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In fact, in general, the announcer gave the full name of each dignitary he introduced. For example, they used the name "George Walker Bush" when introducing George Bush, the outgoing president.
It's somewhat sad to see that people continue to attribute either character, honesty or perhaps even morality to a person based on their name. His middle name is Hussein in honor of his grandfather, Hussein, a secular resident of Nairobi. He neither changed his name to embrace the Muslim religion (e.g, Muhammad Ali), nor is he himself Muslim.
Despite this, it should be noted that Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts had no compunction about using Obama's middle name when swearing Obama in.
But in point of fact, I continue to hear, echoing in my head, the excellent oration made by Colin Powell when he endorsed Barack Obama on Meet the Press (emphasis mine):
I'm also troubled by - not what Senator McCain says - but what members of the Party say, and it is permitted to be said: such things as, "Well, you know that Mr. Obama is a Muslim." Well, the correct answer is he is not a Muslim. He's a Christian; has always been a Christian. But the really right answer is, "What if he is? Is there something wrong with being a Muslim in this country?" The answer's "No, that's not America." Is there something wrong with some seven-year-old Muslim American kid believing that he or she could be President? Yet, I have heard senior members of my own Party drop the suggestion he's Muslim and he might be associated with terrorists. This is not the way we should be doing it in America.
I feel strongly about this particular point because of a picture I saw in a magazine. It was a photo essay about troops who were serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. And one picture at the tail end of this photo essay was of a mother in Arlington Cemetery. And she had her head on the headstone of her son's grave. And as the picture focused in, you could see the writing on the headstone. And it gave his awards - Purple Heart, Bronze Star; showed that he died in Iraq; gave his date of birth, date of death. He was twenty years old. And then at the very top of the headstone, it didn't have a Christian cross. It didn't have a Star of David. It had a crescent and a star of the Islamic faith. And his name was Karim Rashad Sultan Kahn. And he was an American. He was born in New Jersey, he was fourteen years old at the time of 9/11 and he waited until he could go serve his country and he gave his life.
Now, we have got to stop polarizing ourself in this way. And John McCain is as non-discriminatory as anyone I know. But I'm troubled about the fact that within the Party we have these kinds of expressions.
As Barack Obama's presidency unfolds, let's hope people can move past petty arguments based on name or religion, or whatever, and move to substantive arguments based on content and reality.
Posted January 20th, 2009 by Michael Santo
