Political Punch

He will never have to worry about what name to use. The electoral college will not be voting for him as he is ineligible to be president. Second runner up after he is sticken from vote, John McCain. The question is what is his McCain's middle name and will he use it? THis question about Obama is irrelevent.

It is really disgusting to hear people who call themselves "real" Americans express their bigotry on this matter. Like the KKK, who often uses scripture to try to justify their evilness, these people are the first to cite the constitution and the last to uphold it. Obama should use whatever he is comfortable with.

It is the legal name of the person we elected. And there is no reason to hide it at this point.

But didn't Carter go by Jimmy and not James Earl? There is a degree of personal preference to which we should defer.

It's his name, what's the shame in that?

Most important: he should use what he wishes to use. He's certainly earned that right. ------------ However, if *my* wishes were worth being consulted, I would encourage him to use his full name. It is his name, and his father's name, one of the few things he has from his father. --- It would, quite nicely, be a classy slap-back at all the radio personalities, etc., who snarled and spit that middle name at him as if it was something of which to be ashamed --- It would reinforce Gen. Powell's welcome statement that 'it doesn't matter' in this country is one is Muslim or has a Muslim-sounding name, that it's the content of the person's character that matters, to quote another great leader --- And, most important, a video clip of the new US President identifying himself by a name associated with a different region and different religion, while he is being sworn into office, would do more than anything I can imagine to tell people what America is all about *and* to shake the conviction of millions of people, some of them illiterate, many of them the people Jihadists will want to recruit, that all of the Western world hates them and anything to do with them. -- Also, Hussein is an honorable and respectable name in the Arabic world (e.g., King Hussein of Jordan). There is no reason to hide or shy away from it (how would we feel if a multi-racial leader of a Middle East country tried to hide from a middle name like George? or William?). There is every reason, I think, for him to embrace it, and for us to embrace it, as a very legitimate part of the person who we are proud to call our President.

As Colin Powell said, why shouldn't a five year old Muslim American think that he can be President someday? He should use his full name. What better message could there be to the world that America's changing.

and while we're at it:
re: "Looking back on his eight years in the White House, President George W. Bush pinpointed incorrect intelligence that Iraqi President Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction as "biggest regret of all the presidency."

what a delusional fraud, they had decided to take out Iraq before 9•11

Nick in Virginia

I know, the whole world is lying, any press report that says something negative about Bush has to be slammed by you and 'yer kind', regardless of it's accuracy.......Republicans and Conservatives have done a' great' job since 2000.

Does the Bush crime family and Republicans ever accept responsibility for anything without blaming someone who came before them?

I hope Obama does use his middle name during the ceremony. By doing so he will take a name associated with evil and turn it into a positive association. He will also send a powerful message about American acceptance of people from all walks of life out to the rest of the world.

BTW I didn't vote for him but that was on the issues. As an individual and a representative of America I think he's great.

Mr. Obama should use his entire name, no matter if the connotation be positive, negative or neutral. In his own writings, he was struggling to come to grips of who he was - a black man, a white man, a Muslim, etc. Well, he has achieved the highest elected office in the world. He is who he has become and can no longer run from that. Don't ask for an opinion poll, ask your advisers or run it past Shelly...as his VP elect Joe Biden says, 'time to step up to the plate.'

Mike

Without question, he should say his full name. I was disappointed that it was left to Colin Powell to be the only one to stand up for Muslims during the campaign. The name Hussein, is just that, a name. It would send a positive message to Americans and the world if Obama proudly embraces his full name - it's not something to be ashamed of and he's in the prime position to make this clear.

I say it was his given name at birth, and since none of us are able to select our names, we are stuck with the ones our parents decide upon and bequeath. Generally our names are selected due to someone in our family who was cherished. None of us know why Obama's mom decided to give him his middle name, but it is his and he should be proud of it [if only because 'she' gave it to him]. So I say he should use it and my hope is that he will use it when being sworn in.

Furthermore what is there to be ashamed of in a name? No one can foretell what implication [due to others association] a name is considered [good or bad], but who cares since it was the chosen name. The only thing to do if you don't like your name is have it legally changed and that can be a hassle in these security challenged times!

