# Is this Obama's "Howard Dean Death Scream"? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [February 12, 2008, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-obamas-howard-dean-death-scream/437244 "2008-02-12T02:27:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2008, 6:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-obamas-howard-dean-death-scream/437244/81 "2008-02-13T06:41:19Z")
[QUOTE=Richard Parker] On a side note, I’ve noticed that the crazy right-wing blogs (and NOW) refer to him as “Barak Obama” or “Barak Hussein Obama.” Does dropping the “c” somehow make him more ethnic and sinister or what? [/QUOTE] My guess (the sources notwithstanding) was that it was because the last person with that name in the news a lot was Ehud Barak. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2008, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-obamas-howard-dean-death-scream/437244/82 "2008-02-17T00:14:53Z")
Apologies for the bump but [here’s a statement from the Obama campaign](http://factcheck.barackobama.com/factcheck/2008/02/12/on_reports_of_an_inappropriate.php) about the Che thing: > [@](#): > > “This is a volunteer office that is not in any way controlled by the Obama campaign. We were disappointed to see this picture because it is both offensive to many Cuban-Americans – and Americans of all backgrounds – and because it does not reflect Senator Obama’s views. Barack Obama has been very clear in putting forward a Cuba policy that is based on one principle: freedom for the Cuban people.” – Obama Campaign ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2008, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-obamas-howard-dean-death-scream/437244/83 "2008-02-17T00:18:19Z")
Thanks for that update, **Dio**. Good to know. ---
**Author:** ![Ogre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ecb155/32.png) [@Ogre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ogre)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2008, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-obamas-howard-dean-death-scream/437244/84 "2008-02-17T00:28:28Z")
Thanks for the update, **Dio**. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2008, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-obamas-howard-dean-death-scream/437244/85 "2008-02-17T00:58:50Z")
Meanwhile, over at the “History” Channel they’re running promos for a “documentary” on the Antichrist. How will we know the Antichrist when he comes? The “History” Channel shows us a clip of a thin young politician with close-cropped black hair campaigning. He’s working the crowd while someone waves a little American flag in the background. Cut to a talking head, professorial, sitting behind a desk in his study: “…the Antichrist will be very charismatic, and very persuasive…” OK, I see what you’re doing there… ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2008, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-obamas-howard-dean-death-scream/437244/86 "2008-02-17T01:52:29Z")
[QUOTE=spoke-] Meanwhile, over at the “History” Channel they’re running promos for a “documentary” on the Antichrist. How will we know the Antichrist when he comes? The “History” Channel shows us a clip of a thin young politician with close-cropped black hair campaigning. He’s working the crowd while someone waves a little American flag in the background. Cut to a talking head, professorial, sitting behind a desk in his study: “…the Antichrist will be very charismatic, and very persuasive…” OK, I see what you’re doing there… [/QUOTE] You’re shitting me. Please say you’re shitting me. Please? Shit. ---
**Author:** ![C3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/c3/32/3108_2.png) [@C3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C3)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2008, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-obamas-howard-dean-death-scream/437244/87 "2008-02-17T02:55:54Z")
[QUOTE=EddyTeddyFreddy] You’re shitting me. Please say you’re shitting me. Please? Shit. [/QUOTE] Don’t worry…the only people who are going to watch that show and make any sort of connection to Obama are Huckabee and Paul supporters. ---
**Author:** ![Katriona](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/katriona/32/113_2.png) [@Katriona](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Katriona)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2008, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-obamas-howard-dean-death-scream/437244/88 "2008-02-17T03:18:19Z")
[QUOTE=NurseCarmen] Another thing to consider is that the bulk of the American public doesn’t have the slightest idea who Che is. [/QUOTE] I was thinking the same thing - most people that I know that are around my age (pushing 40) just know that he in the guise of Antonio Banderas waltzed with Madonna in “Evita.” ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2008, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-obamas-howard-dean-death-scream/437244/89 "2008-02-20T15:49:58Z")
Y’know, I thought I was being paranoid, but sure enough, on talk radio this a.m. there was chatter about Obama-as-Antichrist. :rolleyes: _Hoo boy…_ ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2008, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-obamas-howard-dean-death-scream/437244/90 "2008-02-20T16:14:48Z")
[QUOTE=Katriona] I was thinking the same thing - most people that I know that are around my age (pushing 40) just know that he in the guise of Antonio Banderas waltzed with Madonna in “Evita.” [/QUOTE] I think the movie totally left out his identity as Che Guevera. IIRC, they totally omitted the identifying info in the Requiem/Oh What a Circus lyrics (“or just a man/who grew and saw/from 17 to 24/his country bled, crucified/She’s not the only one who died!”) ---
