Insane in the Middle Name
The left-wing has to stop being upset about the right-wing using Barack Obama's full name. Last Monday, there was a Lee County sheriff in Florida introducing Sarah Palin at rally. The event itself was a like pep rally for a losing lineup, chanting about team spirit as the gym crumbles to the ground.
Anyway, the sheriff's name is Michael Scott. On the video he is a big, effeminate, bald man in uniform, presumably carrying a gun as he says, "On November fourth, let's leave Barack Hussein Obama wondering what happened." I watched it wondering when the rest of the Village People were going to chime in.
So cue outrage: Keith Olbermann and Campbell Brown among others have noted that this is not okay to do. Not okay to use that middle name. Brown called it 'race baiting'. People at these now infamously raucous and shockingly ignorant rallies are being ignited by the mentioning of Obama's full name. His middle name is similar to a dictator that the US toppled recently. You may have heard about it a couple years ago. We've collectively stopped following the story in recent years. Too much of a bummer. Anyway, it makes news when a viable - ahead in most polls candidate gets called by his full name? That's political discourse?! News? Notable?
I mean, seriously? His middle name is on his Wikipedia page. How is it an insult? It's not race baiting. Saying he's palling around with terrorists is race baiting. And that sound bite gets repeated ad nauseum. The William Ayers - errors is more like it - 'story' is picked up as an actual item instead of the absurdly desperate claim that it is. What doesn't get noted is that it's coming from the same people that say Obama is not fit to lead because he lives in the same neighborhood as Louis Farrakhan. Which is like casually mentioning that Obama has been in an airplane just like the one that flew into the Twin Towers on 9/11. Brutal stupidity.
But when it gets discussed by the media - it gets legitimized then it gets further warped in the collective minds of those that don't get paid to sit around all day and read blogs and newspapers like I do. There's a YouTube clip of a woman saying Obama has the bloodline to be a terrorist. That's the next step in the blinding rhetoric from the right-wing: Darkies want to kill whiteys. That's what Jesus said in the bible.
That's race baiting!
Making fun of Barack Hussein Obama for having a funny name is like making fun of John Sydney McCain for not being able to touch the top of his head. It's cheap and near sighted. But when air time is given - attention and outrage handed to those that go there it validates it. It makes it look like there is something to the name calling.
Who cares if Obama's middle name is like a former dictator that we preemptively invaded because our leader wanted to show up his daddy? If anyone should want to forget about Saddam Hussein - it's the right-wing. They should be the ones embarrassed by what Obama's middle name conjures up - not the other way around.
This is what the party of Lincoln has been reduced to - name calling? This is what the media has been reduced to - re-acting to name calling? The answer to both is - YES.
Sarah Palin said that she wants to talk directly to the American people without the media filter. Good, let her. Let her talk directly to the American people and let the media actually filter her.
Cat's out of the bag: Obama has a funny name. Republicans are becoming parodies of themselves. And the stock market just closed under 9000.
Follow Tina Dupuy on Twitter: www.twitter.com/TinaDupuy
Loading comments…
Want to reply to a comment? Hint: Click "Reply" at the bottom of the comment; after being approved your comment will appear directly underneath the comment you replied to
Outrageous. Downright dangerous and I thought unethical. From all that I know about Lee County
Sheriff Mike Scott, located in Ft. Myers Florida, I'm assuming he's a city official, elected and UP for re-election. That he would come to a rally in full uniform with a gun and spout out the "Hussein" lie to make people believe (fear) that Barack is a Muslim, when in fact anyone can look up his old friends and classmates and confirm that Barack was born a Christian, raised one and is one. I always thought that people in MIKE SCOTT's position were not supposed to put themselves in compromising positions. But he has yet to be punished in any way, shape or form. I will write AND call his office and speak to Ft Myers internal affairs. Keep in mind emails are not kept private by Florida's law. This is the very state that was stolen from Al Gore--imagine if he had been president???
On one hand, I am concerned that the Republican fringe mob will incite violence. But on the other hand, doesn't it seem like the bully, the rich girl and the pretty mean girl are making fun of the skinny kid with a funny name. It is really dangerous yet ... petty and grade school at the same time.
its not them using the middle name its the context they are using it in
its the fact they are using it to remind everyone umm btw is he muslim oh does it not sound like he is not an american this will go down as the most dangrous vile campagin in history I just hope mccain wakes up soon country first more like get elected first
I would say palin wakes up aswell but I think she is lost
Hussein is a proud name with a heritage in American history all the way back to the American Revolution. I think the Obama campaign would do well to directly confront the McCain campaign's deliberate race bating by the misuse of his middle name. Here is a link to some very enlightening information regarding the Semetic and African origins of the name:
http://www
Many famous and beloved Americans thriught history shared names like this. Enjoy.
Hussein means handsome one. It isn't the use of Barack's middle name that is an issue, it is the attempt to make people think he is a terrorist because he has an Arabic middle name that is the problem. Hussein fits Barack because he is a handsome dude--my wife thinks so anyway.
The MISUSE of the name is the issue; not the name itself.
BTW, that cop DID look like he could be one of the Village People.
