Get it straight people...calling Jindal "Piyush" is the equivalent of calling Obama "Barack"

[dkf]

Some people know Jindal as "Bobby" and some people know Obama as "Barry".

This is the correct comparison.

[Warren Stupidity]

1. Renaming himself 'Bobby' is more than a bit odd.

[proud2BlibKansan]

8. This is common among Indians living in America

Many of them adopt an American first name. So it really isn't all that odd.

[Warren Stupidity]

12. I work in an industry that has lots of Indians - and exactly none

of them are using a western name instead of their real name. It is an act of ethnic self denial.

[MADem]

28. Well, I live in a neighborhood full of Indian Americans, and it's a mixed bag here.

The younger kids all are Susie and Joey and Bobby, and the older adults and grandparents have culturally traditional names.

I don't think they're in denial, either. They're just adapting to the culture.

[dkf]

34. Yes, young Bobby felt the pressure to adapt so much that he abandoned his given name.

And now you are calling his given name an insult.

Yep, this is the epitome of cultural sensitivity I'm sure.

[MADem]

39. Hussein was Obama's 'given' middle name, and it was used by the GOP as an INSULT.

You are being deliberately obtuse. It sucks being called out for cultural insensitivity, and that's why you're lashing out at me.

[dkf]

44. Lets put it this way...if Jindal's first name was Robert and he preferred

Bobby, you wouldn't be insulted at all if anyone called him Robert Jindal.

You are offended because his first name is Indian.

And I'm offended because I don't like hearing that a person's non-Americanized name is an insult.

Seeing how I am an Asian American, the same as Jindal, I find it quite funny to be accused of cultural insensitivity. I see it as defending my heritage from people who demand we all Americanize ourselves.

[havocmom]

47. good point

Former neighbors Mickey and Harry (both from India) would agree with you.

Mickey insisted that if most Americans tried to call him by his real name, they would hurt themselves. His family was trying to be gracious to neighbors with limited linguistic skills. His family was also most gracious to the few friends who went to the trouble to call them by their proper names.

[MADem]

52. No, I am offended at people calling themselves Democrats making fun of this guy for his NAME.

The idea is to use the name as a TAUNT.

Grow up and stop playing the obtuse innocent. You ought to be ashamed of yourself for even engaging in this sort of cultural baiting, but that takes self-awareness. Your conduct in this matter is RACIST.

I don't care if you claim southwest asian heritage--you plainly don't "get it." His name is being used as an insult, but I'm not the one doing it.

[dkf]

80. Claim? You think I'm lying?

You ask your Indian American friends if its an insult to call Jindal by his given name Piyush.

I dare you.

I have a friend at work who is Hawaiian Chinese. He says my last name and tells me he thinks its beautiful, even though personally I think its too long.

Even if someone said my name with dislike or with scorn, I would never think of my name as an insult.

[MADem]

92. It wouldn't be the first time such a thing happened on the internet.

Again, you are being deliberately obtuse. I have no idea if you are lying, so I won't call you a liar, but I will be honest--I don't believe you. I think you're going out of your way to be both obstreperous and confrontational, too. I further think that if you were to be honest with yourself, you'd admit that you KNOW BETTER.

By your conduct in this thread, I find you less than credible. Your behavior to my mind is borderline disruptive.

I took up your dare, and called my neighbor across the street. Again, you lose.

His comment: "Context is everything, and in this context, these people are insulting him."

Happy?

[malaise]

69. 100% correct

You nailed it.

[dustbunnie]

70. Odd isn't it?

"And I'm offended because I don't like hearing that a person's non-Americanized name is an insult."

I understand completely what you mean. My sister was anointed with an extremely old-fashioned odd name that was difficult for her to live with as a child, so she got a cutsie nick that has stuck since and she prefers it. She kept it even into adulthood as those "what an intriguing name" or "how do you spell that" comments get annoying too aparently.

I try to think how my sister would feel if this thread was about her, and a bunch of people were saying how "insensitive" it is to use her full, given name. It would be hurtful and insulting. Oddly enough, the people who think themselves sensitive are the ones who aren't.

I don't think so much people make fun of him for his "foreign" sounding name. It's just seen as a weakness of his (everyone knows how the kid with the weird name felt, being teased relentlessly as a kid) to have changed it. And that's what drives people. Not racism I don't believe. Just childishness.

[paulsby]

122. i agree

a little kid isn't thinking "my name sounds too ethnic indian"

he's thinking "i don't like my name, the other kids think it's funny, and i like the name bobby"

i see nothing to criticize there.

once he started going by bobby, why should he run from the name he's used nearly all his life out of fear that he might be accused of ethnic self-hate?

clearly, that's ridiculous. and if he started going by piyush now, HE would be pandering to the ethnic purists.

he is not/did not deny his heritage by choosing a nickname/moniker that he liked as a little kid.

and nobody is going to think bobby jindal isn't indian because of his choice.

how about concentrating on his ridiculous politics and poor speech delivery?

not a decision he made when he was FOUR!

[Number23]

169. "Oddly enough, the people who think themselves sensitive are the ones who aren't."

You win. :applause: :applause:

Best sentence on the entire Internet re: this matter. Fantastic.

[treestar]

94. Exactly! Was it an insult to refer to Jimmy Carter as James?

If it's a nickname, fine, but one does not always have to use the nickname.

all this sensitivity towards a repuke who would have NONE towards us!

[MADem]

98. Jimmy is the established nickname for James. The man wants to be referred to as Bobby.

Bobby is not the established nickname for his given name.

Your ignoring his wishes is a childish repudiation, and it is deliberately done in order to highlight his "otherness."

Your last line is telling--you might as well have said "Well, THEY do it, so that makes it OK." That's never been the party motto, AFAIK. We've always prided ourselves on being "better than" them. I guess we'll have to cede that high ground.

[treestar]

134. Being better than they does not work - we end up speaking respectfully

of their leaders while they speak disrespectfully of ours, leaving theirs to look good and respectable while ours get called names.

