Obama to Use 'Hussein' at Inauguration Ceremony

Report: Obama to Use 'Hussein' at Inauguration Ceremony, Give Speech in Muslim Capitall

Saying he wants to "reboot" the U.S. image abroad, President-elect Obama tells The Chicago Tribune that like his predecessors, he's going to use his middle name -- Hussein -- at his swearing in ceremony.

Obama promised during his campaign that one of his top priorities would be to work to repair America's reputation worldwide, and that one element of that effort would be a speech delivered in a Muslim capital.

Link:
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2008/12/10/report-obama-use-hussein-inauguration-ceremony-speech-muslim-capital/

Good for him!

WOW, I bet there are a lot of Muslims happy with that bit of news. All of those named "Hussein" can breath a sigh of relief!

Amazing how during the campaign that name couldn't be uttered without being attacked. Now that he has been elected it's ok!

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Obama promised during his campaign that one of his top priorities would be to work to repair America's reputation worldwide, and that one element of that effort would be a speech delivered in a Muslim capital.

When and how often did Obama make that promise in any of his speeches???

I wonder which city he will choose, that will be very telling.

Does he not realize that other Presidents have been to Muslim countries? He acts as if this is something that hasn't been done before.

The one thing I really admired and found very endearing about President Bush was how respectful he was when the Saudi King visited the White House.

He walked alongside the King holding his hand. That is part of their culture. It's a huge show of respect on behalf of the President and the King towards each other. Especially on Bush's behalf because it's not something men outside of the KSA and other Muslim countries do in public.

It was a little different to me when I first went to live there.
What made it even more unusual is that men and women (even married couples) do not touch each other in any way in public, no hand holding at all.

It was sort of the reverse to what I was accustomed to seeing.

Jane, have you not been witness in any way to - in real life, on tv, the news, in papers, on college campuses - to how many, many times Muslims have been treated like crap in this country since 9/11??? I say "Muslims" in general - that does not mean every one, but many.

Why do you choose to take such a negative stance on many moves he makes? It is a negative trait that he is trying to shed positive light on both the U.S. and the Muslim community by this small token - using his birth name for this historical event???

I'm not going to argue with you. But I also just can't walk by without saying something.

abasketclayse wrote:

Jane, have you not been witness in any way to - in real life, on tv, the news, in papers, on college campuses - to how many, many times Muslims have been treated like crap in this country since 9/11??? I say "Muslims" in general - that does not mean every one, but many.

Why do you choose to take such a negative stance on many moves he makes? It is a negative trait that he is trying to shed positive light on both the U.S. and the Muslim community by this small token - using his birth name for this historical event???

I'm not going to argue with you. But I also just can't walk by without saying something.

Basket,
I flew from the U.S. to Dubai, then on to Saudi Arabia a few weeks after 9/11.

I have personally not seen anything done to any Muslim. Not my Muslim friends here in the U.S. or those in the Middle East.

I'll tell you what pisses me off, it's the fact that so many of MY friends couldn't understand why the name Hussein when referring to the name of a person running for President of the United States was off limits. Why was that Basket?

Quote :

Why do you choose to take such a negative stance on many moves he makes? It is a negative trait that he is trying to shed positive light on both the U.S. and the Muslim community by this small token - using his birth name for this historical event???

Why didn't he and the rest of the people that made the name Hussein such a negative trait to begin with shed that positive light on both the U.S. and the Muslim community by using his birth name at all times, not just when it suits him.

If you can name me some of your Muslim friends that were mistreated here I will gladly write to them and apologize to them on behalf of those that treated them so poorly....

Here is one example. I think this spells out what I'm trying to say pretty well.

http://static.record-eagle.com/2006/sep/10muslims.htm

Well Jane I just had a good friend send her middle eastern son off to college and in the first week in a new city he was attacked with a knife and cut in the neck. He was with a group of white students who the attacker pushed aside to get to him. So believe me that hate is still alive and well in this country.

I know you know a lot about the middle east and have lived there but still Jane, I just have to say that it appears to me that you aren't going to be happy until all your doomsday predictions about Obama become fact. Frankly I don't see the problems you see but even if I did I'd sure be hoping I was wrong and giving the man a chance. You can't seem to find it in your heart to do that. Life's too short for so much bitterness and anger.

When someone is trying to be elected theres a whole lot of PR going on and I'm sure they felt the middle name was detrimental due to association but good for him to now embrace it and stand behind it. Its his name, he should be proud of it.

