Rep. King: Obama should skip middle name in oath

[Omaha Steve]

Source: Omaha World Herald

BY JOSEPH MORTON

WASHINGTON - Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, said Tuesday's presidential inauguration will be an extraordinary moment in history, but he takes issue with one part of the ceremony.

The incoming president will use his full name, Barack Hussein Obama, when he is sworn in.

King is no stranger to controversial statements. He started a firestorm in the middle of the presidential campaign when he said terrorists would dance in the streets if Obama won.

King said at the time that he was basing that prediction on Obama's plans to withdraw U.S. troops from Iraq and on the candidate's middle name, which King said the terrorists would find meaningful.


Read more: http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_page=2798&u_sid=105404...

[greyl]

1. Worst person named "King" ever? nt

[annabanana]

32. nope.. Peter fuckin' King of NY still holds that..He's just layin' low

because he's the last Repug in NY. . .

[pipi_k]

39. Peter Fuckin' King....???

wow...

Fuckin'...that's a hell of a middle name he's got there...I guess his parents didn't like him much

[annabanana]

40. (It's honorary)

He earned it.

[pipi_k]

47. Too bad...

I was really kind of hoping his parents thought he stunk

[No Elephants]

98. I hope he leaves it out of his oath!

[Cha]

77. I thought sure it was peter king

who came with this stupid remark.

[Princess Turandot]

92. I just assumed it was him..lol

Peter King, that is. To call him a horse's ass would be an insult to the horse!

[maseman]

2. WoW!

This guy is realy full of hard-thought opinions with much weight. Who fucking cares what this idiot thinks or says?

[JeffR]

3. The man is an irredeemable idiot.

Having said that, at least he found a political party that would accept and embrace him, a political party of irredeemable idiots.

[KakistocracyHater]

4. hell no

he should SAY IT; teach others that the name Hussein applies to others in a GOOD WAY, & if they (predictably) can't handle that truth-brutally make endless fun of them.

[Solly Mack]

5. King shouldn't be allowed out without supervision.

[LeftyMom]

6. LeftyMom: Rep. King should shut the fuck up.

By the way, Sarah comes from Hebrew. I doubt he would have suggested Gov. Palin no longer use her first name for fear of right wing warmongers dancing in the streets of Jerusalem, had she and John* Sydney** McCain*** had won the election.

*English
**Offensive to somebody I'm sure. Aboriginies maybe?
***Irish. OMG! Could be a coded signal to the IRA!

[YDogg]

46. exactly

[Bette Noir]

66. I've said it before:

Obama's middle name doesn't make him a Muslim any more than McCain's middle name makes him an opera house.

[JDPriestly]

7. Never be ashamed of who you are. There is nothing wrong with

Obama's middle name. It signals that his father was Muslim. That's all it signals.

[struggle4progress]

8. I hope King didn't use his last name when taking his oath as a Congressman: it would have sent

the wrong message to monarchists everywhere

[Ken Burch]

11. You'd have had Prince Charles street, well, whatever he does that's like dancing

in wherever he goes in the palace that's closest to a street.

[Career Prole]

9. Poor Steve. He just doesn't matter anymore.

Nobody gives a shit what he says anymore and his new irrelevance is making him cry.
Awwww....does him have oo wittle feelins hurt? Aaaawww...booboobooboo!*

*Just talking a little baby talk to him...might settle him down so the grown-ups can get back to work.

[Ken Burch]

10. And of course, when Obama won, you couldn't walk through Fallujah

or Gaza City without tripping over all those street-dancing terrorists. Just one big funky terroristic good time.


Of course, King's probably just trying to set a precedent in case he ever gets elected president, so he doesn't have to use his middle name, "Microdick".

[Ken Burch]

12. This idiot has also just insulted one of our closet Middle East alllies, Jordan

[DUlover2909]

13. Obama should emphasize Hussein.

Just to piss off ann coultergeist. He should look at the camera and say it louder: "HUSSEIN! You stupid idiot bigot neocon! That's right. HUSSEIN! Don't like it? Go eat your own shit you worthless, bile spewing, horse faced, Bush happy, hate monger."

