Desperate Times ...

So, I think the fact that Barack Obama's name sounds very much like Iraq Osama is a dead horse that's been beaten mercilessly. As is the case with his middle name, Hussein, which completes his entire name as a sort trifecta of taboo Middle East/Muslim/terrorist sounding words. It amazes me that this is still an issue being discussed. Even Jon Stewart got in on the act while hosting the Academy Awards, joking about the Presidential candidate's name. He referenced back to a fictional candidate in the 1944 election, Gaydolph Titler, who "had good ideas", but suffered because of his name. That was pretty hilarious.

Still, as I said, the joke is getting old. No doubt, though, the Clinton camp if not perpetuating this name calling, is certainly loving it. And whether this sort of smear campaign is working or not, sadly enough, there may be people out there that will not vote for Barack simply because of the sound of his name, among other things.

Clearly, the Democratic White House race has detoured into name-calling and accusations of "fear-mongering". As if the Obama name thing wasn't enough, Monday, Hillary Clinton scrambled to save her teetering campaign from annihilation by allegedly leaking a photo of Barack dressed in traditional Somali dress during a trip to Africa in 2006. The average person, when viewing this photo, makes an immediate connection to the Muslim faith, and some might draw a direct line to people like Osama bin Laden, who dresses in a similar fashion. Obama has already been dogged by false rumors that he is Muslim. If it really matters, he is actually of the Christian faith.

Obama's campaign manager, David Plouffe, Monday accused Camp Clinton of stooping to a new low in an increasingly desperate attempt to keep her campaign upright by circulating the photo.

Naturally, Hillary's people denied doing such a thing. What's next? Maybe Hillary and company will claim Obama is a member of Al-Qaeda and his campaign for president is the group's attempt to insert a terrorist into the White House. If that's the case, who will his first political appointee be, Osama bin Laden as Secretary of Defense? Somehow, I don't think the Senate will approve.