# Is It Partisan to Say "Barack Hussein Obama" **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 6, 2012, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-partisan-to-say-barack-hussein-obama/621045 "2012-05-06T03:51:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![MeanOldLady](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanoldlady/32/10737_2.png) [@MeanOldLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanOldLady)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2012, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-partisan-to-say-barack-hussein-obama/621045/41 "2012-05-07T03:19:43Z")
I recall once hearing Ann Coulter (or maybe Malkin, or some other cunt of that variety) refer to him as “B. Hussein Obama.” Come on now. ---
**Author:** ![DianaG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7ab992/32.png) [@DianaG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DianaG)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2012, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-partisan-to-say-barack-hussein-obama/621045/42 "2012-05-07T03:36:34Z")
I object to that characterization. Ann Coulter and Michelle Malkin don’t deserve to be called cunts. Cunts are beautiful, useful, pleasure-having and providing things. Ann and Michelle would be more fairly characterized as boils or hemorrhoids. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2012, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-partisan-to-say-barack-hussein-obama/621045/43 "2012-05-07T04:23:46Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > They standard rule for journalists is that you use the form of the name and pronunciation the person prefers to use. If you use a different name, you are showing a lack of respect and a partisan bias. I remember during the recall election that replaced Gray Davis with Arnold Schwarzenegger, one Los Angeles radio station talk-show host insisted on referring to Davis as “Joe Davis.” Since his formal given name is “Joseph Graham Davis,” this could be taken as a sign of respect. But it wasn’t… The same host next took to referring to him as “Gumby,” making fun of the shape of his head and the cut of his hair. > [@DianaG](#): > > I object to that characterization. Ann Coulter and Michelle Malkin don’t deserve to be called cunts. Cunts are beautiful, useful, pleasure-having and providing things. Ann and Michelle would be more fairly characterized as boils or hemorrhoids. Carbuncles. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2012, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-partisan-to-say-barack-hussein-obama/621045/44 "2012-05-07T04:23:47Z")
> [@Namkcalb](#): > > Barack H. Obama isn’t too bratty and it fits with John F Kennedy and George W. Bush. There’s nothing wrong with it, but there’s also no reason to use it because that’s not what he calls himself and it doesn’t differentiate him from his father. The bottom line here is that he’s never gone by his full name. It’s absurd that it’s become a partisan thing, but most of the time, it is: Republicans made it a partisan matter and Democrats reacted the way they usually do to this kind of silliness. ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2012, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-partisan-to-say-barack-hussein-obama/621045/45 "2012-05-07T04:32:57Z")
> [@thelurkinghorror](#): > > And a more than a decade ago, he was “George Bush,” but now it seems that “George H.W. Bush” is used more, at least non-casually. The story is that, long before he was president, back when he was in the Air Force, George H.W. Bush’s nickname, amongst the other pilots, was “George H.W. Bush.” ---
**Author:** ![Namkcalb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c89c15/32.png) [@Namkcalb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Namkcalb)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2012, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-partisan-to-say-barack-hussein-obama/621045/46 "2012-05-07T04:41:46Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > There’s nothing wrong with it, but there’s also no reason to use it because that’s not what he calls himself and it doesn’t differentiate him from his father. I think it flows better, and stops people abrevating it to BO/Body Odor. In any case, they are all better than B. Hussain Obama. Did someone actually seriously call him that and not be laughed off the stage?:mad: ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2012, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-partisan-to-say-barack-hussein-obama/621045/47 "2012-05-07T04:57:37Z")
> [@Namkcalb](#): > > I think it flows better I disagree about the flow, personally. Barack Obama flows nicely; “Barack H. Obama!” may become a swear word in the future. 😉 > [@](#): > > and stops people abrevating it to BO/Body Odor. …He’s the president. That’s just a little bit beneath his concerns, or anything you need to be concerned about on his behalf. ---
**Author:** ![MeanOldLady](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanoldlady/32/10737_2.png) [@MeanOldLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanOldLady)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2012, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-partisan-to-say-barack-hussein-obama/621045/48 "2012-05-07T05:05:32Z")
> [@Namkcalb](#): > > In any case, they are all better than B. Hussain Obama. Did someone actually seriously call him that and not be laughed off the stage?:mad: This really happened. But it was on Fox News, so… ---
**Author:** ![PlainJain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5daacb/32.png) [@PlainJain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PlainJain)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2012, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-partisan-to-say-barack-hussein-obama/621045/49 "2012-05-07T05:29:50Z")
This is what I love about\*\* Qin\*\*'s threads, he tosses out an OP like this one and hasn’t been heard from since. [sup]Even though he’s posted 10 times since in other threads.[/sup] ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2012, 5:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-partisan-to-say-barack-hussein-obama/621045/50 "2012-05-07T05:41:23Z")