[iamjoy]

38. That's What I Was Thinking!

He should emphasize it just to rub it in to those narrow-minded fools who think the name is significant. As another person pointed out, Hussein is also the name of the King of Jordan, and this family is a friend to the United States.

[Aristus]

60. PE Obama is better than that. I'll never forget at B*sh's first inauguration, Franklin Graham

gave the invocation, and he concluded in this raised, high voice of emphasis as if to say, "Yeah, we got a sanctimonious God-freak in office now, and we can torture, murder, invade and plunder in Jesus' name, so fuck all you godless liberals." He sounded like Jim Jones announcing "Bar's open!" at a Kool-Aid party.

Obama is too cool and classy to rub it in their faces so obviously. Just saying his middle name is going to give them helpless frenzies of canniptions.

[No Elephants]

100. He won't have to. Roberts will emphasize it.

[santamargarita]

14. This inauguration is not about you right-wing assholes...

...so, shut the fuck up, King!

[pnorman]

15. Perhaps that clown-congressman should consider omitting his own last name in public discourse.

It's too evocative of the sort of rule we've had to suffer under for the past 8 years!

pnorman

[izzie]

16. Silly.

--

[machI]

17. It is President Obama's name; He should say it

We don't need no stinkin' right winger disrupting the inauguration by forcing a manufactured political correctness issue into the debate.

Steve King needs to go to Iowa and shuck corn.

[pokercat999]

18. Perhaps Rep. King should skip his next breath and all that

were to follow. Yes, that is my recommendation, just stop breathing, the world will be a better place for the rest of us.

[nsd]

19. I realize that Obama is all about post-partisanship and civil discourse and all that ...

... but I have to say, there are some people I just fucking hate. And Steve King is one of them. As petty as it might seem, one of the things I enjoy most about the Democratic sweep in November is the chance to say to the Steve Kings of the world: "Fuck you. You are the past. This isn't your country anymore."

[ejbr]

20. Go steal some more votes fuckwad n/t

[SalmonChantedEvening]

21. The last gasps of a dying ideology. n/t

[rasputin1952]

22. What an idiot...

Some people will do anything to ensure they look like a complete fool. A "stick, meet stupid", moment.

[Wizard777]

23. He has to use it. Hussein is the only part of his name Republicans can get right.

[stlsaxman]

24. hahahahahah!!!

[Robb]

49. LOL! Great line, I'm totally ripping that off. /nt

[No Elephants]

102. Me, too!

[conspirator]

96. Former Duzzy nt

[Swede Atlanta]

25. So is he suggesting....

that Bush I shouldn't have used his full name, George Herbert Walker Bush, when he was sworn in? I watched that inauguration at least on the news... I couldn't stomach watching Chimpy's coronations so don't know if he used his full name, George Witless Dumbo Bush, or not.

[Bette Noir]

68. I love those middle names!

He never uses the second one...

[liberal N proud]

26. King is an asshole

There, I said it again.

[Kolesar]

27. Barack is a Semitic word meaning "to bless" as a verb or "blessing" as a noun.

Juan Cole at www.salon.com
http://www.salon.com/opinion/feature/2008/02/28/hussein /

I want to say something about Barack Hussein Obama's name. It is a name to be proud of. It is an American name. It is a blessed name. It is a heroic name, as heroic and American in its own way as the name of Gen. Omar Nelson Bradley or the name of Benjamin Franklin. And denigrating that name is a form of racial and religious bigotry of the most vile and debased sort. It is a prejudice against names deriving from Semitic languages!

Christian, Western heroes have often been bequeathed Middle Eastern names. Rodrigo Diaz de Vivar, the medieval Spanish hero, carried the name El Cid, from the Arabic al-Sayyid, "the Lord."

Barack and Hussein are Semitic words. Americans have been named with Semitic names since the founding of the republic. Fourteen of our 43 presidents have had Semitic names (see below). And American English contains many Arabic-derived words that we use every day and without which we would be much impoverished. America is a world civilization with a world heritage, something Cunningham will never understand.

