Letters to the Editor
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Seriously?
Man, Salon, you haven't just jumped the shark, you Evel Kneiveled that sonofabitch.
Two articles today about the man who might be our next president - one about how his name isn't that strange, and another about how deep his voice is. Are you freakin' kidding me? Is there NOTHING of substance you can say about this election? No background investigation of the candidates, no exploration of their policies and positions?
Christ, this isn't even fluff, it's vacuum.
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Fantastic
Juan: I always enjoy your commentary on The NewsHour and reading this piece was more of the same (great). This piece should be blogged like mad to get it out into the world to offset the attacks under way and the ones that will no doubt be mounted in the future.
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"Semitic"?
Interesting how the word "Jewish" doesn't appear anywhere in this article.
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good strategy
actually I think this a very useful piece. And it points out the exact way in which Obama should address this non-isssue issue. He should embrace his name and explain (in much less detail) what Juan is talking about here. Direct confrontation is all the right wing crazies respond to. Stand up to the bullies and you remove whatever power they may have.
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Semitic
@Reader
Semitic refers to a group of languages (family) including Hebrew, Arabic, Aramaic, Maltese, and a few others I can't think of at the moment. It can also be use to refer to a wide range of people from southwest Asia and the Middle East.
Judaism is a religion tied very closely with the Hebrew language, but by no means are "Jewish" and "Semitic" interchangeable. It isn't helpful that "anti-semitic" is now most frequently used to mean "anti-Jewish", and I understand your confusion.
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My Confirmation name is Adolph
Do I have any explaining to do? Would I be questioned if I ever ran for public office.
The entire issue of his name is rediculous. Unfortunately, there are enough ignorant people for whom it will matter...and enough people very willing to play them.
I don't think it will have any effect, though. It really doesn't seem to be gaining any traction, and using his name as a weapon hasn't gotten a very welcome responce.
It will be very cool when he's sworn in as Barack Hussein Obama. Imagine the look of Bush's face.
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Fun game
If you overhear someone going on about Barack Hussein Obama ask them what John McCain's or Hillary Clinton's middle names are. The really funny part is how many people answer "Rodham".
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@ saintzak
"Unfortunately, there are enough ignorant people for whom it will matter..."
Darn right. I was just on a reunion site with some people who I have not seen nor spoken to for 25 years. I left that area, mostly they did not. Imagine my surprise when up pops a political 'joke' section and the first one was " Who really is Obama?" and his answer was, "Osama's cousin".
I made the guy his own belt buckle that says, "Osama's Cuzin" but something tells me he won't get the joke.
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"Judaism is a religion tied very closely with the Hebrew language"
Can anyone explain what on God's Grey Earth that sentence means?
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To skunkeye...
I have to respectfully disagree. The right wing attacks that are beginning to increase in their intensity and their vociferousness against Obama are largely based on fluff themselves, such as where his hand was during a pledge, where he went to school, and his name.
As he is likely the Democratic candidate for president at this point, the attacks will become far, far worse. Ultimately, do these attacks create a cultural meme creating fear in the large portion of the electorate not closely following politics? In other words, would a presidency be decided on something as innocuous as a NAME? Sadly, I think this is entirely possible.
Articles such as these help to provide those of us who support this candidate (such as myself) with ammunition to deflect these attacks. And frankly, it is interesting to learn about the origins and meaning of names anyway. Names are very powerful things, and we neglect this truth at our own peril.
Will some people still vote against a candidate over a name? Yes, of course. But I would much prefer a candidate losing over issues of substance, such as withdrawal policies in Iraq.
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"The British royal family is quite forthright about the Araba line in its ancestry going back
to Andalusia". Mr. Cole, I was reading your article with some interest, although I thought you were trying too hard, until I was taken completely aback by the above statement. I live in the neighbouring island to Britain -the journey from Dublin to Liverpool by ferry is just a couple of hours - and British newspapers, radio and television channels are as accessible as those of my home country. The British royal family is Germanic and all historical sources prove that. The family name is Saxe-Coburg (which was changed to Windsor during World War 1 at a time when Britain and Germany were fighting each other). To suggest that the British royal family derives from Andalusia must be one of the best-kept secrets of all time. There was historical enmity between Catholic Spain and Protestant England right up to the 20th century but that as dissipated for many reasons - both countries are members of the European Union, Spain is the most popular holiday destination for millions of Brits and so on.
As far as I can see, Mr. Cole, your throwaway remark about the British royal family is a fabrication and I'm definitely not a royalist. You can ignore me or provide clarification, whichever you wish.
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Lets get over it...
We have to get over thinking that there are two worlds, Christian Europe and Muslim Middle East/North Africa. They have been intertwined for centuries. Remember Western Civilization began in Mesopotamia and Egypt, a major stimulus for the Renaissance was contact with the Muslim world. The fact is that if we look back far enough in our family tree most American will find Muslims, especially if their ancestors are from Africa or Southern Europe.
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"Spain is Moor"
There is a popular YouTube video this week called "Espana es Mora" - Spain is Moor. It is a slideshow of images of Spaniards with obviously North African facial characteristics.
The person who made the video says in comments that he is angry at "nazi" Spaniards who claim racial superiority over their Arab neighbors. His message is that he has seen the Moor, and the Moor is us.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7j6SQccqjq0