It’s funny how the Republican party seemingly has very little to offer the American people. So, because they lack substance, they, instead, offer fear.

So, it was little surprise to see, last week, Rep. Steve King of Iowa go there. According to King, the facts that Obama wants to pull troops out of Iraq, he is of Kenyan parentage and, of course, his middle name is “Hussein” should cause us to take pause when considering him for President.

Actually, King descended even further into stupidity with the following comment:

“The radical Islamists, the al-Qaida … would be dancing in the streets in greater numbers than they did on Sept. 11 because they would declare victory in this war on terror.”

So, I wonder how Rep. King reconciles this with the fact that there are a lot of folks with “Muslim-sounding” names, who have served in some very high positions in our government and military. Juan Cole, in his blog “Informed Comment” brings much of this to light. Here are some examples:

• General Omar Bradley, WWII hero: The name “Omar” is an alternate spelling of the name “Umar”. Umar ibn al-Khattab was the second caliph of Sunni Islam.
• Gen. John Abizaid, former CENTCOM commander: His name is a combination of two Arabic names. According to Cole, “Abi means Abu or ‘father of,’ and Zaid is a common Arab first name.”
• Darrell Issa, Republican congressman - The son of a Lebanese father, the name “Isa” mean “Jesus” in Arabic.
• Donna Shalala, former Health and Human Services Secretary - The child of Lebanese parents, Shalala was the longest-serving HHS secretary.

The point in all this is that, if Muslim extremists needed something to cheer about, particularly because of a name, they would have been able to do so long before a Barack Obama came on the political scene.

Even more important is the fact that Obama has made his Christian beliefs very evident. So, all this garbage about him being a “secret” Muslim is, in short, stupid.

But, when you have nothing to offer, I guess fearmongering is all you have left.

Popularity: 10% [?]