Obama '08?

Oh of course. Not only do "Democrats" have no sense of humor, but they are absolutely lily white purist ethical icons of superior American morality. I think there must be something terribly wrong with Obama's name or it wouldn't put Blatham in such a state of apolexy every time it is mentioned?

Or maybe Obama himself is right and he can have fun with it and turn it into an asset. Come to think of it, he actually does have a sense of humor. (Which is also illustrated in the cartoon). Who would have thought he's actually a closet Republican?

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OCCOM BILL wrote:

Between the Swifties and Michael Moore you can find the barrel's true bottom. Guys like George Soros and Bob Perry finance much of the objectionable material, but it is the laws you should be denouncing. You will forever get more bang for your buck slinging mud (and always have), so limiting individual's ability to finance 527's is one of the keys. Nimh made an awesome point a while back about the 2 Party System being to blame for much of the excess mudslinging. Since both the mudslinger and the target get muddy, Multi-Party systems provide a deterrent to the tactic.

Thank you for the compliment and for remembering that point! Its outside the box, but I do think its key. Itd be interesting to do a comparative research about the use of slime/mud (or, if that turns out to be undefinable, just negative campaigning) in countries with a two, three- and multi-party system.

In Hungary, which is effectively a two-party system (there's two tiny parties in parliament with 5% each, but the rest is all Fidesz or MSzP), I saw a frontpage MSzP ad saying "Viktor Orban lies" (Orban is the Fidesz leader). Unthinkable in multi-party Holland. As for these robocalling campaigns this year in your elections, where people are called and told, by a tape, how bad the opponent candidate is - absolutely unthinkable anywhere in Europe.

On the other hand, nimh actually works for Soros, so who knows, perhaps according to your take that makes me part of the slimers and baiters...

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Foxfyre, I actually didn't have much of a problem with the cartoon.

I didn't find it particularly funny, but to each their own.

The problem I have is with the implication that the recent emphasis on the usage of Obama's middle name is anything - anything but an attempt at a sleazy smear that emanates from the right. And here in your last post,

Quote:

Or maybe Obama himself is right and he can have fun with it and turn it into an asset.

you make it sound as if Obama wants to incorporate it, as some kind of cutesy try at humanizing himself, or something. The only reason he mentions it at all is in answer to questions put to him about it that he obviously considers a waste of everyone's time.

The simple truth is that the only reason anyone is still talking about his middle name is because the subject has been given extended life by ill-intended bloggers, pundits and motormouths (and others who think that since it is offered up in a cartoon, we ought to just forget that the whole idea that "Hussein" means something significant was conceived by ill-intended rightwing people).

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nimh wrote:

On the other hand, nimh actually works for Soros, so who knows, perhaps according to your take that makes me part of the slimers and baiters...

That must be why you're such an uncivilized polemic, irrational, librul slimeball America-hater -- and why I'm always so reluctant to argue with you.

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Not at all Snood. I think Obama is a charming, fun-loving, gregarious guy with the capacity to poke fun at himself and not take himself too seriously and that is a huge part of his appeal.

He didn't pick his own name which any intelligent person knows, and he isn't defensive about it. His supporters shouldn't be either lest they actually do turn it into a real negative. If that's the worst thing the late night folks can find to poke fun at, he's got no problems at all.

And anyone who thinks the Hillary machine wouldn't take advantage of any negative they can find to bump Obama to the back of the line is incurably naive.

And if you think the "Only the hairdresser" line in the cartoon isn't funny, I don't know what to say. I laughed out loud.

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Foxfyre wrote:

And anyone who thinks the Hillary machine wouldn't take advantage of any negative they can find to bump Obama to the back of the line is incurably naive.

You guys keep bringing up Obama's middle name, and then claiming that its no surprise that "the Hillary machine" would use such tricks as bringing up his name. But I have yet to see a single Hillary supporter bring up Obama's middle name. Only people Ive seen bringing it up are you conservatives, and that idjut on CNN.

Personally (and I'm saying this as noo Hillary supporter), I think the diversion trick - bringing up something yourselves and then claiming it emanates from Hillary people - is more objectionable than the Barack Hussein shtick in itself.

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Thomas wrote:

nimh wrote:
On the other hand, nimh actually works for Soros, so who knows, perhaps according to your take that makes me part of the slimers and baiters...

That must be why you're such an uncivilized polemic, irrational, librul slimeball America-hater -- and why I'm always so reluctant to argue with you.

Indeed

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Quote:

He didn't pick his own name which any intelligent person knows, and he isn't defensive about it. His supporters shouldn't be either lest they actually do turn it into a real negative.

