Glenn Beck accused President Obama of being a radical because when he transferred to Columbia he went back to using the name that his parents had given him at birth.
BECK: He chose to use his name, Barack, for a reason. To identify, not with America -- you don't take the name Barack to identify with America. You take the name Barack to identify with what? Your heritage? The heritage, maybe, of your father in Kenya, who is a radical? Really? Searching for something to give him any kind of meaning, just as he was searching later in life for religion.
Media Matters breaks Beck's comment down perfectly:
OK, let's break down the problematic parts of this, just so there isn't any room for confusion. First, the suggestion that certain names, such as the African name Barack, are un-American. Second, the idea that Obama, in embracing his African name, was doing so at the expense of his American identity, as if the two are mutually exclusive (someone relevant to this discussion once talked about the 'the hope of a skinny kid with a funny name who believes that America has a place for him, too'). And third, the implication that Obama's father's Kenyan roots are linked to his 'radical'-ness.Here is how President Obama explained why he assumed his given name after transferring to Columbia University in Newsweek in 2008: "It was not some assertion of my African roots ... not a racial assertion. It was much more of an assertion that I was coming of age. An assertion of being comfortable with the fact that I was different and that I didn't need to try to fit in in a certain way."
That's the best I can do for you, Glenn. I can't break it down any further. If you don't see why some people would get upset that you accused the president of adopting his African name in order to repudiate his American identity and connect with his father's radical Kenyan heritage, then I'm afraid you might be a lost cause.
It is no surprise that the poll taken by an independent pollster for the Daily Kos indicates that...
* 36 percent of Republicans believe Obama was not born in the United States, 22 percent are not sure, and 42 percent think he is a natural citizen.
* 31 percent of Republicans believe Obama is a "racist who hates White people" -- the description once adopted by Fox News's Glenn Beck.
What I find really amazing about this is that Beck and his followers think that Barack Hussein Obama has chosen his name as if their names were not given to them at birth. And, with regards to names, young people assume nicknames all the time and as they grow up they go back to their given name. Do we have a country of radical would-be-presidential youths?
What's in a name? Barack means "blessed one" in Arabic and Swahili. In ancient Hebrew it means "thunder." Pretty awesome, I'd say.
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Oh wait, I get it. Our names have a European heritage which equals American. African heritage equals "not one of us". It's amazing how Glenn Beck reveals the narrowness of his mind and yet people still flock to him. Barack IS an American name because Barack Obama is an American!
Since AMerica does not exactly have it's own founding language..rather the English of the settlers it revolted from.
Shall we deem only those names held by the original white people in this country American? But any languages that radical Africans brought here against their free will might have spoken - names of those languages are not American.
I am actually more offended than I thought I would be by his comments.
What a tool. Not to mention that being called by your birthname rather than a nickname derivative made by the same people who could not pronounce his radically African, difficult-to-pronounce-two syllable (yes I am being sarcastic it is not difficult) name is hardly changing it
My Birth Certificate, Social Security Card, Driver's License etc. all had 'Eric' on them. So I was (thankfully) forced to use 'Eric' instead of 'Rick/Ricky'. It turns out that growing up was a blessing; as I always preferred 'Eric' in the first place, and I finally had a chance to reclaim my 'true' identity.
Which brings me to my understanding as to why the President said, "It was much more of an assertion that I was coming of age." I can personally attest to, and sympathize with, 'Barack'. The fact that reclaiming my 'true' identity, when I became an adult, was long overdue and uniquely gratifying.
Finally being 'Eric' again (instead of what others chose to call me) was like an awakening. A rebirth, so to speak.
Even though many people from my past still call me 'Rick' (which is quite understandable, and I take no offense) I'm glad that I still 'feel' like the 'Eric' I always was and always will be.
There are free papers of every political view at the library, social study teachers at school, friends with differing opinions - perhaps people are bored with politics, but every vote counts.
My vote doesn't count for much in this state, but my friends and I discuss, challenge, get frustrated and donate time and money for our causes just because we have a vote and we can try to make America a better place for everyone.
How can you intelligently comment/debate in an informed manner if you limit your resourses for partisan reasons?
Partisan political punditry has been, is, and always will exist in the MSM. It's up to us (the voters) to sift out the relevant facts from all the 'gibberish' , regardless of where said facts might have come from. Accumulation of pertinent facts, as well as proper assimilation of the same, lends one a larger measure of credibility than one less 'informed'.