Palin: Why No Probe of Barack 'Hussein' Obama?

Former vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin alleges that the media has a blatant double standard, shining intense scrutiny on GOP Senate nominee Christine O'Donnell while turning a blind eye to then-candidate Barack Obama's personal history in the 2008 campaign.

During an interview with Fox News host Greta Van Susteren Wednesday night, Palin said: "Funny . . . That we are learning more about Christine O'Donnell and her college years, her teenage years, her financial dealings than anybody ever even bothered to ask about Barack Hussein Obama as a candidate and now as our president."

Story continues below video.



Palin also recently tweeted to O'Donnell, Republican nominee for the U.S. Senate from Delaware, that she shouldn't waste time "appeasing nat’l media seeking ur destruction.”

Obama has come under some criticism during his campaign and after for failing to release documents and background material on his life that has been de rigeur for most candidates.

Obama has yet to release college transcripts and files from his undergraduate work at Occidental College and Columbia University, and later at Harvard Law School. His college dissertation at Columbia has disappeared. Many of his official papers during his time as an Illinois state representative have also disappeared. He has never released his full medical records.

Palin's reference on the Van Susteren program to the president's middle name, Hussein, drew national media attention.

During the 2008 presidential campaign, Obama and his campaign never referred to his middle name of Arabic origin, which means "good; small handsome one."

And Sen. John McCain's presidential campaign studiously avoided using Barack Obama's complete name.

In fact, using Obama's full name was so taboo that when conservative radio host Bill "Willie" Cunningham used it to fire up a McCain rally in Cincinnati, the senator was forced to apologize.

"I take responsibility and I repudiate what he said," McCain said. "I will not tolerate anything in this campaign that denigrates either Sen. Obama or Sen. (Hillary) Clinton.''

As president, however, Obama has had no issue using his middle name. Obama chose to use his full name "Barack Hussein Obama" when he was sworn in and has referred to his complete name during other public occasions.

Obama has claimed he was not making a statement by using his middle name at his inaugural.

But journalist Jonathan Alter, author of "The Promise," said took issue with Obama on that point, writing: "Neither Jimmy Carter nor Ronald Reagan used a middle name when taking the oath, and Dwight D. Eisenhower and Gerald R. Ford used only a middle initial . . . Obama was clearly trying to make a statement to the world while insisting that it was no big deal — a perfect illustration of his determination to have it both ways as often as possible."

One name Palin is keeping in the mix for a possible 2012 GOP presidential run: her own.

Palin told Van Susteren she would strongly consider running "if nobody else were to step up with the solutions that are needed to get the economy back on the right track, and to be so committed to our national security that they are going to do all that they can, including fighting those on the extreme left who seem to want to dismantle some of our national security tools that we have in place."

Editor's Note: Join Sarah Palin and Newsmax for a Special Online Event Oct. 12! To RSVP — Click Here Now.



© Newsmax. All rights reserved.