Barack is a Semitic word meaning "to bless" as a verb or "blessing" as a noun. In its Hebrew form, barak, it is found all through the Bible. It first occurs in Genesis 1:22 -- "And God blessed (ḇāreḵə them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth."
Here is a list of how many times barak appears in each book of the Bible.

Now let us take the name "Hussein." It is from the Semitic word hasan, meaning "good" or "handsome." Husayn is the diminutive, affectionate form.

Barack Obama's middle name is in honor of his grandfather, Hussein, a secular resident of Nairobi, Kenya. Americans may think of Saddam Hussein when they hear the name, but that is like thinking of Stalin when you hear the name Joseph. There have been lots of Husseins in history, from the grandson of the prophet Mohammed, a hero who touched the historian Gibbon, to King Hussein of Jordan, one of America's most steadfast allies in the 20th century. The author of the beloved American novel "The Kite Runner" is Khaled Hosseini.
...more Hussein...
There were some special characters in there that turned into a wink, but I thought that was kind of cool. A blessing from the Gods ascii and epdic.

[Bette Noir]

69. So, basically, "Hussein" is Hebrew for "Beauregard"?

"Barack Beauregard Obama."

Nah.

[onager]

91. One useful Arabic phrase for Congress-critters..

Al-kohl, meaning...you guessed it! "The spirit." Thereby providing not just one but TWO handy English usages.

Usual Tedious And Irrelevant Trivia: since I've spent 5 years in the Middle East (Egypt and Saudi Arabia), here's some other random stuff...

--I usually get a laugh from my Egyptian co-workers by doing this: whenever anyone says "Bush," I respond with homar (donkey). Though we all agree that the Shrub is both lazier and considerably less useful than a hard-working donkey.

--If you visit the Sphinx, impress your tour guide by using its Arabic name, "Abu Hol." It means "the father of terror." Since the Sphinx is right near the Giza Pyramids (and a Pizza Hut!), you could also quote an ancient Arabic saying: "All men are afraid of time. But time is afraid of the Pyramids."

--Arabic has 27 words for "camel." Including "camel."

--Middle Eastern Joke, keeping the above camel in mind: a famous linguistics professor set out to produce the ultimate English-Arabic dictionary. He labored day and night for 50 years and finally died. At which time he was halfway thru the letter "B."

--The Arabic word for dog is kalb. "Ibn el-kalb," colloquially pronounced "beni kalb," means "son of a dog" and is a very serious insult. Roughly equivalent to "S.O.B." in English, but even more so given the low status of dogs in Muslim culture as "unclean animals" (like pigs).

--Cat is otah. If you are a female tourist in Egypt and someone yells "Ya otah!," he's saying "Hi Kitten!" and wants to meet you. About 30 seconds into the conversation, expect a marriage proposal.

--In Egypt, the word for "foreigner" or "tourist" is kawaga. In Saudi Arabia it was kwaji, meaning either "foreigner" or "enemy," or in that bizarre Wahhabi culture, usually both simultaneously.

My daily commute takes me thru a bunch of Egyptian farm villages. When little kids see my car, they often yell Om kawaga! ("Uncle Foreigner.") This is both affectionate and respectful, so I get a big kick out of it. Sometimes I take pictures of the brats and give copies to their parents. They reward me with fresh Bill O'Reilly falafel, hot bread from a stone oven probably dating back to the Pharoahs, and spicy pickled vegetables. It's a good deal for all of us!

They also yell "Pasha" and hajii--the honorific for someone who has been to Mecca. I went to Mecca, but being a foreigner and a Fundamentalist Atheist, I was turned away.

If you are a tourist in Egypt and the touts are bothering you (as they will), you can try saying: Ana mish kawaga! (I'm not a tourist, subtext "I live here.") It probably won't work, but worth a try. It might help to add, Ana Iskandrani. That means, "I live in Alexandria." (I do, in fact, live in Alexandria and maintain the Official DU Party Flat over here if you are visiting. The Mediterranean is a short walk from my apartment. About 50 feet or so.)

If all else fails (and it will, the Cairo touts are persistent), and you feel brave, say yalla emshi!. Strictly speaking, it just means "Go away and leave me alone." But colloquially, it is what you would say to a dog bothering you and realistically is more like: "Piss off!"

