AP Says Obama's Uncle, Slapped on Wrist for OUI, Is 'Appealing' Deportation, Never Notes 19 Years as Fugitive

Leave it to the Associated Press, aka the Administration's Propagandists, to cover for Barack Obama's Uncle Omar, formally known as Onyango Obama. Today, Uncle Omar was given a slap on the wrists so light it's hard to imagine he even felt it.

Today's AP cleanup in Massachusetts arrives via Denise Lavoie, whose principal contribution to the spin is to tell readers that Uncle Omar is "appealing a deportation order," when in fact he ignored an order for 19 years until his arrest for "operating under the influence" in August of last year. Excerpts, including the "say as little as possible" headline, follow:

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Obama uncle admits facts in drunken driving case

A Massachusetts drunken driving charge against President Barack Obama's uncle will be dismissed if he stays out of trouble for a year, officials said Tuesday.

Onyango Obama, 67, admitted to sufficient facts at a hastily scheduled hearing Tuesday. That means he didn't plead guilty but acknowledged Massachusetts prosecutors had enough evidence to convict him. A judge continued the case for one year without a finding, meaning that if he does not get arrested during that time, the charge will be dismissed. A judge also ordered him to attend a driver alcohol education program.

Onyango Obama is the half brother of the president's late father. He was arrested in Framingham in August after a police officer said he made a rolling stop at a stop sign and nearly caused the officer's cruiser to crash into Obama's sport utility vehicle. Police said Obama registered 0.14 on a blood-alcohol test, above the state's legal limit of 0.08.

On Tuesday, the judge ordered him to give up his driver's license for 45 days. But his lawyer said he will apply for a hardship license to allow him to drive to and from his job as the manager of a liquor store in Framingham. Two other traffic violations were dismissed.

... Obama, who is from Kenya, is also appealing a deportation order that dates to 1992, when he failed to renew his application to remain in the U.S. Bratton called it a technical error. He said Obama moved here as a teenager in the early 1960s to live with a host family and attend school.

It's as if Lavioe wants readers to believe that the appeals process has taken 20 years. Uh, not exactly.

The Boston Globe, in a relatively rare example of journalism, revealed that Uncle Omar was really a fugitive from justice when arrested. Thus, he is still avoiding justice and is still here illegally unless he can prove otherwise. The Globe also noted that he not the only Obama relative living in the U.S. illegally:

Obama’s uncle is called a fugitive
Said to ignore ‘92 deportation order

The uncle of President Obama arrested here last week on drunken driving and other charges has been a fugitive from deportation since 1992, according to two federal law enforcement officials with knowledge of the case.

Onyango Obama, who is from Kenya and is known as the president’s Uncle Omar on his father’s side, had lived a quiet life in Massachusetts until last Wednesday, when police said the car he was driving darted in front of a police cruiser, nearly causing the officer to hit his car.

The federal officials, who spoke about Obama’s immigration status on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to speak about the case, said Obama had been told to leave in 1992, but he did not go.

Obama is the second relative of the president to have defied a deportation order, reigniting debate over illegal immigration and raising questions about how a man who had lived in the United States illegally for years had managed to secure a job, a Massachusetts driver’s license, and apparently, a federal Social Security number, without being detected by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE.

“There are hundreds of thousands of people who have been ordered deported and just ran off and nobody’s looking for them,’’ said Mark Krikorian, executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies, which favors strict controls on immigration.

Onyango Obama’s sister, Zeituni Onyango, also faced deportation before a Boston immigration judge granted her asylum last year. She, too, had avoided the spotlight, living in public housing in South Boston despite a deportation order. Her immigration status was leaked to the media days before her nephew’s historic election in 2008.

Those meanies -- trying to mess up a "historic election" with inconvenient facts about relatives of a presidential candidate who are gaming the system. How dare they?

Talk show host and columnist Michael Graham in Boston has a more pointed reaction to Uncle Omar's lucky day (HT Instapundit):

It means that a criminal immigrant with illegally-obtained documents who ignored a federal order to leave the country will get away with almost plowing into a police car while driving drunk.

In the town were I live (and drive) every day.

... Yes, life is good for a guy who’s openly living in the US illegally and committing felony fraud/tax crimes in order to do so. By Memorial Day, Onyango will be back behind the wheel—not in Kenya, his only legal residence—but illegally, right on the streets where I live.

Yeah Michael, is this a great country or what? (/sarc)

Cross-posted at BizzyBlog.com.