This is pretty disgusting -- we've got the whole thing, the use of "Barack Hussein Obama" accompanied by the photo of Obama wearing Somali clothing and the text all about Louis Farrakhan and how Obama hates the Jews. All courtesy of the Tennessee Republican Party, long-time friends of religious tolerance.
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Tennessee GOP Goes for Smears
27 Feb 2008 02:20 pm
Comments (68)
Your point being?
Right on, Matthew. I remember when Yglesias was similarly calling out Jim Webb's campaign over the "George Felix Allen" smear.
Oh, wait...
Playing up the middle name, the picture of Obama in Somali garb, the links to Farrakhan who Obama has denounced... Ed and Al, you know damn well what the TN GOP is doing here. But feel free to keep pushing this storyline if you believe it will sell with independents.
This is the best way to attack Obama, and if I'm the Republicans I'm doing this every day from now until the general election. They especially need to do it now to define him.
If McCain wasn't such a pansy we'd be seeing a much more effective campaign from the Republicans.
Keep it up guys and you'll be holding your 2012 convention in a Dennys.
Right on, Matthew. I remember when Yglesias was similarly calling out Jim Webb's campaign over the "George Felix Allen" smear.
1. The "smear" had nothing to do with the Webb campaign. An obscure journo asked Sen. Allen the question about his roots.
2. The weirdest thing about that whole incident was Allen and the wingnuts acting as though the question could be construed as a smear.
That's it. I have been convinced. I will not allow Barack Obama to officiate as mohel at my son's bris.
I kind of think this stuff isn't going to work. First, I think that even people who don't want Obama to be president nonetheless like the idea that he _could_ become president, that someone with his name and background could nonetheless get elected. They don't want to see people shitting all over that. Second, the race thing is just too tricky. It is really hard to say "He is a dangerous, foreign, unAmerican, terrorist, but we totally don't mean that in a racial way." With Kerry, the GOP got away with some pretty vile stuff (e.g., those purple bandaids at the convention). I think race is just too radioactive for them to be allowed that kind of leeway.
On the other hand, Russert made pretty clear yesterday that the burden of proof is on the black man to prove that he is not a scary fringe figure. (Remember his question wasn't, do you denounce Farrakhan? It was, how do you assure Jews who are inclined to reject you on "guilt by association" grounds?)
I'm Jewish, but I'm hardly a religious one. The last time I wore a yarmulke was at my Bar Mitzvah! But every time I see these smears I think I ought to get one of those Jews for Obama yarmulkes and wear it every single day!
http://jewsforobama.blogspot.com/2007/08/obama-08-yarmulkes-for-sale.html
The "George Felix Allen" thing was silly, but did I miss the war against a thuggish dictator named Felix after months of convincing much of the public that he was responsible for 9/11?
How was "George Felix Allen" a smear? I thought it was just a way to make him sound goofy -- you know, he has the same name as a cartoon cat.
Or was it a smear because it reminded people of his French ancestry? And why exactly were French associations supposed to be embarrassing for a politician? Oh, because Allen's OWN PARTY MADE IT SO. Live by it, die by it, baby.
When Democrats become the party of Muslim-baiting, it'll be fair game for the GOP to use Obama's middle name against him.
So, does McCain come out and denounce the TN GOP like he denounced Cunningham? If anything this is worse.
If he doesn't, he needs to be hammered for it.
The "smear" had nothing to do with the Webb campaign.
So, the Webb campaign never used Allen's middle name? Really?
The weirdest thing about that whole incident was Allen and the wingnuts acting as though the question could be construed as a smear
Yeah, well people seem to be contruing the use of B. Hussein Obama's middle name as a smear.
But, as we all know, IOKIYAD. Democrats never smear, only Republicans. Even if they are both just using middle names.
Live by it, die by it, baby.
Exactly my point. Live by the use of the middle name as a smear, die by it. Baby.
Al, you're pathetic. And you really might be stupid enough to believe the "just using middle names" line.
What you all need to understand is that the communication director of the TNGOP is Bill Hobbs, a deranged and pathetic sycophant who peddles horse manure on his blog and shovels it along on GOP letterhead. He's an embarrassment to the state of Tennessee and will probably end up getting fired for this - if the TNGOP has any decency left.
