Was radio talk show host Bill Cunningham using Senator Obama's middle name as a not so subtle hint regarding his Muslim background? He says he always uses a person's full name. Then, after Senator McCain apologizes for his remarks, he turns around and goes on TV to announce that he's backing Senator Clinton.
No one can know for certain what Mr. Cunningham's intentions were, but I'm going to go out on a limb and make a judgement - he knew exactly what he was doing. It was bigotry, pure and simple. I realize that many on the right are concerned about the influence of Islam in Senator Obama's life: Does allegiance to Allah come before the United States? How many John Kennedy (Catholicism), Mitt Romney (Mormon) speeches will it take before they realize that his religion does not come before the country? It is ridiculous to even suggest, because if he did try it, he'd be impeached in a flash, just as any President should be who tries to make any religion the "state religion".
I would normally say that using a candidates full name should never be a reason for an apology - it's your name, if you don't like it change it. But in this case, especially when you view the video of his rant, there can be little doubt about the bitter seeds he was trying to sow.
Now I'm not all that fond of my middle name either: Len
I never made any effort to make it known because the thought of being called "Ben-Len" in grade school was about like being called "Ben Franklin" all the time - it was annoying. Nicknames can be even worse. My father's nickname for me: Pooty. Where he ever came up with that I'll never know, but if he wanted to see a six year old in paroxysms of rage, all he had to do was call me that. Of course, once my three brothers and two sisters realized how much it jerked my chain, I eventually became inured to the endless teasing. I guess it was just too close to "Poopy" for my tastes.
So what's in a name? It's all in how you say it.
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3 comments:
mostly good, except
1) obama is a _christian_, not a muslim -- not that this _should_ matter at all, but in the reality of u.s. politics, it does a great deal!; and
2) do you really think a president would be impeached for trying to make, say, some very general form of christianity a "state religion" in some capacity? i don't -- though of course, there's a rather broad spectrum to what "state religion" could mean. what about some kind of official sanction for the 10 commandments? you wouldn't see impeachment; rather, support from a majority of congressional republicans and, sadly, from a fair number of democrats too.
Geez, we agree once again...I think. There is nothing wrong with Barack Obama's middle name "Hussein" except it is unfortunatly the same as Saddam's last name. Also, anyone with the middle name Hussein has got to be a terrorist sympathizer. The right wing is being disingenous when they claim they are using Obama's middle name just like they would any other politicians middle name. No way....they're using it as red meat for conservative voters.
Back in the mid 60s Peter Revson campaigned a Can-Am race car he developed to compete with Jim Hall's Chapperal and the English Lolas. He called it the "Hussein" in honor of King Hussein of Jordon. It was a good American car.
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