[MADem]

154. I'm sorry. I do not agree.

We come off as adults when we behave like adults, and they come off as irrelevant, whiny children when they pout and name call. Not acting like shitty little nitwits, like they do, is part of what Obama meant when he talked about CHANGE.

Unfortunately, we're squandering our high ground and stepping on our own cranks with this sleazy innuendofest about Bobby Jindal. It's not the finest hour of this forum, certainly.

[treestar]

163. The high ground hasn't worked in years

The independents and average citizens just hear the negatives about the Democrats and nothing negative about the Republics. We respect them and they disrespect us and they average citizen thinks we are weak or actually corrupt.

[MADem]

170. Again, I cannot agree. I think the high ground works in the long run.

We've been on the high ground for eight years now--and now, we have both houses of Congress, the White House, and many of the states.

We respect them, they disrespect us....and we WIN. When forced to choose between adults and childish whining morons, the electorate chose adults.

I think the voting public are smarter than you credit them.

[treestar]

179. Maybe in the last election

Better hope it continues to work.

[Number23]

168. +3289

[burythehatchet]

50. No matter how many silly comments you make on this thread it does not detract

from the fact that the ONLY reason to bring this up as something that really bothers you is this: To try and appeal to the xenophobic sentiments of others.

I guess you are having difficulty understanding the man's policies, which are deplorable, and you would rather try and appeal to simple hatred. Attaboy/girl, you're a real Progressive now.

[dkf]

59. Can an Asian American be Xenophobic against another Asian American?

Hmm. Is that like self-hatred?

My point is this. Go to any Indian American and ask them if it is an insult to call Jindal "Piyush". I doubt they would agree with you.

I don't know who you think you are defending from Xenophobia, but as an Asian American, I'd say its not me.

[burythehatchet]

65. How bizarre; I am an Indian. And the answer to your question is Yes. See: Michelle Malkin

[MADem]

73. You lose.

It's an insult when it's intended to suggest that Piyush isn't part of the herd, that he's different, that he isn't like the "real Americans."

It is you. Your commentary here is plainly xenophobic. You should be ashamed of yourself.

[burythehatchet]

75. I am shocked at all those who are signing on to that sentiment. Sad.

[MADem]

77. I was wondering there if you weren't having a chat with Michelle Malkin, herself

This thread is really shining a bright light on the level of intolerance that exists within our own party. It's a bit shameful.

It could be that some people are just not too swift, too eager to insult an easy GOP target, and, after careful reflection, might readjust their thinking and retract. I sure hope so, because this shit is ...well...sickening to me!

[burythehatchet]

79. We find comfort in settling back into stereotypes whenever we are unable to

understand the truth of a situation. Even self-described Democrats are guilty of this. Democrat does not necessarily equal Progressive.

[MADem]

96. Sometimes I wonder if it's more of a social club than a party ideology that drives

some of the membership here. It's unfortunate. I think the subject of this thread, and the number of people willing to act "Limbaugh Blind" about this matter, reflects very poorly on this website and the party, myself.

[Number23]

167. +100

[Uzybone]

104. the younger kids have probably been GIVEN english names

Unlike Gov. Jindal, who was never given the name Bobby.

[MADem]

156. No, they haven't. They have an Indian name, and a nickname.

The "problem" with some Indian names is that there aren't sufficient letters in the western alphabet to get a proper pronounciation in some cases. Also, Americans tend to butcher names of more than two syllables. The nickname serves as a cultural bridge for the children.

See these links: http://www.kamat.com/indica/culture/names.htm
http://www.kamat.com/econtent/amusements/desinames.htm

Bobby Jindal decided that's what he wanted to be called, and his parents called him that. As his parents, they "gave" the four year old that nickname by calling him Bobby. If they didn't want to call him that, they wouldn't have done it.

It is a common Indian nickname, too--a "cultural bridge" name. There are many Bobbys, Tonys, and Mikes in India and in Indian American communities.

Marion Morrison was never "given" the name John Wayne. He picked it off a list. Should we kick his dead ass because he used a name he wasn't given, too?

[Starbucks Anarchist]

160. Are any of them Christian?

Some Indians are Christian and have given Christian names like Anthony and George.

[MADem]

173. No. n.t.

[burythehatchet]

46. Come on dude, you are brighter than that. Indians who immigrated in the 70's

were under different cultural pressures than the Indians who migrate today. My family came to the US in '70 and guess what, amongst the few families we got to know when we came over, two actually had children whom they started calling Bobby. I myself had to Anglicize my name until I graduated college.

The attempt to use a person's name because it sounds funny to American ears is racism, nothing less. And to tell yourself something different is fine, but it does not change the reality.

[malaise]

68. Ding ding

we have a winner

[dustbunnie]

78. What about the Mildreds and the Ethels?

Why have many of these preferred to be Millies and Ellies?

Or Lance (the boil) or Rock (the cock)? Delores (the you know what)? Growing up we had all three at our school. It isn't necessarily about "ethnic" denial. Children are cruel and creative with any name that isn't popular and accepted the way names such as Tiffanie and Joshua are. For many, the nicks they took on in childhood just stick and it becomes who they are.

[uppityperson]

114. Being known as a locally common name may be an "act of ethnic self denial", but so?

I don't understand why people would consider it odd, or bad, to be known by a name that people where you live would consider common. I find all this interesting because I didn't know Jindal was of Indian ancestry, and now I do. I figured he was just an asshole from LA.

Obligatory picture of me and my pa. Word is he is Danish. I got my mother's looks, just in case you were wondering.:

[paulsby]

120. rubbish

it's an act by a LITTLE kid.

once he chose the name, why should he change BACK years later when it's the name he's accustomed to.

if he changed it a few years ago, you MIGHT have a case.

[Patiod]

136. One client, from China, DOES use a a substitute Western name

He says it just makes life easier than constantly repeating and spelling his real name for people.

We just had this discussion a few weeks ago - he just doesn't want the headache of constantly explaining his name.

