Wheat-dogg’s world

Posts tagged Barack Hussein Obama

“Wo! I feel good …

… I knew that wouldn’t have” … if I hadn’t voted today.

James Brown could sing it better than I can, but that’s how I felt this afternoon after I sent in my absentee ballot, all the way from Hunan, China. I had this mental picture of sticking it to Bush and Cheney, McCain and Palin. I hope it hurts. Ow!

An ex-pat, I discovered a few weeks ago that I could cast my vote in Indiana (my last US place of residence) by mail, fax or e-mail. All the necessary forms and instructions are right there on the Indiana state government website.

I want to extend a public thank you to Linda Moeller, the Floyd County Clerk, who in a very friendly manner immediately responded to my emails and faxes. (Linda’s a Democrat, by the way.)

While I could have preserved the secrecy of my vote by voting by mail, I chose the fax method. I wanted to be sure my vote arrived well within the Nov. 14 deadline. If Indiana is going to be a close race, I wanted to help decide the contest on Nov. 4.

Here’s the nuts and bolts, for anyone interested. If you are an ex-pat or someone in the uniformed services and are already registered to vote in Indiana, you fill in and fax form ABS-12 to your county clerk’s office. This form requests an absentee ballot be faxed back to you.

This is a preview of “Wo! I feel good …. Read the full post (598 words, estimated 2:24 mins reading time)

October 30th, 2008 | Tags: absentee ballot, Barack Hussein Obama, email, fax, Indiana, John McCain | Category: Commentary, General stuff | Leave a comment

Just call me Hussein

JISHOU, HUNAN — No-nothings are dragging Barack Hussein Obama’s name through the mud, alleging his middle name, especially, identifies him as an Arab and/or a Muslim.

So I’ve decided we all should — at least temporarily anyway — adopt the name Hussein.

One of the more inspiring stories from World War II comes from Denmark during the Nazi Occupation. The Nazis required all Jews to wear a six-pointed star. Led by the king and queen of Denmark, the Danes responded by everyone, Jew or otherwise, wearing the star. It was at once a show of solidarity, of peaceful resistance, and of rejecting prejudice.

These ignorant anti-Obama Americans (see below) act as if “Hussein” is also some kind of identification badge. Rather, it is a common name — meaning “handsome” or “good” — among Arabs and Arab-Americans, much as my given names, “John” and “James” are common (in a myriad of forms) among Christians worldwide.

But my names do not automatically confer upon me membership in the Christian faith. The fact that John Wilkes Booth and James Ruby were famous killers in US history does not imply I am one twice over. No, my parents honored my heritage by naming me after my father, grandfather and great-grandfather.

Similarly, “Hussein” does not identify Obama as an Arab, or a Muslim, and certainly not as a terrorist. It was his Kenyan grandfather’s name. That’s all.

The Danes stood up to ignorance and bigotry. We should, too.

This is a preview of Just call me Hussein. Read the full post (298 words, estimated 1:12 mins reading time)

October 15th, 2008 | Tags: Barack Hussein Obama, bigotry, John McCain, presidential race, Sarah Palin | Category: Civil liberties, Random rants | Comments (1)