Cunningham smeared Obama, used his middle name during appearance at McCain rally

It seems funny to say that using a candidate's middle name is a smear. It is his middle name. But obviously it's the reason's for repeating it that make it a smear. Very, very petty and immature on the part of the right wing.

At first I thought that McCain should be given credit for repudiating Cunningham's remarks. But did McCain's campaign have no idea that Cunningham would make incindiary comments? That's like having Andrew Dice Clay perform and then complaining that he was vulgar. Come on... And what do McCain's comments that it won't happen again mean, that Cunningham won't be the warm up act again? Regardless, the damage has been done and it's hard to believe the McCain campaign had no idea that Cunningham would be offensive.

Get used to it. It will be said about 100,000 times before the election in November should Obama win the nomination.

If folks are turned off by his full name they probably weren't gonna vote for him anyway.

Not excusing this, but really it's out there to stay. Not much you can do about it.

I am glad McCain and his aides repudiated Cunningham's obsession with Obama's middle name.  Those that continue to use it as a way to link Obama with islamic extremism just look ridiculous, and desperate.

I hope McCain learns from this rally and is more careful about who "warms" up the crowd at his future appearances. 

While I have no problem with the use of someones middle name, it is beyond the painfully obvious that this man and all the other hacks and partisans are using Obama's middle name for nothing more than to show their contempt and disgust at a man that seems to want to do whats right for everybody and not for a select few corporations pocketbooks!

I do however have the audacity to hope it is all for real........

According to his Wikipedia page, Bill Cunningham and rqcist remarks go hand-in-hand.:

In 2001, shortly after race-related riots over the police killing of an African-American teenager who was fleeing their pursuit, Federal Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Nathaniel Jones blasted Cunningham in a speech at a local YMCA, calling the show “trash, and filth and profanity.” (Jones is a former civil rights lawyer who worked for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People; Cunningham has been a frequent critic of the organization and civil rights activists in general, particularly Rev. Jesse Jackson, who Cunningham nicknames the "Rhyming Reverend.")

In December 2003, Cunningham drew more fire for making fun of Nathaniel Jones (no relation to the federal judge), an African-American resident of Cincinnati who died after violently resisting police outside a White Castle restaurant; video of the incident again inflamed the local African-American community. Jones, who weighed more than 350 lb. (159 kg), was found to have died of an enlarged heart, and various narcotics were found to be present in his body while violently resisting arrest at the time of his death, which may have contributed to his reaction to police efforts to subdue him. Cunningham made fun of Jones' obesity and apparent drug use in a skit on his show, which prompted various local civil rights groups to call for his resignation or firing.

Source:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_cunningham

Hill Billy Cunning Ham is preaching to the devil's choir.

Cunningham is a buffoonish lawyer/talk show host & typical Clear Channel right-winger that no one of good character takes seriously. He has had an ongoing rift with the minority community of Cincinnati because of his inability to camouflage his inherent racism. It's on the record. Bill doesn't particularly care for his African-American brethren. Just ask any black leader (or citizen) in the city.

It is instructive to know the approach the McCain people (his denouncements notwithstanding) are going to take in the general election. "Gosh, gee whiz, I didn't know that race-baiter was going to race-bait." John McCain, circa 2/26/08.

And doesn't John Walker Lindh, the American who sided with the Taliban, share the same middle name with the current inhabitant of the White House?  Geez, maybe if the Democrats had used that enormously significant fact in the 2004 election things would be different today!

How completely inane...

Another complete conservitive IDIOT. McCain should have known better than to ask Bill Cunningham to do this.

Anyway Bill Cunningham is a complete BSing conservitive A_ _ Hole.

Had to put that in.

Hilarious to watch this guy get pissed off on national tv when he heard that McCain denounced his comments.  He went ballistic when he was also told that McCain said he didn't know him and hadn't ever met him before - Cunningham says he met him in person once and they chatted, and Rob Portman knew what he (Cunningham) was going to do and say.  He went nuts and started trashing McCain and said he was joining Ann Coulter and tell his listeners NOT to vote for McCain.

Gee, John McCain is losing his votes, one voter at a time.  With friends like Cunningham, who needs...

Think Progress has a nice roundup on the initial fallout: 

Hate Radio Upset That John McCain Doesn’t Hate As Much As They Do

Fascinating. Has anyone yet realized that saying Baracks middle name is not an issue? his middle name is a reflection of his muslim heritage in that it was probably the name of one of his ancestors. Why is it that we can say Hillary Rodham Clinton, but not Barack Hussein Obama?? Just for this attempt to control what i say because of posssible inuendo I will hereby refer to Obama as hussein. 

"repeatedly referred to [Sen. Barack] Obama as Barack Hussein Obama -- at least three times,"

Mein Gott!!! 3 whole times?? The gall of that man.

This is not the first time Cunningham has smeared Obama and referred to him as "Barack Hussein Obama."

Calling him by his full title is NOT a smear. Smear is defined as;

to sully, vilify, or soil (a reputation, good name, etc.).

If his middle name vilifies him in your eyes, then you are naturally a bigoted racist who hates muslims. His muslim heritage is something he should be proud of, right? Why then would it "soil" his good name??

Frankly, my mild irritation at the petty, narrow-mindedness of the constant use of Obama's middle name has subsided.  If he gets the nomination I say let them go for it.  It's like overexposure to anything that's supposed to be shocking; the receiver becomes inured to it after a while.

There is a small core group who will find significance in it, and they aren't the sort who are likely to vote for Obama anyway.  There's another group who would have a negative reaction to Hussein initially, but will be able to see past it after a short while.  I'd very much like to believe that the majority will recognize that his middle name is meaningless.

Is this just wishful thinking on my part?

Using a middle name isn't smearing. stop being so sensitive.

do you really have such little faith in americans?