[Kolesar]

94. "Ya otah!"

Your accounts always impress me. I am curious of what business puts you in Egypt. Then again, it would not be cool to give too much information--one likes to keep one's anonymity on the internet. How about this: if you're not with the CIA, don't nod your head.

[BR_Parkway]

28. 1 of the 536 people running this country - we should be thankful it's

not even more fucked up than it is.

[Doctor_J]

29. Can King be removed from office on a Sec 8?

I hope the new DoJ starts a probe of every nook and cranny of that loser's life, and publishes the results a month before the midterms. How embarrassing to the people of the great state of IA

[Cirque du So-What]

30. Rep. King goes around using his own name at every opportunity

even though the United States of America was founded on the aspiration that the new nation would never again be ruled by KINGs. His unrepentant use of such a surname gives hope to monarchists everywhere!

[pattmarty]

31. How in the fucking world can the people in his district............

.........continue to vote every 2 yrs for this ignorant motherfucker???

[9119495]

56. WELL, HERE IS THE GOOD NEWS ON king

Iowa, my home state (I am represented by the awesome Dave Loebsack), is almost a sure bet to loose a congress seat after the 2010 census. We apportion our seats very fairly with equal numbers of Ds and Rs in each district, except for the BLUE eastern part and the RED westwern part. It would be tough to make those districts balanced and geographically sensible. Once we redraw the lines, the RED west will have to pick up a BLUE urban area it currently lacks. So King is toast. He knows it and he will likely try to run for governor or something to save face. If he does run for a congressional seat in 2012, it will almos assuredly switch to the Dems. We win either way.

[pattmarty]

64. That's good news for you. I live in Ark and my Rep is a Dem also........

.........(albeit a somewhat conservative one) but a lot of the State (this would probably apply to most of the "south") is pretty backward and the conservative Republicans still hold a lot of sway.

[murielm99]

76. There are many good Iowans who are embarrassed by

Rep. King. I do hope you can get rid of him and find someone more presentable in the near future.

[LeftishBrit]

33. Idiotic

I suspect that some Republicans think Obama was really named after Saddam Hussein! It is of course a common name - what about King Hussein of Jordan for example?

Should Gerald Rudolph Ford not have used his middle name in case people thought he was named after a red-nosed reindeer, or James Earl Carter in case people thought he was part of the British aristocracy? Or should Steve King not use his name, in case people think he's Stephen King of the horror fiction? After all, the Republican Party really IS the stuff of horror fiction!

[MrsMatt]

95. And, King's middle name is Arnold!

Shouldn't he be concerned people will associate him with the Revolutionary War traitor Benedict Arnold?

[Eurobabe]

34. Jealous much Mr. King?

Dipshit xenophobic Steve King. You're just envious because your entire name is so plain and dorky.

SHOUT It FROM THE ROOFTOPS: BARACK HUSSEIN OBAMA!!

[onehandle]

35. Then how would we know he's a secret Muslim? He needs get on the Ann Coulter train.

It's "B. Hussein Obama."

That Coulter dude is a Genius!

[curiousdemo]

36. How did this jerk get elected

I hope the DCC target this @sshole for defeat in 2010.

[fasttense]

37. Guess what King, your party lost, get over it.

I voted for Barack Hussein Obama. Not some guy with no middle name from the repuke party. So too bad so sad, King you lost the White House and any say about the winner's name.

[Kittycat]

41. Why of King ashamed of America abd our President's Name?

[JerseygirlCT]

42. The man is such a bigoted ass. nt

[Harry Monroe]

43. Rep. King, go fuck yourself!!

We should embrace his middle name. Let's say it loud and say it proud. It's BARACK HUSSEIN OBAMA you racist, redneck motherfuckers!! Get over it. His middle name is part and parcel of who Obama is. I heard no one complaining to King Hussein of Jordan about changing his name!! It is a common name around the world other than the U.S. We are not the center of the universe!!

[DainBramaged]

44. Republicans, still giving us advice after monumentally FALING

How cute.

