(Sorry for the light posting. I became immersed in research into the Chalice Well in Glastonbury. At least one reader will understand why.)

I want to talk about some oddities in the Obama family background.

Lest his supporters accuse me conjuring up scenarios unsupported by the evidence, let's make something clear: Nothing here constitutes any sort of grand conspiracy theory. If you see anything but white space between the lines, consult an optometrist. My thoughts are far from fully-formed. What may seem an oddity today may seem not-so-odd as more data comes in.

I simply want to point out a few areas worthy of further research. Unanswered questions surround this family.

One such question: When may we see the FBI and CIA files on Barack Obama's mother and father?

Such files must exist. This writer has uncovered some fascinating data nuggets:

Fall 1960– Ann starts classes at the Univ. of Hawaii’s East West Centre, a well known center of leftist thought, and shortly thereafter meets Barack Obama Sr., a Kenyan student, in a Russian language class.

(Fascinating side-note: Ann became a serious student of Communist and Marxist theories back in high school thanks to some radical teachers and administrators at Mercer High).

When the senior Barack Obama returned to Kenya, he allied himself with socialist leader Jaramogi Oginga Odinga against the pro-Western -- and, many would say, CIA-backed -- Tom Mboya. Odinga and Mboya had previously been allies. (Obama and Odinga shared a tribal heritage.)

Bottom line: Barack and Ann hardly could have escaped the attention of the authorities. In 1960, these two unusual young people flirted with Marxism. A left-leaning American girl named Stanley must have stood out, especially after she started dating an African. The couple met in a Russian-language class, in a school known as a bastion of left-wing thought.

If you think American intelligence took no interest in Barack Obama Sr., then you may also believe the Warren Report's assertion that the CIA took no interest in Lee Harvey Oswald when he came back from the USSR.

Which brings us to another key question: Why did the elder Obama choose that school above all others?

I'd also like to know just how the Lightbringer's father managed to afford his American adventure. The current presumptive Democratic nominee once said that his father's great opportunity came about as a result of a program sponsored by the Kennedy family. That program, however, did not come into being until after the elder Obama was already in Hawaii.

The Washington Post reports that Barack Obama Sr. benefited from a "study abroad" program initiated by Tom Mboya, who is often thought to have functioned as the CIA's man in Kenya. (The secret services of both sides courted allies throughout the third world; enormous sums of cash were disbursed.) Therefore, it is likely that funds for travel and tuition came from American intelligence.

At the height of the cold war, "Uncle" tended to take an interest in students who took an interest in learning Russian. (So, at last, I was once told by my Russian literature professor.) The CIA and the military were known to pay for the educations of potential recruits who were willing to learn that language. Think about it: Why else would a Kenyan go to America to learn Russian?

What follows is speculation. I suspect that Barack Obama Sr. was pegged as a potential American intelligence "asset" in what was then considered to be an important emerging third world nation. The CIA was desperately afraid of losing Africa to the Soviets. If (if) my suspicion is correct, then Obama's handlers would have been alarmed when he started dating a girl who had flirted with Marxism. They also might have been slightly peeved when Obama Sr. left for home before he could complete his studies.

Here's another point worth pondering. An interracial couple might have alarmed that era's FBI. Not only was interracial marriage illegal in most states, J. Edgar Hoover was convinced of a linkage between Communism and the civil rights movement. Of course, Hawaii was and is known for its tolerant attitude; I doubt that the local FBI field office mirrored Hoover's paranoia.

Time to repeat our earlier warning: If you see anything but white space between the lines, consult an optometrist. My speculative paragraph is clearly marked, and I imply nothing beyond those words. Alternative scenarios do exist.

I am not -- not -- not saying that Barack Obama Jr. is a commie, or a hidden CIA asset, or anything of that sort. Neither am I saying that Stanley Ann Durham did anything disreputable.

All I'm saying is this: Somewhere in Virginia -- and perhaps elsewhere -- there must be hidden files on Obama's parents. Fascinating stories probably reside within those manila folders. Don't pretend that you wouldn't care to read those files.

Side note: There's some question as to whether Barack Obama Sr. and Ann Durham were ever truly married. (In the 1960s, cohabiting couples "living in sin" often pretended to be married.) If they did wed, then the elder Obama was a bigamist, for he already had a wife back in Kenya, whom he never divorced. She now lives in England.