If folks in my home state of Tennessee don't see through this bigotry, they deserve the contempt the rest of the country will heap on them.
Yeah, it's one thing for the Clinton campaign to put this crap out, but for the Republicans to do it is entirely unacceptable.
Al, your crap is only tolerated because your doppelganger on the WaMo blog is considered to be so much more of a lunatic.
And, yeah, Hobbs is a nutbar. The best way to deal with his sort is a form of social ostracization and ritual shaming of him. The problem is that most of his friends are likely republicans like him and view his behavior as a mark of pride.
Bill Hobbs
Communications Director
Tennessee Republican Party
2424 21st Avenue, Suite 200
Nashville, Tennessee 37212
Phone: (615) 269-4260
Email: billhobbs@tngop.org
to believe the "just using middle names" line
What's that? That Democrats using Allen's middle name were apparently not smearing, but that Republicans using Obama's middle apparently are?
I most certainly do know that IOKIYAD.
Oh, Lordy. If you click through the link you'll find that the ultimate origin of this is a guy named Bill Hobbs, listed as "Communications Director" for the Tennessee GOP. The guy has a history. He's a well-known right-wing blogger hereabouts, but also used to be a PR man for Belmont University. That is, he was until he posted a crude stick figure depicting the Prophet Mohammed as a bomb thrower; the ensuing dustup resulted in his resignation from Belmont, netting a fairly conservative Christian school the odd honor of a broadside attack from Daniel Pipes for "apply[ing] the Islamic law to its staff." Whipping up anti-Islamic bigotry is this guy's modus operandi. Here's the take of the local alternative weekly.
Al, your crap is only tolerated because your doppelganger on the WaMo blog is considered to be so much more of a lunatic.
I usually ignore the personal things, but this really did make me chuckle.
Keep it up guys and you'll be holding your 2012 convention in a Dennys.
More likely a Waffle House, but yeah...
In the end, I think these kinds of attack are going to prove relatively easy to shoot down, and are only going to appeal to the GOP's hard right fan base. Once Obama has the nomination, he is going to be able to devote much more time to spreading the word about his actual biography, which to date is known well only by a relatively small portion of highly-informed voters, and defining himself for the general election audience. Increasingly, the line taken by the Tennessee Republicans is going to appear to be the province of a minority group of right wing kooks, and won't do them much good.
Sure, Al, so when they call him Hussein, they are only trying to distinguish him from the other Barack Obama.
I have a Mandarin middle name and know the difference between harmless exactness and schoolyard hate speech. The meaning of a word depends on context. The context here is an article by the Tennessee GOP attempting to tar him for serving on the board of an organization that dares to contain the word "Arab". The whole article is straightforward hate speech.
Luckily Obama, being from a mixed race background, has encountered this shit from playground days onward and knows how to respond to it publicly without offending the sensibilities of colorblind whites.
I don't get it. Do folks in TN like Jewish people?
Hilarious that Bill Hobbs wrote the article, which includes the line:
“'You don’t even have to go outside Obama’s campaign to find advisers who are anti-Israel,'” said Bill Hobbs, communications director for the Tennessee Republican Party."
I guess when you're hard-up for a quote, just quote yourself.
Al, it's not a smear just to use someone's middle name. It's a smear if their middle name is Hussein or bin Laden or Gaydolf Titler or something. "Felix" is just kind of a goofy name.
Al really is the most disingenuous of all the trolls. but when he's talking about pie, he's usually right on.
This will only get worse. This is why Hillary's campaign was so angry. They knew this was going to happen but yet they were unable to fully engage in it themselves. Democrats are shackled in a way that Republicans are not. The question is simple. Who are we as Americans? Either we are bigots or we are not. Personally, I think that most are uneducated bigots. The people of Texas and Ohio have to decided what they think of the American people. If they decide that these smears will work, then they might vote for Hillary, who will be attacked in other ways. Perhaps it is time to vote for hope since we are going to get fried either way. And let's be clear, John Edwards would have been labeled a commie-corporation-loathing-homo. Dems should stand up and work like hell to get out the vote. If we can't win when everything is so bad, then the easily-swayed masses will get what they deserve. Most of us who visit this blog and others will be fine no matter who is in office. It's the Appalachian former miner who will get screwed the hardest if the Republicans win again.
I thought the "Felix" thing was supposed to highlight Allen's Jewish background, because he was trying to hide it.