[proud2BlibKansan]

162. Well then I must be wrong!!

:crazy:

[CreekDog]

36. and Chinese-Americans

and they have lots of reasons for doing so. it's their call, or better yet, it's more their call than mine.

[MADem]

41. You're not kidding! I know Edwards and Alberts whose names in Chinese I

won't even try to pronounce, because I'd probably end up swearing at them inadvertently.

[CreekDog]

43. yes! i've known Patrick's and Pam's that did the same

what a boorish person one would have to be to give them a hard time about it by insisting on calling them the name printed on their birth certificate or driver's license.

which reminds me...i go by my middle name. it was a family choice more than mine, but it has lasted and one sure fire way to get on my bad side is to argue with me over what name i should be using or that i should change my name legally to something else. and i don't even dislike my first name, but i strongly dislike that someone would lecture me on what i should be called.

[Hepburn]

61. I have a TON of East Indian friends...

...and not one of them I know has changed his/her first name. I have learned to pronounce each of the names and, to say the least, some are very difficult.

[burythehatchet]

71. If you met me, you would know one. And two Indian families that I am close to

have boys who named themselves "Bobby" when they were young back in the 70's.

Bobby is a popular one because it somewhat resembles the baby names that parents often give their children before their given name begins to be used in young adulthood. Mine was Bintoo.

[Hepburn]

89. Thanks for the info....

....but the truth is that I really love to master the beautiful Indian names my friends have. Now, however, if one of them said to call him/her a nick, I would do so. I do think, however, that some of the Indian names I have heard are soooooo beautiful. One of my favorites is: "Jayshree." And I know two women who were born in India with that first name.

Here is one that is the name of one of my closest male pals that took me a bit: "Gursharan." What I found interesting with this family is that the daughter who was born in the US was named "Sharan." Very cool the way IMO they used part of the dad's name.

I try very hard to say any name as correctly as I can and use the inflection that is native to the name. This is not just about one culture or ethnic group either ~~ I try to do this with all things like with my pals who are Asian American, I usually give the little bow when I say "hello" ~~ just like I do with many of my Indian friends. It just seems so natural to do this in honor of my friends.

:hi:

[burythehatchet]

99. Having been in the US for 38 years now, and seeing the change in the way people

view the Indian culture, it is now far more reasonable to keep one's name simply because it is becoming more common for most people to have been exposed to those names and it is not quite as strange as it used to be in my day back in the 70's. I'll PM you for a bit of personal info.

:)

[treestar]

93. I don't find it much among Indians

Most use their own names. Even if they were born in the U.S. or become highly Americanized.

Bobby should not be afraid to use his own name his parents gave him. If he were a Democrat, he would not see the need. It's an attempt to be accepted by racists and thesefore not all that admirable.

Earlier immigrants tried to fit in but those were less multicultural times. Italians shortened their names or Irish Bridgets called themselves Beatrice, though to what good it is hard to tell, since they'd be known as Irish as soon as they spoke.

But it is the 20th century, not the 19th. Barack Hussein Obama is President of the US and that's no Anglo-Saxon name. So Bobby should not be shy about Piyush.

[thewiseguy]

112. Wrong. I have seen many Indians who go by their first name.

I have worked for many and been friends with many who live here and I never see them giving themselves some "common" nickname.

[proud2BlibKansan]

165. Wrong. I know several who have Americanized their names

[shanti]

145. actually

it's pretty common for ANY foreigner to "rename" themselves once here. I used to work in an office of engineers with japanese, palestinian, and indian names. all three of them had americanized their first names.

[tavalon]

60. Very common among Indians

I work in a NICU in which probably half of our population is Indian. They almost all have an Indian name and an American name. We call them by whatever their parents prefer.

[burythehatchet]

74. What one finds is that when a foreign born person is amongst others of his

origin, there is less pressure to change the name. When they are not, like me when we were one of the only Indian families in our county, there is a natural tendency to adopt a name. Especially when you are young and in school.

[tavalon]

81. I believe you are completely correct there and none of this discussion

has anything at all to do with the fact that Bobby Jindal walked out there and equated the Republicans with Katrina, he really, really did!

[burythehatchet]

83. The man is walking talking MORON. Why even talk about anything else?

[tavalon]

87. Exactly! He is comedy gold. Jon Stewart wet his pants last night

[tavalon]

62. I changed my last name to Avalon

I ditched my given first name the day after high school.

Come on, we've got way too much fodder here to play with to resort to name calling. He invoked Katrina as a Republican success, for goodness sakes! That alone is worthy of much derision. His name is a nothing.

[fed_up_mother]

124. My kids go to school with many immigrant kids who go by "anglo" nicknames

What's funny is that they all seem to pick the same ones!

[elleng]

2. Not quite, but your point is taken;

it shouldn't be considered a slur. BUT he 'changed' his name when he was very young, and his wish appears to be 'Bobby.' I've never heard anything similar about President Obama.

[dkf]

14. "Bobby" isn't Jindal's legal name, its his nickname.

That is why it is put in quotes.

He never did change it.

[elleng]

20. 'Legal' name is one which is used, not for purpose of deception.

"Change" not necessary. He's been called and calls himself Bobby since he was 13, I think.

[MADem]

58. Since he was FOUR, so the story goes

He named himself after one of the Brady Bunch kids.

Jesus, I'm getting OLD.

[bananas]

152. Let's call him Bobby Brady!

http://www.thesmokinggun.com/mugshots/lookinlandmug1.html
Child actor Michael Lookinland, who starred as Bobby Brady in the "Brady Bunch," was arrested in November 1997 by Utah cops for drunk driving after losing control of his Ford Bronco.

[MADem]

155. Yep....I'm officially OLD. nt

[MADem]

3. I think it's childish to assign snarky nicknames, anyway--especially when we're the party in power.

Making fun of people for things like their appearance or their name is what those with inferiority complexes do.

If Bobby Jindal calls himself Bobby Jindal, and is known as Bobby Jindal, and was elected to public office as Bobby Jindal, that's the name to use. Anything else suggests that we're unable to confront him with regard to the paucity of his IDEAS.

