Of course it's deliberate.

Yes, it seems deliberate, and the act of doing the deed and then apologizing for it is part of the strategy.

Turnabout is fair play! I say we should start referring to McCain by his full name too. By the way, that full name is:

Senator John Fuckball McCain III.

I think there's going to be heavy rioting in trailer parks all across America the day after the election. Maybe McCain/Palin should start dialing down the incitement now.

The thing is, this Bill Platt character went even sleazier than simply saying Obama's full name (which, if they just stop there, then they can play the Alfred E Neumann card and pretend like they didn't mean a thing by it. Which has been the standard MO as in "why you so touchy? It IS his name isn't it? What do you have against his name? It's not us who has the problem, but YOU guys!")

Nonono, dear Mr Platt made his point crystal clear:

"Think about you'll feel on Nov. 5 if you see the news that Barack Obama, Barack Hussein Obama, is president of the United States."

Way to keep it classy Bill "Shithead" Platt

Can you please bring back the full feed in your RSS? I read your blog at work, it's my favorite (no, really!) and it's easier to look like I'm working if I can read your entries within the reader instead of on the graphics-heavy Web site.

Thanks!

John McCain is not in control of his own campaign.
.

Is this a campaign strategy in the conventional sense of motivating the base to campaign and vote? Or is it being done in the hopes that some lunatic will get their big headache at a McCain rally, and assassinate Obama?

This is no more unintentional than the coordinated clowns roaming around the spin room last night, wearing McCain gear and peering over the shoulders of pundits as they were being intereviewed on cable news.

It's deliberate, profoundly idiotic, and doomed. There may be someone living in a yurt who doesn't yet know his middle name, but I doubt it.

A squeaky voiced, law enforcement officer of European descent who was speaking before Palin was introduced to a crowd in Florida yesterday, as seen on GE's network news last night, also used Sen. Obama's middle name. I think his name was Lee.

I believe this is very dangerous territory. The mob mentally of these crowds and the hateful frenzy they are creating is frightening. When people start yelling "kill him", it won't take much for some wacko to believe it should be his honorable "duty" to to the job. This rhetoric is absolutely abhorrent and every decent American should show their outrage. What can we do?

Or call McNasty (according to the recent Rolling Stone article) McNasty as he was called by his Annapolis roommates. He has been the same nasty dick his whole life , but managed to cultivate a myth.

It's very plain that McCain's campaign is working to "energize the base," i.e., whip a very small minority of ignorant hillbillies into a rabid froth.

Only this time, they'll still lose.

A squeaky voiced, law enforcement officer of European descent who was speaking before Palin was introduced to a crowd in Florida yesterday, as seen on GE's network news last night, also used Sen. Obama's middle name. I think his name was Lee. Posted by: Brojo on October 8, 2008 at 4:33 PM

Wasn't there some guy named "Lee" who shot a president a while back? I wonder if this is the same guy. In fact, I'm sure it's the same guy! Assassin!!!!

I really hope Republicans won't take McCain's huge defeat in November as a sign to stop using the Get Out the Base strategy, as these sort of red meat offerings only make them more unelectable. And if history is any indication, they'll just take his defeat as a sign that they need to double-down and get even crazier. Some people never learn, while others just think it's a sign of weakness.

Terrorist!

Turnabout is fair play! I say we should start referring to McCain by his full name too. By the way, that full name is:

Senator John Fuckball McCain III.

Yes, do let's play. Actually, his full given name is:

Senator John Fuckball "Wetstart" McCain III
(Manchurian) Candidate for President

His Motto:

" illic haud cursor incendia sic damno ut it's non dignitas an statim quod inedicabilis transfero "

Which translated, reads as:

"There's no carrier fire so damning that it's not worth an immediate and unexplained transfer."

I'm so sick of the right calling the left bitter and angry when it is clearly the right which is all about hate - and now we have proof. Watching the hatred of the right finally removes the thin mask of equality that they have tried to wear for years.

They are SOOO definitely plants. The folks that yell that crap out in the crowd are the Republican version of a laugh track. They're playing a very dangerous game...

