EmSeeD, Quote (EmSeeD)
barry is just a short term for barrack, american's always shorten everyone's name.
That might be true, but its also misleading. If you check Obamas college forms, group photos, football stats etc. you will see the name Barry (Irish). Very often when asking someones REAL name I get frustrated & just cut to the point & ask "Look, what does your MOTHER call you????" Of course he was Barry to his mom. BUT, when he arrived as a social worker in Black South Chicago, he felt the Irish Catholic thing wasn't quite right, so he switched his preference (& his passport details) back to Barack, his fathers name. A bit like Erik's Anthropology teacher trying to teach him Genetics, two fairly incompatible disciplines I'm afraid, you wouldn't ask a Geneticist to postulate theories on Cultural Anthropology, now would you? And if (as Erik seems to say) NURTURE beats NATURE every time, then Obama's Irish Catholic upbringing CANNOT BE OVEREMPHASIZED. However, it was UNDEREMPHASIZED on purpose during the primaries & the campaign, as the Obama campaign needed those W.A.S.P. (white anglo-saxon protestant) votes which make up the majority of voters in the US. Yes the USA is a Protestant country & besides the Clintons seemed to have Ireland & 50 million Irish-American votes in the bag because of their huge contribution to the Peace Process here. I might point out that the Kennedys astutely backed Obama. Ted Kennedy's blessing will guarantee a second term.