Will the Liberal Press denounce Chief Justice John Roberts as an evil Republican racist when he administers the oath in January and uses Hussein's full name?

Grey Matter, in this I agree totally. Never has mattered to me what religion a person follows, or any superficial identity characteristics they were born with. Never. My team member at work calls herself (and is in practice) a diversity teacher, at a university, yet I've never met anyone who is so quick to categorize people by their last names, religion, skin color, even how they dress! That is upsetting to me, yet it's not acceptable for me to say "PEOPLE ARE PEOPLE!" Gets me in trouble every time. Diversity to her is maintaining separation into distinct groups and fighting against "assimilation."

Muslims are not the bad guys, Chinese are not the bad guys, Palestinians are not the bad guys, no total group is made up entirely of bad guys. Well, maybe the Taliban and alQaida. Yeah, they're bad.

His name is his name, though you have to admit he's been through more than one. What's with that?

Muslims should not feel ashamed of being Muslims.

And I still won't support Obama. Not because of his name or race or religion...if he would announce two minutes after being sworn in that he's Muslim, it wouldn't increase or decrease my negativity. Granted, I would probably hit my head falling to the floor laughing, but it's what's inside him and his personal philosophy and tactics that turn me away.

So, Obama, you have our permission -- say Barack Hussein Obama loud and proud!

Blue,

Thank you for pointing out that the failure of the mortgage industry was 30 years in coming, starting with the Carter-era CRA (Community Reinvestment Act), being exacerbated by the Clinton-era executive policies which expanded the impact of the CRA and forced banks into more undesireable loans, and finally culminating in the failure of the Bush administration in enacting more regulatory oversight (uncharacteristic of Republicans) due to the ability of the Democrats to block any such action in the Senate (uncharacteristic of Democrats – wanting less regulation, that is, not blocking legislation), with the Senate’s unique “filibuster” rule which requires a 60% supermajority to break.
So yes, there were some bad policies involved here, but they started out on the Democrat side, and they were perpetuated by the Democrats, and the Republicans did not put up a loud enough complaint against what was happening.

But with the state of the MSM (heavily pro-Democrat, anti-Republican), would those complaints even have reached the public?

I think he should use the name he was born with, and that can be found on his birth certificate.....

Posted by: Nick in Virginia | Dec 1, 2008 10:05:54 AM
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Only problem is if he has one, valid - a problem the Supreme Court has to decide.

Have you ever heard of that it remains to be checked by the Supreme Court that the candidate is "qualified" - not just his ability but his identity - after the election is over?

I suppose it's another it's America, everything is possible!

I doubt he wants to get people talking about his middle name as his first act as President.

I think he should continue to use the formulation he's been using.

Deception comes in all forms, from all directions, including a mention of his middle name.

Conserve
re: 'but don't think that Americans will forget that it is your name just because you don't use it.'

duck & cover..., the 'real Americans' are back..... from 'real America'............

Back to reality Dept about the "Failure regime" currently in office... if you want something to complain about how about this:

'The Bush administration backed off proposed crackdowns on no-money-down, interest-only mortgages years before the economy collapsed, buckling to pressure from some of the same banks that have now failed. It ignored remarkably prescient warnings that foretold the financial meltdown, according to an Associated Press review of regulatory documents.

Bowing to aggressive lobbying _ along with assurances from banks that the troubled mortgages were OK _ regulators delayed action for nearly one year. By the time new rules were released late in 2006, the toughest of the proposed provisions were gone and the meltdown was under way.

The administration's blind eye to the impending crisis is emblematic of its governing philosophy, which trusted market forces and discounted the value of government intervention in the economy. Its belief ironically has ushered in the most massive government intervention since the 1930s.

Many of the banks that fought to undermine the proposals by some regulators are now either out of business or accepting billions in federal aid to recover from a mortgage crisis they insisted would never come. '

I didn't vote for Obama, but I see nothing wrong with the middle name "Hussein." He should make whatever choice he likes. I wish him success as President.