A rose by any other name calling ... STILL STINKS!

This utter nonsense over Barack Obama's middle name, Hussein is simply mind boggling to me! The mere fact that people are using his middle name to incite anger and outrage in the Republican base is nothing short of hilarious. It illustrates beyond a shadow of a doubt that the party's base is generally ignorant. If they are so easily enraged by a candidate's middle name because they instantly equate it with Saddam Hussein.

The logic is this. Obama's middle = Hussein, Saddam Hussein = evil Islamic dictator, so by default Obama = muslim terrorist who hates America. However if you asked them about John McCain's middle name which is Sidney, they would have no adverse reaction whatsoever. So in an attempt to educate those of you Republicans who would hold Barack Obama's middle name against him as being indicative of his religious affiliation and political aspirations ... I offer the following.

In 1944, as the Republicans were running a futile campaign behind hotshot New York Gov. Thomas Dewey, attempting to deprive the Democrats of 16 consecutive years of White House control, they did whatever they they could to gain traction against the incumbent party. The most famous misguided line of attack was aimed at FDR’s little Scottie dog Fala; the most reprehensible, though, was an allusion to labor leader Sidney Hillman.

A founder of the Congress of Industrial Organizations, which is still a major force today as the second half of the AFL-CIO, Sidney Hillman had amassed considerable power by 1944 and was often consulted by the federal government on domestic policy concerns. So great was Hillman’s percieved influence that in the run-up to the 1944 Democratic National Convention the New York Times reported that Roosevelt had instructed party leaders, before making their choice for the vice presidential preference known, to “clear it with Sidney.”

Unstated, but obvious to all, was the reason why the line “clear it with Sidney” gained such traction. In the 1940s, the name Sidney was as much an identifier of ethnicity and religion as Hussein appears to be today. Quite simply, a man named Sidney was an outsider on Main Street, since he was most likely a Jew.

As longtime presidential speechwriter Sam Rosenman wrote, this campaign tactic “was clearly an unabashed, unvarnished appeal to anti-Jewish prejudices.” And these prejudices were certainly prevalent at the time the 1944 campaign was fought.

So by the Republicans own logic

McCain's middle name=Sidney, Sidney Hillman = evil Jew who helped organize AFL-CIO, so by default John McCain is really an evil Jew who hates America.

BTW -

The boy's name "Hussein" is pronounced hoo-SAYN. It is of Arabic origin, and its meaning is "good; small handsome one".

The boy's and girl's name Sidney is pronounced SID-nee. It is of Old English origin, and its meaning is "wide meadow".

So there! Nanny Nanny Boo Boo!