On Hussein

In general, I have the same position on Barack Hussein Obama as Sean-Paul Kelley. It's a major stretch to make a middle name off-limits. So far I believe Obama is ignoring it and it's his supporters that are crying foul. But there is a way to not reflexively wince at the mention of a Muslim name, to call it an advantage, to call it part of the rich diversity that is America, to confront and shame the Republicans for trying to divide the country.

What's interesting is that it's Republican strategists like Karl Rove who are warning against using the Hussein middle name, saying that it would reflect badly on Republicans. Of course, that might just be something he wants to say in public. We all know that there are going to be two general election campaigns; the one on the surface, where everything is "above board" and carried out with "honor," and the sludge that McCain will have plausible deniability from. You're seeing this already with the RNC's "warning" to the Tennessee GOP over their scaremongering press release.

The Republican National Committee this afternoon scolded the Tennessee Republican Party over their use of "Barack Hussein Obama" in an official press release and warned the state party that they will be denounced by the national committee if they use the Democrat's middle name again, said a GOP official close to the RNC.

"The RNC has notified the Tennessee GOP that they do not support or agree with their approach," said this source, requesting anonymity to discuss the private conversation between a staffer in the national committee's political department and a top aide at the state party. "If they don't refrain from doing so again, they will be publicly repudiated by the Republican National Committee."

This source said the national committee did not ask the Tennessee party to retract their statement, but effectively put them on notice for the future.

Ooh, they're "on notice!" Did they put them on the "on notice" board? (By the way, Colbert shouldn't miss the opportunity to put the RNC on notice for stealing his on notice idea).

This is a toothless response that, if anything, calls attention to the various attacks in the first place. To me it wasn't the use of Hussein, it was the throwing of about 18 different things together, hoping that the intellectually lazy would put the pattern together for themselves. But the Tennessee GOP then corrected their own press release:

*Clarification: This release originally referenced a photo of Sen. Obama and incorrectly termed it to be “”Muslim” garb. It is, in fact, Somali tribal garb, hence, we have deleted the photo. Also, in order to diffuse attempts by Democrats and the Left to divert attention from the main point of this release - that Sen. Obama has surrounded himself with advisers and recieved endorsements from people who are anti-Semitic and anti-Israel - we have deleted the use of Barack Obama’s middle name.

Interesting, but of course the press release did its job. It put the 18 different smears out into the ether. They can't very well be taken back. I actually think Republicans want to make this about Obama's middle name, when it isn't. It's about making an attack based on nothing that Obama is anti-Israel. Removing the middle name is immaterial. I hope that the Obama campaign and its supporters get to the heart of this attack rather than nibbling around the edges at the trivialities.