Gawker
For years, Barack Obama was simply an affable guy called "Barry." "When Sen. Barack Obama moved from using the name Barry to Barack, his formal name, it was part of his almost lifelong quest for identity and belonging—to figure out who he is, and how he fits into the larger American tapestry. Part black, part white, raised in Hawaii and Indonesia, with family of different religious and spiritual backgrounds—seen by others in ways he didn’t see himself—the young Barry was looking for solid ground. At Occidental College, he was feeling like he was at a 'dead end'... 'that somehow I needed to connect with something bigger than myself.'"
"The name Barack tied him more firmly to his black African father, who had left him and his white mother at a young age and later returned home to Kenya. But that wasn’t the primary motivation... It happened in a period when he was at Occidental College in California and heading to New York, to finish college at Columbia. He was trying to reinvent himself. 'It was when I made a conscious decision: I want to grow up.'"
According to a college pal of Barry/Barack: “It wasn’t surprising to me that he decided to embrace that identity because ‘Barry’ could be perceived as trying to run away from something and trying to fit in, rather than embracing his own identity and, in many ways, kind of opening himself to who he is.” However. "[E]ven before he became Barack, most friends simply called him 'Obama.'" Then what the hell was all the fuss about? [Newsweek]
Comments
In other news, comedian Louis C.K. will now just be known as "Louie."
And a fine tip of the Easter bonnet to Jerry Rivers.
Clearly this can all be traced to his ungratefulness towards white America.
Black or White equal in U.S.3-30-08
Peter Macdonald 465 Packersfalls rd Lee NH 03824 603-659-6217 NH.veteran@yahoo.com
Does it matter Black or White. Judge Peter Fauver, the NH gov and the Veterans admin must be worried about the number of people reading my letters. I send out thousands of copies every day. Judges, public officials, newspapers even to hundreds of ordinary people and my readership is growing as I write every day. People across the U.S. and Canada call, write or email me with gut wrenching facts of government discrimination or just plain criminal acts against individuals. I may be a 100% disabled U.S. Marine with serious pain and discomfort but I continue because we the people and the U.S. must be protected against power hungry, greedy, self rigorous, criminals like Judge Fauver and the others that violate the Constitution. I have violated no laws but they have.
The Boston Globe and the Veteran's Admin advocate that I commit suicide as soon as possible. Publicly newspapers and the Gov advocate a program to help U.S. military and returning Veterans reduce the need for such action. These are people that most likely never indiscriminately kill others or lived in the most uncivilized degrading conditions not even imaginable to such socially high priced individuals. The newspapers will grant themselves awards for coverage not with standing the fact censorship of the peoples opinion has allowed returning U.S. military Veterans to be discriminated against and criminally harmed by gov officials and these very same newspapers. I am dead already. I died along time ago when I committed my first kill. I learned the day that I stepped off the plane in San Frisco and some girl spit on me and called me a baby killer that I came back to a world that I did not belong. I continue no matter what because if we do not try to make the U.S. better future generations will loose everything.
For the news and gov to know that the VA stopped a 100% disabled veterans medical in an effort to stop my letters to the editor and they cover it up, something is wrong. For the VA and the Boston Globe to advocate that a Veteran commit suicide rather than expose to the public criminal acts by judge Fauver and the NH judicial branch must mean they are looking for another award from the socially elite society.
It does not matter Black or White a U.S. Marine gives his life equally for every citizen of the United States of America. Newspaper censorship hurts us all equally Black or White.
Peter Macdonald Sgt USMC Semper Fi
@ms.creant: Totally missing the point here: He does not come from slaves. Peppermint Patty needs the evil pastor to preach a gospel of gratitude, not the future pres. Let's not confuse bigotries.
This must be the biggest non-story of the hour, if not the day.
Why couldn't he just say: "They call me Mr. Tibbs".
I'm just happy that he's probably not going to be president.
@4_Chan!!!!!11!one: And I'm just happy that there might be an improbable president.
@wretched_of_the_mirth: you're right--buchanan overload on my part.
Barak means "lightning" in Hebrew, and is the name of a military leader in the Bible. With a guttural "ch" at the end instead of a hard "k," it's related to the word "baruch," or blessed. Either way, it's not an uncommon name among Israelis.
Of course, "Barry" is a well-known Jewish name, too.
"Barry" makes me think of a sewn name patch on a pair of appliance repair shop coveralls.
I'll say it well before the weekend's out, but Ian is a champ. Very quick, and nice political flavorings. hooray.
I wonder if Barack Obama isn't benefitting from the African name. Maybe the rednecks would be out in even greater force if his name was KeShawn Wiggins. The bigots can't relate to the African name that much because it doesn't suggest anyone they fear or loathe.
barry barry bo barry, ba na na na na fo farry, fee fi fo farry ... baaaaaaary
good god the r's really don't have anything to talk about do they
cuz if they stop coming up with irrelevant crap like this, the political airspace might be filled with talk of, oh, the endless war, the billions squandered, the crashing economy ...
much more fun for them to play the name game
@Mike_Jahn:
Heh!!
Nooo, he couldn't be call that dude...cause he ain't got no black relatives has he? He'd be called Brad....something?
Sweet fancy Moses: Newsweek has published a 7pp article on someone who switched from using their nickname to using their full name in college.
Do you think anyone called McCain "Johnny" in 8th grade?
This might have been worthy of seven open pages of a deader-than-dead newsweekly if -- and this is a very big if -- the Newsweek investigtors had discovered that "Barry" asked everyone at Harvard Law to call him "Crazy Eyez Hussein." But Barry didn't. And, in a dark room in Chappaqua, N.Y., Hillary weeps.
@drugman: ditts.
@TedSez: Barack is also an Arabic name (befitting a candidate who attended a madrassa!). Maybe Obama can bring peace in the middle east just through nomenclature!
Transformers, more than meets the eye.
@cassandra: It also means "blessed" or "blessing" in Arabic... one of the many similarities among the Semitic languages.
Yes We Name!
@Mike_Jahn: Hey! My name IS KeShawn Wiggins! I keed. I keed.
@MrInBetween: How soon before "Crazy Eyes" Hussein becomes a news story on Fox?
@Eac_o_System:
Nooooo......
But I DID laugh..a little..
Newsweek is just answering the question "Barack? What the hell kind of name is that?", which its readers are asking in Buick dealerships, American Legion halls and assisted-living centers everywhere.
Next week: Why Kids Don't Pull Their Pants Up Anymore.
Barack to the Future?
Barry Obama Baba O'Reilly
I'll just tell you right now, those Hawaiian bitches know how to throw down, no joke. Barry would not have done. He would have gotten tossed right out of the fucking luau.
@Koreanish: Punahou kids don't generally hang with the Hawaiian bitches, IYKWIM.
Barry is a lot scarier than Barack. I like the sound of a Barack Attack. Much better than Scary Barry.
If he was Australian he would be known simply as 'Bazza'.
@matto: I'm surprised the Brit-rags haven't started calling him Baracca, or Obucca, or Oba...
"Blimey, you 'eard the lates' tattles 'a Barry Oba?"
"Obucca? Bollocks."
@jackvinyl: Obazzer?
@if_i_only_had_a_heart: Bravo, well said.
@Hez: speaking of Obazzers what's going on in your blogette (i don't even understand what that is but i ended up in there last night) - more pictures... hmmm?
Why don't we just call him by his initials... B.O. He stinks.
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