Overreacting to someone referring to President Obama as "barry"?

[davidpdx]

I'm just curious if I'm grossly overreacting to a comment on Facebook or if anyone sees this as a legitimate issues. I see it as offensive. To put it in context here is the post:

"Cannot wait for nov 7th. Mitt, barry, & michelle will all be off my newsfeed finally! Or at least all the "he's evil!" "No, he's evil!" Stuff will be more contained... FREEDOM!!"

I know some people are legitimately sick of the election, but I saw this and snapped.

Edit: Thanks for the replies everyone. Clearly I was being a little too sensitive.

[Saving Hawaii]

1. Yea...

[JI7]

2. not sure who that poster is so it might not be offensive coming from them

based on what that person says there they could be just tired of the whole election and not really political.

but freepers have been calling obama "barry" for a long time now among other things.

[Art_from_Ark]

3. I don't see anything at all wrong with "Barry"

It just seems like a natural nickname, like "Bobby" Kennedy, "Jimmy" Carter, and "Bill" Clinton. And "Barry" is a man's name, there were even a couple in my graduating class. And don't forget that great ecologist who passed just recently, Barry Commoner.

[SheilaT]

17. The difference is -- and this is crucial --

that RFK was always known as Bobby, Mr. Carter always as Jimmy, and William Jefferson Clinton was always known as Bill. Barack Obama did go by Barry in his youth. He no longer does. It's inconsiderate, even insulting, to use a nickname he no longer uses.

My oldest brother was known to family and close friends as "Squeaky" until he was about 30. He then indicated that he really preferred to be known by his given name, Tom. It took some of us quite a while to make the change. He's not a political figure, so I suppose if I still called him Squeaky it wouldn't matter. There are still some cousins who will refer to him that way. My brother is now 70, so many years have passed. I'm relating this to give perspective to the Barack/Barry thing. Those of us who did not know the man who is currently our President back when he was called Barry really have no right to call him that. Just as someone who did not know my brother at least 40 years ago have no right to call him Squeaky. It's a part of the thing about treating others with dignity and respect. You use the name the person wants to be known by. You don't fall back on a childhood nickname that no longer applies.

Heck, I know a man I still think of as "Bobby". He was the younger brother of a friend of mine His actual given name was Art, and "Bobby" was a family nickname. Even now, after all these years, I have to stop and think when I go to a class reunion to address him as Art, not as "Bobby". Again, it comes back to treating others with dignity and respect and by the name they want to be known by.

[MrDiaz]

19. do you

come up with your own nicknames for certain politicians...I know I do lol, this is no big deal, or not big enough to flip out over atleast.

[SheilaT]

23. No, I don't.

I happen to think that making up nicknames, especially insulting nicknames as I see all too often here, is childish and stupid.

And outside the political arena, not everyone appreciates having their name shortened. My sister-in-law used to try to call me "She" and I simply refused to respond to it. I happen to like my full name, Sheila, and it's not a long name nor a difficult one to pronounce. Other people don't mind it. So it helps to pay attention to what people want.

[MrDiaz]

28. okay

so you have never called George Bush by any other name other than George, Or Bush? Because like I said I know I have.

[SheilaT]

30. I usually refer to him as W.

So I do use nicknames, but try to avoid anything insulting or anything that a person has indicated isn't a welcome nickname.

Molly Ivins always called him Dubya, so I hope I'm in good company. Sigh. If there's an afterlife, I wonder if Molly is looking down on us this day.

[MrDiaz]

32. i have called

him the devil a few times in conversation...lol

[Mike Nelson]

4. From just that one post...

... I would take no offense at all. My newsfeed has far worse.

[Xyzse]

5. Barry was the name he used in college instead of Barack

I guess it was easier then.
I guess because of that, I don't see it as too much of a big deal.

I mean, to me Barry is a far better name than Willard. Which will always be "Rat Boy" to me.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0310357/

Far too creepy.

(As for me saying that he used that in college, I am basing that from a story my best friend told me. She has an acquaintance who was in college with Obama, and she said he was called Barry back then. I have no reason not to believe her, as she is an actual supporter of Obama. Me, I am more helping out because I just don't like Mitt and Ryan. Oh, and yes, I like Biden.)

[jiro]

36. When we all were at that age, we would try to fit in with our peers.

That would include westernizing or normalizing our names. Some of my non-white friends adopted English names or Anglicizing their first names to fit in. I was guilty of doing that myself. Some of us would be fine with our childhood names while growing up, but once we hit our college age, we would end up exploring and developing our self identity. Who am I? What am I? Where will I go from here? Am I this or am I that? Where do I fit in?

Obama's self identification surely began in college where he would explore his feelings and experiences as biracial and as African American, and the social context of what he may be. Exploring the significance of hiis name was undoubtedly part of that package. I know because I have been there.

[Xyzse]

37. Mine is odd, no matter what I do.

Though I will not change my name or create any nicknames for myself.
Though perhaps during the era that he was in college it was different.

My real name is taken from a Tennis player, with their I changed to a Y. I could have used the name Wiley, but it is longer and I stuck with mine.

[quinnox]

6. yea, never understood the "barry" thing

In that some duers would go ape shit over it if it ever showed up here, which was seldom to rare.

[Kennah]

7. Let 'em call him Barry

We've got this.

[dawg]

33. There was just something so very chimp-like about that man.

Well, all of us are chimp-like if you think about it. But GWB especially so.