But it took me a minute to recall that, because I don't personally associate the name Felix with much of anything other than the cat and The Odd Couple. Then I remembered Felix Mendelssohn.
Who cares, really, but I don't see the two cases under view here as being exactly parallel. The 'Hussein' thing is supposed to play on the intended audience's fear/hatred of Muslims. The 'Felix' thing is supposed to call attention to Allen's attempt to hide something about himself -- something that he himself apparently considered potentially damaging, as if he himself thought there was something wrong with being Jewish. Obama has not been trying to hide the Muslim elements in his background.
No doubt some here will dispute my characterization of the situation.
I heard Arkansas running back Felix Jones is falling all the way to the third round in the NFL draft because of his first name. Stop smearing him, Kiper!!
Al, you're obtuse. But I repeat myself.
Democrats using Allen's middle name were apparently not smearing, but that Republicans using Obama's middle apparently are?
Simply referring to someone by their full name is not a smear. (LGM, I think it was, made a habit of calling Romney "Willard Mitt Romney". Not a smear, just juvenile mockery.) Citing someone's full name *in order to cast aspersions on their ethnic background* IS a smear. Surely you can see the difference. And surely you can see that this is what the TN GOP is up to.
Sure, some Webb supporters probably were doing this with Allen, reminding voters he was half-French. So yes, bad. But also just desserts, because it was George Allen's own party that (esp. after 9/11/01) made French associations a mark of disgrace -- and he never, to my knowledge, objected to it.
I guarantee you, when most liberals parrotted the "Felix" thing, they were not indulging in French-bashing (How could we? We're liberals, remember? We love France!) but reveling in the irony of Allen falling prey to his own party's slime tactics.
Do folks in TN like Jewish people?
Once they get used to the horns and tail, they like them just fine.
What a bunch of jerks.
Stupid, brutish, and hopefully it will backfire.
Re Al
I thought former Senator Allens' middle name was Macacawitz.
Highlighting Allen's middle name is the same thing as highlighting Obama's middle name; either both are cases of smears or neither are. In both cases, emphasizing the middle name was an attempt to contrast the candidate's background with his image. In the case of Allen, the contrast was between his Sephardic Jewish roots and his WASP-redneck political persona; in Obama's case, the contrast is between his Muslim roots and his Christian political persona.
For those of us who don't listen to They Might Be Giants, can someone explain what this stands for: IOKIYAD?
Al isn't obtuse: he's dishonest.
I truly appreciate the love and concern for the Jewish community embraced by the good folk of the Tennessee GOP.
Somehow though it serves to remind Jews, blacks and all sentient Americans of the good old days back when you could lynch a man based solely on the color of his skin or his religion. A bridge to the 12th Century if you will. And yes, that cross is flamable.
What have we ever gotten from the far-Right Christian + Greater Israel coalition that didn't stink to high heaven?
People thinks it's funny that Christian conservatives "worry" about the future of Israel, though their main concern being the completion of its reconstruction so that it can then be destroyed again.
It becomes less funny when one reads quotes from historians like Benny Morris who basically accept that Israel is biding its time until the moment of existential conflict arises.
It's not the fact that they use his middle name that is offensive and inappropriate. It's the very intention implication they're making that a middle name of "Hussein" = Muslim = terrorist = scary.
For those of us who don't listen to They Might Be Giants, can someone explain what this stands for: IOKIYAD?
I'm not sure what They Might Be Giants has to do with anything, but it stands for "It's OK If You're A Democrat", which is a play on the semi-popular left-wing blogger acronym "IOKIYAR".
I thought former Senator Allens' middle name was Macacawitz.
Well, I don't think that had anything to do with Allen's middle name. It was just a plain old left-wing anti-semitic slur.
But, again, IOKIYAD.
Democrats can use bigoted slurs all they want, and nobody will ever call them on it. As was the case with Allen.
I see much mention of this release around the blogosphere. I've yet to see anyone point out what I find at least as loathsome as the Israel/Muslim stuff. What of the references (twice) to "A black man with a white mother..."? If that's not a dog whistle to racists I don't know what is.
If you're trying to say "thank you for calling me out as a bigot," Al, well, you're welcome.