On Monday, a local Florida sheriff preceded Palin's speech by declaring: "On Nov. 4, let's leave Barack Hussein Obama wondering what happened."—Steve Benen

I think I see someone who may be looking for a new job on November 5th. A living, breathing Southern stereo-type - the red-neck sheriff/Klansman.

Gar--that was my question too. Is it possible McFlailin' think their best bet at this point is if somebody actually does to Obama what that lunatic shouted out at Pailin's Night Rally? At this point nothing would surprise me out of these despicable people.

Suggestion:

"John McCain wants you to know something. He wants you to know that my middle name is Hussein. It's true. My middle name is Hussein. Hussein Hussein Hussein. Boo! Did I scare you there? Now let's talk about the economy."

Is this a campaign strategy in the conventional sense of motivating the base to campaign and vote? Or is it being done in the hopes that some lunatic will get their big headache at a McCain rally, and assassinate Obama?

They should be forewarned: violence has a mind of its own. It can't be neatly directed. I'm thinking mostly of Huey Long's assassination, but there are also innocent bystanders who get hurt. Like Mayor Cermak who was killed instead of FDR or the poor people who were hurt during the attempt on Ronald Reagan. The anti-liberal/anti-gay schmuck who shot up a church in July hadn't been directed by anyone, but the violent have crazy logic along with their dismal impulses.

Lame! As in John McLame. Hussein? How about firing up a few synpases and coming up with a real racist dig like; Obama Sin Laden or maybe OBAMA/BIDEN = OBAMA/BInlaDEN?

It's clear that the Reb. will lose big this year, the issue is how badly will they lose?

The only way to make sure that the margin of their loss is not huge is to ensure their base gets out and votes.

The only way their base will show up at the polls is through the Palin nomination and the ongoing race-baiting, xenophobic rants et al.

Think about it ... if they don't get their base out this election the party will implode ...

The truth is bad enough, just call him:

John Sydney McCain the Third.

Back on CBR I said a couple of times that Obama should address this himself and take it off the table:

As you may have heard, my full name is Barack Hussein Obama. Now, 'Hussein' means "beautiful one". I'll let you decide how biased my mother was. But when she gave me that name, Sadam Hussein was nothing but a school teacher. I can tell you, I feel real sympathy for boys born here in the 1920s who were named Adolf after their grandfather or uncle.

Of course, the reason why my middle name is an issue is that some ignorant people want to get other ignorant people to think that everyone with an Arabic name is a terrorist. At least they're no longer trying to convince others that all black people are criminals -- well, not often anyway.

What is the point ? I assume one month before the election the people who this sort of non-sense appeals to have already decided and it can't be helping pull in the undecided.

Are they coddling their base and giving up on the the undecided. To me it seems like a huge mistake that is doing nothing but making the rounds and letting the entire country know the 'mavericks' either don't care or don't have the stones to stand up to their own fringe. Even when it clearly is language that does not belong in any public setting, much less a presidential campaign.

Seems more like a 'Scorch the Earth' attitude while retreating back to AZ & AK. It sure as hell isn't helping them gain ground.

I know what I'm about to write isn't really the case, but would make the basis for a great black comedy.

You've got some well-meaning, rational Republicans who have come to sadly realize that the entire party has been co-opted by knuckleheads, con men and thugs, whipping up frenzy amongst the base whenever it suits them. They decide the party must be destroyed from within, so they pick the most divisive member of the party to be its Presidential nominee, force upon him a chipper obnoxious dullard of a former beauty queen turned political ladder climber, and run the most bitterly divisive campaign ever conceived, against a historic African-American candidate that even most Republicans recognize as the better choice. The hope being that the party will implode under its own hatred, and out of the ashes of this failed campaign, a better, more honest and smarter Republican party will emerge, cutting out all the deadweight and only leaving the few left who believe that intellectualism and conservatism can co-exist.

Of course, for this to be a true black comedy, something awful would happen and the Republicans would win and mediocrity would continue to hold sway.

His Motto:

" illic haud cursor incendia sic damno ut it's non dignitas an statim quod inedicabilis transfero "

Damn, Babel Fish does a terrible job with Latin.

Damn, Babel Fish does a terrible job with Latin.

