Fortunately not much has been made about Barack Obama and his youthful dalliances with Mary Jane and the Ye Yo, but here comes The New York Times to bring it all back and say this interesting tidbit: few friends remember young Barack's drug fueled antics or lack thereof.
But the Times wants to add more to this non-story by asking whether Barack's drug use, or the intensity of it, was concocted for dramatic effect.
Mr. Obama's account of his younger self and drugs, though, significantly differs from the recollections of others. That could suggest he was so private about his use that few people were aware of it, that the memories of those who knew him decades ago are fuzzy or rosier out of a desire to protect him, or that he added some writerly touches in his memoir to make the challenges he overcame seem more dramatic.
I just don't know what to make of this story after Obama publicized his drug use in his memoir. Just doesn't seem newsworthy to me (but then again I'm blogging about it).
On the brighter side, the reality that Obama's drug use, however frequent for however long of a time, hasn't been a campaign millstone shows Americans are starting to act like adults and realize what someone does during his youth isn't the measure of the man, but possibly a necessary stepping stone toward who that man is today.
