Hey Nayagan, you got my attention! OK? Now please move on.
10 · Humphrey said
I am an ardent supporter and I have chosen him over McCain because Obama is not a Republican. His man of colorness is irrelevant.
Again, it’s not that they’re talking about her, it’s how. PrasanSamtani summed up the message of the video pretty well – Look at the McCains, they saved this kid, aren’t they great! I found that cringeworthy. The video gave me the heebie-jeebies.
I have a hard time understanding why so?
My ex was adopted by white parents as well when she was 2 years old ( picked up from an orphanage which found her left alone at a train station in india ) and instead of being greatful for being provided and cared for in a safe environment to grow and prosper, she constantly used to bitch about her white family ( or it could just be an american thing to be overly critical of thier folks ). I asked her if she was ever discriminated against or being over worked or abused verbally / physically or treated differently than the other white kids in her family and the answer to all the above was a NO, but she used to tell me it was hard being adopted. I have met another adopted brown person as well who didnt really like being adopted.
Its a given that I can never understand what these kids might have gone through during thier formative years, but from outside, I wished they were a little appreciative of what seemed like a normal upbringing to me.
Me being from India and having seen so many kids on the streets uncared for and abused, I just dont think the adopted ones in the US understand how thier life could have been otherwise, if not for thier new found home.. spoiled brats.
without concern to the morality involved, i think this line of attack is a political loser. McCain will turn it around like Clinton did his scandals to rally his base by blaming the liberal MSM and attract independents disgusted with swift-boating.
It will appear, even if a careful nuanced reading indicates otherwise, that you’re attacking Brigitte via Cindy, just like Bristol was attacked via Sarah. Now there are rumors about Sarah having an affair, earlier about her having a kid, false rumors that McCain called his wife a c–t, the nytimes insinuates he had an affair with a lobbyist, and now its oprah vs. sarah.
all this makes the republicans appear to be the party out of power, treated unfairly by the media…like Clinton being the first black prez.
Yes there I agree with you. I too got a feeling that a few people were taking all this as how the noble ‘ we ‘ saved her from the ‘ lesser other ‘. But I would always give McCains and most American parents a very big benefit of doubt.
Because it’s (a) tacky to brag about your “charitable” accomplishments (b) because parents do things for children out of love, not because they seek self-recognition.
In this case it’s the party that’s praising them, but it was still ooky.
I was wondering why no one, not even the republicans, was mentioning this desi connection here. Where are Vic, Razib, Manju, Moornam et al?
i saw this post last night, but didn’t say anything. i assumed it would turn into a food fight. she’s a teenager. she has a relationship with her parents which is more complicated than probably is normal since her father is in the limelight and she became involved without her knowledge as a cloak-campaign issue. i really didn’t have much to add.
the only thing i probably thought was that as an adoptee i don’t know how appropriate it would be to term bridget mccain a “bangladeshi american.” how much does she know about bengali? or bangladesh? i don’t know. so didn’t really want to talk in detail. and i don’t think “bangladeshiness” is really a “blood” thing, it’s an upbringing thing, and i am not sure bridget had much of that from cindy (some parents make a proactive effort). i’m also not sure it would even be appropriate, since i don’t believe in biocultures.
i notice that taz ended her post with ‘khuda hafez.’ but we don’t know that bridget is from a muslim background, a minority of bangladeshis are hindu after all. these are the sort of confusion issues that crop up with adoptees and how you define who belongs, and who doesn’t. i have said before that adoptees who are brown can choose to be brown culturally if they want to be because that’s how people perceive them, but it’s a construction that we need to leave up to them in terms of the outline.
I just don’t get what they’re wearing. Why is the other daughter wearing leggings and a shapeless sack? Why is Briget wearing a bright red multi-tiered skirt? Where are their clothes from?
just as importantly this undermines obama’s promise of change and a new type of politics, even if he has nothing to do with. But thats politics. Bush took some hits for the swift-boating of Kerry.