**Author:** ![hopesperson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e95f7d/32.png) [@hopesperson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hopesperson)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2008, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-obamas-howard-dean-death-scream/437244/91 "2008-02-20T17:09:59Z")
[QUOTE=spoke-] Meanwhile, over at the “History” Channel they’re running promos for a “documentary” on the Antichrist. How will we know the Antichrist when he comes? The “History” Channel shows us a clip of a thin young politician with close-cropped black hair campaigning. He’s working the crowd while someone waves a little American flag in the background. Cut to a talking head, professorial, sitting behind a desk in his study: “…the Antichrist will be very charismatic, and very persuasive…” OK, I see what you’re doing there… [/QUOTE] Not that it makes it any less stupid, but that “documentary” was first aired on the History Channel back in 2005, so it wasn’t likely made with Obama in mind. Whether the resemblence has anything to do with why they’re replaying it now, I have no idea. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2008, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-obamas-howard-dean-death-scream/437244/92 "2008-02-20T17:20:29Z")
[QUOTE=hopesperson] Not that it makes it any less stupid, but that “documentary” was first aired on the History Channel back in 2005, so it wasn’t likely made with Obama in mind. Whether the resemblence has anything to do with why they’re replaying it now, I have no idea. [/QUOTE] Yeah, I realize it’s an old “documentary,” but what struck me was the way they assembled the new promo-- to emphasize that the Antichrist would be an eloquent and persuasive politician. The History Channel has a _history_ of timing its programming to support a conservative agenda. (Over the past few years we’ve been treated to a lot of documentaries about why Saddam was evil and had to be stopped, and how Iran is pursuing the bomb and must be stopped, _etc_.) I’m quite confident that the Antichrist “documentary” got pulled out of mothballs and repackaged as an indirect attack on Obama. And, as I mentioned in my last post, it seems to be working-- judging by the “Obama is the Antichrist” chatter I was hearing on conservative talk radio this morning. There was talk of tonight’s “blood moon” (a lunar eclipse) in the wake of Obama’s primary run as a sure sign. :rolleyes: Obama being multi-racial was also supposed to play into the Antichrist thing, though I didn’t get how that was supposed to work. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2008, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-obamas-howard-dean-death-scream/437244/93 "2008-02-20T17:43:15Z")
[QUOTE=spoke-] And, as I mentioned in my last post, it seems to be working-- judging by the “Obama is the Antichrist” chatter I was hearing on conservative talk radio this morning. There was talk of tonight’s “blood moon” (a lunar eclipse) in the wake of Obama’s primary run as a sure sign. :rolleyes: [/QUOTE] OK, you **gotta** be making this up! Please tell me you’re making this up! ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2008, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-obamas-howard-dean-death-scream/437244/94 "2008-02-20T17:49:56Z")
[QUOTE=BrainGlutton] OK, you **gotta** be making this up! Please tell me you’re making this up! [/QUOTE] I wish I were. It was on the Glenn Beck show. The hosts were joking around about it and not taking it seriously, but at the same time, they were _planting the seeds_. And there’s a certain segment of their audience that _will_ take it seriously, and will run with it. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2008, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-obamas-howard-dean-death-scream/437244/95 "2008-02-20T17:54:47Z")
[QUOTE=Mr. Moto] And for the record - I don’t think you need to see the world in black and white terms to determine that there was a fundamental difference between Che and Castro and, say, **Washington** and Jefferson. And positing that there was some moral equivalence there is frankly ignorant. [/QUOTE] [“Lost Control” of his troops](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Jumonville_Glen), a likely story 🙂 \<– smiley indicated the incident wasn’t as black and white as one would believe, but also indicates there is more possible moral equivalence than one might be comfortable with. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2008, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-obamas-howard-dean-death-scream/437244/96 "2008-02-20T18:22:31Z")
[QUOTE=BrainGlutton] OK, you **gotta** be making this up! Please tell me you’re making this up! [/QUOTE] Google “Obama antichrist” and you’ll find miles of that stuff. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2008, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-obamas-howard-dean-death-scream/437244/97 "2008-02-20T18:44:53Z")
The Antichrist stuff is, I think, going to be the right wing’s way of trying to turn out religious conservatives this fall. The religious right is very unenthusiastic about John McCain, so the only way you’re going to get them to turn out in force is to convince the more gullible among them that Obama _must be stopped!_ ---
**Author:** ![sqweels](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f19dbf/32.png) [@sqweels](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sqweels)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2008, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-obamas-howard-dean-death-scream/437244/98 "2008-02-20T19:30:31Z")
Ah, the power of [SYMBOLS](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=455148)! ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2008, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-obamas-howard-dean-death-scream/437244/99 "2008-02-21T23:25:32Z")
[QUOTE=Diogenes the Cynic] Google “Obama antichrist” and you’ll find miles of that stuff. [/QUOTE] Well, if you google “Clinton antichrist”, you get twice as many results. Whoo! Really dodged a bullet there! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-obamas-howard-dean-death-scream/437244.md?page=4)