In a March 28 column for NewsMax.com titled “Free Obama's White Grandmother,” “Internet journalist” Andy Martin wrote that Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL), whom he called “one of the most racist politicians in America today,” has “locked the grandmother who actually raised him away in a closet,” adding: "[T]he 'segregation' of Madelyn Dunham, Obama's white grandmother, and only real grandmother, has to be one of the cruelest and most mendacious political kidnappings this nation has ever seen." Martin wrote that Dunham “is the 'Prisoner of Obama,' and of Obama's racist myth that he is 'Black' and not 'Black and White.' ”

Martin offered no evidence for any of his allegations, other than quoting from a March 27 Chicago Tribune article, which reported that “the Obama campaign declined to make Madelyn Dunham, 84, available” for an interview and referring to a New York Times article in which, according to Martin, “Dunham told the New York Times she was not well enough to speak.” That Times article, published on March 17, reported that “Obama still visits his maternal grandmother, Madelyn Dunham, who lives in the same high-rise apartment where Mr. Obama spent much of his childhood. 'I'm not well,' she said on the telephone, explaining her refusal to meet for an interview.”

Apparently based on these two reports, Martin arrived at the conclusion that Obama, whom he called a “media witch doctor,” has “locked his granny away and refused to allow her to be seen” in order to “pretend he has no white relatives.” Martin concluded that “locking Madelyn away is going to hurt Obama more with African-Americans than with whites,” because "[w]hites delight in drinking Obama's Kool-Aid." He went on to explain that “blacks,” however, “are a lot smarter than whites when it comes to slights, because they have experienced racial slights all their lives,” and because "[d]uring the decade when crack devastated the African-American community it was the 'Black Grannies' who were and are the backbone of the community."

As Media Matters for America noted, Martin was author Catherine Moy's purported source for claiming that Obama “flat-out lied” about his upbringing, and that the school Obama attended as a child in Indonesia was “not a madrassa, but that they did teach the Quran, and they did teach that Jews are pigs. So that it -- you know, those kind of things that the Quran teaches, all of those things in the Quran that offend so many, he was taught.” The claim that Obama attended a madrassa as a child -- originating in InsightMag.com -- has been thoroughly debunked. Before Obama's February 10 announcement that he would run for president, Martin wrote: “During Obama Week leading up to February 10th, we will release our CIA-style psychological profile on him; that analysis will cast more light on Barack's supple psyche and his ability to seamlessly deny objective reality.”

Media Matters also noted that, according to a February 10, 2006 Chicago Tribune article, Martin “referred to a federal bankruptcy judge as a 'crooked, slimy Jew, who has a history of lying and thieving common to members of his race,'” and expressed “understand[ing] for how the Holocaust took place.” Several news articles have reported that Martin's Selective Service file described him as having a “moderately-severe character defect manifested by well documented ideation with a paranoid flavor and a grandiose character.”

Martin's March 28 NewsMax.com column is reproduced below in its entirety:

If anyone else running for president locked his granny away and refused to allow her to be seen, would the media complain? You betcha.

But America's media have supinely allowed Barry Obama to pretend he has no white relatives. He has paraded his step-grandmother in Kenya, who never saw him until the 1980s, as his “granny,” and locked the grandmother who actually raised him away in a closet.

Now, the Chicago Tribune reports “the Obama campaign declined to make [his white grandmother] available.”

Is she sick? Not apparently. Bedridden? Hospitalized? Not apparently. She is the “Prisoner of Obama,” and of Obama's racist myth that he is “Black” and not “Black and White.”

What a disgrace.

And like whimpering puppies the media do not protest, complain or demand access.

Free Granny Madelyn Dunham [Obama]!

Barack Obama is one of the most racist politicians in America today. And we let him get away with it. We are afraid to confront Obama's reality, so we pretend that reality is not there, even though it is staring us in the face. Anyone remember “Miss Lillian?” Or Barbara Bush? Or Bill Clinton's mom, drinking, gambling card-playing gal that she was?

Noone else but Obama could get away with pretending that his paternal grandfather's second or third or fourth wife was his “granny” when she wasn't.

Maybe that's the core of the antipathy between grandson and grandmother. Maybe that's why Obama's white grandmother is locked in purdah. She is offended that Obambi shamelessly highlights his black relatives in Kenya and, equally shamelessly, pretends his white relatives in Hawaii who actually raised him do not exist. It would hurt me.

No one could get away with pretending his white grandmother didn't exist except a media witch doctor such as Obama.

I have been attacking Obama for months because of his racist exclusion of his white relatives from the campaign trail.

We finally smoked out a picture of Obama's sister in the Chicago Tribune. She had said she was his “adviser” but refused to be photographed. Did she plan to enter the White house with a paper sack over her head?

But the “segregation” of Madelyn Dunham, Obama's white grandmother, and only real grandmother, has to be one of the cruelest and most mendacious political kidnappings this nation has ever seen.

Mrs. Dunham lives alone in the same apartment where she has lived for many years. Thus, it is reasonable to assume she is not incapacitated or an invalid.

Granny Dunham told the New York Times she was not well enough to speak, but in reality the Obama campaign maintains Stalinist “control” over potential interviewees. Obama's minions tried to control access to Obama's friend who was recently released from prison. Since he became a candidate for U.S. Senator, Obama has locked his white relative away in his racist closet.

Madelyn Dunham raised Barry Obama. It was probably her money that got him admitted to the prestigious Punahou School in Hawaii and paid his fees. Her efforts were formative, perhaps even more so than those of Obama's mother Ann, Madelyn's daughter. And yet Madelyn is being hidden away.

All because she is white and Barry Obama is a “black” candidate for president.

What a lie. What hypocrisy. What cowardice. And this man wants to sit in the Oval Office?

Ironically, locking Madelyn away is going to hurt Obama more with African-Americans than with whites. Whites delight in drinking Obama's Kool-Aid. Reason and reality will only gradually descend on them.

But blacks are a lot smarter than whites when it comes to slights, because they have experienced racial slights all their lives. Blacks know who Obama is, and they know how he is trying to “pass” and ignore his past.

During the decade when crack devastated the African-American community it was the “Black Grannies” who were and are the backbone of the community. These grandmothers helped stabilize disintegrating families ravaged by drugs. Black grannies will not like the fact that their white counterpart is being treated badly by Obama.

Black and white grandmothers? My guess is they will stick together on this one. They will be offended by the way Obama is treating the woman who really raised him and was the stabilizing factor in his life, Madelyn Dunham.

I repeat: Free Granny Madelyn Dunham [Obama]!