Bobby wants to be called Bobby. Barack wants to be called Barack. It's common courtesy. Nothing more.

[Warren Stupidity]

10. Barack's name is Barack.

On the ballot it would be Piyush 'Bobby' Jindal. If Piyush wants to legally change his name, he is free to do so. The guy is 100% phony, as reflected by his nickname.

[malaise]

11. Ding ding

:hi:

[vanderBeth]

13. No, I believe a lot of places let people use nicknames on ballots.

And a nickname doesn't make you phony. :eyes:

[Warren Stupidity]

16. That would be the 'Bobby' part of the ballot line.

As in Piyush 'Bobby' Jindal. At least in every state I have voted in, that is the way a nickname is presented on the ballot.

In this case 100% phony.

[vanderBeth]

21. My state allows the nickname to be listed alone

You petition the state's SoS and it is usually granted if that is what everybody knows you by and not part of a political slogan. Happens all the time with Joes and Cindys.

Still can't see why someone using a name they had for 30 years is phony.

[fed_up_mother]

125. What is phony about the nickname?

My uncle's name was "Charles" and his nickname was...Bobby, but then again, I grew up in south Louisiana where we do strange things to names. :)

[MADem]

22. The purpose in using "Piyush" here is to make fun of the guy. And you know it.

I hardly think that one can determine that the guy is phony 'as reflected by his nickname.' What, no person saddled with a goofy or culturally unfamiliar name is now ALLOWED to have or use a nickname? After all, Barack used Barry for YEARS because he was uncomfortable with Barack. He only switched back when it became advantageous to him to have a unique name. It's no more right to excoriate Obama for that choice, than it is to make fun of Jindal for the name his parents gave him.

People are phony if their ideas suck and their delivery of said lousy ideas is stilted, clumsy and insincere. They aren't phony because they respect their parents by keeping their name, and use a nickname to blend with the culture in which they live.

Bobby Jindal's effort to sell the GOP vision was a bit...flat. For that reason, he came off as a phony. Not because his nickname, a rather appropriate and common one to use in a very southern state, is "Bobby."


I really think we, as Democrats, can do better than making fun of people's names. We tout ourselves as the party that is more culturally aware and respectful of individual differences, and this isn't the way to go about it.

[dkf]

29. Wow. You think Obama started using Barack because it would be advantageous to be unique?

That is pretty cynical of you.

[MADem]

49. No, I am not cynical. Obama said this, not me-that it meant he didn't have to fit in with the crowd.

That he was comfortable with being DIFFERENT. He also said that he didn't LIKE his nickname anymore. And when you're a young adult, you WANT to be different, unique, special....or as he said, "cool."

As a child, he didn't like his given "funny name." As a young adult, he decided he did like it. Even though, and because, it was ... unique.

Here, read, and stop shooting the messenger: http://www.newsweek.com/id/128633


Obama, after years of trying to fit in himself, decided to reverse that process. The choice is part of his almost lifelong quest for identity and belonging—to figure out who he is, and how he fits into the larger American tapestry. Part black, part white, raised in Hawaii and Indonesia, with family of different religious and spiritual backgrounds—seen by others in ways he didn't see himself—the young Barry was looking for solid ground. At Occidental, he was feeling as if he was at a "dead end," he tells NEWSWEEK, "that somehow I needed to connect with something bigger than myself." The name Barack tied him more firmly to his black African father, who had left him and his white mother at a young age and later returned home to Kenya. But that wasn't the primary motivation.

.... Old friends contacted by NEWSWEEK who were present during the time he changed his name recall or intuit a mix of reasons—both personal and social. By Obama's own account, he was, like most kids at that stage of life, a bit of a poseur—trying to be cool. So that could have played a part. He was also trying to reinvent himself. "It was when I made a conscious decision: I want to grow up," says Obama.....

." It was when he got to New York that, as he recalls it, he began to ask people to call him Barack: "It was not some assertion of my African roots … not a racial assertion. It was much more of an assertion that I was coming of age. An assertion of being comfortable with the fact that I was different and that I didn't need to try to fit in in a certain way."

[Warren Stupidity]

178. no person saddled with?

Piyush 'Bobby' Jindal is not 'saddled' with the nickname 'Bobby'. He clings to it, chose it himself, and as you note:

"Barack used Barry for YEARS because he was uncomfortable with Barack."

I rest my case. Exactly my point. Piyush is uncomfortable with his ethnicity, unlike Barack.

[Laelth]

56. Doesn't the President like to be called Barry?

Just asking.

:shrug:

-Laelth

[Hepburn]

64. Exactly....

....he is phony as a 3-dollar bill...and THAT is why it grates that he uses a Brady Bunch nick.

JMHO

[Warren Stupidity]

15. The nickname is Bobby.

Referring to somebody's birth name as their nickname is a bit disingenuous.

[MADem]

180. Uh, go back and read the last sentence of my post, about a guy named

BARACK. Remember when a bunch of assholes from the opposition party called him by a name that he used to use regularly, happily, and in fact, WANTED to be known by, but because his roommates at Occidental kept using his full name purely as a "goof," and a tease, he subsequently decided he no longer wanted to be known by his nickname, and instead chose to be known by his given name?

You are wrong on this. You are advocating basic disrepect for xenophobic reasons, and that's not a progressive trait. Your attitude reflects poorly on you.

[DainBramaged]

25. Why do we have to give the Pukes common courtesy? They spit at us

Jizzdoll and Falin, perfect together.

[MADem]

30. Because we're better than them? Most of us, anyway. We don't make fun of people for their ethnicity

or craft childishly obscene takes on their names.

We're more mature than that...most of us. We engage the GOP based on their lousy IDEAS.

While you're making stupid and masturbatory comments about Jindal, you're missing an opportunity to go after him for his support of the teaching of intelligent design in the schools. Among other things. And you're making the rest of us look bad by association, while giving the right a place to point and say "See how horrible the left is--making racial and culturally insensitive comments!!!"