~~

During the election, the only place I heard his full name, Barack Hussein Obama, was from these wacko's who used it to paint Obama as a radical terrorist anti-American anti-Christ bent on the distruction of the United States (see below). The Obama campaign choose to distance itself from the radical hate mongers who wanted to make this about Obama's ethnic background.

I wish nothing more than to have Barack Hussein Obama address and embrace the Muslim community here and in the rest of the world. In much the same way the Japanese were denigrated during WWII, the Vietnamese during the Vietnam war, and the Russians during the cold war, Muslims have been denigrated since the "War on Terrorism."

I would think as someone with Muslim friends here and abroad, you would be pleased to have a President who embraces the Muslim community.

(ETA, I deleted the very offensive googled quote. I didn't want that trash stinking up our board. spongie... )

Morgan Rowan wrote:

Well Jane I just had a good friend send her middle eastern son off to college and in the first week in a new city he was attacked with a knife and cut in the neck. He was with a group of white students who the attacker pushed aside to get to him. So believe me that hate is still alive and well in this country.

I know you know a lot about the middle east and have lived there but still Jane, I just have to say that it appears to me that you aren't going to be happy until all your doomsday predictions about Obama become fact. Frankly I don't see the problems you see but even if I did I'd sure be hoping I was wrong and giving the man a chance. You can't seem to find it in your heart to do that. Life's too short for so much bitterness and anger.

When someone is trying to be elected theres a whole lot of PR going on and I'm sure they felt the middle name was detrimental due to association but good for him to now embrace it and stand behind it. Its his name, he should be proud of it.

~~

Morgan, I am not angry, bitter or upset. So let me put you straight right there. I am so tired of people assuming I am any of those things when I say something that isn't to their liking.
I am not obligated to be over the moon just because Obama is all of a sudden "proud" of his middle name.

I am sorry about your friends son. I'm a little confused, he is from the Middle East? Is he Muslim?

I am sad that there were so many attacks on people that mentioned that his middle name was Hussein.
I am sad that people were attacked at the mere mention he may be Muslim.

If it's not a big deal even if he was, all he and others had to say is that he isn't, but if he were, so what! It woudn't have mattered to me. Now that would have been Historic, him saying it's ok to now use his middle name is not in any way historic.

The name Hussein all of a sudden became a name that was almost illegal.
How the hell do you think Muslims in the U.S. and around the world felt about that? Do you think it made us look good in their eyes? I can tell you it didn't. It made them feel really bad.

I just called one my friends in Houston that has been so pissed off about this entire debate over whether he is Muslim or not, and that the name Hussein all of a sudden becoming a "bad" word during the campaign never to be said in the same sentence as his first and last name.

I explained what was going on here on the board. I read to her what I had written and what you replied.
She agreed with the point I was trying to make because we and some of our other friends discussed it often. She too is wondering why his supporters all of a sudden are defending his decision to once again use his middle name because the anointed one has given his permission disguised as some grand to all Muslims around the world!

She told me as far as she and her family, and her friends are concerned the time to do that was before he was elected. And I agree.

She said it makes her sick that those that support Obama deep down don't really care. They only care if it's something he wants them to care about,

If they really cared they would have never made the name such an issue. She isn't talking about the people that used it, she is disgusted with those that made it off limits and attacked anyone that addressed him by his Full Birth Name..Including Obama himself, he should have spoken up during the campaign and said that it is his name and he is proud of it. She and other friends just don't buy his sudden concern now that he has been elected.

Obama wasn't concerned about the Muslim community, or the Muslims abroad when he and his supporters made it known that his middle name was off limits.

The mere mention that when he was born he was automatically a Muslim because his father was Muslim. That's how it is in Islam.

It's also a fact that while in Indonesia he went to Friday Prayer with his step-father that's just the way it is in Islam.
That too was met with outrage. How do you think that made Muslims feel?

She left me with a word of advice, ignore them. We know the truth, and they being Muslim's I will take her word for it....She also finished with something to make me laugh, this is what she said "Obama should be thankful he wasn't given the same name as my husband, Usama" lol

Um...Haven't all the presidents used their full name at the swearing in ceremony?


Muslims aren't the only ones who have suffered..foreigners with dark skin have been targeted because some dickwad thought they were Muslims.

I used to work for some people from India,they were Hindu,but that didn't stop haters from calling them towel heads or sand n****** and vandalizing their business during the 80's.

Prejudice is alive and well and nearsighted as hell.

