The question What's in a name? has given way to the question What's in a middle name? as it relates to Democrat presidential hopeful Barak Hussein Obama.  Perhaps Egan and Rafferty said it best when they wrote the 1973 Stealers Wheel hit that contains the following lyrics:

Clowns to the left of me, jokers to the right

Here I am stuck in the middle with you.

Recent controversy over the use of Obama's guilt-by-association middle name has been a beneficial (for the candidate) distraction enabling his campaign to avoid coming to grips with their hero's more serious shortcomings -- lack of experience, the most-liberal US Senate voting record and an overall disingenuousness that rivals any other politician's.

Now we are being told that as a high school student Obama used neither his first nor his middle name,   preferring to be called...Barry. 

Of course, once Obama entered the political arena he resumed using his entire given name.  Doing so likely gave him an edge in Chicago city and Illinois state politics, especially with a fair number of Black Muslims and other Afro-centric voters living within his jurisdiction. 

All is fair in politics, so using any gimmick -- natural or manufactured -- to pick up a few extra votes is certainly understandable and acceptable.  By the same token, the converse should also hold.  Those who point out that Obama supporters' protest over middle name usage are intentionally creating a subterfuge are absolutely correct.

Michelle Obama recently said that using her husband's middle name in public is tantamount to throwing a "hate bomb".  She chided Republicans for early-and-often use of the dreaded H-word. 

As a result of her passive-aggressive attempt at censorship, John McCain now feels obliged to apologize whenever his supporters and handlers cross the line of decency that was drawn in invisible ink by Mrs. Barak Hussein Obama.  Sadly, no allegations or insults other than a rally warm-up guy's use of the H-word could have been deemed indecent by anyone but the Middle Name Police.

Since Obama did not exclude his middle name or opt in favor of the American-sounding "Barry" handle in this presidential campaign, it should be assumed that the use of his full given name was OK with him when petitions were being sent out to get him on the primary ballots. 

Therefore, calling a Hussein a Hussein should be fair game now and in the future. 

Uh-oh, I think the Middle Name Police are knocking on my door...

home/archive

send e-mail