>>Whats your evidence for that ?
>
>Nicholas, I'm going to give you some history - but before I do, I have a question.
>
>Do you think (or would you deny) that Barack Obama has repeatedly been OK embellishing and/or having others exaggerate/embellish his background, qualifications and even his biography - to make himself appear more interesting than "another politician from Chicago"? Looking for a yes/no. Thanks

Kevin,

I do believe that I have a better grasp of US attitudes and streaks than most other europeans not visiting the States regularly (job, spouse or other reasons).

I would refuse to answer such a question (besides Walters valid point) as Chicago politics is not really a gestalt over here: Chicago machine and/or backroom dealings ring a faint bell, but I have a hard time creating mental scenarios for the large other german cities (which needs to include city budget,rent level, unemployment level, typical election distribution, typical party leaning, wealth, car and housing distribution and so on). Creating a picture with sufficient background is a hard task even for those cities nearer to me to utter something I would bet a bottle of good stuff on if pressed ;-))

I remember quite well that you view yourself as a disciple of Socratic tradition, but asking such a question is IMO not socratic, as any attempt to answer "from over here" has to speculate on that many unknown areas as to be nearly random instead of logic/reasoning based. Borders on rhethoric, even though I am certain it was NOT meant that way by you. Different location creates different perspectives ;-)