I forgot that there was a Barack Hussein Obama SENIOR.

It just never ocurred to me that he was named after his DAD. So interesting--his name has been the cause of so much skepticism over the years, and he could easily have changed if it he wanted to, especially because his father was always such a distant figure in his own life.

And yet, despite the middle name and last name being a political handicap at times, he held onto it out of respect for where he came from.

I have to respect that. I've often wanted to change my own name (it's embarassing, believe me), and my Dad is alive, well, and active in my life. Yet he held on to it for his own personal reasons. And if he DOES get elected, Obama will proudly displayed next to such All-American names as Jackson, Johnson, Ford, Clinton, and yes, Bush. James Earl Carter became Jimmy, William Jefferson Clinton became Bill, but Barack remains Barack.

What an interesting day it would be if kids with odd, ethnic-sounding names like mine saw President Obama on TV and said to themselves--hey, maybe that could be ME someday.

(Please don't target this thread for abuse, Obama-people--I used his middle name precisely to make a point about what a liability it's often been for him. Plus, I'm voting for the guy.)

that he kept in, knowing it would someday become a potential issue.

decided to run for office.

He obviously decided not to do that.

when I was a child ...called a nazi and the like ...I still want to change it ...

I respect this guy ...

You mean, like Kennedy?

...Kennedy, maybe.

But as an American, it's a little harder when your name isn't rooted in comfortable, familiar Western Europe.

and change it.

And how do we get keep them from passing it downward another couple generations?

get under my skin, really,

this is the feeling of inclusion,

making one feels that they are part of the status quo

when there real use is to do the dirty against oneself

people should sometimes look in the mirror.

The problem with us people, <greenman> will for ever have power over us

because they know we want that nice lincoln,

nice house and fur coat for the wife.