Talk:Barack Obama

Misc

This article is very short. It is an important subject. It needs to be unlocked so people can add to it.217.43.168.194 (talk) 21:16, 18 February 2008 (UTC)

The article is only protected from vandalism by anonymous users. Anyone who has been a registered user for more than four days is able to make changes --Bärliner 21:33, 18 February 2008 (UTC)

This article is bad because it doesn't say anything about Barack being a state senator or a U.S. senator. I have fixed this. Simpler (talk) 19:04, 22 April 2009 (UTC) His's name is misspelled in the first sentence of the first paragraph. "barck"

Simplified English yes, but this is SO poorly written and SO full of exaggeration... it's not even factual at times. First off, don't capitalize the B in 'black people'

PGA comments

• Dates should be unlinked.
• The section "Before becoming president" needs more references and some links.
• The "Presidential campaign" section needs links and references.
• All references should be formatted with {{Cite web}}. Included should be at least publisher, accessdate, title.

This is just after an overview. --Barras ^talk 17:31, 29 December 2009 (UTC)

Infobox/birthplace thing...

...I thought that things mentioned in the Infobox were supposed to be mentioned in the main prose (and preferably expanded therein). At least, this is what I have done for my (V)GAs. If the BD dates, birthplace, nationality etc. are mentioned in the IBox, there is no reason not to mention them in the text and more so if the fact has been featured in DYK previously. Pmlineditor ∞ 07:48, 21 January 2010 (UTC)

I can understand that kinda, but how do you expand on "He was born in Hawaii" in the opening? You can't. IMO It belongs in the infobox and that's it. Now if you want to mention the "birthers controversy" elsewhere in the article that's fine with me, but as for just sating "He was born in Hawaii", that belongs further on in "Early life" and in the infobox, not the opening to the article.--  † CR₉₀  07:56, 21 January 2010 (UTC)

Obama's religious affiliation

Hello all, It looks like there has been a discussion on Obama's religious affiliation; CR90 added that there were sources that he was not a Christian; I heard elsewhere that he might have had ties with the Muslim religion. As I don't want to engage in an edit war, can we work out:

1. Can either statement be backed up with a reliable source?
2. If so, where would be the best place to add this to the article?

CR90 orignally added: <ref name=Obamareligiondisputed>{{cite web|url=http://www.wnd.com/index.php?pageId=66909|title=Is Obama really a Christian?|author=Joseph Farrah|accessdate=2010-03-06|publisher=World Net Daily}}</ref> as a source. --Eptalon (talk) 19:58, 7 March 2010 (UTC)

I believe that any source alleging he is a Muslim needs to be accompanied by the fact that almost all sources, including Obama himself, note that he is not a Muslim and that most of this whole Muslim thing was a vicious rumor that, unfortunately, a percentage of Americans believe. And, in the interest of full disclosure, I voted and organized for Obama at my college Purplebackpack89 ^{(Notes Taken) (Locker)} 19:20, 8 March 2010 (UTC)

The infobox represents his declared religion. If there's some dispute over his "religion" then it needs to be dealt with otherwise, and with more sources than a single opinion piece. Please note that the en.wiki article is featured and declares him as a "Christian", not a "Protestant". The Rambling Man (talk) 19:41, 8 March 2010 (UTC)

(<-) All I can say here that Obama had a Muslim in the family (I think father or grandfather), but that his mother was Christian. I am not engaged in either camp; I do not have any interests there. If you look at google, you'll find notable references (Newsweek, the Times) that speak about his religious affiliations. So all I was trying to say (without any bias), that it might be worth devoting a paragraph to, under some section in the article. (As a side-note, Obama can be a very good president, even without religious affiliations; even though at the moment "Atheist" US presidents have a hard time). --Eptalon (talk) 20:16, 8 March 2010 (UTC)

Protection

I again contend that this needs an indefinite silver-lock. It is ip vandalized every at least every few days or so since the silver-lock lapsed; and the latest vandalism accused him of being a terrorist. We can't have IP vandalism on such high-profile a page. Purplebackpack89 ^{(Notes Taken) (Locker)} 18:45, 11 March 2010 (UTC)

I obviously agree with indefinitely semi-protected this article, due to it being a high-profile BLP that is an ongoing target of egregious vandalism. However, last time I indef semi'd something there was a big hoopla about it which I'd rather not go through again. Either way, I've semi'd it for two weeks and if consensus exists here or elsewhere to up it to indef, I strongly support it. Cheers, Lauryn (u • t • c) 18:49, 11 March 2010 (UTC)

 Done. ;-) PeterSymonds (talk) 18:51, 11 March 2010 (UTC)

Changed to end of year per discussion with Peter. Can always be redone if more vandalism happens once it expires. Indef is usually not a good option because people forget its on. This way if there is a sudden spike in vandalism at the beginning of next year we can revisit the article and go from there. -DJSasso (talk) 14:45, 12 March 2010 (UTC)

I guess that'll work. The move protection can be as long as whatever because this page does not need to be moved. Ever. Purplebackpack89 ^{(Notes Taken) (Locker)} 16:01, 12 March 2010 (UTC)

Again?

