What is in the name “Hussein”?

Good grief.  After bringing it up on TV last night, Hannity kept pressing Bob Beckel on the radio today to admit that now that we know Barack Obama is going to use his full name – Barack Hussein Obama – when he is sworn in on Inaguration Day, we should all be free to use his middle name when we refer to him.  Hannity was practically demanding apologies for criticism leveled at Bill Cunninham and others during the campaign for using Obama’s full name, and insisted that Obama’s intent to use it for being sworn in made it fair game.

Maybe Hannity thought he was being cute.  He knows exactly why Cunninham used the middle name – to sow doubt about Obama’s Christian credibility, to plant the idea that maybe he is a Muslim after all.  He can deny that all he wants, but I think he’s dishonest if he does.  As are sites like Expose Obama.  You too, Ann Coulter.

Cunningham’s use of Obama’s middle name was juvenile.  Just like it was juvenile for the left to refer to “George Herbert Walker Bush” to emphasize that he was a man of privilege.

We’re adults.  Why shouldn’t Obama use his full name?  Its an official, formal ceremony. Use of one’s complete name is, well, formal and official.

Is he supposed to be embarrassed by his middle name? The last time anyone I knew was embarrassed by his middle name, it was a fellow third grader.  I thought he was going to die when we found out his middle name was “Roland.

Then again, is Obama going to use his middle name at the inauguration as a first step in a plan to  “reboot America’s image” in the Muslim world?  The Chicago Tribune article seems to attribute that intent to Obama, but the context of the article makes it unclear whether Obama was explicit about that or if the reporter drew that conclusion on its own.

If Obama thinks that is going to make a difference, I think he’s crazy.