i saw the dinner segment last night; i guess from now on we call him "steve barama."
kinda has an action-figure sound, though...

This is silly. Politicians do not have any kind of inalienable right to be called whatever they want. I have called George Bush, "Georgie", "King George" and "Boy George". I sometimes call John McCain "Gigolo John". I refer to Dick Cheney sometimes as "that asshole".

You are disrespecting and infantilizing Obama with your endless kneejerk suggestions that he needs special protective treatment because he was black. Please stop mothering him, and give him the space to be a normal American politician, loved or respected by his supporters, mocked and derided by his enemies.

I'd like to give them credit for at least saying 'Barry' instead of their traditional 'boy,' or worse.

I completely agree with Dan K. I'm getting really tired of MJ's continuous stretches of his imagination.

I laughed out loud when I read "We recognize the code".

C'mon - the people who call him Barry do it because it conjures up thought of an inexperienced high school kid, which is what the right like to think Obama still is today.

There is no "code". People who can't stand Bush call him "Dubya" and people who can't stand Obama will call him "Barry".

It's just not a big deal.

Don't you guys have day jobs? (I'm currently unemployed so I can say that).

I think it's something altogether different - and nastier.

I've been "graced" with a few of the nasty e-mails that are circulating around. In one of them, the "Jihad Candidate" I believe, one of the points that "proved" Obama was anti-American and pro-Islam was the he stopped using his "American" name Barry and adopted the more sinister "Barack".
This resonates with a generation that remembers Cassisus Clay and Lew Alcindor (Muhammad Ali and Kareem Abdul Jabar for you youngsters.)

So by calling him "Barry," the speakers are reminding those who know "the real truth" that he is truly anti-American and likely a stealth agent of Islam intent on taking over the United States. Seriously.

BTW, I believe he was called Barry for his whole life until he got to college - and that his grandmother still uses that name. It's likely that college, on the mainland, was the first time he was seriously treated as a black, with all that carries. If so, then his reaction was apparently to say "Okay, you're right, I AM!")

Why do we call McCain every nasty name we can think up? Because it's fun!

Perhaps you've seen some folks using a bad inflection when saying "Barry", but as Allen3 points out up above, there are Obama supporters who sometimes use his nickname and the meme may have actually started on Wonkette, a website that has made no secret of their favored candidate.

Also, though I'd have to look for the video and I'm not going to bother to do it now, but I can recall that sometime during the past month or so, Obama was telling a story about something his grandmother had said and in his anecdote, she called him "Barry".

I really don't know whether or not Barack still goes by or answers to Barry, but that's his perogative. James Earl embraced Jimmy, as does a couple of famous Republicans who use Tommy; Robert Dole was happy to be known as Bob, just like Thomas O'Neill went by Tip and John D. Rockefeller goes by Jay; Gerald Ford answered to both Gerald or Jerry and Ronald Reagan went by both his given name and Ronnie.

There may be some kind of attempt by a few to diminish Obama by referring to him by the unpresidential sounding Barry, but apparently his grandmother and his childhood friends use the nickname and just like his middle name, it is his and there's no reason for him or anyone to be ashamed.

If you hear some Republican calling Obama, Barry, understand that he or she are not thinking "Barry," they are thinking,other less acceptable labels coupled with "uppity."

Quite possibly your most inane post ever...and that's saying a lot. Sounds to me like you're putting the cart before the horse. I myself (not a Republican) have referred to Barry as "Barry." When he voted to revise FISA I called him "asshole." So what?

Names matter.

No, context matters. Given that I find your posts insightful, albeit occasionally irritating, is it ok for me to refer to you as "an occasionally irritating Jew?"

There's a difference between not adhering to political correctness and blatant racism. I know it when I see it.

Found the reference I refer to above.

Find a candidate who changes his American name of Barry to the Muslim name of Barack Hussein Obama, and dares anyone to question his true ties under the banner of 'racism'.

It's from some bilge called the "Jihad Candidate" by someone called Rich Carroll
http://www.2sistersfromtheright.com/writings/Rich_Carroll/jihadcandidate.html

I've received two copies of this quite incredible piece from acquaintances. On each occasion, I've hit 'reply all,' sent a polite response providing links, etc. to address the factual statements and ignored the rest, and forwarded the whole thing to the Obama campaign. Lost the potential friendship of two acquaintances but don't feel I've lost anything at all. --------- Of interest, however, is that both of these people (and their spouses) are college-educated and live in blue New York.

Sometimes I get very discouraged...

Amen OldSarg. Couldn't have said it better myself.

MJ - it's time to try to dream up some other crazy inference. How about for your next post - McCain was reincarnated just like Reba McEntire. In his prior life he was Adolf Hitler...

They call him that for several reasons. The 'Barry' may come from Obama's historic use of the name while in high school. However the real reason why it is used now is because they are trying to be insulting. Barry - Barack - it's familiar and rolls off the tongue like all nicknames, friendly or teasing. As for Hussein, well that needs no explanation, but here's one anyway. It was Saddam's last name who is one of the hated individuals of our time, and also because it plays into the exotic nature of Obama's background. We want our public figures to have nice, Anglo names.

i think they call him barry as a way of mocking his adolescent attempt to fit in. you'll never belong, they say, no matter what you call yourself.

Isn't childish name-calling like this reminiscent of Republicans' continuing use of the phrase "the Democrat Party" ?? It's like pinching your sister on the arm and then running away.