I know, it even left the "it's" in there.

I hear the pay version is 36% more accuratum.

some of us in the un-american un-patriotic tax loving liberal elite west coast believe that "hockey mom" is also a deliberate call to racists...the proverbial dog whistle. hockey is a predominantly white sport, with very few people of color participating. a not so subtle way to align herself with whites-only groups. unlike soccer. every time she says it, its like she is rallying her KKK or Aryan Brotherhood troops to attack! Same goes for "joe six-pack".

Isn't hockey an, um, Canadian sport, and therefore inherently socialist? I mean, it's not exactly the most red-blooded American sport there is, is there?

See Sullivan for context

http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2008/10/im-voting-for-h.html

McShame & McPain are bigots and should be called to the carpet on the nastiness of their ads, the dirtiness of their comments, their use of inciting crowds with questionable talk -- call him out on it and make them explain it on national TV. Katie Couric should ask them both the next time she gets an iterview --- oh what is that you say - never again will either one talk unscripted...too bad.

Hussein is a common name in the Middle East. Anybody know offhand what it translates to, or what a rough English equivalent might be?

Let's never forget the worst domestic terrorist in American history (Timmy McVeigh) was a conservative. Also, the Unabomber (Ted Kaczynski) was a conservative. As was Franciso Duran, who shot up the front of the White House in 1994 and Frank Corder, who in an eerie precursor to the 9-11 attacks, tried to crash his Cessna into the White House on September 11th, 1994.

In short, the worst domestic terrorists of the past 40 years have all been conservatives.

They decide the party must be destroyed from within, so they pick the most divisive member of the party to be its Presidential nominee

Slappy Magoo - That's not a bad movie idea, though you've got this part wrong: McCain WASN'T the most divisive member of his party. In fact, he was considered the most moderate during the primaries, which is why he was the only dope left standing after the primaries. The rest of them were either too crazy for the General Election or not crazy enough. Were he not a non-Mormon POW from Arizona, he'd have been too moderate to win. He only became divisive once he became the head of the ticket.

For your movie, we'd at least have needed Guiliani, who had no other basis for running other than his huge ego and tough guy attitude. He'd have made a much better nasty than McCain. Or if Romney were given a heart swap with Cheney, he'd make an awesome movie Republican. And the big switchoo at the end would be that the Republicans rigged all the voting machines, and claim a strong mandate from the huge landslide victory; thanks to the evil Romney's brutal tactics. And of course, he would have been able to do this thanks to some well-intentioned election law that the good guy Republicans had instituted. So you'd have a double-whammy of the good guy Republican getting hoisted by his own petard. The movie would end with all the people who protested the election fraud being sent to re-education camps, along with the good guy Republicans who knew the truth. True comedy gold here.

A correction for charlie:

The name is John Sidney McCain the Third

Now that's more elitist.

They want to incite -- while Barack brings unity and healing!

Conservative David Brooks on Barack Obama -
"Obama has the great intellect. I was interviewing Obama a couple years ago, and I'm getting nowhere with the interview, it's late in the night, he's on the phone, walking off the Senate floor, he's cranky. Out of the blue I say, 'Ever read a guy named Reinhold Niebuhr?' And he says, 'Yeah.' So i say, 'What did Niebuhr mean to you?' For the next 20 minutes, he gave me a perfect description of Reinhold Niebuhr's thought, which is a very subtle thought process based on the idea that you have to use power while it corrupts you. And I was dazzled, I felt the tingle up my knee as Chris Matthews would say.

And the other thing that does separate Obama from just a pure intellectual: he has tremendous powers of social perception. And this is why he's a politician, not an academic. A couple of years ago, I was writing columns attacking the Republican congress for spending too much money. And I throw in a few sentences attacking the Democrats to make myself feel better. And one morning I get an email from Obama saying, 'David, if you wanna attack us, fine, but you're only throwing in those sentences to make yourself feel better.' And it was a perfect description of what was going through my mind. And everybody who knows Obama all have these stories to tell about his capacity for social perception.