> [@PlainJain](#): > > This is what I love about\*\* Qin\*\*'s threads, he tosses out an OP like this one and hasn’t been heard from since. If he does show up, ask him what he thinks. The answer to OP is so obvious, my only curiosity here is about OP’s view. ---
**Author:** ![Raguleader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/258eb7/32.png) [@Raguleader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raguleader)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2012, 9:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-partisan-to-say-barack-hussein-obama/621045/51 "2012-05-07T09:13:27Z")
> [@njtt](#): > > The story is that, long before he was president, back when he was in the Air Force, George H.W. Bush’s nickname, amongst the other pilots, was “George H.W. Bush.” You mean back when he was in the Navy?😃 ---
**Author:** ![What\_the](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f4b2a3/32.png) [@What\_the](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_the)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2012, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-partisan-to-say-barack-hussein-obama/621045/52 "2012-05-07T13:49:27Z")
> [@samclem](#): > > Who’s “we?” > > I assume you meant “too” rather than “to.” Me and my kind… the attention to detail challenged. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2012, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-partisan-to-say-barack-hussein-obama/621045/53 "2012-05-07T14:43:46Z")
> [@Trinopus](#): > > Carbuncles. What, armadillo-pig-aardvarks with gems in their foreheads? ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2012, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-partisan-to-say-barack-hussein-obama/621045/54 "2012-05-07T15:30:22Z")
It’s his name, that’s a fact, and I don’t think facts are partisan. I heard plenty of William Jefferson Clinton and George Herbert Walker Bush, were those partisan? ---
**Author:** ![Folacin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folacin/32/3195_2.png) [@Folacin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folacin)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2012, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-partisan-to-say-barack-hussein-obama/621045/55 "2012-05-07T15:53:25Z")
> [@appleciders](#): > > What about Hilary Rodham Clinton? Is that also partisan in some way? She was still Hillary Rodham for a number of years [after her marriage](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hillary_Rodham_Clinton#Early_Arkansas_years). She apparently took up Clinton after Bill lost his bid for re-election to the AR governorship - it wasn’t playing well to use her birth name, apparently. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2012, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-partisan-to-say-barack-hussein-obama/621045/56 "2012-05-07T15:54:48Z")
Saying “Barack Hussein Obama” is a cheap partisan ploy, almost always used by the same people who attribute evil to the “Democrat” Party (instead of the Democratic Party). People who do this are in the same juvenile league as those who can’t refer to the “Republican Party”, but employ variations like Pubbies and Rethuglicans. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2012, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-partisan-to-say-barack-hussein-obama/621045/57 "2012-05-07T16:24:50Z")
> [@PlainJain](#): > > This is what I love about\*\* Qin\*\*'s threads, he tosses out an OP like this one and hasn’t been heard from since. He can’t stay in one place long if he wants to keep them all going. Haven’t you noticed the “Sabre Dance” playing in the background? > [@appleciders](#): > > What about Hilary Rodham Clinton? Is that also partisan in some way? Not so much, but I do recall hearing her husband called “Billary Rodham Clinton” a few times. (Or “Clintax,” when they were feeling extra witty.) ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2012, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-partisan-to-say-barack-hussein-obama/621045/58 "2012-05-07T17:00:07Z")
> [@control-z](#): > > It’s his name, that’s a fact, and I don’t think facts are partisan. Uh huh… ---
**Author:** ![mnemosyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c4cdca/32.png) [@mnemosyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mnemosyne)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2012, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-partisan-to-say-barack-hussein-obama/621045/59 "2012-05-07T17:20:44Z")
From a non-American point of view (though, really, I’m surrounded by American media) - whenever I hear someone use his full/middle name, I pretty much always assume that they are Republicans and trying to make a point about…whatever they think the name _Hussein_ is making a point about. It isn’t a positive statement. In other words, I’ve never heard it used in a non-partisan context, even though there certainly are non-partisan contexts (like fact-sheets and Wikipedia entries, I guess). ---
**Author:** ![DianaG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7ab992/32.png) [@DianaG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DianaG)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2012, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-partisan-to-say-barack-hussein-obama/621045/60 "2012-05-07T17:27:56Z")
In theory there’s nothing partisan about using his middle name, but in practice I’ve never heard it used otherwise. A fact is neutral, but the sneer on the mouth the fact issues from isn’t. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-partisan-to-say-barack-hussein-obama/621045.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-partisan-to-say-barack-hussein-obama/621045.md?page=4)