I don't endorse that sort of insult, and I think you are entirely wrong for saying those kinds of things.

[DainBramaged]

32. Thanks for your lesson in political piousness, I'll pass.....

Put my wrinkled old ass on ignore if you don't want to read my observations, and I'm sorry you disagree but that's what life and the innertubes is all about.

[MADem]

37. It's not "piousness" to not be a racist. And I don't run away by pushing the ignore button.

I read your comments, and I told you what I think of them. They're racist and undemocratic. I suggest you reevaluate your "observations" because they are pretty dispicable and out of step with the party.

[DainBramaged]

45. Sorry you don't like my views, but YOU are trying to make me walk in lockstep with yours

You don't agree with me, fine, DO NOT attempt to make me change my view to yours. Just put my old ass on ignore and you can continue to try and distract someone else from the real issues.

And your attempt to brand me as a racist, is racist and slanderous.

[MADem]

55. I'm not trying to MAKE you do anything. I am telling you that your racist commentary is not

acceptable to me, and it's incompatible with the platform of the Democratic Party, too. Those are just simple facts.

You're more than welcome to hold your racist attitudes near and dear, by taking this man's Indian surname and turning it into something crude and pornographic for your own sick amusement. This is a free country, where calling someone "Jizzdoll" is in incredibly poor taste, objectionable and childish, but not illegal.

Your defense of your poor behavior is quite telling. Your last line is a real gem!

[DainBramaged]

63. this is the LAST post to you, your accusations and threats

of racism are not taken kindly. Now go to hell.

[MADem]

66. "Accusations and threats?" Grow up. I'm not accusing you. I'm simply telling you.

And I'm not threatening you either.

Just get home from drama class, is that it?

I'll save you a seat by the fire.

[seemunkee]

4. I agree with your sentiment, but don't you have it backwards?

Barry is not Barack's legal name, Bobby is not Jindal's legal name.
I think it would be equivalent to calling the President Hussein, since it is an attempt to use his name as a slur against his character.

[dkf]

23. The thing about "Hussein" wasn't that they wanted to turn Obama into a "foreigner"

because he already has a first name that he calls "funny".

They used Hussein to associate him with the whole terrorism thing (to go with their delusional Saddam Hussein was a terrorist who attacked us on 9/11). That was the point of tying him to Bill Ayers also.

"Piyush" has none of those types of associations, just that it sounds funny, like John McCain's middle name Sidney. Barack might not be a typical name, but its cool sounding.

I'm beginning to think a lot of people on our side missed what the Repubs were trying to do by using the name Hussein.

[seemunkee]

24. Yes, you were the only one who understood it

:eyes:

[MADem]

35. No, they wanted to EQUATE him to the leader of Iraq who was hanged by the neck until he was

dead....THAT was the precise goal with the "Hussein" business Not just associate, EQUATE. And they continually mispronounced "tee hee" accidentally "ooops, my bad!" Obama as OSAMA for the same reason. It was dispicable and racist, and pulling this Jizzdoll and Piyush nonsense out is almost as bad--the whole idea is to cut him out of the herd, make him "not one of us," with "us" being "real Americans."

To people who are so stupid that they think Sikhs are Muslims, "Piyush" might as well be "Mohammed." That said, though, WE, as a party, don't play that game. We respect people's individuality, we respect their ethnicity, and we don't make fun of people because, as a four year old, Jindal decided he wanted the nickname Bobby, though his parents had given him a Punjabi first name. That's not what Democrats do.

He's target rich in other ways, his views are atrocious--but going after him because, in essence, he is culture-crossing as a first generation Indian American, though, is just wrong.

[Telly Savalas]

166. To elaborate on this point....

Where do the Republicans have the home field advantage?

When the public dialogue is a serious discussion about public policy and the role of government in society? Or when it is petty bickering about irrelevant issues?

[Greyhound]

90. Then it wasn't very effective, was it? n/t

[MADem]

27. It does not matter. If a person wants to be called "X" you call them "X"

I'd say ask Malcolm Little about that, only he was murdered.

Obama wanted to be called Barry as a child, so people called him Barry. As he got older, he decided to embrace his parentage, and asked people to call him Barack instead, and they OBLIGED. Well, except for the jerks, who called him Barry, and, as you noted, Hussein. But those jerks were doing that to dig at him, to use his name as an insult or a weapon.

Bobby Jindal was given the name Piyush by his parents. He would be disrespecting his parents to get rid of the name. He solves his cultural dilemma by adopting the nickname of the kid on the Brady Bunch (apparently, that's how he did do it--as a little boy).

I think going after him for his name or his nickname is just flat-out wrong. Go after him because he allows the teaching of "intelligent design," not because he wants to be called Bobby.

[mikelgb]

102. So if former President George W. Bush says to call him George....

I can't call him Chimpy McFuckface?

or Dim Son?

some argued quite convincingly that Bush is indeed mentally ill... is it not completely wrong of us to call him Idiot King?

probably

but in this tiny corner of the interwebs it doesn't really matter

calling Richard B. Cheney a Dick in on purpose and hurtful calling Governor Jindal, Piyush shouldn't be a death sentence....

if people were going around saying Governor Habib or some such ignorant term then I would point the finger and say racism...

[MADem]

105. Chimpy McFuckface is an insult. If Bobby wants to be called Bobby, yet you persist

in using his given name (in an attempt to highlight the DIFFERENCE) you are insulting him.

Calling Cheney "a" Dick is an attempt to use his name in a hurtful way.

Calling him Governor Habib is plain stupid, as dumb as callin him Governor O'Brien. Habib is ARABIC, not INDIAN.

If you can't see what your problem is, and it is a real problem, I can't help you. All I can do is shake my head in absolute astonishment at the vicious xenophobia coming off a so-called "progressive" discussion board. It's sickening.

[Connie_Corleone]

5. But, Jindal prefers Bobby just like Obama prefers Barack.

To me, using "Piyush" is like emphasizing Obama's middle name "Hussein".

