Posted on 12/03/2006 9:53:00 AM PST by Checkers
Maureen Dowd is worried that the Republican smear machine is at it again, attacking Barack Obama by using…his middle name. It seems Ed Rogers referred to Obama by his full name on "Hardball" a while back, setting off indignation among some on the left. I don't know why it came to Rogers' mind, but it is true I included Obama's middle name in an NR story (not available on the web) in early November:
"Obama has joked that he worried his political career was over after 9/11 because his name sounded too much like Osama. In fact, it's better than that: Named after his father, his full name is Barack Hussein Obama Jr."
Whatever the source, Rogers' comment caused MSNBC's Keith Olbermann some distress. "We have this right-wing implication that you must have the right name or the right God to be American," Olbermann said. "This fellow Ed Rogers, among others, has taken to calling Senator Obama Barack Hussein Obama." Olbermann wondered what the proper response should be: "Is it to point out the racial element to this, or the religious element to this? Or is it just to say, this is beneath contempt and not worthy of any response?"
And now Dowd. "The Republicans are expert at tying Democrats to villains," she writes. "Mr. Rogers's bad-boy mentor, Lee Atwater, yoked Willie Horton to Michael Dukakis. Mr. Atwater and his successors also liked to present their side as being more American."
Now, it is one thing to report Obama's full name — that's completely fair. In addition, it seems illustrative of the Obama phenomenon that so many Democrats have gotten so excited about him and don't even know his name. On the other hand, it's another thing to regularly refer to him by his full name when you would not otherwise do so — that is, were it not "Hussein." Hopefully that won't catch on.
Of course, all this might generate a little more sympathy had not some Democrats in recent months become so fond of the name "George Felix Allen, Jr." During the campaign, winning Senate candidate James Webb routinely referred to his opponent as George Felix Allen, Jr. (just search for the name at webbforsenate.com.) Although it wasn't even correct — Allen, whose father's middle name was Herbert, wasn't a junior — the use of Allen's full name was clearly a campaign strategy, first, to diminish Allen, and then, after news of Allen's Jewish ancestry emerged, to make an oblique reference to that.
So now Maureen Dowd, Olbermann, and others are upset about Barack Hussein Obama. Perhaps if they had criticized the whole George Felix Allen thing, they might have more credibility.
Implication? ....by merely stating his full name? No one on the Left batted an eye when Clinton was called William Jefferson, but stating Obama's full name gets them into full "right wing conspiracy" mode.
I don't mean to single you out, but by my count, this is the 8th Obama-related thread in 24 hours. What is this, the ObamaRepublic.com?
I thought Obama's middle name was Jihad or Muhammad or something like that.
I do recall being amused when someone referred to Osama bin Laden and Clinton bin Lying.
I don't care what this character's name is. I don't vote for communists, islamists or whatever other type of democratic sludge that sticks and stinks.
Another media trope and why am I not surprised MoDo would continue to carry this banner?
Michael Dukakis did indeed act to provide convicted murderers and sex offenders weekend furloughs. Even convicted murderers sentenced to life-without-parole like Willie Horton! The MA legislature acted to stop the governor's madness and he vetoed their legislation!
SOURCE: Ann Coulter's GODLESS.....
I might just start calling him Felix when I hear liberal whine about republicans using his middle name.
If you use Internet Explorer or Opera, http://www.freerepublic.com/~jedimasterpikachu/ is very unorganized. If you know how to fix it, could you freepmail?
Considering it was Al Gore who brought up the furlough program problem in the primary (directly challenging Dukakis about it during a debate), it's rather ridiculous to try to say that Atwater was the originator of tying negativity to his opponent. Whether Gore mentioned Horton by name or not in his campaign, he did tie Dukakis to furloughed inmates who committed murder while out.
ObCZJ...
But listen to him closely. Every dissertation is marked with "IS"s.
I particularly liked his "Yes, I smoked pot...inhaling was the object...I was a bad boy but I have grown". Guess what, I know a lot of people who DIDN'T smoke pot. The "I have grown" is the "IS".
This is the old George Washington bit on the old cherry tree...which was not the real story in the first place. Heaven forbid our kids know that he killed one of his mother's favorite horses while scre*ing around.
I call him liberal.
Hee hee. Listen to the Democrats squalling over their favorite son's middle name.
Too bad, so sad.
"The first time I noticed Obama, he was on Opra......selling his book."
Obama, Oprah.
Oprah, Obama.
. . . '08 , yes yes , oh please
... Sir Edmund Hillary Clinton & "B." Hussein Obama
they could have "Fat Teddy Wetbrain" do his intro at rallies
Modo and Olbermann should hook up already. I do believe that any offspring would HAVE to be labeled as the "spawn of satan"...regardless of middle name.
Hussein for Vice President has a lovely ring to it.
wasn't it Teddy Kennedy that first had the name confusion between Osama and Obama? last time i checked he was a card-carrying Dem. was MoDo upset about that?
Don't forget about John F. Kenned.....er....Kerry!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.