Stop the Smears: Obama's Middle Name

I heard recently that a newspaper formerly fit to print has published an article revealing the source of the vile rumor that Barack Obama is Muslim. The alleged source is one eccentric person who has spread the rumor via the Internet.

This piece of investigative trivialism is a perfect example of the disinformation that the MSM has spun around the Obama campaign. It should be obvious to anyone that the source of the rumor that Obama is Muslim is none other than Obama himself. His name is Barack Hussein Obama. Duh! Is it any wonder that he has to go around insisting "I am a Christian, I am a Christian, I am a Christian," like a broken record? Maybe he could send the message more efficiently by adding another middle name that would symbolize his putative Christian faith. It's been done; the Pope's name wasn't always Benedict. But unless Obama either augments his nomenclature or loses the "Hussein," some people will think that he's Muslim. And not unreasonably.

One of the small but telling symptoms of the MSM's official war on free speech is the prohibition against mention of Barack Obama's middle name. It's like Holocaust denial in Europe (except not yet illegal): mention "Hussein" and you're a bigoted nut, a public menace who must be silenced. Of course there are problems with this. One is that in this country we don't silence people unless very special circumstances justify it. Another is that Hussein is Obama's middle name. How can it be forbidden to refer to someone by his actual name? Most accepted restrictions on speech concern statements that are untrue: you can't yell "fire" in a crowded theater if there isn't a fire, and you can't spread harmful lies about people. But this case is different: the MSM is forbidding Americans to tell the truth. It may seem like a small matter. I hope that with the perspective of time it seems even smaller. But I think there's a chance it's a symptom of something bigger.

Personally I am not too concerned about Obama's middle name, and I am not too concerned about whether he is Muslim. I am concerned about whether he is truthful, and given that his middle name is Hussein I don't think he should hide it. Americans like to use the middle names of presidents, and since Obama is hoping to be president, he's hoping to be called by his middle name. (Americans also like to use initials for their presidents, and if Obama and the MSM aren't comfortable with BHO, BO will be their only other option.) I also don't think Obama should welcome or accept the MSM's effort to restrict the speech of Americans when they talk about him. But he does accept it.

Now if Obama and the MSM had concocted a little title for the leader and insisted that everybody use it when referring to him, that would be offensive in a very obvious way. Insisting that references to the leader not use a certain word is much more subtly offensive. But there is a common principle at work, the principle that we can and should be told what to say. So I must confess that I have grown resentful of the way the use of Obama's middle name has been prohibited. What is a name, anyway? It's what you're called. If it's OK for Hussein to use Hussein, then it's OK for everyone else to use it too. From now on, I'm calling him Hussein. Why not? It's easier to say than "Dubya".