Yeah, or maybe it’s that many Indian-Americans came on a different visa regime on the basis of professional educations, whereas Bangladeshis came after the 1990 (1991) immigration laws that offered more broad access. There are also big problems with the census data. About half of foreign-born Bangladeshis put themselves down as Asian Indian.
The argument that somehow Bangladeshis in the U.S. (by which you presumably really mean Muslims, if we’re going to cut through the bullshit) are more sexist than Indians (by which you presumably really mean either secularists or Hindus) in terms of girls’ education is not a bucket that holds water, imo. Take a look at an article by Elora Shehabuddin on the 1996 elections in Bangladesh and how the Islamist party utterly failed to win over poor rural women who can, quite clearly, think for themselves.
that’s somewhat of a contradictory statement – although you say “who cares what color she is” you also distinguish between all desis and non-desis. only if one assumes that people have more of a duty to those of the same ethnicity/race group does this divide matter. if you’re a pure cosmopolitanist, or otherwise see people as individuals separate from their ethnicity/race, it really should not matter who adopts a child from any nation or of any background.
i’m of two minds on this one – although the way they did it might be tacky, let’s face it – the presidential election is largely played out on substantive issues/policies as well as good character. it’s one thing if they treated their adopted child as a charity case for her whole life, but if the spin (and true intent) of the adoption was just to add her as another member of their family, i don’t think that’s a terrible thing. on that stage, the colour difference between bridget and the rest of her family would have been stark, so i can see how it would have been a good opportunity to address the matter. and all the speeches by both VP and presidential candidates have had a significantly personal element to them – it’s part of their attempt to make the public relate to them.
Razib,
Excellent as always. I don’t think it right to impose your expectations on a teenager and the intent of your post will not always carry through. One of the things that will pop up when she does a search for her name will be this post from SM.
55 · Humphrey said
I agree – write better comments.
65 · Manju said
as repubs will tell you, the right strategy is to attack mccain via brigette.
I think your perception on this issue is biased by your obamania.
And so unfairly when he boldly called for them to end a full week after they had ended after playing for a month.
Back off commie.
70 · Manju said
You forgot to add “but largely benefited from it”.
Anyways don’t see Bridget being an election issue, the pros and cons of adopting kids can be discussed in a different setting. Leave the McCains alone on this.
76 · Humphrey said
Sure thing, Mr. Nuance: “This blog post and the following subsequent comment are evidence that the Right doesn’t have a monopoly on stupidity and bigotry.” I can’t wait for the day when the opinions that you’re presenting here (allegedly in response to the actual issue but at least to me apparently from a partisan vantage point) are actually thoroughly marginalized in American political conversations. Until then, enjoy the ride!
75 · idiots r us said
yes, that was an effective smear b/c it was very localized. when smears are national, you risk more of a backlash.
exactly. just like Ferraro was never fired. took about a month b/f she did it on her own accord. both cases still have reasonable doubt, and thats why its so difficult to folow this dark art.
so yo see how obama is at risk. there’s a lot of stuff he hasn’t condemned either. I don’t believe he’s behind them but others may not be as generous. plus if he mentions tham he could be accused or slyly bringing them up.
42 · Ennis said
The New York Times had three front page articles on Bristol’s pregnancy. Washington Post did a story on her as well. Her pregnancy was covered by all three network news channels as well as the cable news channel.
77 · KarmaByte said
yes. this is the PUMA gripe against Obama. He’s got to be carful. My advice:
I am the one speaking from a partisan vantage point? Which one, left or right? Oh I know what you have in mind. My moderate position is sure coming across as right wing to your commie sensibility. Read my posts again. I have praised Obama and denigrated right wingers.
Kids, kids. Play nice. No name calling. I’m quite enjoying the lively debate but would like to not have to play hall monitor on this lovely Friday afternoon.
