The Middle name is NOT the issue

Barack Hussein Obama, Jr.

Its the name of one of the Democrat presidential hopefuls (in case you've been in a cave the last few months) but the question has become - Is his middle name "too hot"? Slate has an interesting article about the whole ordeal and mentions a possible midlash against the Republicans. The title of this article asks if his middle name is "taboo".

Taboo. Now there is an interesting idea. Lets run with that. Barack himself started all this. It was his choice to drop the "H" before he ran for the Senate. This effectively changed his initials from BHO to just BO. (I don't think I would have gone that route)

See if you recognize any of these famous middle names.

Quincy
Henry
Fitzgerald
Milhous
Baines
Delano
S (just S)
Jefferson
Woodrow
Rodham

And names like F Murray Abraham, G Gordon Liddy, Booker T Washington, Francis Scott Key (not to mention F Scott Fitzgerald), W Somerset Maugham, J R R Tolkien, C S Lewis and George Washington Carver just wouldn't have the same "ring" if the middle name was "off limits".

And infamous characters such as serial killers John Wayne Gacy, H H Holmes and John Allen Muhammed wouldn't be nearly so memorable without middle names or initials. We call memorable people by their full names now. (Personally, I will probably never forget Gene Leroy Hart - but I digress...)

I was going to include Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in that list of "names that need the middle one to have punch" but upon reflection, I have to admit that just plain Wolfgang Mozart is not too shabby. And he was baptized with five names. Plus any given name that easily allows your lover to come up with a racy pet name is kinda cool (in the movie she calls him "Wolfie" but might be just Hollywood exercising artistic license).

Despite RNC (Republican National Committee) memorandums to the contrary, Obama's middle name is an issue. He (and the RNC) make it an issue by pretending that it doesn't exist. Here is the analogy - you go to Egypt and, like a lot of tourists, you decide to ride a camel. You are on the camel and, as the camel stands, you ask the tour guide "Is there anything else that I should know?" and the tour guide says "Don't think about the camel's left knee!". Now honestly, what is the one thing that you will surely be thinking about during that entire camel ride? The camel's left knee.

I DON'T want to see a Democrat in the White House but honestly, it is going to be interesting to see how this whole "don't mention my middle name" deal pans out. Honestly I think Obama is using the old "any publicity is good publicity" rule and milking this for all that its worth.