[Botany]

45. STFU King

Hussein is an Arabic name that means "good-looking."

[treestar]

48. It's to help the terrorists dance in the streets

To remind them of their victory!!!!!! Stupid Steve!!!!!!

[stillcool]

50. just logged on, and already I'm..

singing hymns...Hymmmmmn, hymmmmn, Fuck him.

[JTFrog]

51. Mr. King's real first name is Joe, right?

Fucking moran.

[ck4829]

52. So, after months of "Barack HUSSEIN!!!!!!!!! Obama" and "OMG, his middle name is Hussein"...

King wants to take the focus OFF of his middle name?

[Warren Stupidity]

53. Too fucking bad. Barack Hussein Obama.

Get used to it.

[proud2BlibKansan]

54. Steve King is a complete asshole

Sure wish the people of Iowa could find a good candidate to run against him.

[acmavm]

55. This is just so REPUBLICAN!

People in Omaha like to pick on people from Iowa for some reason. Myself, I think Iowa has a number of things that make it a more desirable place to live than Nebraska.

NOW, having said that I must say that this guy gives some credence to (unfortunately) to that stupid old joke, 'what does IOWA mean'?

ANSWER: Idiots Out Wandering Around.

[DemWynner]

106. Hey, I am from Iowa

I do not live in that area though. I hate that he is associated with my state. There are a lot of good democrats, but the western corner has a group of idiots that re-elect him year after year. He has said so many hateful things. I think the people there listen to Rush all the time because there may not be a good radio station out that way. That can be the only way he gets re-elected.

BTW I like Omaha a lot, but I prefer Iowa even with the King.

[GOPNotForMe]

57. Rep. King should skip breathing for a few days. nt

[bobd0]

58. "I, BARACK HUSSEIN OBAMA, do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the

Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States."

I can't wait to hear those words and I pray that President Obama will faithfully execute his duties fully.

[CubicleGuy]

59. Bad Presidential Names

I imagine we'll never have a President whose middle name is "Adolf", either.

[fascisthunter]

61. It is Amazing That There are so Many Racists in the GOP

not surprising... it's as if all the throw-back loonies found a home in one politcal party. The GOP is an extremist party without a doubt.

[democracy1st]

62. You see how stupid these bigots are!

[Sal Minella]

63. Hey, hey -- take it easy on this guy. He's the only Congressman we've got who can tell you EXACTLY

what percentage of female illegal immigrants are pregnant at the time they cross the border. The exact percentage. He gave it in an interview.

Surely, a man with such magical powers is not to be taken lightly.

[Bette Noir]

65. Steve King is a tool.

Our Barack won the election with his name intact, and that's how he should be sworn in.

[Hosnon]

67. That's absolutely ridiculous. And predictably "U.S.-centric." nt

[No Elephants]

99. Not US-centric. Maroon-centric.

[1monster]

70. Ignore him, President-elect Obama. Wear your name as proudly as you please.

It is yours, not his; ergo, he has no say in how you use it.

[bongbong]

71. asdf

As for myself, I will be referring to our President for the next eight years as "Barack Hussein Malcolm X Khomeni Obama" to keep the whackjobs angry. Hopefully they will have heart attacks from hearing that name. Then they can refuse to use the Socialized Medicine that Obama will (hopefully) put in, because it is just an Islamofascist plot.

[llmart]

83. Great reply.

I, too, hope the next few years see a lot of freepers blow a stroke and reduce the surplus population (of Repukes, that is).

[Mz Pip]

72. Barack Hussein Obama

That's the name of the next POTUS. Get used to it, King Numbnuts.

Besides, since when do we make decisions based on what we think the terrorists might find "meaningful?" Isn't that sort of like letting the terrorists "win?"

[Parche]

73. Kings middle name is Fukwad

what a fukin SOB

[tabasco]

74. Republicans are what make me question evolution.

Chimps are more intelligent than a typical republican.

It was an insult to chimps to call Bush a chimp.

[IndianaGreen]

75. When I hear the name Hussein, I think of the late king Hussein of Jordan

a man that stopped his chemo treatments just to come to America to sit down at a peace conference on the Middle East that President Clinton was hosting.