Brooks predicted an Obama victory by nine points, and said that although he found Obama to be "a very mediocre senator," he was is surrounded by what Brooks called "by far the most impressive people in the Democratic party."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/10/08/david-brooks-sarah-palin_n_133001.html

We are witnessing the ugly, hate-filled implosion of the GOP. These people are raging lunatics, unhinged haters from the right and some hold significant office in key battleground states. This is an ugly, angry election. We must be vigilant, there is every reason to believe that these threatening hatemongers will try to subvert our democratic process and steal this election.

Hussein is a common name in the Middle East. Anybody know offhand what it translates to, or what a rough English equivalent might be? Posted by: Roddy McCorley

I think it's Arabic for Reginald, but I could be wrong.

Actually . . .

The boy's name Hussein \hu(s)-sein\ is pronounced hoo-SAYN. It is of Arabic origin, and its meaning is "good; small handsome one". The name of a prominent person in Shiite Islam and a royal name in Jordan.

Interesting that this site types it as a Shiite name when Saddam was a Sunni.

I speculated that this might be intentional a day or two ago in the comments section of another post. I thought it odd that the press was stopped from even mingling with supporters.

I find it very odd. Normally, this is the sort of thing one does through a 527 group to keep some sort of deniability. Frankly, it is a case where I wouldn't mind seeing a 527 group response. Reading AIP mantra about hating America and despising the flag, highlighting Palin's close ties, then a snippet of her video love fest from this year...

So far, the Obama campaign has been a lot classier than me. I'm not sure if they are gambling on voters being adults or just coutning on Palin being an idiot. If this is intentional, then it seems pretty reasonable that Palin will, at some point, get slightly flustered and forget the 'I'm so scared of the icky black man' official line and drop the N word instead.

She is shallow and selfish, but she does love playing a character. Just look at the phony accent (people in Alaska talk like everyone else in the Northwest, not like characters out of 'Fargo').

-jjf

Anyone care to bet on the date Sarah Palin refers to "Barack Hussein Obama" on the stump?

I have no doubt that she will before the campaign's through.

Somebody should check how many members of the United States Armed Forces have Hussein in their names -- first, last, middle, alternative spellings. If it is even a few dozen (and I suspect it is more), it would make an important point.

This post highlights a powerful example of dog whistle racism in today's politics. And there are so many more!

We're tracking political race baiting at www.stopdogwhistleracism.com. We find the good, bad and ugly from the right, left and center about race in the race. Visit us today for a non-partisan take on the race card, and the race card card, in today's politics.

Hope to see you at StopDog!

A post at 538 asked "What's Obama's Ceiling?" (poll numbers-wise). I'd like to see McCain's 'ceiling'. What % of undecideds are within McCain's grasp? And will a negative attack campaign win those undecideds over?

McCain is playing a very dangerous game here. His negative approach may win over a slight muber of undecideds (probably not enough... it may even end up costing him), but more than anything, it's making 'the base' angrier & angrier. In the (likely) event of an Obama win, I wouldn't want to be around to see how that anger gets vented...

I guess I just don't see any intellectually coherent argument for why it should be off limits to use Barack Obama's given middle name when mentioning him. Is it being used to whip xenophobes into a hate-filled frenzy? Yes, it is! But, folks, it's his ACTUAL NAME! If they'd invented it for him, it'd be a different story. I'm sorry, but I don't think the outrage is warranted here. The man should be proud of his name. If it costs him the votes of a few racist assholes, well, they can go screw themselves. Maybe Barack could dedicate a speech or two to educating the masses that 'Hussein' is not a name exclusive to dictators and terrorists. OK, maybe AFTER the election....

That sheriff in florida is now up to his eyes in a Hatch Act complaint. He could loose his job over this.

That law enforcement officer is in deep cow patty for doing that- it's in violation of the Hatch act. Hope he loses his badge.

What people are quick to forget , is that king HUSSEIN of Jordan was a US ally.

It's a pretty common name in the middle east- like Smith and Jones here.

"To be fair, a campaign aide later conceded that this was "inappropriate rhetoric.""

Don't need to say it this way. The correct way to say it is this:
"A campaign aide later conceded that this was "inappropriate rhetoric."
That's fair, and you don't need to so label it.