[NYC Liberal]

8. Eh. Usually when I see it, it's meant in a belittling way. But not always.

That post doesn't seem to mean it that way, unless you know the person doesn't like him.

[Raine]

9. Obama himself used the name Barry. I see nothing wrong with it and

have always wondered why some people get so outraged about it.

[Cali_Democrat]

10. I have fun with it with my Republican friend. It drives him crazy

He asked me if I was gonna vote for Obama again. I said.... "you mean Barry Hussein Soetoro? Damn right I'm voting for him. I only vote for Presidents trained by William Ayers, Rev. Wright and Saul Alinsky."

He then wondered why I don't give a shit about that stuff and then he proceeded to call me anti-American.



Just have fun with it.

It really drives the GOPers nuts when they realize you know the bubble they live in and it has no affect on you.

[crunch60]

11. Guess you didn't see this video. Chris Rock and his message to

white people. He does mention when President Obama was called "Barry"

[Cha]

15. That's so Funny..I just posted the same Vid downthread

for the same reason! Killer Hysterical Vid. rofl

Can't get a much Whiter name than "Barry".

[TBF]

38. He was mocking the right-wingers -

Barack does not go by "Barry" anymore.

[Warren DeMontague]

12. Honestly, as much as I can't stand dyed-in-the-wool RW types, at least theyre coherently wrong.

I mean, they're wrong, but they've got their own little wrong facts and they use them to back up their wrong-ass assumptions and if you were living in upside-down bizarro land, where Global Warming is a hoax to make Al Gore rich and by far the only important geopolitical event in the last 4 years took place a two months ago in Benghazi, then their shit would hang together, albeit in a wrong sort of way.

But I'm starting to feel like- and I say this because these chucklemonkeys show up on my Facebook feed (Unlike the one or two actual RW types I'm friends with, I haven't blocked their updates)-- the idiots who go on about "BOTH OF EM SUCK HUR HUR I HATE POLITICS YURRG DURRRG THUR ALL THE SAME ROBBLE ROBBLE ROBBLE" are almost, in a way, worse.

It's the people who believe Ron Paul is our only defense against the Alien lizards who run the fed, and the people who just want the election to be over so they can go back to reading about Snooki and funny Kitteh memes on the intertubes. The people who are PROUD of the fact that they don't give a damn, and somehow try to turn their complete unfamiliarity with even the most basic parameters of the real-world political conversation in this country, into a virtue.

Give me a break. "THEY BOTH SUCK HATE EM BOTH WHUTZ TEH DIFFERENCE BLARG YARG"... Er, a lot, actually. That's a fucking cop-out. Intellectual Laziness about something this is actually, uh, sort of important. So, sorry to interrupt your watching of WWE or whatever the fuck.

Bottom line, I sympathize, I have people like that on FB, too.

[davidpdx]

13. Thanks

Two and a

[Cha]

14. They Want it to be "offensive"..just like they

did with ObamaCare.. We know how that turned out.

I can see the President laughing at this.. and I just thought of the Chris Rock Vid "A Special Message to White People".. explains just how White Pres Obama is. One example was a name like "Barry". Chris: "you can't get a much Whiter name than that" rofl

[treestar]

26. The third whitest name!

[patricia92243]

16. Better than using his middle name in a hate-filled manner.

[quakerboy]

18. Overreacting

It was what he was called. Do you get pissed at people who post mittens, rmoney, etc?

[Marrah_G]

20. I would just type of a private apology to whoever you snapped at

This has been a difficult four years and a difficult election season.

[WinkyDink]

21. There's always "Willard."

[reflection]

22. Just say "That's PRESIDENT Barry to you." n/t

[treestar]

24. It's generally a right winger

The President did go by that at one time, so to them it's a sign of falseness, or something, yet they wouldn't mind it in an R candidate. I consider it to be like their use of "Democrat Party." Just one of their immature little things they have to do, and which I can then use to justify use of terms like "Mittwit" and "Willard."

[Odin2005]

25. It comes from the Birthers...

...Who started ranting BS about Obama's "real name" being "Barry Soetoro" or some such shit.

[Blue_Tires]

40. +1

[Nye Bevan]

27. Stay away from Facebook and stick with DU. Nobody ever calls people names here (nt)

[lillypaddle]

29. That's the way they refer to him

on winger sites. I don't like it.

[louis c]

31. I always refer to the President as "Barry"

and I love him. I find it to be a familiar name.

I have many friends in political office and they don't want me to refer to them as they are tiled, "Mr. Mayor" or "Senator".

Just call me Dan or Anthony, in such cases.

I don't know President Obama, but he knows me. He's done a terrific job under the worst of circumstances, and I am grateful for his leadership.

I'm for Barry.

[GoCubsGo]

34. I just ask, "Who is Barry?"

[jiro]

35. I hate it when people refer him as Barry

Obama did go by Barry when he was younger, but he had said he never liked it because it didn't fit in with his self identity. Throughout his adult life, he's specifically asked people to address him as Barack.

I don't like it when people refer Bush as Dubya either. There's a difference between using a nickname on a person who accepts it, like Robert 'Bobby' Fitzgerald and using a nickname on someone who doesn't accept it.

[TBF]

39. It's annoying because you're dealing with a repug -

Barack does not go by Barry now and the only place you see that is winger sites. Chris Rock used it in his video to mock the repugs who are using it and it was quite funny.

But I also would let it go today, given that folks on both sides are stressed.

If it were someone I didn't want to lose touch with and they did it a lot I would hide their feed.