So very much hatred in the world. It would make me afraid for our future tonight if I hadn't just read what this man said about losing his family in the plane crash.

Wow, I'm overwhelmed at the beauty of this man.

http://www.msn.com/

What's John McCain's middle name? What's Sarah Palin's middle name? Or Joe Biden's?

For that matter, what's George "W" middle name? I've only heard him referred to as "dub-ya" for the last eight years. I could not tell you if his name is William, or Wilbert, or Wilfred.....or Willemina.

The fact is, in the US, presidental candidates do not go by their full names.

And basket is right, all US presidents are sworn in using their full names.

Mountain, meet molehill.... This is a non-issue.

(oh, and BTW, Obama wasn't anointed, he was elected....)

(ETA...

It's John Sidney McCain III. Did you know that? Me neither.

Sarah Louise Heath Palin

Joseph Robinette "Joe" Biden, Jr...... Robinette? This was from Wikipedia, you think that's a made up name? Robinette?

Sidney, Louise Health, and Robinette. hmmmm.....

Quote :

For that matter, what's George "W" middle name? I've only heard him referred to as "dub-ya" for the last eight years. I could not tell you if his name is William, or Wilbert, or Wilfred.....or Willemina

.

Why on earth would you possibly expect anyone to show any respect to any President when you are so unnecessarily disrespectful to the present President. I find it disgusting and uncalled for.

Quote :

It's John Sidney McCain III. Did you know that? Me neither.

Yes I knew that, so the "Me Neither" doesn't apply. So I made it a point of knowing the names of both men, you didn't.

As far as making it a Mountain out of a Mole Hill in regards to his Middle name Hussein, it became a mountain because people like you made it a mountain....

I am sure you will be ok with people coming up with a fitting nickname for Obama....Right?

Janey wrote:

Quote :

For that matter, what's George "W" middle name? I've only heard him referred to as "dub-ya" for the last eight years. I could not tell you if his name is William, or Wilbert, or Wilfred.....or Willemina

.

Why on earth would you possibly expect anyone to show any respect to any President when you are so unnecessarily disrespectful to the present President. I find it disgusting and uncalled for.

.....?

I can only imagine this to mean that you think "dub-ya" is a disrespectful name that the liberal media branded George W Bush with. It is what his family calls him. It is what he calls himself. It is what everyone calls him, (probably because his dad is also George Bush, and they called him dub-ya instead of Jr.). It's the same way we call James Earl Carter, "Jimmy" and William Jefferson Clinton, "Bill" (and "Jack" Kennedy and "Dick" Nixon). Maybe at some point "Barry" will catch on with Obama, it is what his nickname was in school, but I have no problem with it either way.

If you are referring to my saying the "W" stands for "Willemina" as being disrespectful, if that's the worst Obama encounters during his presidency, this will be a cake walk for him.

Quote :

As far as making it a Mountain out of a Mole Hill in regards to his Middle name Hussein, it became a mountain because people like you made it a mountain....

...again.... ?

.....by my count, you've brought this "issue" of Obama's middle name to this board at least three times in the past four months. You seem to be the only one here with a problem with it. I personally have addressed this issue with you three different times from at least five different angles. I'm not making a mountain out of this, indeed, I've tried mightily to keep it at molehill status.

Yes I have an issue with the fact that it became an issue with his supporter's if anyone used his middle name. People claimed that those that used it were insinuating he was Muslim.

It was his name before the election, why wasn't he proud of it then? You just don't want to get the point.

He and the Democrats, and his supporters wanted to distance him from anything that might even hint that he might be a Muslim.

Now, that he has won the election he,and those that attacked anyone that even mentioned his middle name during the election are THRILLED that he is using it. And we are supposed to pretend that just a few short weeks ago it was taboo.

It's supposed to be some great gesture that he wants the world to know he is proud of his name. And he wants to make some big speech in a Muslim Capital to bridge the gap between the U.S. and all Muslims around the world.

I don't know why people assume Americans are hated in all Muslims countries.

We lived in Saudi Arabia for over 6 years (and that includes after 9/11) We spent almost every weekend in Bahrain, we spent a lot of time in Dubai,(and other places in the U.A.E) Kuwait and Qatar, to name a few.

We never experienced anything other than respect from everyone in those countries. There are thousands of Americans that live in these countries. There are also thousands of British, Australians, Canadians and many other expats living all over the Middle East..

Our son went to school there, he attended the American Academy at first but we were unhappy with the school. We decided to send him to an International school that had mostly Muslims. The school was named Al-Hussein International Academy. It was a wonderful experience for him.

