Colonel Lang weighs in at SicSemperTyrannis, here and "Kite Runner's" Khaled Husseini in the WaPo, here
"...For that woman in the upper Mid-West who fumbled for a word with which to describe Obama, the people who attacked us on 9/11 were Arab/Muslim/Black/terrorists. For her there are no separate nations or countries in the Middle East and if there were, the differences among them would be unimportant. For this woman, the idea is unattainable that there could be Arab Christians or a man who is; half black African, half white American, and a Christian. The fact that he has an Arabic and Muslim middle name but is
not an Arab or a Muslim is unapproachable for such people. People like that are dangerous and there are a lot of them.Someone will now protest that "Hussein" is a Swahili name. Yeah? So what. Like a lot of words in Swahili it is a loan word from Arabic, as is the word "Swahili" itself. "Hussein" is not a Muslim name? Baloney! I have been around a lot and have never met anyone with the given name, Hussein, who was not a Muslim, but that does not make Barack Obama a Muslim. He did not name himself.And what if he were a Muslim? What if he were a Jain, or a Sikh or a Baptist? (The Baptist part was a joke.)In any event. McCain should get his dogs under control. He is truly playing with fire..."
1 comment:
Once again, Col Pat Lang demonstrates a real understanding of things. His comments about the bunch of lunatics that constitute the base of the Republican party are right on the mark.
However, the comment made by the woman that there are no separate nations in the ME and if there were, the differences among them would be unimportant, is basically correct. This is what drives Arab nationalists. The sentiment among Arab peoples is the 'countries' they inherited from colonial days are not what they aspire to. Many families have been separated by artificial border lines. The common bond among Arab peoples, not rulers, is much stronger than the divisive politics undertaken by governments that have little or no legitimacy in the Arab world
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