I don't like it when the right wingers use "Hussein". And I don't like it when so-called progressives emphasize "Piyush" when the man clearly goes by Bobby.

It feels like some people are stooping to the racial/ethnic tactics of the freepers.

[Warren Stupidity]

17. Again - Barack's name is Barack.

Piyush's name is not Bobby.

[grace0418]

54. Do you demand the birth certificate of everyone you meet so you can call them their "correct"

name or do you just call them whatever name they call themselves?

If it's what he calls himself, then it is his name. Barack calls himself Barack, Bobby calls himself Bobby. My sister calls herself Peg although her given name is Margaret. Would you insist on calling her Margaret if you met her?

[Posteritatis]

133. If Barack preferred "Frank" it'd still be stupid to attack him about it (nt)

[vanderBeth]

6. It's not some people, it's everybody

He's been going by Bobby long before he became a politician. Obama prefers to be called Barack and Jindal perfers to be called Bobby.

The correct comparison is calling them Piyush Jindal and B. Hussein Obama.

[Baikonour]

7. If close associates call Barack "Barry" then that's fine.

But when Limbaugh or freepers do it, it's out of disrespect.

I think last night's "Piyush" posts certainly had an air of disrespect (not that he exactly deserves any) but I don't think anyone was doing it with racism in mind. At least not everyone. The "Slumdog" comments about him were, however, quite uncalled for.

What we really need to do is forget his name and focus on the content (or lack thereof) of his speech.

[izzie]

9. what does piyush mean? I never saw that word. Slang for what?

I have lost you on what you are talking about

[madrchsod]

19. no need to be lost-google!

http://babynamesworld.parentsconnect.com/meaning_of_Piyush.html

http://www.mybaby-name.com/baby-name-full-detail/piyush/19685/1

[MADem]

57. Drink of the Gods!!!

Wonder if he was the guy who got the keg in college?

[izzie]

177. OK I will do that. I just for get I can do that.

My kids tell me I am getting up to date but I have times when I just for get I have all this information right in front of me. My mind keeps me going to the stacks. :banghead:

[hlthe2b]

18. Stupid, when we all know his name is "Kenneth"

:evilgrin:


I agree with the crackdown on ethnic-based denigration. Good heavens, he gave us a boatload of ammo that has nothing to do with anything other than what a pretentious dork he is--independent of race, gender, ethnicity.

[Old and In the Way]

26. After last night's performance, I'm calling him Bobby.

Why confuse people by using his birth name that he doesn't go by? I prefer not to be a douchebag like the bigot/racists who think calling Barack 'Hussein' is some kind of insult.

[dkf]

38. Don't you think it is racist when you call his given name an insult because its not Americanized?

[spanone]

31. i call him shithead

[LaydeeBug]

33. The concise truth. That's what *I'M* talkin' about. nt

[LanternWaste]

40. Either it's wrong to insult a person for *any* reason, or it's not....

We can make fun of him for any reason... except for his name, because that would be wrong; yet making fun of him for other reasons would be, um, righteous...?

Either it's wrong to insult (read: insult-- not critique) a person for *any* reason, or it's not.

Or maybe I simply missed the passage that implies we can be ugly to anyone we want-- but our ugliness has to take the proper form...

[burythehatchet]

42. you are wrong.

[eShirl]

48. Can I call him "Bobby Brady?"

his hero!

[SoCalDem]

51. Call him Erkel

[Rockholm]

148. That is just too perfect!

[many a good man]

53. Are you being willfully ignorant?

His entire life he has gone by the name Bobby. For a short time when young, Obama went by Barry then later identified himself as Barack. It is disrespectful to call someone by a name they don't choose to go by.

Not only disrespectful but RACIST when you do this for the sole purpose of calling attention to their otherness, or their ethnicity.


(I'm not calling you racist, but this behavior is. Now that you know better I'm sure you will avoid this behavior in the future.)

[burythehatchet]

72. Good luck, because I'm not having any.

[tom_paine]

108. How about if it is in the cause of highlighting monstrous Bushie Hypocrisy?

The assumption of racism is tiring and untrue. Statistically, maybe it is for at least a few people..statistically, but if you think the vast majority of people Piyush-ing, are motivated by anything other than gleefully exposing Bushie-Nazi level, ORWELLIAN-level hypocrisy, then I believe you are mistaken.

So yes, maybe for the first time in my life I AM being willfully ignorant (instead of ignorantly ignorant :evilgrin: ).

Not that I intend to make a habit of it, but for the Kinder and Gentler Nazis, the Bushies, I'll be more than happy to try out once what they seem to derive so much pleasure from...willful ignorance.

Kinder and Gentler Nazis deserve nothing else, but to be exposed for their monstrous hypocrisies as loudly and as often as possible.

[slackmaster]

67. Mocking an elected official based on anything other than official statements and acts

Is juvenile.

[Gin]

76. before I read that his given name was Piyash...I thought it was Robert

since he calls himself Bobby........we are entitled to know his first name and all about him since he will be intruding into our living rooms on a daily basis in the near future. (IMO)

[slackmaster]

82. Will you be leading the charge of people demanding to see his birth certificate?

I'm definitely looking forward to that.

[tom_paine]

110. No, just laughingly exposing Bushie-Nazi hyprocrisies and watching them whine and cry is enough.

No need to go overboard and crazy, which defeats the purpose of using Jindal's proper name, not as racist epithet, but exposer of Bushie monstrous Soviet-level hypocrisy.

The more people that see them whine and cry about him being called "Piyush", after the much more ruthless and crazy year-long flogging they did with "Barrack HUSSEIN OSAMA", the more people see them exposed for the whiny little cowardly frauds they are, who can dish it out but can't take it back.

I understand and respect your opinion. I hope you can respect my opinion, and understand that the vast majority of all this Piyush-ing is about something other than the racism for which it is being accused, even if you still diasagree with it.

[tom_paine]

84. How could I vote for a man so devious and ashamed of himself?

Some people say that Piyush HAD to change his name, because the racist ignorant vile morans that increasingly are all the Rushpublic Party has left in it's ranks would sooner vote for a (gasp!) Jew, than some guy named Piyush.

