Remember when the name “Hussein” referred to the good king of Jordan?

January 19th, 2009 at 01:38am Chuck Sweeny

What’s in  a name? Plenty if your middle name is Hussein. Barack Obama will be sworn in as the 44th president Tuesday, and he will use his full name, Barack Hussein Obama, Jr.

Of course, he’s named after his father, a secular Kenyan government official who was technically Muslim but didn’t practice his religion. That middle name was both the talk and the “word you can’t say on TV” of Campaign 2008. When rightwing talk show host Bill Cunningham called Obama by his full name while warming up a crowd at a John McCain rally, the Republican candidate later rebuked Cunningham for using the dreaded “Hussein” word.

What I wonder is why “Hussein” is such a verboten word if Chief Justice John Roberts and Obama are both going to be using it  Tuesday at high noon?

“Repeat after me, I,  Barack Hussein Obama, solemly swear …” Roberts will say, and Obama will respond, “I, Barack Hussein Obama, do solemly swear.”

A couple of billion people will hear that.

Yes, we all know that Hussein has become a dirty word because of Saddam Hussein was the dreaded butcher of Baghdad, deposed in the 2002 invasion of Iraq, then tried in a circus-like court and hanged, the latter event captured on video via cel phone.

But it was not all that long ago that the word “Hussein” denoted friendship with America. You all remember the late King Hussein of Jordan. He was a benevolent monarch,  did well by his people, and he  was even  married to an American woman.

Fact is, there aren’t as many names people can use in Arabic as in English. So there are a lot of Husseins. Some are bad guys like Saddam, some are good guys like the late king.

We have more important things to worry about than the president-elect’s middle name. Story over.

Entry Filed under: inauguration, Hussein