A classic from the "About Me" section from Bill Hobbs' website:
"I live in the suburbs of Nashville. My wife is the most beautiful woman on earth and my children are the smartest and best-looking."
This guy sounds like a made-for-television villain. Someone Eddie Murphy's mustachioed partner would investigate in Beverly Hills Cop 5 or something....
Will Senator Lamar Alexander denounce such obviously bigoted tactics? Someone should ask him.
in Obama's case, the contrast is between his Muslim roots and his Christian political persona.
Fred, Christianity is a religion, not a "political persona". Religion is one of those freedoms protected by the First Amendment. As a good American, I thought you would have remembered that. Or is religion only sacred if you're a born-again Republican?
Al, stop being ridiculous. There's really no dispute that Obama's middle name is being used as a smear. Bill Cunningham--the suddenly famous radio talk show host--has also used the name "Barack Hussein Mohammed Obama" on his show, which does tend to give the game away.
And the Virginia Senate race, whatever the truth there, is not compelling precedent. It is now clear that the Republican party will use these racial smears in the first general election campaign to feature a black candidate. The question for the Democrats is not whether that tactic is legitimate (it obviously is not); the question is how to effectively respond.
racial and religious smears, rather . . .
Al betrays his Rovian side rather nakedly. (Ach ... brain bleach!) Attack your opponents strength and attack from weakness. Allen wasn't being smeared, of course. He hadn't known (he said) about his Jewishness and reacted AS IF being called Jewish was a smear. As Al is doing. (I wish there was a real person "Al" so that calling him on his dishonesty meant something.)
Insinuating that Obama is Muslim by using his name like that is a smear because it isn't true and because Muslims are our semi-official enemy. Jews hardly have the same position in our society. (Al, of course, knows this.) Allen had Jewish roots and hadn't acknowledged them before. Allen's staged taking affront at that was the naughty-bits in that affair because it didn't make sense unless Allen thought Jewishness was bad. (Hence Al's attempt to attack from weakness.)
Lynn,
"Fred, Christianity is a religion, not a "political persona"."
I am aware that Christianity is a religion, but thank you for mentioning that. It happens to also be part of Obama's political persona, and it has been since he first appeared on the national stage. His rhetorical reference to it led to one of his biggest applause lines during his breakthrough 2004 DNC speech. That's not to say that other Democrats haven't attempted to incorporate Christianity into their political personae -- most have. But Obama excited many Democrats because it seemed that he could do so in a way that appeared authentic. Ever since Dukakis took a ride in that tank, Democrats have been self-conscious about appearing inauthentic when attempting to appeal to Reagan Democrat types.
"Religion is one of those freedoms protected by the First Amendment."
I am aware of this also. As a rule of thumb, it often makes for more interesting discussions -- and makes you sound more intelligent -- if you don't reflexively assume that your interlocutor is a moron. Give that a try sometime, and you might see what I mean.
guys,
stop feeding the trolls. it only encourages them.
Really, Al and Fred either or unhinged or know they are lying. Really, does Obama have both a Muslim and a Christian political persona? This is just silly. Conservatives wonder why they get tarred as racists, then shit like this happens and they go around "what's the big deal? Them darkies are just too sensitive." It makes me feel kind of bad for non-racist conservatives who get associated with people like Fred. We really shouldn't take the views of people who think black people are mentally genetically inferior seriously.
And who actually considers the name Felix to be Jewish? I doubt that the average Virginian does. The only Felix I know of is from the Odd Couple and the cat. I could see it as a smear if his name was Benjamin or Yitzhak or something, but is Felix actually Jewish?
If the GOP wants to play this game, they have to be subtle about it. The Clintons tried it with "fairy tale" and other language in which black people would see the implicit racism, yet white people wouldn't and then would think black people were just being too sensitive. Enough white people in this country know racism is wrong and don't want to be associated with those other types of white people, regardless of whether or not they are actually racist, especially in blue and purple states. Racism today is seen as something that is in poor taste and is the province of white trash rednecks, so no one wants to be like them.
...that the burden of proof is on the black man to prove that he is not a scary fringe figure....
pjs | February 27, 2008 2:39 PM
I think virtually everything Obama's ever done shows that he knows that and accepts it and thinks he knows how to use it.
I actually think the blogosphere should let go of trying to "help" on this kind of thing so much, I think he knows better how to play it.
