Barack Obama’s middle name Hussein has been used in some corners as a rallying cry to cast false aspersions against him, but in a growing movement, some of his supporters are adopting his middle name as a show of solidarity with the candidate.
The New York Times reports that those who are adding Hussein to their name tags — at least online — come from a wide variety of backgrounds, including Jews and Catholics, Hispanics and Asians; and from all over the country, from Oklahoma to Washington, D.C.
“My name is such a vanilla, white-girl American name,†Ashley Holmes of Indianapolis told the paper. She said she changed her name online “to show how little meaning ‘Hussein’ really has.â€
People are changing e-mail accounts and adding Hussein as their middle names on social-networking sites like Facebook, the Times reports, to deaden the effect the name “Hussein†has on some people who see it as a negative trait.
Emily Nordling of Fort Thomas, Ky., said she changed her Facebook account name to “Emily Hussein Nordlingâ€. The 19-year-old said her uncle supported her move, but said her father was not happy with her decision.
“He actually thought I was going to convert to Islam,†Nordling told the paper.
http://elections.foxnews.com/2008/06/29/obama-supporters-adopt-hussein-in-act-of-solidarity/
