I can't possibly find the words that would convey how strongly I recommend this superb article by Juan Cole. Barack Hussein Obama is actually a very fortunate name. According to Cole, a Middle East expert and professor at the University of Michigan (he has a great blog here), Barack is derived from the Hebrew word barak meaning "to bless." Hussein is derived from the semitic word hasan which means "good" or "handsome." You should really read the whole article; its a quick and interesting read and Cole has numerous examples of famous Americans (including 14 presidents!) that have names that are derived from Arabic or other middle eastern languages.
Cole wrote the article in response to comments made by Bill Cunningham, a right-wing talk radio host, while introducing John McCain. Cunningham repeatedly referred to Obama as Barack Hussein Obama and accused Obama of wanting to meet with people that "want to kill" Americans. I have to hand it to McCain (I know, I've never done that before!) for his response to Cunningham's comments. McCain immediately apologized for Cunningham's "inappropriate" remarks and vowed that it will never happen again at one of his rallies. Now I'm still no fan of McCain's but I have to admit that was an extremely classy move on his parts and he deserves credit for it.
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