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GOP Strategist Drops 'Hussein' In Birther Debate
Rachel Slajda | July 28, 2009, 5:58PM
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In a debate about birthers on MSNBC this afternoon, Republican strategist Alex Johnson called President Obama "Barack Hussein" and said he should go by Barry.
He quickly corrected himself to say "Barack Obama," but the hosts, Tamron Hall and Donny Deutsch, called him on it. When he said it wasn't deliberate, they asked why it had even come to his mind.
"Because I was thinking about his name, and I was thinking he should have stuck with Barry as he had when he was growing up," Johnson said. When told that was "repulsive," he said, "Let's all have a sense of humor here."
Johnson himself isn't a birther. He was on the show lauding conservative bloggers for denouncing those who claim Obma wasn't born in the United States.
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Scientific
July 28, 2009 6:24 PM
Hey, if Barack has to go by "Barry", can Alex go by "Asshole"? Just asking.
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GTFOOH
July 29, 2009 10:39 AM in reply to Scientific
I checked his birth certificate and Asshole is his biblical name!
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slb
July 28, 2009 6:48 PM
Calling it "repulsive" was probably a little over the top; I'd say the remark was just plain stupid.
Changing the form of name that you use as you get older is a time-honored rite of passage. A nickname that is suitable for a 5-year-old doesn't necessarily fit a 30-something executive, and it's hardly unusual for a young man or woman to ditch a childhood diminutive when they decide they want to be taken seriously by the rest of the world. And Obama would certainly not be the first young adult to have decided to embrace his ethnic heritage as he grows old enough to appreciate it more fully.
I'm sure that if he had continued to call himself "Barry," these same guys would be accusing him of trying to hide the fact that his name is "Barack."
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Lestatdelc
July 28, 2009 9:06 PM in reply to slb
Too bad nobody could have hipped Irve Lewis "Scooter" Libby on that one. Talk about GOP schmuck embracing propeller-head idiocy with both arms.
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johnb
July 28, 2009 7:59 PM
I never heard of Alex but it is always interesting when a Republican, in the middle of his hate mongering, says "Let's all have a sense of humor here."
In one way he is correct, Alex is a joke!
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markg8
July 28, 2009 8:24 PM
They can call him the president in my presence or to paraphrase Harold Washington they'll get a whole fistful of something they don't want.
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sxp151
July 28, 2009 8:25 PM
Does that mean we can call him "Ally"?
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JadeZ
July 28, 2009 8:28 PM
Tamron Hall is really good.
Would like to see her with her own hour show.
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SilvestriWoman
July 28, 2009 11:19 PM in reply to JadeZ
I would have been surprised if Tamron hadn't responded. Until a couple of years ago, she was a much admired and very popular morning host at Fox's Chicago affiliate. Surely, her path crossed Obama's on more than occasion. Their respective career arcs virtually parallel the other. Trash talk like Johnson's could feel a little personal.
My hat's also off to Deutsch. He wasted no time in calling out this piece of disingenuous crap.
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MaximusNYC
July 28, 2009 8:30 PM
I'm sure that if he had continued to call himself "Barry," these same guys would be accusing him of trying to hide the fact that his name is "Barack."
BINGO. These people would absolutely LOVE it if he went by Barry, so that they could go around calling him Barack.
In fact, I take the obsession with calling him Barry as a kind of displacement of that wish.
Problem is, Barry is about the least menacing or alien name you can come up with. It actually sounds much more traditionally American than Barack.
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chard
July 28, 2009 9:12 PM
"When he said it wasn't deliberate, they asked why it had even come to his mind."
Sorry. This guy is a "professional." Nothing he says isn't deliberate. Ever.
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Chris
July 28, 2009 10:05 PM
I always find a sense of humor in saying our president is an illegitimate Muslim communist. Y'all should lighten up.
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Donald from Hawaii
July 28, 2009 10:40 PM in reply to Chris
I thought he was supposed to be an Islamo-Fascist, like the white wingnuts claimed most of last year during the campaign.
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Nancy Irving
July 28, 2009 11:03 PM
I see from one of the baby-names websites that Barry "is of Irish and Gaelic origin, and its meaning is 'fair-haired.'"
I don't think there's anything Obama could call himself that would make him these crazies' "fair-haired boy," LOL.
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Rich in NJ
July 28, 2009 11:10 PM
Can we call Alex Johnson "asshole"?
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Leftflank
July 29, 2009 12:29 AM
Alex Schmuck Johnson, uh uh I mean Tiny Johnson, no wait....sorry rascist hater was preempted.
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BluGrass
July 29, 2009 10:52 AM in reply to Leftflank
"Tiny Johnson"
Sounds very, very appropriate for this guy
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BluGrass
July 29, 2009 10:54 AM in reply to Leftflank
"Tiny Johnson"
Sounds very, very appropriate for this guy
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markkraft
July 29, 2009 10:10 AM
So, why isn't this guy insisting that Bobby Jindal go by his real name of Piyush?!
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GTFOOH
July 29, 2009 10:41 AM in reply to markkraft
Sounds like the noise I make when I sneeze while urinating!
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BluGrass
July 29, 2009 10:48 AM
I'm hearing some ugly rumors about Alex Johnson and poodle abuse. They aren't fully confirmed yet, but -- tellingly -- we've also heard no denial.
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GregorZap
July 29, 2009 11:24 AM
Iy really comes down to one thing. They got nuthin'. One would think they would be embarassed. Name calling like kids on the playground, and suggesting it is humorous. Yes, in 2nd grade, Mr. Poopy Pants, in second grade. Is the Republican Party so bankrupt as to have nothing to offer in place of Barack Hussein Obama besides name-calling? Is that all they have? Apparently so.
BTW, let's lose this idea Hussein is a terrorist name. It's Muslim name and not all Muslims namned Hussein are terrorists. Allowing that link, between an ethnic name and terrorism perpetuates the stereotyping world in which they live. There is nothing wrong with the name Hussein. Saddam Hussein? Well, okay, now we're creating problems.
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