80 · JGandhi said
well, sarah palin should’ve thought about that before touting her cred as a hockey mom and trotting out all her children on the national stage. you can’t put your family out there as evidence of your wonderfulness and whine when the storyline is not to your liking.
by any measure, a teen pregnancy in the home of ms. family values-vp nom is news, and to claim that the msm shouldn’t cover it is ridiculous. there is also a question of hypocrisy: the press release claims that bristol chose to keep the baby, a choice that sarah palin herself would deny to american women if she had the power. 0it is reasonable to point this out, just as it was for kerry to mention mary cheney.
but the base will find moral outrage to muster on these topics, and when there is so much other direct substantive stuff to knock the repubs on, there is no need to tread on quicksand for political points (as mccain/palin are finding out, the mean spiritedness of the rnc has definitely worked in obama’s favor among the dem base, and some independents).
You believe in paternalism (people well off need to save people less well off) Your preferred mode of thinking on this thread is in terms of shame and goodness and nobility rather than through analysis – i.e. you’re a moral absolutist I think. Relatedly, you eschew social/economic analysis of power, which leads you to use words like “bigotry” in ways that don’t make sense to me – there’s no demonstration of any bigotry in this post that I saw, though corrections are welcome. You have a separate reservoir or anger for people who include race as a factor in voting for Obama and dismiss their ability to exercise judgement because you don’t understand how we think. You have a lot of sympathy for parents and potentially other authority. You like honorable discourse rather than street brawls or non-noblesse styles of criticism.
So i would guess you’re sort of a burkean conservative? My main criticisms would be 1) you insult people and then expect not to be insulted back and b) that you’re calling yourself an “independent” – you’re an indepdenent in the sense that you don’t fit in easily to the American political parties, but not at all in the sense that you’ve made yourself independent of the political discourse on the basis of your own analysis. As my uncle says, if Marx doesn’t work, well throw out Marx. And I think you haven’t thrown out whatever deep-seated values you have that are obscuring your ability to perceive this story clearly; 3) You have a very unnuanced view of the actions of high ranking Republican officials like the Bush AIDS policy in Africa, what its intent was, what its effect was, and how it reflected domestic politics in particular; you find it easy to compliment Bill Frist, a medical doctor who refused to state clearly that AIDS cannot be trasmitted through sweat and tears and let the Terry Schiavo charge and otherwise undermined the value of science.
Just my opinion, but again, apologies for the idiotic form of conversation I was engaging in.
83 · SM Intern said
yes mom 🙂
Bridget appears to be an adoption success story and is doing fine. Her folks should be proud of her and glad of her being their kid. Now the wardrobe. Look. People with money tend to buy expensive stuff. Gold thread saris and all that.
To many people in the world, the couple hundred I might spend on an outfit would be an obscene extravagance. It’s all relative. In the Devil Wears Prada where the young protagonist giggles at some trifling fashion dilemma the “Devil” is pressed to decide upon. The “Devil” (Meryl Streep) takes offence and delivers an informative monologue on the job producing fashion industry and its influence on the humble sweater the girl is wearing. In short, the laugher mocked an industry on which real people depend for jobs and perhaps identity. Cindy’s outfit probably fed several hundred families for all we know. And your Gap tee shirt probably feeds a few. So don’t diss the Prada-wearers. They’re people too, and they’re providing jobs for some among us.
Here’s to the distinct possibility that he won’t. Poor Bridget — think it was deeply insensitive to give her a Scandinavian name instead of one that would have given her more leeway. I mean, we have names in common, like Monica and Sheila and, if you have to be Scandinavian, Pia. At the very least, they could have given her a few names to choose from. If they were so clumsy at naming her, I bet there has been much else that may prove worthy of a Mommy Dearest further down the road– I’m sure Bridget will have many difficult decisions to make, growing up, and especially growing up McCain.
Humphrey, it is you who are bigoted, not to be able to see the problem.
bridget is an originally irish name. e.g., saint brigid.
Yes, it is indeed Gaelic, first made famous in County Kildare, as in Saint Bridget of Kildare, but also very much Scandinavian, as was made famous by Saint Bridget of Sweden a mere 850 odd years later. Actually I do know a Brigid who is half Punjabi, but her mother is Irish-American, so there’s a reason for it.
Yes, sorry, Saint Brigid of Kildare, Saint Birgitta of Sweden.