My own anecdotals, I am getting some pretty amazing reports from greatest generation land about recently buying into Obama. There is danger of this ending if da youth do a great knee-jerk reaction of PC ness to right wing attacks. Does the blogosphere truly get the Obama message: don't buy into the divisiveness, don't feed the trolls? Keep in mind the starting point: he is never going to win the vote of 30% of the population, they are lost from the getgo, let them troll amongst themselves.
Senator Obama doesn't hate Jews. He just associated with people who hate Israel. E.g. Farrakhan, Wright, Brzezinski, Malley, etc. But of course, people who hate Israel don't hate Jews, do they?
emphasizing the middle name was an attempt to contrast the candidate's background with his image. In the case of Allen, the contrast was between his Sephardic Jewish roots and his WASP-redneck political persona
I have to say, while I remember it coming out that his mother was Jewish, and him acting ashamed about that revelation, it never occurred to me that opponents calling him 'Felix' was meant to highlight that Jewishness. Is 'Felix' distinctively Jewish? And if so, is that really a dog-whistle that any significant number of people are attuned to? At most I thought it was distinctively *French* -- it's a common name among non-Jewish French. But mostly I thought the point was that it was kind of goofy, like calling Romney 'Willard' later.
I admit, though, that I'm often tone-deaf to dog whistles, so I'm very skeptically open to the idea. But to convince me his opponents were playing on anti-semitism by using the name, you'd have to show me evidence of actual, you know, *anti-semitism* in other things they said about him. Where was it? No one ever said, to my knowledge, that Allen's mixed background made him unfit to serve. What they said was that it made him a *phony* -- which was, after all, a central theme of Dem critiques of Allen (along with his apparent racism).
By contrast, the evidence of Arab- and Muslim-hating among those who highlight Obama's 'Hussein' ad nauseum is overwhelming. They claim *all the time* that his mixed background calls his fitness into question.
And by the way, I do think that since Obama has often cited his mixed background as an asset (e.g. in terms of his ability to make friends for America in the Muslim world), his opponents do have to be allowed to argue that it's a liability. The problem is that so far they haven't actually made that argument -- rather, they've offered only drive-by smears about a fictitious Obama, one who went to a madrassa (he didn't), who's a Muslim (he isn't), who's a native of Somalia (he isn't), etc. Likewise the Hussein thing. What is his middle name supposed to say, exactly, about his fitness? I'd love to hear someone try to make the case that it says anything at all about it.
The closest thing I've seen to an actual argument on this score is Steve Sailer's, arguing, on the evidence of Obama's first book, basically that his mixed background makes him... well, I'm not sure what exactly -- secretly bitter toward white people, maybe. Not convincing, but at least it's an argument.
They claim *all the time* that his mixed background calls his fitness into question.
For "claim" I should have said "imply", since as I say later, there's rarely any coherent argument involved.
"No one ever said, to my knowledge, that Allen's mixed background made him unfit to serve."
That would have been as ham-handed as Allen's comment, in response to questions of whether he was Jewish, that he loved ham sandwiches. It would have also been unnecessary. All that was needed to dent Allen's WASP-redneck persona was to highlight the aspects of his name, and background, that didn't fit.
Similarly, "Barack Obama" sounds exotic, inclusive, international, post-partisan: a refreshing change from our stale, mainly-WASP pattern of former presidents. "Barack Obama" sounds like an opportunity for the world to like us again, when they see that we were willing to elect someone as diverse and exotic as him.
"Barack Hussein Obama", on the other hand, just sounds Muslim, and the connotations of Islam are mostly a contrast to Obama's image. To be generous, Islam actually does have a history of racial inclusiveness, though most Americans probably don't know that. What they do know is that Islam is often anti-modern, anti-women, defensive or hostile to other religions and traditions, and, of course, the religion of choice of most of the world's terrorists.
The Muslim middle name of "Hussein" also may make some Americans question Obama's commitment to Christianity, a religion that, by Obama's own admission, he only embraced 20 years ago. They might wonder if he did so mainly for political reasons, to aid in his community organizing, and later, to facilitate his career in elective office. After all, many converts to Islam change their names in recognition of their conversion, and yet Obama didn't do the opposite when he embraced Christianity.
Fortunately for Obama though, apparently the RNC is going to crack down on local affiliates using Obama's middle name. One wonders whether, if Obama is elected, his middle name will be used during his inauguration.