[ngGale]

87. And Queen Noor ...

I also think about King Hussein because of Queen Noor. America has a vested interest in Jordan.
She's still an active, beautiful woman who does good things. For me, Queen Noor is part of our national treasure. The Royal House has some American blood in line to the throne.

Marriage and children

An architect and urban planner, she met King Hussein while working in Jordan on the development of the Amman Intercontinental Airport. The couple married as his fourth wife on June 15, 1978 in Amman. In a New York Times article (May 19, 1978) about the couple's forthcoming wedding, a friend of the bride described her as "a darling, healthy, sunburned, tennis-playing, All-American girl, but she is very sophisticated. I can't see her marrying the average boy." Halaby converted to Islam, and before the marriage took place, her first name was changed from Lisa to Noor, an Arabic word meaning "light".

Queen Noor and King Hussein had four children:

Prince Hamzah (born March 29, 1980), Crown Prince from 1999 to 2004
Prince Hashim (born June 10, 1981)
Princess Iman (born April 24, 1983)
Princess Raiyah (born February 9, 1986)
As King Abdullah II's stepmother, Noor cannot be classified as Queen Mother, thus she is known as HM Queen Noor of Jordan, as distinct from Abdullah's wife Queen Rania, who is styled HM The Queen of Jordan. The present King's mother is Princess Muna al-Hussein, an Englishwoman formerly known as Antoinette Avril Gardiner.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queen_Noor_of_Jordan

[Skittles]

78. ridiculous

King needs to crawl back under his rock

[Jack Rabbit]

79. Mr. King should stop using his last name

It is an affront to democracy.

[fortyfeetunder]

80. What is this jerk's address?

With all the turmoil going on in this country, he's nitpicking over Obama's middle name?

[yardwork]

81. What. An. Asshole. I hope that Obama says HUSSEIN very loudly.

[0rganism]

82. monarchies are undemocratic, so Rep. "King" needs to stop using his last name

The Saudi royal family would find it meaningful.

[and-justice-for-all]

84. "Obama should skip middle name in oath"??!!

Because king simply has 'issue' with it? Not a very good reason and I would tell king to piss off. Hussein is actually a very good name, there is nothing wrong with it. The name Hussein to some must be equivalent to the name Lucifer or Satan.

"but he takes issue with one part of the ceremony." Tough shit asshole, go fuck yourself.

It's President Barack Hussein Obama, so suck it!

[KamaAina]

85. KamaAina: Rep. King should skip name in oath altogether

either by not running for re-election, or losing by a 3-1 margin to Elsie the Cow (D-Measurably Smarter Than Steve King).

[EmilyAnne]

86. We just endured 8 years under a president with the same first name as a king we went to war with,

George as in King George III.
Like King George III, George W. Bush is a lunatic.

[Norrin Radd]

88. Sad that such an idiot and a bigot could get to that position in life.

[Political Heretic]

89. The depths of this man's ignorance are unfathomable

It truly boggles the mind...

[mattfromnossa]

90. I blame the residents of Iowa who

elected this man.

[petersjo02]

101. King represents the far western part of Iowa,

which is, for some reason, very conservative. I think it stems from the still-profound influence on that part of the state by European Catholic immigrants from the late 1800's. In many ways the rural society there is very close-knit and insulated. Good hard-working people, but their focus is quite narrow.

[rocktivity]

93. A rose by any other name would smell as sweet.

And a Saddam Hussein by any other name would have been as rotten.


rocknation

[No Elephants]

97. We have to try to help King's opponent in 2010, just like we tried to help

Tinklenberg trounce Bachmann, but it was too late. Put a reminder in your calendar for 2010 and this time, let's do it right!

[rangersmith82]

103. Its his name, who cares if some publican doesnt like it

Why should he be ashamed of his name??

[Javaman]

104. the "R" after his name is the dead give away for his stupid ass quote.

perhaps mr. king should just shut the fuck up and crawl back into his hole.

[AndrewP]

105. King should go fuck himself

There is nothing wrong with the middle name of Hussein.