BEHusseinM777
we know why they are using his middle name. it's to incite rage and perpetuate the idea that obama is a closet muslim and that he's a terrorist. this very site has video which includes a man saying that he thinks obama is a one-man terror cell. how ridiculous! they is nothing wrong with being a muslim. folk link everything evil and vile with being a muslim...n
i see more evil and vile things coming from the mouths of mccain and palin.
Frankly I find it shocking and offensive to Arabs more than to Obama. I mean what the hell? Hussein is being used to incite disapproval. Think about it, they are REMINDING everyone of that name because they expect people to immediately jump on the name as a bad trait. Do you realize how many people in the Arab world are called Hussein?
Manny people used to think of that name to remind them of the late King Hussein of Jordan. The person who received the Nobel prize, achieved peace with Israel, and was famous for being one of the most cunning politicians of his time. Why do they forget that?
They are baiting racism, not towards blacks, but towards Arabs. That is what is so offensive about it.
What a white wash!
She calls violent folks incited by his middle name -- a race baiting tactic -- merely "ignorant.
that it also the point of Hussein being shouted from every Palin/McCain podium. McC/P are addressing low information folks who for some insane reason, identify with the guy who wants to hand out another $300B of their hard earned tax dollars to Wall Street. This, even after hearing how AIG, given $85m to bail them out, took their CEOs and sales persons on two spa junkets that ate up $1M of it.
Now AIG CEOs cry that they always took these junkets; they are part of how they do business. Well,yes. One reason we are where we are economically.
So why do we not fire the CEOs who are so dumb they can't think of another way to incite sales ... duh?
I am too poor to vote for McCain and too sane to vote for President Palin.
I have an Arabic name and so do two of my brothers. NEWS FLASH-- LOTS of black people who have NO ties to Islam and no ties to Africa except distant ancestry, HAVE ARABIC NAMES. Barack is probably one of the few black guys in America to have an Arabic/African name legitimately by way of being named after his African father, who he barely even knew-btw-. Our fathers names are usually Larry Jones or something boring and our moms like the music in Arabic names.
Geez, I better tell my brother Rashad to change his name to Randy if he ever runs for any kind of public office. Apparently, its un-American to have an Arabic name.
The problem is the intonation and the audience. I think Obama should start introducing himself with his middle name. It might take the sting out.
Ok, Tina, there is a broader connection here that I think you are missing. They aren't saying 'Barack Hussein Obama' as a "ha-ha" funny joke kind of thing. They are connecting his NAME to the NARRATIVE of him being a terrorist, or at least a terrorist sympathizer. I mean, if the media shouldn't cover that because it gives credence to the allegation, then shouldn't they also NOT cover Ayers, Rezko, or Wright???
That said, his middle name IS Hussein. To say that there isn't a larger connection being made there is false. Saying that the connection is petty and shouldn't be blown up is correct. But the same applies to Ayers.
Let's get back to our failing economy.
I live in suburban Detroit, Michigan and this area sets on the largest Arab population out side of the Middle East. So the name Hussein and Osama are common names I hear almost everyday.
We all know exactly why the McCain camp keep using Obama's middle name, and it's their intent to which we are objecting. If this were 1944, John McCain was running for president, and his middle name was Adolf, it would be obvious why he wouldn't want to use it, and it would be obvious what the opposition was implying if they continually referred to him as "John Adolf McCain."
There is clear racism here. The McCain camp are trying to make America afraid of Obama, and they are doing so by claiming he's William Ayer's BFF and by invoking a middle name which he doesn't use. I do believe that our side can dilute the impact by acknowledging that we know his middle name and we have no problem with it, but it's completely fair to be outraged by the McCain camp's attempts to frighten voters with the unnecessary repetition of Obama's middle name.
Sure his full name is Barack Hussein Obama. But he's not commonly refered to as such.
If you make a point of doing so, however, while suggesting he's "not one of us" etc, well, it's pure xenophobia.
It's not the use of the full name as such that is offensive. After all, it's a great name with a melodic quality to it. I happily hear it being used - if those who do, do not try to pander to base prejudices.
It's all very obvious.
Should one call such bigots out for going out of their way in using the full name in an effort to portray Obama as a black muslim radical terrorist(
Yes, because it's reprehensible.
The Obama campaign chooses not to do so because they don't want the campaign to center on race. Rightly so.
But the rest of us? Well I think we can't let such bigotry just pass.
thank you for saying what I've been saying, but you said it better.
Ann Coulter's favorite trick is to call him B. Hussein Obama. When finally questioned about this obnovious, annoying habit, she said she thought it was "funny." I could not disagree with you more. It is race baiting. The name sounds Arabic. It sounds Muslim. It sounds scary! It sounds foreign! It sounds like a name a dictator had and a terrorist might have. It is a cheap, sophomoric attempt to taunt and taint the reputation of a man who is going to beat the pants off of them in a month. It is racially motivated, and it is pathetic.
Obnoxious. Sorry, I don't have my contacts in yet . . .
"I mean, seriously? His middle name is on his Wikipedia page. How is it an insult? It's not race baiting."
Funny. That's the exact same excuse the Republicans use when they mention his middle name. OF COURSE it's race baiting. In one of the McCain/Palin rallies that you mentioned, when one of the women is asked, "Is Obama a terrorist?" she responds, "Yes. Look at his name." Never underestimate the power of hatred and ignorance.
You must be logged in to comment. Log in or connect with