This page continues to get vandalized once a week. Protection? Purplebackpack89≈≈≈≈ 04:18, 19 April 2011 (UTC)

• I gave it semi-protection for one week. Kansan (talk) 04:21, 19 April 2011 (UTC)

Since that week ended, the page has been vandalized several times. Maybe a couple of months this time? (I still think this article needs an indef silverlock, but I doubt I'll get it) Purplebackpack89≈≈≈≈ 19:57, 11 May 2011 (UTC)

As long as we remove the vandalism, there's no need to protect it. Reverter (talk) 19:58, 11 May 2011 (UTC)

I agree with PBP we need an indef silver lock. chris†ianrocker90 20:09, 11 May 2011 (UTC)

I agree with Reverter. It's getting vandalized no more than maybe twice a week, and quickly getting reverted every time. I think it should stay unprotected unless it starts really getting out of hand. Kansan (talk) 22:05, 11 May 2011 (UTC)

I think it's gotten out of hand already Purplebackpack89≈≈≈≈ 18:25, 27 May 2011 (UTC)

Ridiculous assertion. Look at the article history. What, 15 vandal edits in two months? On such a prominent article? With so many watchlisters? No, if it gets 15 a day then we should really protect it. Otherwise just get on with it and revert the nonsense. The Rambling Man (talk) 18:32, 27 May 2011 (UTC)

This page definitely needs protection. My nine-year-old daughter googled "wikipedia for kids" and ended up here, then searched for "President Obama" and found inappropriate language right on the first paragraph. It was removed within minutes, but was back seconds later. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Shirakhan (talk • contribs) 00:34, 15 February 2012 (UTC)

Semi-protected for three months due to excessive vandalism. -Orashmatash (talk) 21:39, 21 February 2012 (UTC)

African American

Kenya is in Africa. However African American denotes those people who have ancestors which where slaves. Obama does not have those. He is a Kenyan-American. Please also do not use enwikipedia as source. It is a selfreference this is simplewikipedia. --ThomasK (talk) 00:42, 29 October 2010 (UTC)

Do you have a source for that claim? This dictionary, for instance, doesn't limit African Americans to just descendants of slaves: [1] Kansan (talk) 00:44, 29 October 2010 (UTC)

It sure does limit it. Please do not use the degoratory "yawn" in reaction to edits. That' called personal attacks. --ThomasK (talk) 00:47, 29 October 2010 (UTC)

How so? "A Black American of African ancestry." Kansan (talk) 00:50, 29 October 2010 (UTC)

Birthplace and Religion

Why does it say that Barack Hussein Obama is a Protestant and was born in Hawaii. It is common knowledge that he was born in Kenya and is a Muslim. There is an article on a partner Wiki that proves that he is a Muslim. Here it is: http://www.conservapedia.com/Barack_Obama%27s_Muslim_Heritage. 65.96.48.102 (talk) 20:00, 4 February 2012 (UTC)

He was not born in Kenya and it is common knowledge that people saying he was are just out to attack him. Please stop adding false information to pages since its been proove he was born in Hawaii. -DJSasso (talk) 20:08, 4 February 2012 (UTC)

Wikipedia has no direct relationship to Conservapedia. Conservapedia is not a partner wiki of Wikipedia. Conservapedia, like all wikis, is not a reliable source.Jasper Deng (talk) 20:47, 4 February 2012 (UTC)

Really Muslim, not Christian

Why does this article say that Obama is a Christian? It is obvious that he is a Muslim. He said to the UN General Assembly, "The future cannot belong to those who slander the prophet of Islam." He never made any such remarks about Jesus. If this doesn't show that he is a Muslim, than I don't know what does! Also, it still says he was born in Hawaii even though everyone knows he was born in Kenya. Unfortunately, I cannot edit the article because the page is locked. So, could someone please edit it instead? Thank you. 153.104.69.156 (talk) 19:22, 11 July 2013 (UTC)

Do you have a reliable source for that? The courts have all agreed that Obama was a USA citizen and the government of Hawaii has re-affirmed his birth certificate from them is legitimate. There no reliable evidence, nor is it obvious that is Muslim. (Does not pray 5 times a day. Does not celebrate Ramadan. Eats pork. Does not attend a mosque.)--LauraHale (talk) 19:37, 11 July 2013 (UTC)

I do not have evidence as to where he was really born because he refuses to provide it. However, the Koran does say that Muslims are to lie about being a Muslim and say they are not as well as talk and act like they are not if by doing do they are advancing the cause of Islam. Since Obama is the first Muslim president, he is indeed advancing the cause of Islam. Have a read about the doctrine of taqiyya here: http://www.islam-watch.org/warner/Taqiyya-Islamic-Principle-Lying-for-Allah.htm. 153.104.69.156 (talk) 20:24, 11 July 2013 (UTC)

You're beginning to sound like a troll. Obama is clearly not Muslim. All the official documentation points to him being a US citizen, born in Hawaii. If I get your last point correctly, you say that it is okay to pretend not to be a Muslim if that helps further the cause of Islam? There is no evidence to show that he is doing so. As LauraHale advises he does not appear to undertake some pretty major elements of Islam listed in her answer. Kennedy ^(talk) 08:51, 12 July 2013 (UTC)

Update

I'm adding a update tag since new information about his presidency hasn't been added since Nelson Mandela's death a year ago. Some notable events for his presidency occurred in 2014 such as the immigration reform and the end of the Afghan war. Feel free to remove the tag when the article has been updated. --TDKR Chicago 101 (talk) 23:48, 28 December 2014 (UTC)

Caption for portrait

Hi everyone.

Would it be appropriate to put an image caption under Obama's presidential portrait (ex. Official portrait, 2012)

Thanks! FD950 (talk) 00:52, 12 May 2021 (UTC)