April 27, 2008
The middle name game

I generally don't watch the national news on TV if I can avoid it; since Tiffany does like to watch, I often can't. The other night during one of the broadcasts, there was a bit on how Republicans in North Carolina were attacking Obama, and it predictably included a clip with some guy saying "Barack HUSSEIN Obama!" And my first reaction to that was, don't these people know that the only reason your parents give you a middle name is so you can tell when they're really mad at you? I mean hell, Olivia isn't even four yet, and you'd better believe she can distinguish between "Olivia!", "Olivia Rose!", and "OLIVIA ROSE KUFFNER!", the latter of course being the nuclear option. So when I hear some angry white guy on the teevee saying "Barack HUSSEIN Obama!", I say to myself "What, did he not clean up his room?" Oh, and that you need to put the emphasis on the surname to get the full effect. You'd think they'd know this, but I guess not.

Posted by Charles Kuffner on April 27, 2008 to The making of the President
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