Some people say that such a cowardly name change, for no other reason than shame and cold calulations used to take advantage of the stupid, is a character issue.

Some people say it.

:rofl:

[MADem]

100. He must be smarter than his speechifying and his policy positions make him out to be!

As a four year old, he was able to look that far into the future and see himself as Governor of LA one day, so he flailed about, focuesed on the tv, and said "Bobby Brady of the Brady bunch! All American boy! Yeah, THAT's the ticket!!!"

[tom_paine]

107. ROFL. Probably started out as not wanting to be face-punched by the Bushie Kids.

Just like Bushler's frog-torturing was a strong indication of the murderer of millions who would not have otherwise died that later tyrannized us, Bobby's self-loathing is indicative of something deeper, some character weakness. And even if it isn't, I guess when it comes to Bushie Monsters and Rushpuclicans, I am all out of fairness.

I guess I wouldn't have made a good Judge at Nuremburg. Thank goodness there were others with the proper temprement to be such.

I appeciate your point, and respect your opinion. But on this one, we must agree to disagree. Even if you are right, we must agree to disagree. I'd rather not give a shit and flog them for their grotesque, Nazi-level hypocrisy after they Banshee-howled "HUSSEIN" for a year.

Now listen to the whiny little cowards cry and piss and moan when we give them even the tiniest taste of their own back. Music to my ears. Gutless Kinder and Gentler Nazi Bushie assholes.

I appeciate your point, and respect your opinion. But on this one, we must agree to disagree. Even if you are right, we must agree to disagree.

Hope you and yours are doing well.

:hi:

[MADem]

109. I thought those GOP "stunts" were really dispicable.

It upset me how they used ...Barack HUSSEIN Osama, er Obama hahahahahaha, that HALFRICAN, tee hee, who was BORN A MUSLIM, nudge wink... to dogwhistle their racist pals. I felt for the little kids who had to hear that shit on the tv who had their culture/race/religion separated out and fingered as "un-American" because it's not "The Donna Reed Show" style of American.

I just can't get behind doing "that" to this dumb guy, either. Even though I think his positions on just about every issue are stupid, and he's both vapid and dorky, to boot.

We're all good here, life continues apace (if no one else gets laid off, we'll manage)--so we'll agree to disagree!

:hi:

[MiniMe]

85. No, I would say it is the equipvalent of FR using B Hussein

It is using his name against him.

[cbc5g]

86. Piyush isn't a funny name...now Bobby at his age IS a funny name

Most people change their name to Bob long before they reach his age. Bobby is like a teenager's name.

[durablend]

95. He's one of the Brady Kids for crissakes

Can't any of you see the resemblence? He's the one who replaced the "real" Oliver in the last minute of the very last episode of the show (if you blink, you missed it) :rofl:

[fed_up_mother]

127. In south Louisiana Bobby is very commonly used into adulthood

Most families probably have at least one. It was a very common name.

[madmom]

88. When I was 2 weeks old my dad gave me a nick-name. It was a odd name that

makes some people laugh. My real name is a common "old school" name. When I was in jr hi and hi school I went by my nick name because it was different. Now that I'm a GROWN UP, it doesn't bother me one way or another which name people call me, because you see I've GROWN UP. I'm an ADULT now. I've gotten past the"funny name" thing. Oh and my nick-name had all kinds of "funny" deviations put to it by people trying to insult, but I ignored them. People still call me by both.

[PVnRT]

91. Barack Hussein Obama

Right-wingers who made sure they used his middle name constantly during the election were raked over the coals for being racist.

Please explain to me how this is any different.

[Uzybone]

97. correct

[NoPasaran]

101. Right, and the NY Post cartoon was all about a monkey

[go west young man]

103. When I called up Sprint to ask for my money back the obviously

Indian fella on the other end of the line said his name was Brian. I hope this helps.

[Iggo]

106. Piyush is a cool name.

And in any case, I don't care if I hurt his feelings.

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

111. No It's Not, And To Claim It Is Would Be One Of The Dumbest Damn Things I've Ever Seen Here.

This whole 'piyush' thing is one of the most retarded things on DU ever. Shame on many members here for it. EVERY member should should unanimously agree that its usage is in poor taste and done quite childishly. That's a fucking no brainer. Trying to excuse it and justify it is just plain fucking retarded. Anybody here purposely using it looks like an utterly childish asshole. That's a fucking fact jack.

[Iggo]

123. Fuck you, too.

:hi:

Signed: Childish Asshole (apparently)

[KamaAina]

126. Some background is here

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=8221476&mesg_id=8227576

The only thing "dumb" I've done here is that I've chosen to follow La. politics closely enough to have read this. (I am, after all, a former NOLA resident.)

Trying to excuse it and justify it is just plain fucking retarded.

The word "retarded" is itself considered an offensive slur, along the lines of the N-word, by many people with intellectual disabilities (the preferred term).

http://www.r-word.org

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

129. What A Pathetic Attempt At Justification.

And retarded, in the context I used it, is only offensive to really sensitive uptight zealots who really could use loosening up a bit.

[KamaAina]

130. That is so gay!

Gay, in the context I used it, is only offensive to really sensitive uptight zealots who really could use loosening up a bit.

:sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm:

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

131. That Analogy Is Beyond Retarded.

For real. Get a grip.

[EFerrari]

138. You hooligan!

:sarcasm:

[Waiting For Everyman]

128. That was funny!

:rofl:

[bridgit]

113. Well here's an edification that still leaves a slimy ring-around-the-collar

[bertman]

115. Any of you who never called George W. Bush by the name of "Dubya" are without sin.

and may call Bobby/Piyush/Jindal whatever you desire. The rest need to STFU.

(This comment was typed in an affectionate and non-discriminatory manner, of course)

[RamboLiberal]

116. Wrong - The way its being used on DU

is the equivalent of Freepers saying Barack "Hussein" Obama or B. Hussein Obama or Barry Obama.

