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Barack Obama: the second coming?

Who is Barack Obama really? What exactly is he going to change? What is one accomplishment that he has achieved in his political career? Where is he really going to take the country?

If you don't know the answers to these questions, don't feel bad...neither does anyone else.

But man...he sure makes ambiguity look good.

Check out this video:

Tuesday, March 4, 2008

Barack Hussein Obama: What's in a Name?

So Bill Cunningham, the popular radio talk show host out of Cincinnati, Ohio, is under fire (again) for comments which he made in a speech at a campaign rally for John McCain on February 26, 2008.

However, it is not really his “comments” which are under attack; it is instead, the repetition of a single word: “Hussein.”

Is he referring to the previous tyrannical leader of Iraq? No. He is instead referring to the middle name of democratic presidential hopeful, Barack Obama. An excerpt from Cunningham’s speech states, “At some point in the near future the media, the stooges from the New York Times; CBS, the Clinton Broadcasting System; NBC, the Nobody But Clinton network; the All Bill Clinton channel, ABC; and the Clinton News Network at some point is going to peel the bark off Barack Hussein Obama.”

My response to this controversy is two-fold. First, do I believe that Cunningham was intentionally using Senator Obama’s middle name maliciously? Yes. Do I believe that Cunningham was insinuating a parallel between Saddam Hussein and Barack Obama? Absolutely. If Senator Obama’s middle name were Smith, would Cunningham have repeatedly used “Barack Smith Obama?” No.

On the other hand, his legal name is in fact Barack Hussein Obama, and people have a right to use it if they wish regardless of intention. We have John Fitzgerald Kennedy, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Hillary Rodham Clinton…why not Barack Hussein Obama?

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4 comments:

Jay Rogers said...

Well as at least it's not as bad as when Ted Kennedy called him:

Barack Osama.

Kennedy later endorsed him, but no one thought it was partisan at the time.

I can't wait to hear someone to repeat my favorite:

Borat Hussein Osama: Cultural Learnings of African-Americans for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Islam

ecosophrosune said...

Hey, Adam! This is Stephanie (Tim sent me the link to your blog).

Just to note - Hillary Clinton's middle name may now be "Rodham," but it is her maiden name (She was born Hillary Diane Rodham).

Your point is great, but the difference between your examples and the Barak Hussein Obama usage differ in that the other individuals have historically been identified with all three names, and - historically - Obama has not. He hasn't identified himself that way, and it's not the popular way of identifying him (obviously, since Cunningham has been noticed for using Hussein).

Mr. Will said...

Absolutely correct on "Hillary Diane."

As far as the other examples are concerned, I see what you are saying. Perhaps I should have likened it to an angry parent:
"Barack Hussein Obama...you quit socializing healthcare this instant or I will smack you harder than a Clinton campaign ad!"

jw said...

good job

jw