JISHOU, HUNAN — In a fortuitous example of synchronicity, Colin Powell reminded the United States that, yes, Muslims are people, too, while Al Jazeera reminded the world’s Muslims that, yes, Muslims are actually happy in America.
The silver lining in the cloud of bigotry against Barack Hussein Obama may very well be the recognition that Muslims in the USA are also Americans, that white Protestant “hockey moms” and “Joe Six-Packs” are not the only “real Americans.” We all are. Being a Muslim does not automatically make you an enemy of the state.
The haters of Obama have tried to link him both to domestic terrorists and to Al Qaeda, largely by using the old “guilt by association” gambit.
Colin Powell, a Republican with a long, unhappy history with the current administration, came out Oct. 19 on Meet the Press to endorse Obama as president. In the midst of his endorsement, he said this:
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. He’s 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 a Muslim and he might be associated with terrorists.” This is not the way we should be doing it in America.