He took Arabic. He learned naughty words from his Muslim friends and he repaid their kindness by teaching them a few choice words in English....

I personally never had a problem with Obama's name or the fact that he was born to a Muslim father, I had a problem with those that were outraged when the name Hussein was brought up in regards to it being his middle name, also the outcry when it was suggested he was automatically the same faith as his father according to Islam.

Also, he did attend a Mosque in Indonesia with his step-father, and his religion was recorded as Islam on his school records. His half sister (same mother) said in an interview that she is Muslim as are Obama's father's entire family.

His time to reach out to Muslims was when his middle name became such a hot topic. He should have been as proud of it then as he says he is now.

I don't care if he is Muslim. So what? Do you care? If he were to come out at some point and admit that he did practice Islam, even in the past, would you mind?

Quote :

I don't care if he is Muslim. So what? Do you care? If he were to come out at some point and admit that he did practice Islam, even in the past, would you mind?

I personally do not have any problem with Obama's middle name or with his having practiced Islam. I would have voted for him if he was a practicing Muslim.

There is rampant racism in the US. Since 9/11, anything smacking of Islam, Muslim, (Saddam) Hussein, Osama ben Laden, taliban, terror cells, it's all been jumbled up into Middle Eastern scaremongering. This has been used by some in the Republican party (see Rove) to scare people into voting for their candidate.

If you are saying that you have Muslim friends, friends with the name of Hussein, friends that are upset by Obama seemingly rejecting his faith and his name to be elected to the presidency, I can somewhat see your point. I don't necessarily agree, but I can see your point. (He is a born again Christian... Maybe those in the Middle East do not understand what that means, but we in the US do, and Obama was running for the President of the United States. He is a Christian to our eyes.)

I do think that Obama will do more to change the current US negative perception of Muslims than any other presidential candidate would. Which I think is a good thing, and from your other posts, I would think you would be in favor of as well.

Sorry, Just have to put in my 2 cents.

Count me as one who did not know John McCain's middle name or Joe Biden's or Sarah Palin's. Of course I could have googled them to find out if I really wanted to know.

I have read and listened to a whole lot of news and commentary over the last couple years on the candidates and I can't remember ever hearing their middle names used except for Hillary's, but hers has been out there for a lot of years. But then comes Obama and his haters just have to bring out the fact that he has the middle name of someone we all know and hate. I don't recall Obama being ashamed or hiding the fact of his name. It just wasn't used the same as the other three didn't use theirs. And yes I did read a lot and watched a lot of news on MSNBC CNN etc.

And as others have stated, the President's full name is always used when he is sworn in. Why should he hide his name, he has nothing to be ashamed of. Children are named by their parents, they don't normally pick their own. ( Of course some of the names that have been chosen by some parents - what could they have been thinking) especially those in show business.

mypumpkin58 wrote:

Sorry, Just have to put in my 2 cents.

Count me as one who did not know John McCain's middle name or Joe Biden's or Sarah Palin's. Of course I could have googled them to find out if I really wanted to know.

I have read and listened to a whole lot of news and commentary over the last couple years on the candidates and I can't remember ever hearing their middle names used except for Hillary's, but hers has been out there for a lot of years. But then comes Obama and his haters just have to bring out the fact that he has the middle name of someone we all know and hate. I don't recall Obama being ashamed or hiding the fact of his name. It just wasn't used the same as the other three didn't use theirs. And yes I did read a lot and watched a lot of news on MSNBC CNN etc.

And as others have stated, the President's full name is always used when he is sworn in. Why should he hide his name, he has nothing to be ashamed of. Children are named by their parents, they don't normally pick their own. ( Of course some of the names that have been chosen by some parents - what could they have been thinking) especially those in show business.

I actually just recently found out that Hillary's Middle name was Diane. Hillary Diane Clinton.

I can understand the fear to a point. The people that orchestrated 9/11 took years to slowly meld with our society and I'm sure they are still trying to slowly infiltrate and attack from within. Obama's middle name strikes that fear in people that he is part of that movement but yet nothing in his history as far as I'm concerned bears that out. I hope he becomes a great president, remembered long for his fairness and bravery and that he slowly wins even the fearful over. That would go a long way toward healing the many predjudices of our country.

But actually I think his middle eastern name and Muslim background helped him get elected in a convoluted kind of way. There was predjudice against him but it wasn't the one most expect and somehow that removed his color barrier in my opinion. Somewhere new to focus I guess.


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