87 · devil wears prada said
Haha. That was funny,DVP.I used to look down upon the fashion industry until Bravo Tv and Project Runway saved me.;)
Thanks for the reprieve.Nice to see a light hearted albeit insightful comment, like a much needed whiff of wind that hits you, as it sweeps in through the windows ,on a muggy Friday afternoon when the a.c. ain’t working.The atmosphere created by some of comments was killing me.To elicit the range of emotions and opinions that it did, this poignant post by Taz was her own comment stemming from her emotional reaction to a national event.I don’t think she needs to apologize and I am sure she won’t.Blogs are meant to be a platform for an individual to share her/his thoughts.Let’s leave it at that.
WTF is all this “good deed” stuff? As an adoptive parent, I find it horrifying to see the way in which Bridget and Nikki were used as props demonstrating the Cindy & John MccCain’s “charity.” Adoption is NOT supposed to be about providing charity and receiving nomination for sainthood. It’s supposed to be about creating a family between people who are not biological related, about love, period. That’s not philanthropy or being a good person. And people, there is NOTHING loving about allowing (and in the case, promoting) your child to be treated as an exotic object and a charity case – whether it’s by a stranger in the supermarket or in front of a national audience, no matter WHICH political party you represent.
Yes, I really can write in proper sentences:
“demonstrating Cindy & John McCain’s “charity.” “people who are not biologically related”
My bad.
As a die-hard Obama-voting, Obama-knowing, Chicago born life-long Democrat, shame on this poster; God bless John, Cindy, and Bridget McCain. You see, Taz, John and Cindy McCain see Bridget as an individual- a child of God; you see Bridget as a token for your identity politics. You only wish you would have the courage to adopt a child like Bridget and the ability to raise her into the beautiful woman she is today. Typical, leftist identity politics nonsense. And this is the reason why Obama might lose this November. So for the sake of this country and Obama, all people like Taz please hide under a rock until November and keep quiet. Spout your nonsense after the election. Please. For. The. Sake. Of. The. Country.
(BTW, where are the leftists bashing Al Gore and the Clintons for their extravagance, or hell, even Obama who lives in a mansion on the southside of Chicago while a few blocks away there is stark poverty )
Jay – did you see the Cindy McCain video last night? Trust me, the RNC was tokenizing Bridget.
Maybe I am thick, but why the references to her mum’s outfit and the median income of Bangladeshi American and the expectations of advocacy for the Bangaldeshi American community?
72 · ak that’s somewhat of a contradictory statement – although you say “who cares what color she is” you also distinguish between all desis and non-desis. only if one assumes that people have more of a duty to those of the same ethnicity/race group does this divide matter. if you’re a pure cosmopolitanist, or otherwise see people as individuals separate from their ethnicity/race, it really should not matter who adopts a child from any nation or of any background.
I don’t think it makes me prejudicial, bigoted or less “cosmopolitan” if I believe that people do have some sort of responsibility to people of their own ethnic identity. When I said “who cares what color she” is I meant to deflect from her being white, as it was implied that I was a bigot.
I respect the point you are trying to make regarding Cindy M.’s choice to discuss the parameters of her child’s adoption. And I respect her deeply for, as I said earlier, acting on her own conscious. Still, I think the issue might have been better discussed in a different forum.
SM Intern, (aka MummyGee) How come Humphrey can call me stupid and bigoted, but when he calls someone a commie he gets yelled at?? No fair.
i don’t understand why she needs to be an advocate for anything. she’s a teenager who happened to be adopted by a very rich and famous family – so what?
i’m no mccain supporter, but there really isn’t anything to this story besides the fact that the mccains opened their hearts to a human being who probably had no hope for survival in bangladesh.
what’s the big deal with cross-cultural/racial adoption? common skin color does not make for good parenting.
and i add: good for the mccains for bringing it up at the RNC. it was a decent, heartfelt story. why read into ideas of “tokens”, “exploitation”, etc? it is what it is – her story, her family’s story – and they told it.
all of this talk of exploitation just insults bridget herself. these are her parents, her family, her life. she has known no other. such talk is just as bad as being labelled the “illegitimate black child of john mccain”. sheesh.