No one would be talking about it at all if someone on the right didn't keep bringing it up. If anyone "turns it into" anything, it will be someone on the right. And since it isn't possible that you don't notice that, you must be being disingenuous about the whole thing.

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If the right wants to try to smear Obama's name, I say bring it on. The electorate has had it with the Rovian slime tactics and any effort to smear his name will only backfire.

Hussein is a very common name and BTW when I hear the name Hussein, I think of King Hussein, not Sadam Hussein. Again, it's real simple, anyone who would hesitate to vote for him because of his name wouldn't vote for him anyway.

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nimh wrote:

Foxfyre wrote:
And anyone who thinks the Hillary machine wouldn't take advantage of any negative they can find to bump Obama to the back of the line is incurably naive.

You guys keep bringing up Obama's middle name, and then claiming that its no surprise that "the Hillary machine" would use such tricks as bringing up his name. But I have yet to see a single Hillary supporter bring up Obama's middle name. Only people Ive seen bringing it up are you conservatives, and that idjut on CNN.

Personally (and I'm saying this as noo Hillary supporter), I think the diversion trick - bringing up something yourselves and then claiming it emanates from Hillary people - is more objectionable than the Barack Hussein shtick in itself.

Say what you will but the leftish pundits are commenting on it too and I am pretty sure they started it. The first I ever knew what Obama's middle name was is when James Carville commented on it on one of the alphabet programs. Now do you want to say that Carville is not a Hillary supporter? It's a pretty good bet he will be ramrodding her campaign as he did Bill's.

The first time I ever heard Obama's name rhymed with Osama was when Ted Kennedy did it. Want to accuse HIM of right wing smear tactics?

And why ARE you on the left so defensive about it?

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This is insipid, even for you, Foxfyre. You want to peck at something petty, but you don't stop at that - you want to try to sell the big frikkin lie that "the left started it". And when anyone calls it exactly what it is,
a bottom-of-the-barrel smarmy smear attempt by diehard wingnuts on the right, you say "gee, you're so sensitive". You are someone who is definitely a lose/lose to try to reason with.

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Whatever it is - I'll never understand this middle name game.

Walter Maria Hinteler

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What don't you understand? It's just a lowbrow way to cast negative aspersions on someone about whom they can't find much bad to say.

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Fine. Go right ahead making a big deal out of Obama's middle name and watch his opponents make political hay out of your knee jerk overreaction to it. Or you could make it not a big deal and not hurt him.

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Why, even Foxfyre's close friend, the Obama supporter, uses Hussein all the time in referring to her favorite candidate. They both think the name is just darling. Then they go and have a cup of coffee together.

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My overall take on this is better now than later. It obviously actually startled some people (LSM went so far as to say it would be a factor for her in NOT voting for him, though she wouldn't explain why, exactly), and I remember it startling me when I first found it a while back. (In the "oh no!" sense.) But I think Obama is very, very practiced at handling this sort of thing (he's been doing it his whole life) and that "Hussein" will be absorbed and owned the way "Obama" has been. People will stop making the eek connections and just think of him.

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Personally, I think it's a good thing to discuss Obama's middle name right now. Yes, let's talk about his middle name:

[URL=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hussein]Wikipedia[/URL] wrote:

Husayn, Hussein, Hussain, Husain, is an Arabic name which is the diminuitive of Hasan, meaning "good" or "handsome".

Interesting. Now let's say it out loud:

Barack Hussein Obama.
Barack Hussein Obama.
Barack Hussein Obama.

In no time, people will get used to his middle name. And realize that it's just that, a middle name.

The sooner, the better. And preferably today, some two years away from the election.

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old europe has the right idea; use his middle name in all our conversations and its translation of what it means. Kill the idea that it has any impact on anything now. By election time, it'll be so old, nobody will bother. Wink

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sozobe wrote:

My overall take on this is better now than later. It obviously actually startled some people (LSM went so far as to say it would be a factor for her in NOT voting for him, though she wouldn't explain why, exactly), and I remember it startling me when I first found it a while back. (In the "oh no!" sense.) But I think Obama is very, very practiced at handling this sort of thing (he's been doing it his whole life) and that "Hussein" will be absorbed and owned the way "Obama" has been. People will stop making the eek connections and just think of him.

Exactly. And if everybody will just chill and let him be himself, weird name and all, and accept the good natured banter as just that, it will only endear him more to the public. As long as the uptight types get their shorts in a wad every time somebody teases him, it definitely will plant negative contexts in people's minds.

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I hear you Soz - and since we'll have no choice but to talk about it, that's the only attitude to have.

Hey, maybe if we all call each other "my Hussein" (as in "What's up, my Hussein?", it will diffuse it completely, huh? Laughing

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