Jindal has decided to go by Bobby.

Those here glorying in using Piyush are acting like Freepers IMHO.

[bridgit]

118. Agreed! And a shameful display of how ignorant some at DU really are as regards...

the names, surnames and culture of people's from anywhere in the world as they march across it seeking to become more like the lands in which they find themselves or have come i.e. America, a disgusting display on DU's part imo...some here may crow while patting each other on the back nibbling each other's cookies for being left/far left whatever but there are some days DU hasn't anything to do whatsoever with anything Liberal or Progressive. It's just a place to come and act like an ignorant child...

And that day started last night after Jindal's already sad little offering

[kdpeters]

117. It's a lot like calling Michael Savage "Michael Weiner"

[bridgit]

119. Make that "Micheal Dick" and you gotta deal

[EFerrari]

121. Wrong. Calling Bobby "Piyush" is an attempt to ridicule a foreign sounding name.

[Iggo]

135. I call him Piyush because I like saying Piyush.

If it pisses him off, well then that's a bonus.

[EFerrari]

137. Is it an added, special bonus when you hurt the feelings of minority DUers?

What a trip.

[Iggo]

139. So when I say the name Piyush...

...it hurts the feelings of minority DUers?

It's not how I say it, or why I say it, but just the fact that I say it?

The name Piyush has all of a sudden risen (or sunk?) to the level of a racial epithet just because some grown idiot hates that his own name is Piyush and wants to be called "Bobby" instead?

If I'm jumping way ahead here, let me know.

ETA: I'm a minority DUer. Thanks for letting me know my feelings were supposed to be hurt. I missed the memo.

[EFerrari]

140. I'm waiting for you to catch up, actually, with the many posts

on DU that have expressed discomfort with this. But, take your time.

[Iggo]

141. So it's racist, then?

[Iggo]

142. Please help me out here. Seriuosly.

Whose feelings did I hurt here at DU when I said Piyush? (In addition to yours, I mean.)

[EFerrari]

144. Have you read Skinner's thread? n/t

[Iggo]

147. I knew it. You got nothing.

Look, the thing is if his name was Carl but he wanted to be called Bobby, and it pissed him off if I called him Carl, I'd go right ahead and call him Carl instead of Bobby.

It's EXACTLY the same thing.

[EFerrari]

149. What I "got" is what kind of friend you are, apparently. n/t

[Iggo]

150. We're friends?

[bridgit]

151. Mm, well I happen to have six (6) names; if in addressing me by one that would only

seem to make you happy, and not as a term of recognized endearment between us...how have you not insulted me? I also have nicknames known only to my friends.

G.H.W. Bush made great sport of calling Saddam by an inflection that rendered him culturally into a filthy thing, but that's what RW republicans do. That to my mind is what is "EXACTLY the same", I think the simply point is that we're better than that

[Iggo]

157. Okay, then. That I get.

If the point is that I'm being childish and petty, then I freely admit that that's exactly what' I'm being.

I just took exception to the somewhat lazy default position that what I was doing was somehow racist. It's not.

[bridgit]

174. Oh, well, then I suppose I do agree...being childish & petty is never *less* than an option...

to simply bowing before the absurd m^_^m

[MADem]

172. Gee, no offense then, when HUSSEIN in Barack's name got special emphasis...

After all, it's JUST a name, now. It's a COMMON name, too, in fact, it means "Handsome" in Arabic, so where's the harm?

No "offense" ..... right?

Do you actually think that those of us DUers of Arabic, West African or Southwest Asian heritage, in whose homelands the name "Hussein" is as common as JAMES, or JOSEPH, could not see the "insult" being offered when Barack Obama's middle name was emphasized?

There's nothing WRONG with the name Hussein. The intent behind the use of it was the problem. It's the same deal with Piyush.

What's more disgusting than this feigned innocence and coyness I see here is the fact that there's so MUCH of it, and so much denial that there's anything amiss as to be embarrassing. I feel as if I've taken a wrong turn.

You're right, though--you ARE a minority DUer. But not for the reasons you might think.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

132. no its not. its like calling obama hussein. its pointing our his foreign-ness

as though thats some how worse than his policy.

its highly intellectual dishonest especially because we were whining about the same issue 5 months ago.

[nichomachus]

143. No it's not

Actually using his last name pretty much covers the "foreign-ness" angle. So, your argument is pretty weak.

It's like saying that calling Joe Sanchez-Torillo "Jose" is a racist way of pointing out that he's Hispanic. I think that's pretty obvious from the Sanchez-Torillo part.

[EFerrari]

146. In this context, yes, it is. Btw, my mom's name is Rosa Castaneda.

And people have rolled our "Rrrrrrrrrrrrossssssssssaaaaaaaa" as an ethnic slur despite the fact that her surname is also Hispanic. Fyi.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

158. last names in this country are far more ambiguous. de-anglicizing him against his wishes

is xenophobic

[TWiley]

153. The Ass Hole, or the Whole Ass? Who cares?

[Numba6]

159. he ain't a bobby, he's the same old dick

he ain't a bobby, he's the same old dick

Not this:



This:

[tangent90]

161. Imagine the chaos if he had changed his name to Red Cloud Jindal

:scared:

[petronius]

164. If a person wishes to be called by a certain name, anyone who insists on calling

him otherwise is a prick.

[Political Heretic]

176. EXACTLY.

[1]

171. what it boils down to is this. there were a number of racist posts on du last night...

if you saw them, you saw them. if not, they are all deleted by now.

those that didn't see them are confused about how using this mans given name could be misunderstood. you didn't see the posts, you don't know.

those of us that did see those posts were very concerned about them. that is the disconnect. it is not about his name, it was about the nature of the posts evoking his name. it was ugly.

and part of the continued discontent comes from certain posters from last night playing the "i was just kidding" or the "what? i was just saying his name?" in a republican-like responses.

jindal is who he is. hate him like i do for what he stands for. but when that hate is presented solely about his race, that is what i will not sit silent about here.

[Political Heretic]

175. Total bullshit.