Fred, whoever is paying you to spin for the GOP isn't getting their money's worth.
All that was needed to dent Allen's WASP-redneck persona was to highlight the aspects of his name, and background, that didn't fit.
OK, fair enough, but surely you aren't suggesting that attacking a politician's persona is dirty pool. Democrats do that all the time -- John McCain's not really a maverick, George Bush is not really an average-joe rancher, Mitt Romney's not really a conservative, etc. It's the charge of *phoniness*. Again, unless you can show me a pattern of race- or Jew-baiting among Allen's critics ("Macacawitz" would be an example, though I never heard that before this comment thread), it seems to me the 'Felix' thing is simply a charge of phoniness, nothing worse. And that's fair game.
You seem to be trying to argue that the "Hussein" thing serves the same function for Republican critics of Obama -- a way to challenge the authenticity of the persona he's tried to project. But if you look at how they actually use it, it's almost always part of something much nastier -- an attack on his *loyalty*. Read the words of that talk radio dude, that TN GOP blogger, Rush et al. when they're on a "Hussein" riff. They call him "Barack Hussein Obama" and in the very same sentence they accuse him of plotting to betray America's allies (Israel), of planning to surrender to the terrorists, speculate whether he's a Manchurian Candidate, etc.
Highlighting someone's middle name as part of a charge of phoniness is much, much different than highlighting it as part of a thinly-veiled charge of treason. The latter is much worse. And let's face it, there's only one political party in the U.S. that makes a habit of tossing around insinsuations and outright charges of disloyalty.
"OK, fair enough, but surely you aren't suggesting that attacking a politician's persona is dirty pool."
No, I'm not.
"You seem to be trying to argue that the "Hussein" thing serves the same function for Republican critics of Obama -- a way to challenge the authenticity of the persona he's tried to project."
First, to be clear, the use of Obama's middle name hasn't been limited to Republicans (in fact, the GOP is clamping down on it). Clinton campaign surrogates have used as well. Second, anything that encourages a critical appraisal of Obama casts doubt on some of the more extravagant promises of his persona and his candidacy, e.g., that world leaders and populations who are in conflict with us now won't be under a President Obama, or that Obama is some sort of everyman by virtue of his diverse background, and this will be welcomed unambiguously overseas. In real world, people have different opinions based on his background. For example, his co-ethnic Luo tribesmen in Kenya are thrilled with his candidacy, while, unsurprisingly, the rivale Kikuyu tribe is rooting for Hillary. Similarly, some Muslim communities and leaders may welcome Obama because of his Muslim heritage, as signalled by his middle name, and others may have the opposite reaction, seeing him as an apostate.
Clinton campaign surrogates have used it ['Hussein'] as well.
I haven't seen that but OK. The closest I saw was that idiot congresswoman on Obama's 'native dress'.
Look, I'm all in favor of casting doubt as you describe it. The guy's made some extravagant claims as to what he can accomplish based on his mixed background, and deflating them is absolutely fair game. Your discussion of different overseas communities' likely reactions to him, for example, is perfectly legit and plausible.
But again, for the most part that's not what Republicans are doing when they insist on calling him 'Hussein', if you look at the actual people who are doing it and how. They're charging him -- almost invariably, in the very same sentence -- with being actually disloyal, with being aligned with our enemies and hostile to our friends in the world, with planning deliberately to undermine our security.
(By 'Republicans' here I mean to include the talk radio set, who have led the way in the use of this rhetorical gambit and who seem very unlikely to change their conduct in response to the RNC's recent admonition.)
That's not bursting the bubble of a politician's extravagant promise. That's a veiled accusation of treasonous intent. It's not kosher.
Matt:
Next time, take a screen shot. They already pulled the post down.
Tellingly enough, the post in question (p=113) is obvious in its omission. Permalinks on the home page go p=116, p=115, p=114, p=112, ...
Whoops.
Reminds me of the time when the wingnuts deleted evolutionary biology as a college major eligible for federal education grants. They didn't know how to fill in the hole then, either.
Comments closed March 12, 2008.
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Heads in the Sand
This won't play in Peoria. We need to draw lots of attention to the kind of nutjobs running the RNC.
Posted by John M. | February 27, 2008 2:26 PM