General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Why do wing-nuts always call the president "Barry"? [View all]intaglio
(8,170 posts)The President is supposed to have used to use the name "Barry" as an abbreviation for Barrack when he was younger. This is based on a story recounted by Maya Soetoro that about the age of 19 the President asked the family to stop calling him "Barry".
The lunatic fringe then parse this to be that the President used the name "Barry" himself and also used his step-father's surname. They also claim that he attended Columbia under the name "Barry Soetoro" as a foreign student - not as an American. They back this up with a photoshopped student ID card with the false name and a legend "Foreign Student". The fact that the ID type 'shopped was not used by Columbia until 1996 and the President attended in 1981 - 83 bothers the birthers not at all.
Snopes has some details